Letters from Lewis: Q/A (4)

Question (4): 'How do I become more 'like Christ'? In other words, what do I do in order to change?'

C.S. - "It is not mere improvement but Transformation...as long as your own personality is what you are bothering about you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about yourself altogether. Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange?

Give up yourself,

and you will find your real self.

Lose your life and you will save it.

Submit to death, death of your ambitions

and favorite wishes every day and

death of your whole body in the end:

submit with every fiber of your being,

and you will find eternal life.

Keep back nothing.

Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours.

Nothing in you

that has not died

will ever be raised from the dead.

Look for yourself, and you will find only

hatred,

loneliness,

despair,

rage,

ruin,

and decay.

But look for Christ and you will find Him,

and with Him everything else thrown in."

Letters from Lewis: Q&A (2)/(3)

Question (2): 'Why do you believe in Christianity?'

C.S. - "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

Question (3): 'Can we lose our salvation'?

This question can be answered in the light of Psalm 32:

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the 

Lord counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones

wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy 

upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the

heat of summer. 

I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, "I will confess my transgressions 

to the Lord,"

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin..."

Through the Cross we have forgiveness only. It is nothing of our own doing, rather nothing of our own "covering", for Christ did it once and for all. He is our salvation, He alone is worthy and perfect to forgive sin itself. We confess our sins through the divine reality 'we are dead to sin and alive to God'. We have confession because in the flesh we ultimately are imperfect humans asking for a perfect Mediator to 'wash us whiter than snow'. IF Jesus was not the 'I am' we are all most to be pitied. IF Jesus did not rise again we men and women are to be pitied. IF Jesus did not 'become our sin' we are already disillusioned. IF Jesus did not conquer death, we have a false Hope. BUT He did...therefore Rejoice knowing you have been saved alone by His doing, rather His "covering" of sins. You have been sealed with 'the promised Holy Spirit' and He alone holds you on His Hand of Salvation. 'Fret not it tends to lead only to evil.'

Letters from Lewis: Q&A (1)

Question (1): 'What are we to make of Christ (Jesus)?'

C.S. - "There is no question of what we can make of Him, it is entirely a question of what He intends to make us. You must accept or reject the story. The things He says are very different from what any other teacher has said. Others say, 'This is the truth about the Universe. This is the way you ought to go.' but He says, 'I am the Truth, and the Way, and the Life'. He says, 'No man can reach absolute reality, except through Me. Try to retain your own life and you will be inevitably ruined. Give yourself away and you will be saved.' He says, 'If you are ashamed of Me, if, when you hear this call, you turn the other way, I also will look the other way when I come again as God without disguise. If anything whatever is keeping you from God and from Me, whatever it is, throw it away. If it is your eye, pull it out. If it is your hand, cut if off. If you put yourself first you will be last. Come to Me everyone who is carrying a heavy load, I will set that right. Your sins, all of them, are wiped out, I can do that. I am Re-birth, I am Life. Eat me, drink me, I am your Food. And finally, do not be afraid, I have overcome the whole Universe.' That is the issue."

"Costly Grace"

"For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous." - Romans 5:19

Sin is distortion;

Sin is perversion;

Sin is deception;

Sin is evil;

