With All Disrespect to Death...

a family gravesite in Edinburgh, Scotland
photographed Sept. 2018

I've been listening to O Praise the Name (Anastasis) by Hillsong quite a bit lately. I am regularly awestruck by the beauty in the rich theology and simple melody of the hymn. My favorite part, debatably, is in the third verse where we declare, “Oh trampled death, where is your sting? The angels roar for Christ the King”. I wish my voice could shout louder every time I come to this stanza because my heart screams in gratitude to our great Almighty Who did the trampling of that death and its curse. As much as I have been reveling in the English version, I have also been enjoying it in the Russian recording. The same part is said in a different (yet similar) way. Rather than addressing death, the heavens cry out that Christ has trampled death. I realized that the verb (попрал, - poprahl - past tense of the infinitive попрать) that is used was not familiar to me - although I understood it in context - so I looked it up. I was not prepared for what I read. It means “trample,” for sure, but it’s more violent than just "to trample." It means: to rudely or cruelly disrupt, stomp on, or break up; to trample. It may seem like a small differentiation, but it shed light for me on the extent to which Christ violated death. He removed, for the believer, any hold that the curse of death and the grave has on us. But not just for us. For. His. Glory. And we get to join Him in His mission to bring life to the dead, as we once were... all for the fame and glory and declaration of Him and His saving work. Although we still die, the spiritual death that was death's sting no longer holds power because of His saving work. That is good news, indeed. 

Stand in the Rain

In life, I have found that the worst times
Tend to be the best... as long as we go through them with friends.
Not because we enjoy suffering, but because we see how much we've grown
In spite of said suffering. If we didn't experience the pain, we wouldn't have experienced the maturity. It's been said that life isn't about avoiding the storms, but learning to dance in the rain. I believe, of some, merely standing in the rain is a triumph. Jesus said that we will never be tested beyond what we can handle. Even still, He, and only He, is the power that helps us to stand, dance, or rejoice in the rain of these storms. Life is a struggle. A beautiful struggle. If you are in Christ, there are only three times of life, and they cycle until death. 1) You are in a storm, 2) you are coming out of one, and 3) you are about to go into one. Some may say that God is cruel for allowing us to go through such pain, but I have learned that without the fire, silver would be flawed; without the heat, clay vessels would be unusable; and without storms, Christians would be back in the ways of death. Our faith and conviction is so precious to our Father, that He will increase the pressure to increase our faith. He only wants what's best for us. He will see us through.

Flight of Time

So, time flies fast. Like really, really fast. It seems like yesterday was my last post, but it's been about a month. What's happened in between? Well, I took a trip to Nevada with my father (strictly for work) and while driving back up, we hit black ice and rolled his work rig. Yeah, that's about the closest to death that I've come. But we are fine, no injuries. Like, at all. God has been very good to us. We celebrated a wonderful Christmas as well as ringing in the New Year. The most recent news, however,  is that I will be auditioning for an acting agent on Saturday. This Saturday. Needless to say, I am very excited. Very, very, VERY excited.

Happy New Year, everyone!
Remember in all things, no matter how far we fall,
Jesus never, ever, ever gives up on us.
Be true to Him because, most assuredly, He is always true to us.
In fact, He is truth.

Simeon.

The Screwtape Letters

Have you ever wanted to know what the demons think? Have you ever wondered how they go about tempting you every day? Well, many years ago, C.S. Lewis penned a book that might give you a little glimpse into the other side.

            The Screwtape Letters is a fictitious assortment of letters written by Undersecretary Screwtape, a retired tempter, to his nephew, Wormwood, a beginning tempter. These letters are filled with tidbits of advice that are supposed to help Wormwood “secure” the soul of his “patient.” Although the reader never hears what Wormwood says or does, the attitude of Screwtape’s letters convey what is evidently happening. He is a blundering, clumsy idiot of a demon and Screwtape has much fun in telling him so. Whether or not the soul is captured I will leave up to you to find out…

         Although it is, as said before, a fictitious writing, C.S. Lewis brings up many good points throughout these letters. The wisdom written here should be heeded and spread so that less and less of Christians will fall into the devil’s clever, imperceptible traps.

Paradise Lost

In 1668, John Milton published Paradise Lost, an epic about the beginning of time and the fall of Satan, the demons, and Adam and Eve. In the course of 12 ‘books’ Milton weaves a plot from the fabric of Scripture, while taking a bit of author’s liberty to name angels and demons and filling in the dialogue to lengthen the story. Although  Milton did not want to ‘create’ a Calvinistic God by how he wrote, he inadvertently did.

