Life is in the Blood. And Blood is Red.

A couple days ago, my freight train of thought ended with the phrase 'The red letters are the blood of the Bible'.  I have no clue how I got there.

    But it makes a little bit of sense. The basis of the Christian faith is the fact that Jesus [that being, The Son (of God), who is God] died for an eternity in three days. The red letters are his [directly] quoted words. They are about where the heart would be, if Genesis was the foot and Revelation the hair of the head. 

    And if it weren't for them, nobody would know about the death. They started a wildfire in the people, showed them who he is, so that they would be confident of who he is. They would be confident that Jesus WAS God. That He is. His words finished the understanding of the law, that all men were known to the Father by their hearts, as well as their deeds. 

    They are the words, that by simply being heard, change a man, washing the inside, so that the outside might become clean. The ultimate version of 'Clear Eyes'. (You've seen the commercial. You see how clean those eyes become.) They are the blood of that book. The muttled understanding of the old testament, the confusion and offensive nature of the epistles, and all the "Wait, What?" moments in the Bible, they can be seen clearly. The Truth becomes alive. 

    Now, if we are talking blood, I can't take a platelet and say 'This is blood!', that would be a synecdoche. I would be calling a part a whole. Like cheating me on pie. Bad idea. 

    However, I can grab a microscope, and look at the red blood cell, the platelet, the white blood cell, I can look at all of them, and say, 'This is blood. These are the parts. Together, they bring and maintain life. And I can see the plasma. The plasma alone is naught, but it allows the rest to live well. (I don't know where that last bit was going.)

    I know Matthew Chapter Five, with the beatitudes, is absolutely a cakewalk. But what comes after, along with the rest of his words, make the blood hard to take. It involves condemnation, torture, and difficulty. But the result of that... is life. 

     For the blood is the life of the body, without it the body is dead. Likewise with the red letters. Without them, my heart is laws, rebellion, and vanity. Without them, I am dead of heart. But with the words of a Savior feeding my soul, my life becomes abundant in beauty, despite the pain of my healing.

Rain

I don't get why people think of rain as a grim thing. I like it. It is solemn, and comforting. 


If this is a new perspective to you consider the following verse.


Matt 5:45  " He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" 


If you consider that the sun burns, removes life, causes drought, and is even capable of killing some people, Rain could be preferable. But the rain makes the roads slicker, cools the world, and in some cases can make one shiver with such severity they could die. The world looks rather grim now. Hence, it rains on the wicked.


Opposing that worldview is that which the righteous likely have. Rain? Helps the crops grow. Sun? Beach time. Raining and sunny at the same time? Ride a bike in a poncho at the beach. Or maybe tan and take a (clothed) shower at the same time. It all is fun. See how the world looks now? 


This verse does not necessarily apply to him blessing both. It does not necessarily apply to him cursing both. It applies to both the former and the latter, pronouncing blessings and curses upon all. How do you view the rain? How the snow? How the sun? How the Son? His gospel will bless those who love him, curse those who hate him. Those who live by the deed will be cursed, those who live by THE Grace blessed beyond their wildest dreams. So which one are you?

Shining your Armor

In Ephesians chapter Five, Paul presents us with a list of attributes that God has given to Christians so that we may get through our days, regardless of the stress of the days. I may be a little ADD in this, but I am certain this armor is supposed to be shiny.

Shininess is an attribute that allows for light to be shown without looking directly at it. If we truly want to show God's Glory throughout our lives, we need to shine our armor. Sure, if it is a little grimy it can still protect us, but our enemies will not have nearly as good of a view of the LORD if our armor is frosted over.

So, how do we shine our armor? First, take the time to do it. If we bog ourselves down, we will become tired and forget to do it. Save a day to maintain what the Lord has given you, a relationship. Also, continue to rest in Him, so that he might clean it through his glory. (aside: The temple was cleaned initially through God's Glory. He made everything shiny.)

I will also say this: The sword is a different animal altogether. It becomes shiny while it is being sharpened.  It isn't sharpened by resting, rest brings blades to rust. It is sharpened by being tested on flint, by being tested properly on the coarse stone. It is cleaned as it is used, shined in it's sheath. Never let it down, not for a day. Be ready, so that when battle calls, it will be with you, and able to be guided by it's spirit. Never let it go. Never.

