tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-363644432024-03-13T09:09:48.292-05:00Acts 14:22By the Holy Spirit's power, the Word of God encourages and strengthens the disciple of Christ to remain steadfast in their loyalty: "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-38620934488877679282011-10-03T20:45:00.002-05:002011-10-03T20:48:05.697-05:00??The older I get, I feel the inconspicous spiritual gravity that the world imposses upon me: needing to be "financially secure," to be "open minded," to be "tolerant." We need wisdom.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-14990296886186143892010-11-12T21:39:00.003-06:002010-11-12T21:55:53.230-06:00What is blessedness?I've been working on my book "Leap For Joy" and being struck by the realities of Luke 6:20-26...<br /><br />I'm adding a repetitive post<br /><br />Blessed are you who are poor<br />Blessed are you who are hungry now<br />Blessed are you who weep now<br />Blessed are you when people hate you (on account of the Son of man)<br /><br />Woe to you who are rich<br />Woe to you who are full now<br />Woe to you who laugh now<br />Woe to you, when all people speak well of you<br /><br />Are you blessed or under woe?Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-5464579754788088902010-09-20T13:14:00.003-05:002010-09-20T13:19:43.097-05:00Persecution"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).<br /><br />I can't get over the force of this verse.<br /><br />Christ have mercy upon usSamuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-3483700420777199102010-08-16T09:37:00.003-05:002010-08-16T09:48:04.931-05:00The End of the Age"They were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the age has come" (1 Corinthians 10:11).<br /><br />"On whom the end of the age has come." This present age is passing away. Even more, according to Paul the end of the age has come, and it has come on us. Past tense with present results extensive prefect tense I guess, or is that intensive... well, whatever the case, we need to wake up. "Wake up and strengthen what remains," "It's time of judgment to being with the household of God." And the first sentence Christ uttered in his public ministry was, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel."<br /><br />For all you Homelitic junkies & Homileticians out there, how about that two point sermon: 1. Repent, and 2. Believe the gospel. Oh yes, indeed, the indicative must come before the imperative. Here it is: "The end of the age has come upon us." <br /><br />Because the end of the age has come upon us, we must repent and believe the gospel!!Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-53991734717577043002010-02-26T09:58:00.002-06:002010-02-26T10:12:11.491-06:00Constant Longing"My soul is crushed with longing, for your rules at all times (Psalm 119:20)."<br /><br />Christian liberty is the freedom to long for God at all times--to be crushed with a longing for God. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the cosmic forces of this present darkness. The temptation for a comfortable, materially blessed life, is forceful. Capitalism exerts a spiritual energy; the quest and hope for the American Dream is nothing short of a religion. For millions of Americans it is a constant pilgrimage. Christians, however, must strive to enter the narrow gate. Our Christian fight of faith is fueled by the Holy Spirit. He makes us free in Christ, and in Christ we may long for God with a devastating urge that crushes our soul at all times.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-3610203013019947752010-02-25T10:58:00.002-06:002010-02-25T11:21:14.598-06:00FV & ApostasyAt a recent Presbytery meeting up north, an elder under question was defending his supposed view of holding to apostasy and his potential sympathies with the Federal Vision (FV). Those accused of being FV, or those loosely associated with FV, are reputed to hold some form of teaching apostasy. The elder under scrutiny, justified his stance by quoting a passage in Numbers where the LORD pardons the iniquities of the Israelites. The elder than added how the Bible states that that generation perished in the wilderness account of their unbelief. True, the Israelites did perish. No doubt a difficult tension, and I applaud this elder for bringing it to light and attempting to teach it. The tension is this: the Lord pardoned Israel's sins, but that generation perished from unbelief. So, were the Israelites forgiven or were they unbelievers? <div><br /></div><div>Tension and paradox abound in Scripture. The above elder claims to just teach the Scripture, and does not intend to affirm apostasy. What he appears to teach, however, is this: a forgiven believer can perish from unbelief. When questioned his caveat is this: "I am just teaching the text." <div><div><br /></div><div>In the PCA we hold to a creed, the Westminster Confession of Faith. Although the WFC is a compromise between a variety of denominations in the 17th century on certain points of doctrine, it clearly teaches perseverance of the saints and rejects apostasy. Thus, the onus is on any teaching elder in the PCA, who teaches such things as pardoned Israelites falling away from unbelief, to explain how their interpretation of the WFC and Scripture jive. And no teaching elder in the PCA can take the high ground by saying, "Well, this is my view of Scripture"; for, as teaching elders, we have vowed that the WFC <i>is </i>our interpretation of Scripture.