When the story begins, Satan has already fallen to hell. He and his demons discuss what to do, how to get revenge on God. They finally decide that one of them should go to earth, God’s newest creation and see if he can pervert the crown of the Lord’s work, man. Satan is elected as Hell’s spy and he leaves to accomplish his task. He arrives and whispers a dream into Eve’s ear as she sleeps, he is caught by a troop of angels patrolling Eden and is brought to Gabriel. Satan is then kicked out of Eden, only to return later. A seraph named Raphael arrives from Heaven and, upon Adam’s request, recounts the fall of Satan, the war in Heaven, and the Creation. In order to detain Raphael further, Adam tells him all that he remembers of his own creation and the creation of Eve and their marriage. Finally, after Raphael leaves, Satan strikes again with temptation and our first parents succumb to the temptation. The Son of God (Jesus) comes to Eden, searching for his creations. He is saddened by their betrayal and, because of their unwillingness to take responsibility for their actions, curses them, as well as Satan. The Father tells the Son that a rift has been made that separates man from God and the Son offers his life to pay for theirs. The Father accepts this offer, but even though the sin has been forgiven in light of the Cross, he requires the humans to leave Eden. As they obey and retreat to the world outside, Michael appears and gives them a glimpse into the future, of Jesus’ coming and the Atonement that he will bring.

Because this book was written in the 17^th Century, it is extremely hard to read. I would recommend it to lovers of the classics and those who can concentrate and decipher Old English.  And anyone looking for a challenge... just sayin'.

Hunter Brown and the Eye of Ends

Hunter Brown and the Eye of Ends, written by the Miller Brothers, is the thrilling conclusion to the Hunter Brown Trilogy. This book is entertaining, original, and packed with biblical truths. Although the message that “the Author writes everything for a purpose” still seems to be an overriding theme, the main theme seems to be “Trust that God want the best for you.”

            After saving Cranton from the school fire, Hunter is sedated by two “hospital” workers, and when he wakes up, he can’t remember anything that happened the previous night… except the fair. His whole memory of his second trip to Solandria has been erased, not that he knows that. A big black detective named Vogler comes to him at the hospital and gives Hunter his backpack, which was found at the scene of the fire, and Hunter finds his things in it: his Author’s Writ, his Veritas Sword… and someone else’s, but he can’t remember whose it is. To make matters worse, when he tries to use his sword, he gets incredibly painful migraines. After being let go from the hospital, he is visited by another stranger, a girl named Desi, who gives him a card that says he has an overdue item at the library… only he’s never had a library account. Through mysterious circumstances, he gets a call from Desi, who tells Hunter that Vogler is looking for him and is there at the library. She saves him from the detective and takes him to her uncle, who informs him that Vogler is actually an evil Watcher named Tonomis and that he (the uncle), a man named Simon Ot, knows Hunter’s father, Caleb. He also knows that Caleb was the last human in possession of the mysterious Eye of Ends…

            Why can Hunter not remember his visit to Solandria with Trista? Is Vogler really who Simon says he is? Is Hunter’s father still alive? And what exactly is the Eye of Ends? Find out for yourself when you read Hunter Brown and the Eye of Ends. 

Spoiler Alert!

Wow, I have not been on here for a long time. A lot has happened since then. I went and saw THOR 3D and was very impressed with its redemptive message.  I have to admit, I was skeptical when I went to see it (him being a Norse god and all). I expected it to be full of superstition, magic, and a pagan worldview.  I titled this post “Spoiler Alert” because I am going to discuss the movie and how it relates to us as Christians and want to warn those who have yet to see this amazing movie. Although it may look like it will be fuzzy, the trailer is clear.

The movie is about a boy becoming a man, finding out what it means to be a good king, and showing that suffering, seen in the right light, will produce good fruit. For those who have seen the movie, it is interesting to see the different shadows of Christianity sprinkled throughout the film. While Thor is on earth and Odin is in a coma, Frigga tells Loki that Odin “never does anything without a purpose.” (Was that Branagh’s shot at sovereignty?) Thor approaches the Destroyer and offers his life instead of the humans and the Destroyer smacks him with his spiked arm. As Thor lies dying, he asks Jane if they are safe, then he dies and it is in the moment of apparent loss, that Thor wins his greatest victory. Does that remind you at all of Someone else who died but won? Even after returning to Asgard, Thor again sacrifices what he wants to save others by destroying the Bifrost to save Jötunheim (pronounced “yodenheim”) the home of the Frost Giants, even though it means he won’t be able to see Jane Foster again. All this to say, I really enjoyed the movie and I hope you did or will enjoy it as well.

Thanks for reading,

Simeon.

2 Cor. 5:17-21

Another good review is: http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/thor.aspx 

Not-so-ordinary people

You may wonder why I say that we Christians are not-so-ordinary people. Allow me to explain... in the Bible, Jesus was talking to the disciples about miracles. He had just cast a demon out of a little boy, "19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not cast it out?' He said to them, h 'Because of your little faith. For i truly, I say to you, j if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, k you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move, andl nothing will be impossible for you.' [1] (Matthew 17:19-20, ESV) I don't know about you, but I haven't seen any amazing miracles lately. We (Christians) have the spiritual power of the Hulk, but are afraid of the little mouse called Failure and his brother Scorn. We are NOT ordinary. We have a "Superhero" Who lets us use His power to do good, but we don't act on this. Imagine how the world would be shocked if all of the not-so-ordinary people rose up and did something. I know that there would be a BIG difference in the way that Christians are viewed. Right now, most people think that we civilized Christians talk big, but walk little. Now I know that there are a lot of us that go unnoticed, so the world is a little misled, but they do have grounds for this assumption. Let's change what they think of us, all of the not-so-ordinary people. Let's DO HARD THINGS, and make a change. Whether it's one conversation, one tweet, or one act of kindness at a time, you never know how God can use you. 


