John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
This is not a biblical command to have peace but I think if we are not taking advantage of this benefit that Christ has left us then we are being awfully foolish. So recently I've been trying to be at peace and when I'm not I try to figure out why. Here are some notes from my journal about what this peace is that isn't the peace of the world but is rather the peace of God.
Peace is a triune unity of the internal components of a person. The mind, soul and spirit must all be united under a common love for God thus enabling a person to have peace despite their external circumstances. The flesh must be dead, the sin nature must be eradicated so our spirit is made pure and our minds must be purified. If all these things are accomplished a person will be able to rest secure knowing his purpose and his Lord. For this to be accomplished the sinful nature must be killed through a divine act of grace and replaced, again by divine grace, by a "spirit of righteousness". A after our sin nature is dead their is still the problem of our fleshly habits, like a an army without its general these passions and desires wander hither and yon through our parts exciting unnatural emotions, making us long for the impossible and allowing us to assume the absurd as factual. These fleshly habits must be conquered and subdued using every weapon in our hevanly arsenal. Things such as penance, self discipline, friendly counsel and study are what will allow us to wage war against the flesh, which is powerful even without the sin nature inside us. By waging war against the flesh a human subjugate his mind to Gods. By allowing Christ to supplant our sin nature and raise a substitute to take its place a human will subjugate his spirit and will to God. The soul like a weak emperor will merely follow the advice of its counselors the spirit and mind meaning that if the spirit and mind are subjugated to God the soul will quickly follow suit. The mind and the spirit will guide the soul and thus will the whole of a human be subjugated to Gods will allowing for the influx of the peace of Christ. This peace does not come from a connection between the inner parts of a person but a subjugation of each individual part to God which results in all the parts of a person being in unity with each other. In this way may one acquire the peace of God, not the peace of the world but the peace that the Godhead has amongst itself, holy and perfect, simple yet elegant, powerful and attractive. We all long for it but it must be sought out.
I believe this is why the early Christian ascetics went to such extremes to purge their bodies of sin. They didn't think that somehow they could earn their way to heaven rather they had an almost fanatical desire to commune with God and they recognized as we need to recognize in our modern era that the thing separating us from God is the flesh. Now unlike the early ascetics commune with God must not be our top priority because if it was we'd all go become hermits. Communion with God however is an essential part of Christianity and if our flesh has not been purged then we are missing out on the "joy" of knowing Christ. If all we know is that we ought to be serving Christ and can not commune with Him because we remain bound to our flesh then we are living a miserable existence and we seek joy in things of the flesh rather then the spirit which leads to living a double life and ultimately to damnation. True peace of God however is devoid of fear and lives in perfect harmony with our Creator. Let us be encouraged to pursue Him and seek His fellowship
Feel free to comment and point out the flaws of my thinking. I really appreciate it when anyone shares their opinion on what I write.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Coming Second in a Fat Man Race
So when Christmas break came rolling around this year I decided I probably ought to plan something so I dont just sit and waste away the three precious weeks that I have of relative freedom. I needed to do two things 1. Finish City of God 2 Stay on top of latin over the break so I dont forget everything I was supposed o have learned already. I finished City of God really quickly and since Latin doesn't take all day I planned to use the next week for pleasure reading. I felt I had earned a little break after City of God and so I decided to read the Harry Potter series, something I've wanted to do for awhile but because of the frivolous nature of its subject I never took the time to read it. Anyhow, thanks to Mandie Morris and the Simsbury Library I was able to borrow all seven books and finished them in just over a week. Fastest 4000 pages I've ever read, although It doesn't really mean anything important because their are still people who read them faster. Hence the reason for the title of this blog, I raced to read the Harry Potter books which is really easy and so equivalant to a fat man race but i still lost because I didn't even win the race....oh well.
I promised myself while I reading that after i was done I'd write up an opinion of the series. I'll try not to reveal too much of the stories for those who havn't read them yet or are in process of reading. So let us begin.
Worst Characters: Harry Potter
I hated that he was the hero, he was an arrogant, haughty, selfish, greedy little squirt. Never once and I actually looked for this as I read, did he say "I'm sorry" for any of the life threatening situations he dragged his friends into or for any of the problems that he caused. He always tried to justify what he had done or what happened to him by blaming something else, never or very rarely did he ever acknowledge that he was ever at fault. He had no thought for the thoughts or emotions of the girls he dated, he merely wanted them for his own emotional gratification. Lastly he never cared about the rules, his morals were the ends justify the means which obviously doesn't make sense.