</div></div></div>Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-52244287395585051072010-02-25T10:41:00.003-06:002010-02-25T10:56:52.079-06:00Cares of this life"But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with...cares of this life" (Luke 21:34). <div><br /></div><div>Anyone who has bought a home knows what I talking about...Brokers, Realtors, Mortgage lenders...they weigh you down. Jesus is so right---"Lest your hearts be weighed down." The cares of life trap us in fog. My eyes are dizzy as I wined through woods and gaze at the houses perched within the dense foliage. 'Boy, that's a nice view'....ah-ah-ah, "Watch yourselves." I find myself staring, and asking, "Well, just what if I could get a house a little bigger, like that one?"---I feel that question squeezing the Holy Spirit right out of me. Oh how many are the "Cares of this life." May God teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 2000 square feet or 20,000 square feet, either way, from dust we came and to dust we shall return. And in the meantime, "The years of our life are but seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble, they are soon gone, and we fly away" (Psalm 90:10).</div>Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-90068232208692290892010-02-10T11:22:00.003-06:002010-02-10T11:29:20.884-06:00Has God Blessed You?Well, has he...<div><br /></div><div>If he has, then these are you blessings according to Christ in Luke 6:20-23:</div><div><br /></div><div>Poor</div><div>Hungry</div><div>Weeping</div><div>Being Hated for Christ</div><div><br /></div><div>Conversely, if he has put a banner of woe upon you, then these are yours according to Christ in Luke 6:24-26:</div><div><br /></div><div>Rich</div><div>Full belly</div><div>Laughing</div><div>Well liked</div><div><br /></div><div>Read Luke 6:20-26. It renders our modern Evangelical church in a precarious position. Where's the Publican, perhaps he can teach us how to repent--beating breasts, not looking to heaven.</div><div><br /></div>Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-24069006211335976812008-08-04T14:55:00.004-05:002008-08-04T14:57:51.552-05:00Atlantic CityI got sick swimming in the Atlantic Ocean in Atlantic City. The money, the whores, the drink, the garabage, the strip clubs...little sin city. My sickness reminds me of my sin. Sin is sick---soul sickness. I loath myself. If it is not for God's grace there would've gone I.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-73765846531138386732008-04-24T20:56:00.001-05:002008-04-24T20:58:00.086-05:00Love, fire---burn me out.Song of Solomon---A dangerous book...read it, if you dare. If you want your heart to burn you, to consume you with love, the hope of love, the ideal of love, then read it, and you shall indeed be "sick with love" (Song 2:5).<br /><br />I will elaborate on the Song of Solomon, chapter 8 in particular.<br /><br />Below is my ideal of love; it is how I will pray in relation to the love(r) which God sends me:<br /><br />When God descended on Mount Sinai he came in fire (Ex 19:18). "The mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven" (Deut 4:11). Love, avows the Song of Solomon, "Flashes forth flames of fire, the very flame of the Lord" (Song 8:6). Love burns to the heart of heaven, for God is love. "The very flame of the Lord." Love is the very flame of the Lord--the very flame. Love is a coal from the altar of the divine. Love between a man and women. Love which, though marred by the fall, can be restored by Christ's grace. Love flashes forth flames of fire.<br /><br />I cannot and I will not settle for any thing less than love, than a fire that burns through me and into the heart of my lover. She will be my fire, my flame of the Lord. But does anyone hope for this love? Does it last? (If and) When married, I will pray to this God of love, I will pray for fire, I will pray that he flashes forth on me any lover his very flame. The same love that the Trinity contains. That love teaching that Christ poured upon the disciples on the journey to Emmaus, their response: "Did our hearts not burn within us."