To Live is Christ

After I've weighed all my options And I've counted the cost May I joyfully declare to all t hat everything's loss Compared to growing a bit closer To the man who is God The one buried, then risen And now exalted above

I know the commands I believe what I've read Now what does it look like  to do what He's said?

     I've wanted to put this down in writing for awhile, but I haven't.  I haven't because the thought is a bit fanciful, possibly can not be proven, and so results in nothing more than wonder.  The thought is: What if God pushes us through time or has given matter a temporal quality, similar to mass, that keeps all matter in step with the present.  In other words, it is an answer to the question, why is nothing lost in the past?  If the past is a real thing, I think we - or at least I - take it for granted that the objects that were around me 2 seconds ago continue to be around me still.        Were I to leave my dresser behind, walk 10 meters, only to find my dresser is still by my side, I would have to at least consider the possibility that something or someone moved it - and so it may be the same with time.  Were I to move 10 minutes into the future and still find my dresser by my side, I think I would have to at least con...

Were God to breathe in We would return to ashes One cigarette in a carton of 200 The magnitude of God’s love for us is unimaginable There are more molecules of water in one glass Than glasses of water in all the oceans

I can remain in my thoughts of me Or your thoughts of me Or God’s thoughts of me in Christ I choose the latter He chose to suffer He made a way to make the unright right What did they do? What have I done? None of our persons hold any weight It is He who condemns He who forgives It is in Him I would rather remain

    Fear is a capacity built into almost every person.  It is a reflex so influential over a person's decisions and actions, that wisdom must consider its objects and effects.  The Scriptures reveal that fear is at the heart of wisdom and is necessary in order to even begin down wisdom's path.       The stoics sought to do away with fear lest it control them, the entrepreneur embraces fear as a powerful motivating force, but wisdom will not succumb to the resignation of the stoic or the foolhardiness of the entrepreneur.  Wisdom accepts fear as a real thing and makes its object God.  

The condition of the unregenerate and the unborn is very similar. Both the unregenerate and the unborn have yet to be born. Both the unregenerate and the unborn could go their whole lives without being born. Both the unregenerate and the unborn could face a terrible end that they are powerless to escape in themselves. The plight of both the unregenerate and the unborn is easy to forget for they are unable to speak out in their own best interest. The salvation of the unregenerate and the unborn is dependent upon others looking out for their best interest The salvation of the unregenerate and the unborn is dependent upon others speaking out on their behalf.

It takes time for the current from the brain to reach the limbs.   The thoughts of the Reformers and the Puritans have arrived at us a nd we are in motion.   And if we are not, w e are restless.

There lies the corpse: the Letter Unable to see, hear, touch, or taste Here is the God of Hagar who sees Here is the God of Moses who speaks Here is the God of Jacob who touches Here is the God of David who hears Their/our God was/is present

     To esteem one's self is to practice spiritual self-cannibalism.  Begin savoring thoughts of yourself and you will find at the outset fresh vigor and rejuvenation.  Continue filling up on yourself and you will soon find that you have consumed yourself whole.  Left empty, your stomach becomes your god and you begin to resemble instinct driven animals rather than God-fearing and God-loving men. 

Fingers and legs piled in bleach-white bags. Bloodied gloves.  Come feast your eyes!

     I was adopted from South Korea and arrived in the United States at six and one-half months old.  I usually don’t make a habit of telling people I’m adopted - I don't think most adopted people do.  As a matter of fact, it usually takes at least a good six months after a person has met me before they find out.  Sometimes people find out I’m adopted after meeting my parents or a relative, sometimes they find out through a friend of mine, and sometimes they find out after asking,“Sadler? - what nationality is Sadler?”     After people find out I’m adopted, I get mixed reactions.  Most of the time people pause as if they’re wondering how to resume the conversation and then proceed by asking me how old I was when I was adopted or if I have any siblings, sometimes people comment on how cool it is and then switch topics, but sometimes the person who learns I was adopted is a Christian, and when Christians find out I’m adopte...