Press on, friends, 
"Be strong and courageous" God is with us, 
So never fear to follow where He leads,
Simeon.
2. Cor. 5:17-21

I'm a Sinner

Here's an interesting thought, we should be happy that we are sinners. We shouldn't continue in our sin, yes; but, Jesus died to save sinners, this is truly wonderful.


Simeon. 
2 Cor. 5:17-21

My Hope SHOULD BE Built On Nothing Less

Have you ever heard Hawk Nelson’s song “Friend Like That”? Part of it says “I, I need Somebody on the inside. I, I want Somebody who can set me free. I’m not the only one who feels like this, I’ve got a few others around me. Hey! Hey! Let me hear you say, make some noise if you feel this way. Hey! If you got a Friend like that. Hey! Let’s scream and shout if you know what I’m talkin’ about! Hey! If you got a Friend like that.” I thoroughly enjoy this song and I feel like screaming and shouting. Anyway, to move on to my point. Sometimes, as Christians, we lose sight of where our joy comes from in life. We place our hope in things of this world and when those things fail us, we become disheartened. A good friend of mine told me recently, “You can’t rely on other humans for approval or acceptance, the only person you should care about approving you is Jesus, if you have His approval, then nothing else matters. He has already accepted you.”  This friend of mine is rarely serious and if he reads this, he would probably be surprised by the impact that his statement made on me. I already knew what he said was true, but God knew I needed that wake-up call. Christians should be the happiest people on earth, but because we place our hope in something other than Jesus, we constantly lose our joy. We need to remember that we have “Somebody on the inside” and we have “Somebody who can set us free” so we should “scream and shout” because we have a solid Rock to place our hope on. The world should know, without a doubt, who we serve because of our happiness (besides our love). Jesus has saved us and He will NEVER let us down. This should make us happy. We have a “Friend like that” and this should cause us to be extremely joyful.

Thanks for reading,

Simeon

2 Cor. 5:17-21

My Redeemer's Love

            As the shadow of the Christmas season fades, I think about our AMAZING Savior. Does it shock you that Jesus was willing to die for you and me? We can be very sinful at times and He knew this all along, but He didn’t think twice about it, He came.

            For this next section, I will use the parable of the prodigal son to help illustrate my point. At the point of conversion, God the Father takes our filthy rags and gives us a clean robe, a ring, and a new life. He only asks two things of us, #1 to not get our clothes dirty (that was a BIG paraphrase of when Jesus said “Go and sin no more, but only I use this for the purpose of illustration) and #2 to live for Him. But, we, being human, don’t listen. Then we repent of our wrong, ask forgiveness for our sin, and the Father says, “You know what, My Son died for all mankind, His blood is definitely enough to cover this sin. I forgive you.” And you know what? He does it again and again, because we sin again and again. It blows me away that He forgives again and again, without thinking twice. This is love. I have five younger brothers who I love, okay, most of them can take care of themselves now, but when they were younger, I can remember getting them ready for church and washing their face, getting them clean. Nevertheless, they were little boys, and no matter how hard I tried, they wouldn’t stay clean, so after the tenth, scratch that, the fifth time of washing them in a short amount of time, I would start to get frustrated with them, I was like, “Why can’t you just stay clean?,”  but God NEVER gets even mildly upset with us after all that we do, He just cleans us up and pushes us on. I just picture myself at the end of all things and Satan will stand there pointing at the faintest, little smudge on my white garment, perhaps a sin that I didn’t repent of, and he laughs, “Aha! Aha! Look here, he was not forgiven of this sin!” and my Wonderful Master Jesus Christ looks from the smudge to His Holy and Just Father and says, “Father, I died for Simeon’s sins, didn’t I?” and God will say, “Yes, Son, You did.”

            Jesus will continue, “And is he in my Book of Life?”

            The Father will say, “Yes, he is.”

            Then Jesus will turn to Satan and say, “Be gone, Satan, My blood is enough to cover this last sin.”

            Wow, “How Marvelous, How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me.

Hallelujah, Amen.

Simeon

2 Cor. 5:17-21

Mark Driscoll on Twilight

So here's the deal: thousands of Christians are being sucked (no pun intended) into the demonic world of Twilight. So here is some good, solid preaching on why it is wrong... This guy is amazing.
Note: If you are under thirteen, please have your parents preview this video.