Hello all. Yesterday I found the first stanza of a poem which I had started three or four years ago (hard to tell since I had forgotten to date it). For some odd reason, I could not put it down. After staring at it for a couple of minutes, I had a sudden rush of poetic inspiration. Now, since I am not a poetic person (just try talking to me for a few minutes about poetry and you will see what I mean), when I feel inspired, I cannot stop until I am finished. Therefore, when I woke up this morning, I sat down and wrote until the poem was completed.
As I said, I am not a very poetic person. Therefore, this poem is not what one would call "great", or even "average". However, it is one of the few poems (I can only remember two others) that I have finished, so I am quite happy with it.
I hope all of you enjoy, and that maybe God will somehow use it to bring glory to His Name.
The Crucifixion and Resurrection
by Christopher Stahlberg
A perfect Lamb, hangs on a tree
With nail-pierced hands and feet.
Unto Him I now do flee,
His love and grace to meet.
A sign is hung above His head
Proclaiming royalty.
Yet nearly every passerby
Spits out mockery.
The Lord of Life, the God of time
Dies as a petty thief.
His Father’s wrath is turned on Him
And crushes Him beneath.
“My Lord, my God, my dear Father!
Why have you forsaken me?”
Yet the Father did not answer
Nor spare His agony.
As His Father’s anger
Brought Him nearer death.
Our dearest Lord bore all our sins,
E’en to final breath.
Listen, brother! Don’t you hear?
The veil is torn in two!
The earth now shakes, the stones are rent,
And saints are passing through!
Now comes Rome’s centurion,
He falls upon his knees;
“Surely He is the Son of God!
In this I must believe!”
The women which followed Jesus
Ministering to Him, (Mary Magdalene and Mary mother of Zebedee’s children)
Wept as they saw their Lord die,
Broken, scarred and beaten.
Then came Joseph of Arimathea,
A disciple of our prince,
Pleading Pilate for Christ’s body
To lay it down to rest.
Pilate concurred and gave the body
To be laid in the tomb.
(This is the man who, from cowardice,
Ordered Light unto His doom.)
Outside the tomb a watch was placed
By the Pharisees and priests,
To go and make the tomb secure,
From Christ’s disciples at least.
Yet Christ Himself could not remain
In the grave for eternity,
For Lo! Earthquakes and great angels
Have rolled the stone away.
Then came the Marys,who watched our Lord
Die upon the tree,
Unto His tomb with downcast face,
His body there to see.
As they neared the tomb they saw angels
With raiment white as snow,
Who told to them, "He is not here,
He rose not long ago."
The women ran with joyful steps
To proclaim the glorious news,
That Jesus was no longer dead
As they earlier mused.
Then the disciples hurried to Galilee
Up onto the mount.
There they met the risen Lord of life
Who is the blessed Fount.
Christ looked on them with purest love,
The ones His death had bought,
Then opened His mouth and told to them
What every Christian ought:
“Go, my brethren, and preach the Gospel
Unto every nation,
Baptizing in the Triune Name
Of God who reigns in Heaven,
Teaching them to obey
All that I have commanded;
For I am with you always,
Even ‘till the end.”
Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son,
And to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning,
Is now and ever shall be.
World without end.
Amen.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
Defending God's Word
Hello all. I am sorry that I have not kept up with all of you. Between work and college, it has been hard to find extra time. Today, I have found time for but a small post, hopefully you don't all stone me or something. ;)
Anyway, since I have little time to post for a while, I will not hold myself to typing whole series of posts on a single topic. Rather, I will write whatever comes to mind and pray for the best.
So, today I want to just throw out an idea for you: should Christians try to "prove" Scripture or God when they are witnessing to unbelievers? Here is an example of "proving" the existence of God:
"Because it is possible for the entire universe to cease to exist, its existence must be radically contingent. Even if the universe has always existed and was uncaused (i.e., the view of steady-state cosmology), its existence would still require a causal agent to keep it from ceasing to exist, to prevent its exnihilation. Since no natural cause exnihilates anything, the cause must be supernatural. A supernatural being (one that is itself uncaused) is required to prevent the universe from turning into nothingness.
It is, from my point of view, undeniable that I exist. Because my existence is actually necessary while not being logically necessary, it follows that I have to rely on the existence of another being to prevent my exnihilation, my actuating a state of nonexistence. Because the universe (whose own existence is also not logically necessary) is inadequate to the task, the cause must be supernatural. If I exist then God must exist.
