The Temptation: Baking Stones in the Desert

Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn’t give us some sort of concrete proof for everything? Why did his entire mission and purpose end up on some scrappy old parchments? Jesus could have, at least, given some sort of irrefutable proof to silence all the skeptics, atheists and the lot. I’m sure that at any moment, he could’ve shut them up with some divine, dynamic, mind-altering, psychotropic knowledge; something undeniable and indubitable; to tilt things into God’s favor, to topple the odds and deaden all questions and theories. Which if I were Jesus I would’ve probably done and ashamed them all. As it is, for us, God is one so-called ‘concept’ that’s very easy to deny; we’re actually free to fly in the face of God.

God got on His knees

Bob Hamp

She hated herself, almost as much as she hated him. She had not always been the hating type. She had once been gentle and kind, but life had not been gentle and kind to her. Today, she hated that she had followed one more time. She had followed her fear, instead of her heart, and she had followed this man into this room, because of another set of empty promises, and smooth words. But all the kindness went away as soon as she had consented.

Once he had heard her “Yes” he looked at her differently. Suddenly his touch was not so much about her, as it was about him. He became rough with her as he led her into the back room. Moments ago, he had seemed so attentive, and almost thoughtful. It had all shifted when she nodded her head to his proposition. It was clear that when their encounter ended she would never see him again. That’s not what his words said earlier, but his actions and tone spoke louder than his words ever had.

He began roughly pulling at her clothing, and bodily moving her into a position of submission and weakness. She gave in, her heart breaking again into little pieces as she silently refused to stand up for herself. Her body and her heart were dying hundreds of tiny deaths, and she choked back everything that was true about herself. How had she ended up here again? But she knew the role she was supposed to play, and she gave in to the actress who had betrayed her before. This painfully familiar scene had played out before, and here she was again. Each act was familiar, and she knew her lines all too well.

Grace and a Discussion

If I ever keep a list of bestest pastors I’ve heard; Judah Smith would be tops, hands down. Only for one particular reason: he mixes attitude with humility (now there’s an oxymorn!), in all he keeps his focus on Jesus. He’s got this molecular thinking which at the same time is contemporary, yet bible adhering AND uncannily funny! With his knack of keeping his listeners captivated as they listen to stories they’ve heard a million times over… Totally inebriating! And all he preaches is Jesus, nothing more nothing less! Though I’m a critic of many things, I’ll be honest here; almost every one of Judah’s messages have moved me, made me pay more attention to things in the bible, and have influenced my prayers.

His talks on God’s Grace are only outdone by Max Lucado’s books. By the way, Grace can be a weird (read 'illogical') little (read 'unmerited') concept (read 'personality') that’s sorta hard to grasp, especially for the noobs (no offense! :D ), but it’s by far *the* most outtathisworld, free (read the letters, “FREE”) gift given to anyone who believes that such a thing exists (it’s that simple, just believe!). I’ll get into the topic of Grace in another post, soon. Though the reason I brought up Grace was because I stumbled upon this goldmine of a pastor a couple of months back while watching the 2008 series of Hillsong Conference where he did a message on the topic of ‘Embrace Grace’. I became a hardcore fan right after... (of Jesus, of course! :P )

I’m not going into much with this post, cos it’s got two forty minute videos embedded right underneath, both of Judah’s. The first being the talk on ‘Embrace Grace’ (which he gave at Foreward 2009, couldn’t find the same he gave at Hillsong Conference 2008) and the second (aired very recently) where he and his wife answers some really funky questions that’s relevant to our society today. The answers they give are as humbly attitudinal as they come and by far the best I’ve heard... (Especially his reply to “Is dancing in clubs or schools bad? What about grinding, cat daddy and dougie?”)

Embrace Grace [Live @ Foreward 2009]

The Discussion Q&A [Live @ The City Church, Seattle]

You can watch most of Judah’s messages over the past year from http://www.thecity.org

Jonah: The Square Peg in a Round Hole

The book of Jonah was written anonymously, though most believe that Jonah himself was the writer. It is one book of the bible where people would easily go, "Been there, done that". We all know the story; he was a ‘chicken’ prophet who was too scared to do the will of God. God punished him by getting a fish to macerate him. He realized his mistake, repented and went back to doing what God called him to do. And we all know he was just, as most theologians would put it, a ‘minor’ prophet. But in all this, there is more to him than what meets the eye. As anyone from RZIM would say, "Let’s put this stuff into context..!", and it’s to the context where I’m going.

The Bloody River

 

Before anything; know that you do not need the story of how a person was saved to realize that something has changed in his life. You absolutely do NOT need a testimony; ‘cause all you have to do is to open your eyes, and take a good look at him. The Bible says you will know a person by his fruits. A good tree cannot bear bad fruits and vice versa. And it won’t take anything to realize if a tree is good or bad  (if you believe the Bible that is…). That is the only way you’ll know if anything at all is really true.