Favorite Charcter: Professor Snape
He was the only one who saw Potter for what he was, a little tyke with an ego big enough to match his legend but not his actual personality. Snape was the only one who trusted Dumbelodre to the last even though Dumbeldore didn't tell him everything and even though Snape knew Harry had to be the hero of the story. Snape was in my opinion the real hero of the story.
Other Favotire Character: Luna Lovegood because she was the only girl who didn't need a boy to kiss, she was confident in who she was regardless of what other people thought of her.
Neville Longbottom because when Harry had seemingly died and all hope was lost Voldermot asked him in person to change sides and Neville replied "I'll join you when all Hell freezes over" and proceeded to cut off the snakes head.
The good and bad elements of the book: When I started the series I was warned by a few people that the books were something evil. When one reads fiction he must understand that a good fictional author is one who can totally divorce their work from reality. So while in reality, witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires, warlocks are undeniably evil in this false reality that the author created these beings are good or bad depending on the choices of that individual. When one is willing to make that jump and acknowledge that in the books witches are not evil simply because they are called witches, their is very little that makes the books evil. The code at one point to get into the ministry of magic is 6,4,2,2,4 which is assumed to relate to the satanic number 666 however that is really the only thing I found that one could say is evil. For Christians seeking justification in reading the books I actually found many Christian themes. The idea that love is more powerful then hatred, that blood must be paid to regain life, that loyalty is more important the glory. One could even draw a comparison from Harry Potter to Jesus if one is willing to make a few stretches. Harry Potter the boy who lived the one who would succumb to death to conquer death and returned from what he thought was death to save the world from the evil Voldermort closely resembles the story of Jesus who came to earth and lived to die and then return from the dead to defeat death and conquer Satan.
Ultimatlly I think the books were neither evil nor good. its just like a wand its not the wand that is good or bad its the one who carries it, such is it with books. The series was undoubtlay a waste of time and so I'd only advise reading it if you feel your able to abandon reality for a week or however long it takes you to read it because its a very good story when the reader is not distracted by the cares of reality. Much like an elongated movie, when your done with it you feel like you just woke up from a long nap and have to pick up the threads of life where you left them.
I promised myself while I reading that after i was done I'd write up an opinion of the series. I'll try not to reveal too much of the stories for those who havn't read them yet or are in process of reading. So let us begin.Worst Characters: Harry Potter
I hated that he was the hero, he was an arrogant, haughty, selfish, greedy little squirt. Never once and I actually looked for this as I read, did he say "I'm sorry" for any of the life threatening situations he dragged his friends into or for any of the problems that he caused. He always tried to justify what he had done or what happened to him by blaming something else, never or very rarely did he ever acknowledge that he was ever at fault. He had no thought for the thoughts or emotions of the girls he dated, he merely wanted them for his own emotional gratification. Lastly he never cared about the rules, his morals were the ends justify the means which obviously doesn't make sense.
Favorite Charcter: Professor Snape
He was the only one who saw Potter for what he was, a little tyke with an ego big enough to match his legend but not his actual personality. Snape was the only one who trusted Dumbelodre to the last even though Dumbeldore didn't tell him everything and even though Snape knew Harry had to be the hero of the story. Snape was in my opinion the real hero of the story.
Other Favotire Character: Luna Lovegood because she was the only girl who didn't need a boy to kiss, she was confident in who she was regardless of what other people thought of her.
Neville Longbottom because when Harry had seemingly died and all hope was lost Voldermot asked him in person to change sides and Neville replied "I'll join you when all Hell freezes over" and proceeded to cut off the snakes head.