<br /><br />How can the audience of Song of Solomon then not say, "Eat, friends, drink, and be drunk with love!" (Song 5:1). "Be drunk with love", "I am sick with love (Song 2:5)", "the very flame of the Lord." I'd rather be single for 1000 years than find a love less than what Scripture displays to me. I want the love to burn me out, to make me sick, die, and be resurrected. Yes, an unreasonable hope between humans. But as I burn in Christ, perhaps he will grant me and my lover a spark, a flame from his throne, from himself. If he grants me but a spark it will be a love of force, power, and delight, reaching to the heart of heaven. Be it only a spark, this love is the very flame of the Lord. And thus the love is sufficient if only a flash, for our Lord is infinite, and that is all.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-668975424187240432008-04-20T21:44:00.003-05:002008-04-20T22:03:05.724-05:00He has brought desolationsPsalm 46:8, "Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">desolations</span> on the earth."<br /><br />Come check this out!<br /><br />The Psalmist appears to have this tone of voice. "Come, behold the works of the Lord." He bids us view the power of God's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">desolations</span> worked upon the earth. "Come, behold the works of the Lord." <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Emphasize</span> it. What does he want us to see? He wants us to see "how he [the Lord] has brought <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">desolations</span>." Who has brought the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">desolations</span>?--Answer: THE LORD!<br /><br />A belittling passage for those who question God's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">sovereignty</span> in operations. He coordinates every action on the earth---even <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">desolations</span> on the earth. This truth challenges faith. It calls us to the floor; it calls us to examination. "Do I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">believe</span> the Bible?" "Do I believe God would bring <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">desolations</span> on the earth?" I mean for real: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">desolations</span>? The Lord works <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">desolations. According to the Bible, he does.</span><br /><br />Christ took desolation. He became desolate (Phil 2:5-7). He fasted for 40 days and was hungry (Luke 4:2). Satan tempted him. He lived with the beasts in the desert (Mark 1:13). He withdrew to desolate places and prayed (Luke 5:16, 21:37). God brought desolation on Christ. Christ as God took it upon himself to become a servant, a bearer of suffering, an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">embracer</span> of wrath for the elect. Repent and believe. Oh, save the sinner our Christ and Lord. Save me.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-18754629401882864652008-04-16T19:51:00.002-05:002008-04-16T19:57:01.299-05:00I am spentPsalm 39:10<br /><br />"Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand." This might be translated, "Stop beating me; the wrath of your hand has completely crushed me."<br /><br />How does this verse square, or factor, in the conscious of the American Church today. In Psalm 39 David acknowledges that God has wasted him. The pain, the emotion, the truth...such a verse heals the wounded soul. At the end of the day David could confess that God caused his pain. David foreshadowed the sufferings of Christ. Christ was spent, the Father spent his wrath upon the son. The son, being in the form of God, very God of very God, reduced himself. He took on the form of a servant, and equipped himself to the sacrifice to atone for the sins of the elect.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-38386919104736984182008-04-14T11:47:00.003-05:002008-04-14T12:12:13.709-05:00Delight yourself in the LordPsalm 37:4<br /><br />"Delight yourself in the Lord,<br /> and he will give you the desires of your heart."<br /><br />Ah yes, Psalm 37:4...<br /><br />...this is an abused passage in Scripture. The Church has used it to mean this: love God more, and the more God will get you. Of course, this "more" has by the Church never meant more of God, but the more God can get you. In our materialistic age, our age (in America at least) where humans are consumers, controlled by markets measured by the NasDaq, the Dow Jones...oh, by the way, what mortage rate you qualify for? Forget your soul, what is your credit? You are plastic, a Social Security number, a percentage rate, and maybe you get a decmial point. I think you get the point.