Big troubles start small

A small leak will sink a great ship. A small spark will kindle a great fire. A little allowed sin will ruin an immortal soul. - JC Ryle

It's the end that matters

(Slightly updated since I posted it recently).
Several months back, my wife, my stepson, and I went to the Holocaust Museum in Dallas. The contrast between the Nazis and their victims inspired these thoughts, which I am only now putting into print. I write this as a metaphor in part: I don't mean to imply that this is a complete picture of both sides, but I hope it helps to show the disparity between good and evil.

He looks so attractive, this Hitler youth. Blond hair, shiny and rich; rosy Eastern European features. Well- fitting clothes cover a body toned by many hours of exercise. The Nazi leadership has put a lot of work into grooming this young man as part of what they intend to become a super race. They make sure he marries the epitome of Aryan female beauty, so their offspring will continue the line. He is joining with them as their hope of Germany's future--the world's future. He will help them in their quest to attain ever more land, power, riches. After all, he's been told through various media that they deserve it, and so he does whatever's necessary to help them take it from those people they consider to be less than human. Along the way he is highly honored by his peers for helping find hiding places of Jews, and in the process punching, kicking, and even shooting them before turning them over to be taken to camps for work, for oppression, for death. Later, he'll work in one of those camps, choosing who is productive or non-productive, and the latter of the still surviving are sent to die. Those remaining are permitted to live as long as they are able to help the Nazi cause. He joins in the drunken reverie as the pro-Nazis band together toward the goal of "freeing" the world of these "animals." In the end, the dynasty-to-be falls, and he is held in perpetual shame by people of honor.

She looks so decrepit. Her hair (if it hasn't fallen out due to illness or malnutrition) is infested with lice. Sores and dirt, sunken cheeks & sallow skin mask her once attractive & happy Polish face. She wears a moth-eaten, foul-smelling outfit (if one can call it that), which hangs loosely from skin-covered bones. The Nazis have put a lot of work into destroying her people. After all, in Hitler's estimation she has been partly responsible for taking away from Germany's destiny. But despite the oppression, she can't give enough of herself to help her beloved fellow Jews. If she can put another family into her already crowded home (which might only be a single room), she does it. If she can spare a piece of bread or comfort the sick, she gives whatever she can to lighten the load. She risks her life helping transport Jews and others under Hitler's thumb to safety. She loves and values each person, regardless of their race or religion. Her courageous actions, taken so that others might be saved, bring her honor by her peers and by God. She would never betray one of her brethren. She weeps bitterly as the Nazis split her family apart, creating heartbreak that parallels even the worst of tortures. Many of them she'll never see again. In the end, the Jewish race lives on, bruised and battered but highly honored by those who admire their selflessness and their love.

A picture of what it means to stand strong

Mexican mayor attacked by gangs shows her scars, and helps show us what it means to stand strong against evil. God bless her, and may she inspire others to not give up the good fight.

Heroes in Arizona

Just wanted to add my appreciation to these four fine people who helped avert what could have been a significantly greater tragedy. May each of you be blessed mightily for your courage. May those who were injured be on the mend as soon as possible, and may the loved ones of the deceased by comforted by God's great love.

Why this blog came to be, and where it's going

I never really had a "life verse" until I was preparing a Bible study lesson back in 2006. Not that I want to base my life on only one Bible verse, but for some reason God put Romans 5:17 on my heart, and it has not let me go (I believe it contains what can be seen as a paradigm for the best possible life--a life with Christ, as well as the worst life that results from being without Christ).

It's difficult to summarize what I'm trying to learn from this passage (and, ultimately, to internalize and pass on to others). Here, we have the ultimate penalty--death through Adam's sin, contrasted with the ultimate gift--life in Christ. We're told we can reign in life. But not "just barely" reign, but "much more" reign. And in this life as well as the one to come.
The spiritual forces of good and evil, our flesh, and the fallen world, all have greater levels of power, weakness, love, hatred, pain, joy, holiness, depravity, reverence, etc., than we tend to realize.

I know (at this point, more in my head than in the depths of my soul) that seeing God face to face should cause me to tremble and fall prostrate. That if I saw sin through His eyes, unfiltered by Christ's blood, I'd be so repulsed I'd have to turn away. That the measure of His love and blessings for me is so great it should cause me to see all the world's pleasures as barely worth mentioning. That the devil's hatred for me and for God is so deep that I should be terrified of his evil, save for Christ in me.

The Bible also speaks of abounding this, always do that, never do the other thing. We read that unbelievers in hell writhe in agony and gnash their teeth. And we see believers in heaven exulting in Jesus' presence amid streets of gold. There is eternal reward or punishment. God burns in anger against sin. He cuts off those who are unrepentant. He expects us to be blameless (which, thankfully, Jesus' sacrifice makes us so in His sight), to crucify our flesh, to do his work with excellence and with all our might, to love unconditionally, to pray without ceasing, to give thanks in all things. God is the Alpha and Omega, He is all-powerful, He is infinite, He is the (only) Way, He is to be worshiped and glorified, not merely appreciated. Believers who truly experience Him bow, fall prostrate, fall back in awe, dance, worship. In him we can do all things, because nothing is impossible.

These are some of the types of "hyperboles" that are part of our spiritual surroundings. We believers should make them a part of who we are, but based on the state of our world it seems we really don't. Of course, despite how dangerous and terrible the devil, we know God is infinitely more wonderful and able to overcome the devil's schemes. We can't defeat Satan on our own, but in Christ we are more than conquerors.

I plan to read through the Bible, and pray to gain a greater awareness of such terms so I can more fully understand what's around us (and in us) so I can act and think more like God intends for His children. But I realize that to reach another level in Him, the level where godly (not fleshly or worldly, of course!) hyperbole is the norm, I will need to seek Him like never before.

As I learn and grow in my understanding of the extremes of good, evil, joy, agony, etc., I hope that through my life, my writing, my teaching, and any other avenue God provides I can, in some small measure, help others better understand as well, and maybe because of it a "much more" life will be more common for Christians in the future. I will be sharing from the Bible and from other real stories past and present. Please feel free to share from your heart as well (but keep it clean and respectful).