The good and bad elements of the book: When I started the series I was warned by a few people that the books were something evil. When one reads fiction he must understand that a good fictional author is one who can totally divorce their work from reality. So while in reality, witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires, warlocks are undeniably evil in this false reality that the author created these beings are good or bad depending on the choices of that individual. When one is willing to make that jump and acknowledge that in the books witches are not evil simply because they are called witches, their is very little that makes the books evil. The code at one point to get into the ministry of magic is 6,4,2,2,4 which is assumed to relate to the satanic number 666 however that is really the only thing I found that one could say is evil. For Christians seeking justification in reading the books I actually found many Christian themes. The idea that love is more powerful then hatred, that blood must be paid to regain life, that loyalty is more important the glory. One could even draw a comparison from Harry Potter to Jesus if one is willing to make a few stretches. Harry Potter the boy who lived the one who would succumb to death to conquer death and returned from what he thought was death to save the world from the evil Voldermort closely resembles the story of Jesus who came to earth and lived to die and then return from the dead to defeat death and conquer Satan.
Ultimatlly I think the books were neither evil nor good. its just like a wand its not the wand that is good or bad its the one who carries it, such is it with books. The series was undoubtlay a waste of time and so I'd only advise reading it if you feel your able to abandon reality for a week or however long it takes you to read it because its a very good story when the reader is not distracted by the cares of reality. Much like an elongated movie, when your done with it you feel like you just woke up from a long nap and have to pick up the threads of life where you left them.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Good Old Plinky.
So I'm not going to apologize for not posting because I have my reasons, I just hope people haven't stopped checking my blog because of a shortage of posts. Seeing as how I posted fourteen days straight I think I earned myself a little slack. I wasn't going to post today either but today's Plinky question was far to thought provoking. Here it is, *drumroooooooooollllll*
If their was no consequences what is the most evil thing you would do?
A superb question and one that in my younger years I actually devoted considerable hours of daydreaming to. These thoughts normally led to daring exploits such as becoming and expert assassin/inquisitor and being a sort of Robin Hood. Making myself appear that I'm doing good but in reality I would feed off an established system of authority to make myself happy.
Those dreams however are long gone. Realistically if I could choose one evil thing to do and not get caught I'd try to bring about the downfall of some powerful organization that I dont particularly like. Not necessarily because I dont like the task that it is doing I just think the resources that organization uses could be better used elsewhere. Agenices like the DMV *scowls* or society's dedicated to the protection of animals or companies that produce "christian" media for the public to make it more appealing and less threatening. I'd use more violent means then legislation and vent my frustration on such organizations by perhaps killing the last Eight Eyed Purple Glow in the Dark Filipino Butterfly Moth Bug or possibly nudging a bicyclist who thinks he's a car and trys to take up a driving lane.
So now that you all have a glimpse into my dark side and know a bit more about the things I'd delete pretty quick if I had a bit more power and a bit less conscience, I'll go to bed and leave you to wonder what sort of foul deeds you'd commit if God went off watch.
PS. I'm reading the Harry Potter books, hardcore and trying to finish them as quickly as possible...hence my not posting. I've been holding out on a post about the books and the reasons people dislike them until after I've done, so it might be Monday or Tuesday before I get to that.
If their was no consequences what is the most evil thing you would do?
A superb question and one that in my younger years I actually devoted considerable hours of daydreaming to. These thoughts normally led to daring exploits such as becoming and expert assassin/inquisitor and being a sort of Robin Hood. Making myself appear that I'm doing good but in reality I would feed off an established system of authority to make myself happy.
Those dreams however are long gone. Realistically if I could choose one evil thing to do and not get caught I'd try to bring about the downfall of some powerful organization that I dont particularly like. Not necessarily because I dont like the task that it is doing I just think the resources that organization uses could be better used elsewhere. Agenices like the DMV *scowls* or society's dedicated to the protection of animals or companies that produce "christian" media for the public to make it more appealing and less threatening. I'd use more violent means then legislation and vent my frustration on such organizations by perhaps killing the last Eight Eyed Purple Glow in the Dark Filipino Butterfly Moth Bug or possibly nudging a bicyclist who thinks he's a car and trys to take up a driving lane.
So now that you all have a glimpse into my dark side and know a bit more about the things I'd delete pretty quick if I had a bit more power and a bit less conscience, I'll go to bed and leave you to wonder what sort of foul deeds you'd commit if God went off watch.
PS. I'm reading the Harry Potter books, hardcore and trying to finish them as quickly as possible...hence my not posting. I've been holding out on a post about the books and the reasons people dislike them until after I've done, so it might be Monday or Tuesday before I get to that.
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