Comparison

What do you make of this:

Jude 5-19 2 Peter 2:4-17
5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. 17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

 4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Kinda similar, ain’t it?

How’s this for your bucket list?

Fairytale Hotels: 15 of the World’s Most Magical Lodgings

Meta

The problem with Plato’s theory of forms, as I understand it, is that, in heaven, there is only one perfect chair, allowing perhaps only one perfect bottom to sit in it. I much prefer the vision that the author of Hebrews presents us:  That heaven is real, and the earth is also.  But that some things in heaven are so important that God, in his graciousness, has made copies of them here on earth, for our instruction, so that, seeing the earthly copy, and trusting in His word, we would look in faith to the heavenly original, and obtain the blessing that He intended.

Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but in the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than those.  For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that he should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of another – He then would have had to suffer since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for meant to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.

Quotable:

Mere Christianity is Baxter’s phrase, and it is a Protestant concept. A Protestant can adopt it without giving away the store, but a Roman Catholic cannot adopt it without giving away the store. Now I am fine with asking Catholics to give away the store, but am not so fine with us being unaware of the fact that this is what we are in fact asking them to do.

 

It’s Harder than it Looks

Eric Raymond at Ordinary Pastor says, “A Secret Life of Prayer Will Prevent a Secret Life of Sin.”  He’s right, and it’s a decent article.  The only thing I would add is that it’s harder than it looks.  I’ve been telling myself for years that, since the Army makes me get up so early, I would have to find time for my devotions in the evening, but the truth is, I don’t.  I have a hard time winding down enough to go to bed at night.  Do you think I’m able to add prayer and Bible reading into that process?

My solution the last few  years has been a combination of trying to squeeze my devotions into odd crannies of the day, failing, and making up excuses.  A few months ago, in our home group, a fellow soldier said she thought she might have to just start getting up that much earlier, in order to get it in. I agreed, and with much prayer (on the part of other people), I’ve started getting up at 4:30 the last two days.  So far, it’s only been Bible study.  I haven’t even yet got a solution for prayer.

It sounds Herculean, but the truth is that the sleep is the same.  I was already staying up late, but unable to do anything productive with the late hours.  But jumping that hurdle was harder than it looked.  I couldn’t have done it a year ago.

Frankly, I couldn’t have done it this year, without the faithful encouragement of friends at church, who knew about my frustrations because I whined about them.  Which brings up another point.  You make progress in these areas by talking about them.  It’s really helpful, I think, to try to bring up the subject of the means of grace in your conversation with people.  God pours out His grace in innumerable unknown and mysterious ways, but more often than not, most of what He does, He does through ordinary, established means – prayer, bible study, conversation, church attendance.

The prayers should be in secret, but the life needs to be in public. These things can fall to the wayside for lack of just talking about them, particularly because we want them to be easy.

Psalm 40:6-10 (NKJV)

6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;
My ears You have opened.
Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do Your will, O my God,
And Your law is within my heart.”

9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness
In the great assembly;
Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You Yourself know.
10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
From the great assembly.

So, I know verses 6-8 are Jesus.  In Luke 4:16-21, he opens the scroll and reading Isaiah 61, and announces, essentially, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written about me.”  Verse 8 has to apply to Jesus before it can apply to anybody else.  The law is written on our hearts because it was written on His.

But I’ve been trying to learn to read for context.  Somebody somewhere told me that, whenever a New Testament author quotes a passage of scripture, they aren’t pulling it out of context.  They are quoting a key element, but they’re expecting you to bring the whole passage to mind and apply all of it. Sneaky devils, we must forgive them.  They were short on paper.

Verses 9-10 are about Jesus also, but as Christians, since we are added to Him in verse 8, we must go along with him in verses 9-10 as well.  He proclaimed the gospel at his resurrection.  We must continue proclaiming it until He returns.

10b I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth
from the great assembly….

16 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let such as love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
17 But I am poor and needy;
Yet the Lord thinks upon me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

Unauthorized Twinkle

As  I was pronouncing on the awfulness of dessert to the kids at the dinner table, David was getting huffy.

Says Valerie: “David, I can see a twinkle in his eye from here.”

David says, “I can’t see it.”

And  I say, “You ain’t looking close enough.”

So David got right up in my face and looked deep into my eyes.  I crossed them.

“I see it,” he said.  “And it’s not supposed to be there.”