We Are Jonah

Fishing for Hearts...

Sunday, December 16, 2007

I have just been reading a little bit of Calvin's commentary on the book of James, and something stuck out at me about the way that our wayward little hearts work...

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed"

- James 1:14

The words are very striking, — “But every one is tempted (or, seduced) when, by his own lust, he is drawn away, (that is, from what is good,) and is caught by a bait (or, ensnared.)” He is in the first drawn off from the line of duty, and then he is caught by something that is pleasing and plausible, but like the bait, it has in it a deadly hook.

- John Calvin, "Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles" (link)

It would seem that first we are lured away from something, then lured toward something, hmm... Of course! How else could the blessed children of God, who have been shown the immeasurable gift of knowing the love and presence of our Lord, be led away so easily, except by clouding our vision of what we already have in Christ? If, instead, we would see and cherish the ultimate worth of Christ our saviour, our Lord, our meaning, then the deceitfulness of riches and the allure of pleasure would hold nothing for us.

May it be so, Lord. May it be so!

Author: Nate » Comments:

Too Easily Pleased...

I really love C.S. Lewis. Check it out:

"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, buttoo weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered 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, "The Weight of Glory" (link)

This is me, man. I am an ignorant child who escapes into lame, waste-of-time interests when I could have so much more. I join with billions across the world in entertaining myself to death every day watching other people's (made-up) lives on the idiot box, missing the glories that hide just under the surface of my own life. I busy myself on the Internet during my lunch break, forgetting to look outside at the sunshine-soaked day that I have been given. I lounge around in my house, my "fortress of solitude", rather than talking to my neighbours who I genuinely like, and who I think genuinely like me, too... I grumble about the things that I don't like at church, then grumble when I am offered the chance to do something about it, because it's so much work. I feel bored and listless in my life with God, forgetting that it is *God's* life, lived through me.

Think about that for one second - the life of God, in us. The boundless, formless, unfathomable power of the only wise God, the one who brought back Christ, that good shepherd, from the dead - is at work in us! The power of the age to come. The one who hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation, bringing life from nothingness. Bringing light out of darkness. Bringing hope and meaning from disorder and array. This is the one that is in us. This is "Christ in us, the hope of glory". If that doesn't brighten your heart, stop you dead in your tracks and make you rethink logging onto MySpace, there's something wrong here.

Author: Nate » Comments:

Here we are now, entertain us

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Hi again. Yes, it has been a while. I'm sorry, ok? :(

That's what this post is about, actually. You see, I haven't been around much lately because I've had my head buried in books, or taking notes, or just generally mulling over a bunch of stuff. And not my usual, aetherial, God-related, head-in-the-clouds sort of stuff like soteriology, missiology, culture, philosophy or any of the -ism's, either. Nothing even nearing the (oft-lacking) usefulness of these subjects, unfortunately.

What *have* I been doing, then?

At the risk of sounding like even more of a nerd (or a devil worshipper, to some...), Richard (go to RichardSpace) and I have gotten back into an old highschool pasttime... roleplaying. Yes, I said it, and on the IntarWubs for all to see, too.

And even worse, we've subverted the potentially indie-cool Brad (who lives here and here) and lured him into the coolness-sapping world of RPGs. It's over for him now, even though he still trucks with the terribly cool Annie Shannon. I think I deserve a +2 halberd for that, or at least some extra XP. (note: the preceding line was a really terrible DnD joke, and if you don't get it, you should count yourself lucky)

Beyond the damage that this does to my already fragile social standing, I am aware of a danger in all this stuff, despite the fun.

What the problem is not...

First, I want to say very clearly that I don't believe any of that Jack Chick crap about Dungeons and Dragons luring people into Satanism or roleplaying games prompting suicide. Just as listening to rock music or having a glass of wine doesn't invite demons to eat your soul, playing a game does not open you up to "dark forces". I don't think that I even need to go into all the reasons why Chick is a wackjob. At least I hope I don't.

The problem that this stuff poses for me is of a different variety...

What the problem really is...

As you may know, I am a bit of a "thinker". I think a lot, I dwell a lot. I think that I have an obsessive personality. When I find something that grabs my attention, I think about it until I can't think about it anymore, often leaving other stuff (maybe the last thing that grabbed my attention) by the wayside. This may sometimes be good (being obsessed with learning more about God, or investigating how culture really does interact with current expressions of Church), but at times it becomes nothing more than delving into a fantasy world as a way of escaping the humdrum tedium of "real" life.

There's the problem, though. The fantasy world of roleplaying is not real. The real world is. The real world is where we are now, where God is, where people are suffering and dying and needing help. The real world is where we are called to go, where the harvest is waiting, and where we are needed. It's fine to read books. It's fine to write books. It's even fine to make up a character and play them in a roleplaying game (which is almost the same, in my understanding.)