Sin is disobedience

When Christ calleth a man he bids him come and die; to come and live and be whole again. The man follows leaving his old life behind. This new Life is his Center. The Source for all his pleasure and worth. But this man must obey the call; he must leave the boat. This man must obey because he who loves obeys; and he who obeys loves. This man is obedient because he believes; he believes because he is obedient. Jesus is the Answer. Without Him we have a crippled hollow religion. Without Him we have nothing. To follow the Word of God is to obey the Word of God. It is fire to the soul. Freedom from the world. Letting go of control; letting go of all selfish desires; letting go of all pride; letting go all to see God simple in his all. That is surrender. Letting go simply all to see God simply in His all. Its to follow, "I am coming Your way". Its answering the call "Come to me". That we may Live; that we may have Life; thay we may be full of joy everlasting. For there is only One thing that matters; and its Him. It will always be Him. The Lord always redirects our hearts back; and its Him. One must obey to follow; to leave it all behind, a total abandonment. It is not something that is easy; nor is it burdensome. That is the beauty of following Christ. When we resist; it is very heavy. When we say "Yes Lord Yes Lord" it is light; gloriously light! It is this personal relationship; this eternal covenant that is established. This fellowship with the Son of God. That alone transforms you. That alone gives your life purpose. That alone gives your life meaning. That alone is your Rock. For "I will never leave you nor forsake you"; therefore we can have peace with God, therefore we not only walk to God; we run to God! "Lord I am coming Your way!" "Lord I am coming Your way!" For this life has left me dry! It has left me empty! It hasn't fullfilled! And you leave me speechless. You leave me with Life. "Yes Lord Yes Lord; I am coming Your way!". But not only that; he that obeys overcomes. Only the man who can overcome this life is the man that has faith in the Son who overcame this world. He is the Overcomer. And he who rests in the victory already given to him by the Lord overcomes. For the devil is a liar. He can only speak lies; that toothless lion! He is out to kill steal and destroy. But I recall this to mind "For he is greater in you than he that is in the world." Therefore the victory has been won; the battle ended, the war eternally sealed as "Victory!". Yes to follow the Lord is glorious light. What He wants is all of you. Not fragments. But the whole. All of the heart! All of the mind! All of the soul! All of the strength! It is a vocation of total abandonment; to become totally His. He will be your Refuge; He will be your Fortress. But not only on Sunday morn; we must not just give him Sunday morn! We must give him our lives! We must give him all of us! For then and only then shall we declare that sacred word with power: "Hallelujah!" Lord give us ears to hear. And eyes to see. And hearts to understand. In Your Holy Name I pray Amen.

Have you forgotten?

How can one totally abandon everything for the sake of the gospel?

And yet still how can anyone around him follow his lead?

What does it all mean?

What does it all mean?

Thats the question and the answer I seek

How do you die daily?

In a world that cries for attention of your soul

It cries "No me me me!"

I want you! Whether the Lord simply says

"Follow me";

Which road shall we choose?

For there are only two;

Which one shall you become?

We become something eventually...

The Lord beckons "NO COME TO ME!"

"For there is your purpose and your place

Have you forgotten?"

But how do I lead?

"Follow me"

"Follow me"

"He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality."

- Romans 2:6-11

 

A Biological Review

This summer I shall finally be graduated. I say 'finally' because we are all to aware of the fact, I have been in college for 5 plus years. (Please keep the snickering down; hmm a Snickers sounds good). I was driving back from the library today, and I want to address some reflections I have had over the years about my experience as an under-graduate biology major. Here's the deal: I go to Hardin-Simmons University "An education enlightened by faith". And here's the other deal: not once (in the span of countless hours, labs, tests, online assignments) did we mention God. One teacher I recall only have a slight faith, but unfortunately and sadly enough that was all. So what am I trying to reflect on: well maybe this it...

I wish (and maybe this is where it all comes together for me) we were taught to reflect on the God behind plants. The God behind genes. The God behind the stars. The God behind physics. The God behind the Laws of Thermodynamics. The God behind cellular organelles. The God behind bio informatics. The God behind phylum and kingdom. The God behind the heart. The God behind the brain. The God behind advanced exons and introns. The God behind duck-billed platypus and cheetah. The God behind inter-specific competition behind species. The God behind Mendel's Laws. The God behind the law of gravity and force. The God behind it all...

Anyways... No more labs ever again! No more Genetics and Chemistry and Physics! GAH YA'LL WERE BRUTALLY HARD

Now here's a quote I have been thinking on:

"The moment we do so we can see that every Christian who comes to a university must at all times face a question...he must ask himself how it is right, or even psychologically possible, for creatures who are every moment advancing to Heaven or to hell to spend any fraction of the little time allowed them in this world on such comparative trivialities as literature or art, mathematics or biology." - C.S. Lewis

WOW. However, here is my conclusion: if God didn't allow me to go to college, I would have never gone off to Kamp and met and fell in love with Ashley Hart.

My final conclusion is thus: even with all the advances in science, all the advances in technology...we are still all desperate for a Savior. I mean come on look around, have we progressed? Have we gotten any more closer to love, joy, and peace without God? We will continue to build, continue to "advance", and continue to fill this gaping hole in our lives. But NOTHING, and seriously I mean nothing (I have experience) will fill that hole in this world EXCEPT Jesus Christ.

 Look around have we solved the world with politics? Have we obtained "world peace". Come on seriously; no man-made intervention is going to work! That is why the Lord is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. There is non-other like Him! And until we realize this, we are all grasping after the wind!! ITS ALL FLEETING! OUR CAREERS, OUR MONEY, OUR TOYS they are all FLEETING! BUT AH NOT OUR SOULS...