Cookies

Sorry if this post makes you hungry.

Cookies. If you made me some, I officially love you until they're stolen from me. Probably by you. But cookies aren't just a normal gift you give just anyone. I've come up with reasons I would make cookies, and reasons The Fresh Prince [of Bel-Air] would make them. Here goes:

1. Can I? Please?
        You want to do something you normally wouldn't be allowed to do. Default to bribery.

2. I want your forgiveness.
        I messed up. And I can't find the words. So have some cookies.

 2b. I want out.
         I messed up. And I can't find the words. And this punishment I find a little excessive. Have some cookies.

3. I want your favor.
        And these cookies are going to work better than cash. Mostly since I used my family's secret toll house recipe. And I know you like cookies. Everybody likes cookies.

4. I want to give you joy, then steal it out from under you!!!!
       Do I need to explain? This is entertainment for me. Your sadness after I steal and eat your cookie brings a demented smile to my face. And then you realize that there are eleven more. :-)

5. I like you.
        I give you these cookies to say that I enjoy our friendship. And remember, I only used one like. Strictly platonic. Now, then, if I used two...

6. I like like you.
        Go on a date with me. These cookies will make you like me more, increasing my chances. And I already heard the cousin card. Not gonna work this time, girl! I have cookies!!!

Liar, Liar... Stave II

Abraham lied. And we can quote it. "She is my sister." He was lucky he didn't wear pants.

Then he justifies it.Genesis 20 ¹¹ Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ ¹² Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”


This happens twice. TWICE. Plus, this almost caused people to die. Nations. Liar, Liar, Kingdoms on Fire.

I wonder why it is confined to liars though. What about arsonists? I think their pants should catch fire. Robbers, their pockets should burn. And their pants. And those pesky Yellow Journalists, Their pants too. And Liars, can't forget them.

Wait, did I just end where I started?

Liar, Liar

Sometimes... Things blow up. We lose something precious. Our pants catch fire.

Well, I hate admitting my pants caught fire because I lied. I dropped my iPod. And I didn't report it. But that wouldn't be necessary. It usually survives.
    I have never met a person who was excited about their pants catching fire. But we know that it is the direct result of being a liar. Which is a direct result of lying. That's right, l just said that. Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire. The only other option is that my flatus ignited, and that didn't happen. And my pants aren't on fire again.
    In Numbers, 250 Levites decided to believe that they were holy to the LORD. They tried to burn incense, and they were consumed by fire. I blame the pants. But I am pretty sure they wore robes. No, it was definitely the pants.
    Anyways, the lesson is that Liars shouldn't wear pants... Cause it said nothing about shorts/robes/skirts.

    Wait... Scratch that, Reverse it. Pants shouldn't wear Liars.
    One sec... Pant wearers shouldn't Lie.

    Yeah. That must be it.

    Pant Wearers shouldn't Lie.

Characters

The main piece of a story is the Characters. If there aren't Characters, you have sceneries. Thus, I will create a character on this page.

Name: Ike
Reason: I like that name. Plus, he will be an ecoterrorist who guises as a recording artist.
Occupation: Aforementioned.
Type: Never takes a break from his schemes or music. He plots even while in jail. And acts.
Skills: Open-Source Virus Programming in hex code. Uses C programming code, among others.
           Pitch-Perfect, Guitar and Violin. Also, can take poisonous sound waves without being affected.
           Such sound waves are produced by his brother, John (after John Newton).
Fears: Carbon Tetrachloride (irrational), Tritium and other radioactive gases, losing record deal and being exported.

          See, he isn't completely awesome. That would be cliche. Instead, he is a little nerdy, has irrational fears, and is driven to a pointless task by those irrational fears. If you create a 'perfect' character, he becomes a little bit blasphemous, since only the LORD is truly perfect. Your character needs internal conflict, dumb idiosyncrasies, and other pieces that make him unique. Humans are like that, why not faked characters? If you need an exaggerated example, see Wile. E. Coyote, and Adrian Monk. Both are lovable in their quirks.