There's nothing wrong with being entertained. But we must, must recognise that we're not here to be entertained. We are here at the desire of a sovereign God. We are here at the command of our King whom we love. We were born for him, we were saved by him and for him. He is the "author" of our story, and it's not right that we whittle away our time on someone else's creation while we neglect our place in God's creation.

So yeah, this is preachy, but at myself. I am fasting roleplaying games, not as some sort of "I'm so holy because I'm not reading a certain book", but because time is a precious, fleeting thing, and I don't have enough of it to go 'round. God needs more of my time. The family that God has gifted me with need more. The wife of my youth needs me to be there for her. The Church needs me to present. My friends need me to listen. The world needs me to act. And God commands that my priorities be in order. There will be no other "gods" before him, no idols of pleasure and entertainment. Nothing else which pleases me like him.

"Thou and thou only, first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art"

Labels: culture, games, pleasure, snapshot

Author: Nate » Comments:

Hosanna

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Ok, I know this is another cheap post, but I've got more lyrics for you -- Hosanna and Belong, by Jason Morant. Seriously, check these songs out on his MySpace. The ambient instrumental bits in Hosanna are awesome...

Hosanna

There was a man who smiled like the sunrise
His face I can’t forget
His love displayed was unlike any other
He humbly dressed just like a vagabond with
Discourse like a King
And when he talked the angels stopped to listen

Hosanna Filio David, Hosanna In Altisimis
(trans: Hosanna, Son of David, Hosanna in the Highest)

He often spoke about a Kingdom coming
His words I can’t forget
Where all who come may rest beneath His mercy
Where royalty is flowing through the veins of
Every citizen
And every soul is treasured like a promise

Belong

With me on Your mind
You looked through time
And saw what I
Would become without Your blood
Without Your breath
And so You came
And You drank from that precious cup
You partook with love
And that war You won
For I could do nothing
No sword in hand
No way to stand and fight

Now I forever belong to You
I will always belong to You

If on Your throne You'd stayed
If justice had her way
Alone I'd have remained
Without this song to sing
And Your breath to breathe
And so You bled for me

And I forever belong to You
And I will always belong to You

I think I've realised what I like about them so much -- they are just so simple, so focussed, so centred on Jesus. That's awesome, man. We need more stuff like that, rather than the "Jesus makes me strong and happy" or "I'm gonna do great things 'cos I've got the Spirit's power" rubbish that gets churned out... It also helps that they're the really mellow, ambient, (some may say "whiny") style that I've come to love, too...

Labels: lyrics, music

Author: Nate » Comments:

Nothing Without You

Yeah, I know, it's been a while, but to make amends I've got the words to a song by an artist that I've recently fallen in love with -- Phil Danyew. If I wasn't already married... and a man... then oh yes, I would bear his children. Good, strong boys to bear his name, they would be.

Uh... OK... moving right along. Check it out:

Nothing Without You

How is the sun shining on it's own?
How does the song bird learn it's song?
I can search the world both high and low
There are so many answers i will never know

Our world is beautiful
But i think it would be nothing without You
Life is wonderful.
It moves my soul
But I know I'd be nothing without You ... Without You

When the sower starts to sow
How does the flower start to grow?
Why do the weeds then start to choke?
In the same bed is death and life below

Time is cavalier,
A one track mind to persevere but
Soon it will crumble in the dirt
So choose this day whom You will serve

Our world is beautiful
But i think it would be nothing without You
Life is wonderful. It moves my soul
But I know I'd be nothing without You ... Without You

Labels: lyrics, music

Author: Nate » Comments:

Creepy!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Labels: creepy, photos

Author: Nate » Comments:

A Big View of Redemption

Monday, September 24, 2007

This here is what makes me a Calvinist (and to want buy this book, too) --

“At their best, Reformed Christians take a very big view of redemption because they take a very big view of fallenness. If all has been created good and all has been corrupted, then all must be redeemed. God isn’t content to save souls; God wants to save bodies too. God isn’t content to save human beings in their individual activities; God wants to save social systems and economic structures too…”

“Everything corrupt needs to be redeemed, and that includes the whole natural world, which both sings and groans…The whole world belongs to God, the whole world has fallen, the whole world needs to be redeemed - every last person, place, organization, and program; all “rocks and trees and skies and seas”; in fact, “every square inch,” as Abraham Kuyper said. The whole creation is “a theater for the mighty works of God,” first in creation and then in re-creation.”

- Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Engaging God’s Word

Author: Nate » Comments: