reachingtokyo

"Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at;.." Henry David Thoreau.

This quote is found in the Economy section of Walden. This passage really encouraged me as i was again pondering if i was going crazy. I ask myself questions like why are people's work and their lives so separate. I believe it is a negative result of seeking the end of "happiness" instead of joy. In other words the pursuit of an easier life becomes a higher value than doing what is right. I know some are reading this and saying "what is right? it depends on the person." The belief that right and wrong are relative are not new but have recently gained popularity. I am not sure if it is a symptom of seeking happiness as our chief end or the cause. I mean are we rationalizing absolute truth out of the equation so that we can seek happiness guilt free, without the nagging "important things" getting in the way? Or is our belief that there really is no right or wrong the presupposition that logically leads to our selfishness?

Akinori Shimodaira "Half Asleep"
Venue: Totan Gallery
Schedule: From 2007-03-03 To 2007-03-18
Address: Kodan Asagaya Jutaku 25-4, 4-3 Naritahigashi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166-0015
Phone: 03-5397-0414

I have been forced to take a job in a coal mine with the baby coming and all. here is a photo. Actually it is from a Gatsby CM i am on. Gatsby is like Gillette.

I was playing this song the other day just me and my wife having church, very simple. I am posting it because it is so true and comforting, and makes me feel safe or i should say reminds me that i am safe and that it where the feeling of safety comes from. It is good thinking. Its message is God is for me and not against me. We are constantly being accused of past, present and future sin and sins. Often times the accusations come from ourselves. Our safety comes from us being owned by Him. Membership hgas it's privilages. Alot of people would see this ownership as restrictive or confining in some way. Maybe it is but that is not a bad thing. Boundaries are good and He never takes ownership of our lives we give it. Really the alternitives are so lame. We want what we call freedom and end up throwing our lives away on frivilous and empty persuits. The wealth that is gained from being a part of the I AM as God is called nulifies any childish struggle to maintain this freedom to destroy our lives. It is so hard to explain this picture i have in my mind when i compare the 2 side by side. Relationship with almighty God and being "free" to live on my own. When you are 18 you long for your own apartment. When you are 35 you think wouldn't it be great to have free room and board again.

A hymn by Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863

"Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!"

here is the PDI song version
Before The Throne Of God Above
Charitie Lees Bancroft, Vikki Cook

Key: D
Verse 1:
D G/D D
Before the throne of God above,
D F#m
I have a strong, a perfect plea,
D/F# G D/F# A Bm
A great High Priest whose name is "Love,"
G6 Em7 G/A D
Who ever lives and pleads for me.


Chorus 1:
F#m G D/F# D A
My name is graven on His hands,
D F#m7 G D/F# G A Bm
My name is written on His heart;
Bm/A G D/F# A Bm2
I know that while in heav'n He stands
Bm Bm/A G6 Em7 G/A Bm
no tongue can bid me thence depart.
Bm/A G6 Em7 G/A D
No tongue can bid me thence depart.


Verse 2:
When Satan tempts me to despair,
and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.


Chorus 2:
Because the sinless Saviour died,
my sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
to look on him and pardon me.
to look on him and pardon me.


Verse 3:
Behold him there! the risen Lamb,
my perfect, spotless Righteousness,
the great unchangeable I AM,
the King of glory and of grace!


Chorus 3:
One with Himself I cannot die,
My soul is purchased by His blood;
My life is hid with Christ on high,
with Christ, my Saviour and my God
with Christ, my Saviour and my God

©1997 PDI Worship (Admin. by The Copyright Company)
All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
CCLI song #2306412

This is another Oswald Chambers' special- I am including these on my blog because they are common themes of his and I agree and could not express them better.
When he says Grace i immediately think of an attribute of grace -understanding- that is essential in understanding the concept. He also recognizes God in the mundane- in common matters like washing the dishes. We often think the challenge comes in "preaching the Gospel" but that is deceptive as you will read in this insert.

". . . in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses." 2 Corinthians 6:4

"It takes Almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator - the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when there is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator. It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take that step, than it does to preach the Gospel.

Every Christian has to partake of what was the essence of the Incarnation, he must bring the thing down into flesh and blood actualities and work it out through the finger tips. We flag when there is no vision, no uplift, but just the common round, the trivial task. The thing that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to damp you. Continually get away from pettiness and paltriness of mind and thought out into the thirteenth chapter of St. John's Gospel. "

This is an exerpt from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest. The interesting thing about this insert was the lack of emphasis on successful completion of a task, and the permission to ignore certain ministries that are not along the same lines of your Call.

" ". . . so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus." Acts 20:24

Joy means the perfect fulfilment of that for which I was created and regenerated, not the successful doing of a thing. The joy Our Lord had lay in doing what the Father sent Him to do, and He says - "As My Father hath sent Me, even so am I sending you." Have I received a ministry from the Lord? If so, I have to be loyal to it, to count my life precious only for the fulfilling of that ministry. Think of the satisfaction it will be to hear Jesus say - "Well done, good and faithful servant"; to know that you have done what He sent you to do. We have all to find our niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive our ministry from the Lord. In order to do this we must have companied with Jesus; we must know Him as more than a personal Saviour. "I will show him how great things he must suffer for My sake."

"Lovest thou Me?" Then - "Feed My sheep." There is no choice of service, only absolute loyalty to Our Lord's commission; loyalty to what you discern when you are in closest contact with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is never the call: the need is the opportunity. The call is loyalty to the ministry you received when you were in real touch with Him. This does not imply that there is a campaign of service marked out for you, but it does mean that you will have to ignore the demands for service along other lines."