Resolved:  That sinful motivations ought not  keep one from obedience to Jesus    Paul commands the Christians in Rome to present their members as slaves to righteousness rather than slaves to sin.  Like the Christians of Paul’s time, we understand that the fight to present our members as slaves to righteousness is difficult.  It is difficult for the flesh is both compelling and crafty.  Like Satan, the flesh will even use God’s written Word to pit the Christian against his Master.           One of the most crafty methods the flesh uses to pit the Christian against his Master is an over-preoccupation with his own motives.  What do I mean by this?  A Christian is overly preoccupied with his own motives when his own motives keep him from submitting to the direct commands of the Lord Jesus.  Practically, this looks like a Christian deciding not to be baptized because he knows that in his...

    God has given us these two metaphors to describe Christian growth and progress.  I have found that I am quick to think of my “progress” as a runner in a race and not as a plant in a field.  When I do, my flesh is quick to come up with reasons to boast in the fact that I have “gone farther” than my Christian brother or sister.  I forget that this “going farther” may not be actual progress, but simply how God has made me to be versus how He has made my sibling in Christ to be.       Growth for one type of plant looks different than growth for a different type.  Some need to learn self-control, while others need to learn to exercise passion.   Some need to remember God is transcendent, while others need to remember God is immanent.  Some need to take some time to focus on the state of their souls, while others need to take the focus off themselves and learn to consider others.  God has made each pers...

From the time I sprung up From the ground I noticed to my right A shoot that much resembled Me in every way but height Our differences delighted me I boasted that my leaves Were closer to sun and moon The celestial bodies Season after season I looked down to my right But as the both of us matured I was met with a surprise   Though short in stature  My neighbor was m uch more beautiful than I A dainty, rare, exotic plant Me a common, green giant

Obedience to Christ Not a balanced life Not an equal and opposite pull To the left and to the right Sometimes we live in light of God As King Sometimes we live in light of God As Lover Depending on which affects our lives And the lives of others To love Christ and others Is in the moment The situation Consideration of the other colors Our actions and decisions

   In the Book of James, the brother of Jesus tells the church something startling.  He writes, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” (James 4:2b).  This means that there are blessings we have forfeited simply because we have not done the simple task of asking our Heavenly Father for them.      Here you may become excited thinking, “I want to receive the blessing I ask for, so I will ask!” and this may be true.  You who ask in Christ’s name and for the purpose of His will may receive the very thing you ask for.  But the Scriptures give reason for us to be excited about receiving blessings we did not ask for in response to our requests.    We need only look at God’s answer to a famous prayer of the apostle Paul’s to know that this is true.  In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church, Paul writes of a thorn that God placed in his flesh to keep him from becoming conceited (2 Cor 12:6-7) .  Three t...

Our hope is that we will see Jesus Our confidence: that He is with us now Hope and Confidence birth action— The spreading of seed—Toil—Plow We are wheat among tares In appearance both the same Nothing to distinguish us But the day of reaping—Fire—Flame To know is to be responsible Know that reconciliation is our ministry Know that your hope could be your neighbors Know that the Truth sets people free But how can they know unless they hear And how can they hear unless we speak God’s sovereignty is not at odds With our call to testify Bear witness!—Represent!—Preach! So if there is any encouragement in Christ Any comfort from His love Any participation in His Spirit Be of the same mind Faith. Hope. Love!

As selfish men, we kick against the notion that we would be 2nd to God's desire for His own glory despite the fact that in His glorifying Himself we are loved. This predisposition in man betrays a fatal flaw, for if man will not have God's love if he is not first in God's heart, man proves that he wants neither God nor His love, but first place.

We like to consider ourselves disciples of Christ The salt of the earth -- beacons of Light We pick up the good book but never Put it back down We've got our hands full We've got our hands tied