The sad thing is eternal life is free. And I guess its time for me to get off the pulpit, but seriously why would we desire temporal joy that is fleeting over eternal joy which lasts forever. Ah the decay of sin. I am gonna leave with this quote:

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." - C.S. Lewis

Have a good week ya'll.

Your Beautiful: A Remix of One Thing

To will One thing: that God becomes the ever-present Object of our affection, time, and love. The Centricity of our being. To will One thing: that He becomes the Center of my life. The Source of all my joy, all my peace, all my hope, all my love, all my faith, all my security.

"One thing have I asked of the Lord,

that I will seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of

The Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the

Lord

and to inquire in his temple."

- David (Psalm 27:4)



If the opposition be in the form of distraction, then my view of the beauty of God is too low. If my sole focus on life be ever changing, then my view of the beauty of God is too low. If I be more interested in my worldly rights (which I have not), then my view of the beauty of God is too low. How may I 'lift my eyes', when they are too low? How may I 'lift my eyes', when they are set on the visible? How may I 'lift my eyes', when they love the world? How may I 'lift my eyes' when my eyes have no knowledge? If I be on the throne, my view of the beauty of God is too low. If my eyes cannot be lifted above my ugliness (that is my sin), how shall they ever cleave unto Beauty? The question that proceeds is thus: Do I Know the Lord as beautiful?

The Beauty of God has no worthy comparison. This is the battle we fight: " We awaken to a world at war for the allegiance of our minds and the affections of our souls. The winner will be whoever can persuade us that he will bring greatest and most soul-satisfying joy." - Sam Storms



Those Whom find Jesus as Victor can now sing:

Your my One thing that I live for;

'to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord'.

Your the One thing that I long for;

'to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord'.

"My fingers hurt...oh yeah well your back is gonna hurt because you just pulled landscaping duty" - Happy Gilmore

I'm sitting in my office room all bundled up, I look like a cross breed between a monk and an Eskimo. My fingers are very sensitive to the cold, if if gets below 60 they tend to freeze and go numb. I want to share something I read the other day, I think it sums up what I believe to be the very purpose, the One thing, we all are designed to live for.

"Father in heaven! What is a man without Thee! What is all that he knows, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if he does not know Thee! What is all his striving, could it even encompass a world, but a half-finished work if he does not know Thee: Thee the One, who are one thing and who are all! So may Thou give to the intellect, wisdom to comprehend that one thing; to the heart, sincerity to receive this understanding; to the will, purity that wills only one thing. In prosperity may Thou grant perseverance to will one thing; amid distractions, collectedness to will one thing; in suffering, patience to will one thing. Oh, Thou that giveth both the beginning and the completion, may Thou early, at the dawn of the day, give to the young man the resolution to will one thing. As the day wanes, may Thou give to the old man a renewed remembrance of his first resolution, that the first may be like the last, the last like the first, in possession of a life that has willed only one thing." - Soren Kierkegarrd

I wrote at one time...'The only thing that matters in this life, is the One seated on the throne.' I would like to add...

'This One, He must become your very center. Your very Source. With every fiber of your existence love Him. Worship Him with expression, not tradition. Sing to Him a new song! For crying out loud dance for Him! Shout for Him! He will be your only true comfort, your only true worth, your only true value, your only true joy, your only true happiness, your only true friend. Express it! 'With all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength'. Express it! Are these just mere words on a page? No they are a life-style! Is our God just a mere far distant Creator Whom we worship? God forbid! He is so personal, He has 'formed my inward parts' He has 'knitted me together' He knows 'every word before its on my tongue'. For crying out loud 'He lives in me!' That changes you. That changes people. That changes things around you. It is not merely reading and learning. It is living and living abundantly! The Lord always redirects our hearts back to the focus and purpose of our lives. And its Him. We will go through dry spells, doubts, and confusion. But ah the Lord is not the Lord of confusion but of peace! He will bring us back. He will light yet again another fire! He shall let it burn bright for its season, then for eternity! Yes this light shall shine bright, for it is full of light! Let no man, let no distracting nation, tame and shade. Yes Lord ,Yes Yes Lord Amen!'

And now my hands have gone in a state of hypo-thermia! So I got a lil excited today...who cares?! Btw I think our engagment pictures will be coming out in 3-4 weeks...So yeah be looking for those. And our good looks...well ok Ashley's!