This entry is long, grueling, beyond uncanny and painstakingly boring. You need not read all of this at all. But it’s there for my happiness and my closure on certain matters. It’s the very reason why this blog was created, the essence of it all; that someday I might go about and write what goes through my head. And it did take some time to get over it, but I did, and here it is: My thoughts in a thought...

In my most demented times, I wonder at the marvel; of how I was introduced to Christ. Not as just a goody do good person, but as a God; my God, as my savior, as my father, brother and friend… Though, the only thing that stood in my way was my foolhardy intellect. I faintly remember the first few stories I’ve heard about Him ‘back in the days’, those stories about a cool Dude walking on water, about those ‘Be still’ stories, and my! Water into wine! About Jonah and the fish, about David, Noah and the Ark. Stories that was fascinating to me as a child. I guess we all begin the same way; hear these as just ‘stories’ and around 20 years later (or way less), if you allow it, these stories will become a cherished history… Your history. Then it becomes all about the Kingdom you’ve just entered, all of its hosts applauding your entry; a Kingdom with a King who came to you disguised, who so dolefully gave away His precious life for your idiocy and paid the full price for your ingress; such and such in a huge calamitous divine collision. Know that He wants to incur an endearing beautiful exchange with you. All you’ve got to do is, for once; put away that intellect of yours, and open your hearts to believe. The rest is sure to follow.

The Perfect Hypocrite

hyp-o-crite /ˈhipəˌkrit/ :  If you don't walk the walk, it's probably best not to talk the talk.

The critical mind would be mystified by me, a fool when climacteric decisions are to be made. But, this isn’t about decisions or the fools; it’s about me or rather my own foolhardy world, a cocoon that I weaved for my own expiation. It’s a perfect synonymy, a harmonious embodiment. I expelled myself from the outside world, coercing myself to see with this new shade of color. And I saw bliss, I saw beauty, I saw contentment, an arcadian life, and I saw God. STOP! Because it wasn’t God I saw. Contrarily, I saw an illusion of him, an illusion I made up. For months I played around with this illusion. Talking with people, influencing them, and changing them; all through with my own private rustic world. And it was this dissemblance, this ‘lip service’ that brought many people to God, the real God. I hold my answers to them as true and legible; contemporary enough for the modern world (as I never held down any fast orthodox principles). And I was good at it, good at being an act. Acting all through, always, whenever I was with anyone, never showing my true self. And they believed, the nits!

Behold, I Make All Things Anew!

Inspired by SONICFLOOd & a rare song titled "Precious Jesus" by The Choir & Leigh Nash...

I remember you...
On that most holy night...
When heavens opened up, love poured out...
Hope kissed the earth, giving to us a gift…
Angels fell down to their knees…
And sang glory to your name!

I remember you…
When you slept in your Mother’s arms….
‘Twas a precious sight…
Little did people know, a stir was brewing...
One that would change the world forever...
For you came to set us free!

We remember you…
When you cried to the lost…
Ancient promises fulfilled…
So those who believe be salvaged...
Lover of our souls, you did everything…
But we spat on you… Lord… I spat on you!

We remember you…
When you stumbled and crawled…
Crown of thorns crushed down your skull...
You bled... Lord... You bled...
Bled for us... Oh Immortal, how you wept...
Calvary opened its dolorous gates…
But you loved us… You forgave!

I remember you…
On that holy cross… When you thirsted…
When I had nothing to offer…
When you cried out to your Father…
When you breathed your last…
The sun stopped... The earth shook in anger… That torn veil…
Oh my God… What have I done!

I remember you, Precious Jesus…
On that third day…
When the Angel broke through ranks of roman soldiers…
Slewing them that stood guard at your sacred tomb…
Oh, how dare they…
How dare they disgrace your holiness!

I remember you, Oh Prince!
When Sharon's Rose blossomed…
When Nature quaked, trembling with joy….
The skies thundered…
Sweet music echoed all around…
You conquered death… my Savior… You rose!

Oh I remember…
When the righteous dead couldn’t contain themselves,
They shouted, they screamed, they awoke!
The air around resounded…
'Twas the sound of the redeemed rising up to sing praises…
I sang with them, Lord… I sang… I shouted!

Now…
It’s my time to dream…
To dream of the sky…
The sky that faced the earth...
The earth where Love first cried!

Hey!
Can’t you feel the spirit in the air?
Rejoice, for his last words were “I come again”…
And you know he is coming…
Look around you…
It’s screaming in your face…
Remember!

The Enigmatic Conundrum

Back in my days in Kuwait, people never called me a nerd. They called me a genius. The subtle difference is that the latter never studies. The answers come to him, just at the cost of time. Probably it was a tactic developed by my lazy brain which didn’t want to bother going through the details, just the hard hitting facts. Many erratic grades of mine were due to me not having enough time to think. Hence I hated timed exams, and these deterred me to push with the flow. I had to use techniques that wasted brain on cramming. No logic, No basis, No footing. The education system screwed me over. And as you would know, the proficiency that got me through the toughest exams became obsolete, I forgot how it worked. Hence my serious academic career began with my stupidity, followed by falls. Then, I landed in NITT...