While I could certainly be wrong, I believe that it is undeniable that (a) the universe exists, (b) the universe did not have to exist (that the non-existence of the universe is a logical possibility), and (c) the universe is radically contingent on the existence of an independent entity that prevents its exnihilation. As we noted earlier, any worldview that denies the undeniable is unaffirmable and is therefore false. That means that we can cut from consideration any and all worldviews that deny the existence of God." (http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2010/05/15/the-lazy-mans-guide-to-evaluating-worldviews/)
If you are at all confused, don't worry, most of us probably are. However, the point I want to make is that this type of "proving God" is not at all Biblical and is really a waste of time. So, what does the Bible say about the Gospel and preaching salvation to mankind?
"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.'
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
Brothers and sisters, we must understand that the Gospel is complete foolishness to those who are perishing. No matter how "complex and brilliant" our arguments may be, they are worthless in appealing to man. Salvation does not require cutting through a man's mind and changing his thought processes, rather salvation requires us to cut to the very soul of a man. The only weapon which can do this is the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). Why in the world would we want to use a peashooter (human logical/archaeological/scientific arguments) when we could be using the most powerful and effective weapon in the Universe (God's Word)?
Please know that it is not our own arguments and brilliance that save souls, it is the "foolishness" of God's Word. Know that a P.H.D is not required to spread the Gospel (thanks be to God, for I am certainly not P.H.D. level!).
As a wise man once told me, "We are not called to a (human) apologetic mission, we are called to spread the Gospel!" Understand dear Christian, it is the "foolishness" of God, not the wisdom of man, which produces salvation. No matter how humble of a Christian you are, you too can spread the Gospel in God's Almighty power.
"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
Anyway, since I have little time to post for a while, I will not hold myself to typing whole series of posts on a single topic. Rather, I will write whatever comes to mind and pray for the best.
So, today I want to just throw out an idea for you: should Christians try to "prove" Scripture or God when they are witnessing to unbelievers? Here is an example of "proving" the existence of God:
"Because it is possible for the entire universe to cease to exist, its existence must be radically contingent. Even if the universe has always existed and was uncaused (i.e., the view of steady-state cosmology), its existence would still require a causal agent to keep it from ceasing to exist, to prevent its exnihilation. Since no natural cause exnihilates anything, the cause must be supernatural. A supernatural being (one that is itself uncaused) is required to prevent the universe from turning into nothingness.
It is, from my point of view, undeniable that I exist. Because my existence is actually necessary while not being logically necessary, it follows that I have to rely on the existence of another being to prevent my exnihilation, my actuating a state of nonexistence. Because the universe (whose own existence is also not logically necessary) is inadequate to the task, the cause must be supernatural. If I exist then God must exist.
While I could certainly be wrong, I believe that it is undeniable that (a) the universe exists, (b) the universe did not have to exist (that the non-existence of the universe is a logical possibility), and (c) the universe is radically contingent on the existence of an independent entity that prevents its exnihilation. As we noted earlier, any worldview that denies the undeniable is unaffirmable and is therefore false. That means that we can cut from consideration any and all worldviews that deny the existence of God." (http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2010/05/15/the-lazy-mans-guide-to-evaluating-worldviews/)
If you are at all confused, don't worry, most of us probably are. However, the point I want to make is that this type of "proving God" is not at all Biblical and is really a waste of time. So, what does the Bible say about the Gospel and preaching salvation to mankind?
"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.'
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
Brothers and sisters, we must understand that the Gospel is complete foolishness to those who are perishing. No matter how "complex and brilliant" our arguments may be, they are worthless in appealing to man. Salvation does not require cutting through a man's mind and changing his thought processes, rather salvation requires us to cut to the very soul of a man. The only weapon which can do this is the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12). Why in the world would we want to use a peashooter (human logical/archaeological/scientific arguments) when we could be using the most powerful and effective weapon in the Universe (God's Word)?
Please know that it is not our own arguments and brilliance that save souls, it is the "foolishness" of God's Word. Know that a P.H.D is not required to spread the Gospel (thanks be to God, for I am certainly not P.H.D. level!).
As a wise man once told me, "We are not called to a (human) apologetic mission, we are called to spread the Gospel!" Understand dear Christian, it is the "foolishness" of God, not the wisdom of man, which produces salvation. No matter how humble of a Christian you are, you too can spread the Gospel in God's Almighty power.
"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
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