<br /><br />The Church has bought (pun intended) the world's marketing ploy. We in the Church read Psalm 37:4 this way: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you more of the earthly goods you really want but don't have right now." <br /><br />Is the Psalmist so foolish to think, that when you delight yourself in the Lord you will then want more of the world's things? Does the man who delights himself in his wife, suddenly want more of her cooking?, or, does he want to taste more of her love, i.e., does he want more of her!?!?<br /><br />The more delight yourself in God, the more you will want God. Psalm 37:4 translates more like this: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart, i.e., he will give you more of himself." If we delight ourselves in God, won't we want more of God? The more that we "taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8), the more we "feast on the abudance of your house, and you give them [us] drink from the river of your [Christ's] delights" (Psalm 36:8), the more of Christ we will want. When we delight in God, we delight in God. In fact, the more we delight in God, the more we will desire him and desire the world less. So in reality, what meaning the Church has give this verse is actually contrary to what it means.<br /><br />In review: the Church has understood this verse to mean that if you delight in the Lord, the Lord will give you more of the earthly stuff you want. In reality, the truth is this: if you delight yourself in the Lord, YOU WILL WANT LESS OF THE EARTHLY STUFF you thought you onced desire. In fact, you will suffer the loss of all things to gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-10, 11-14). We will pick up our cross with joy. We will go outside the gate and bear the reproach that he endured (Hebrews 13:12-14). And we will do this because we consider the sufferings of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt (America)" (Hebrews 11:25-27).<br /><br />Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you more of himself.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-41227083423098791442008-04-11T22:01:00.003-05:002008-04-11T22:07:49.625-05:00Reality GraceWe live life and then...<br /><br />...What does it all amount too...?<br /><br />Do you live to pay off debt... raise a family...?<br /><br />Wait, my alarm... I can't forget to set it... it gets me up...<br /><br />Sometimes it seems so pointless...<br /><br />But God is so gracious by the pointless he throws us in, in it<br />we find that he is the only point.<br /><br />Only one thing is necessary...<br /><br />OH LORD, make me feel pointless all day long to find the one thing necessary!Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-33488378003517265942007-08-03T16:06:00.000-05:002007-08-03T16:21:59.551-05:00ooze and endurance"Consider it all joy..."<br /><br />When should we "consider it all joy"? James avows that we consider it all joy when suffer various trials (James 1:4-7).<br /><br />At basic training for Chaplains (which is a gentlemen's basic) I had an abscess on my hip. The pain kept me up one night. I got up at 4:30AM and headed to the field excerise; we would be in the field for two days with no shower. My buddies saw the growth and forced me to go to the doctor. I rejoiced in that affliction (small though it was). I learned to trust and rely on friends. I realized how much they cared for me. They showed me the love of Christ. Praise God for the body of Christ, which is the church.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-17767593212400073752007-02-08T22:30:00.000-06:002006-12-08T12:26:36.741-06:00The Beast We AreYou are a beast. I am a beast. Oh, wait, you don't believe me? Think again---whether you're a pagan or a Christian we must all admit to death we are heading. "I said in my heart with regards to the children of man, that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beast" (Ecclesiastes 3:18).<br /><br />Not only are we beasts, but, we are only but beasts. That's the Bible's perception. Isn't this comforting. When the day is long, the vomit comes out your stomach, when the periods don't end, when the labido is dry, remember don't get so down, after all, we are but beasts. The fate of man and beasts is the same, as one dies, so dies the other.<br /><br />In your life and good moments, good times, remember...we are but beasts. Thank you Christ Jesus that you teach me that I am but a beast; what exceptions for mankind do I then need to live up to when I am but a beast. Amen.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-13679130235068994672006-12-08T12:25:00.000-06:002006-12-08T12:26:36.533-06:00Narcissus killed himself...Questions and issues about identity go beyond the limits of psychology. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move our eyes to Christ. If not, we will end up like Narcissus. He died while looking obsessively into his own reflection, for he loved to preoccupy himself with himself.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-49274139936568194972006-12-01T16:35:00.000-06:002006-12-01T16:53:52.607-06:00Consuming Fire"Our God is a consuming fire." The author of the biblical book of Hebrews 12:29 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">thusly</span> describes Gods' essence. God is a raging inferno of heat, a blazing torch that lights the universe. The author of Hebrews quotes this statement about God from Deuteronomy 4:29 and 9:3. This is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">striking</span> in light of Christ's death and resurrection. Why?<br /><br />Moses who wrote <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Deuteronomy</span> states that God is a consuming fire, reminding the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Israelites</span> that they saw God descend on Mount Sinai in smoke, noise, fire, and an earthquake. God's presence shook the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Israelites</span> to fear so much so that they acknowledged that if God spoke to them any longer they would melt to death.<br /><br />Despite this potential to die from God, who is a consuming, the author of Hebrews avers that God remains a consuming. What does this mean for Christians? It means that in Christ God is still a consuming fire. What?<br /><br />In Christ we will have resurrected bodies in which we will endure and enjoy the heat of God. Think about it. The sun is 27,000,000 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">degrees</span> at its core---what does that say about God who created the sun. Well, because we are in Christ, who is God, instead of experiencing a melting death, we will absorb all God, all his <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">fiery</span> presence as everlasting joy and power.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-68177810346510295602006-11-03T09:25:00.000-06:002006-11-03T09:54:38.573-06:00Sojourn and Exile"All these died in faith, without receiving the promises...having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). Hebrews 11:13 teaches this: If you believe in Christ, your life on earth is exile.<br /><br />True, God calls us to be stewards of his creation, and to redeem the time. But God also calls us sojourners and exiles on earth. That is tension. Enhance life earth, remember your exile. Love your emenies, hate your mother and father and wife. Be slaves to serve men because you are free in Christ; be free from men because you are a slave to Christ.<br /><br />All the tribulation, pain, unmet longing, all the disappoints of spouses and the guilt felt when we wrong a loved one, all of life under the cruse is endurable because we have new birth in Christ and are in his love us that liberates us to embrace all agony in our exile.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-44658989941622222412006-10-29T19:48:00.001-06:002008-08-04T14:54:55.325-05:00Christian EroticismChristian eroticism. Does it exist? Read the Song of Solomon. Christian marriages (all marriage in general) suffer--and much of that suffering is in the bed (or out of it?). Now <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">I’</span>m a single white male, but from what I hear, one place marriages suffer is the bed. Christians need to recover and discover a healthly view of “Christian eroticism" (<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">my</span> friend Chaplain Matt Temple coined this apparent oxymoron).<br /><br />Consider this: "Sustain me with raisins; refresh me with apples for I am sick with love" (Song 2:5). When was the last time you (married person) were sick with love? Is the job a distraction? Is the degree troubling you?<br /><br />Do you spend more time reading than making love? Maybe you've spent more time wippin<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">g your k</span>id than feeling your spouse's pulse at night---alone? Do you spend more time talking baby talk than saying things to your spouse like, "How much better is your love than wine" (Song 4:10).<br /><br />The last time I drank wine, I felt it. Do you want to feel love like you feel wine? If you don't, honestly, what's the point? If your marriage is boring, a hassle<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)">, drud</span>gery? If so..., thanks for the example. Give me this: "Love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave" (Song 8:6a). Give me love stronger than death, otherwise, I'll wait for Jesus' final return.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-75023846562739640342006-10-22T10:19:00.000-05:002006-10-23T14:22:18.462-05:00The day of death better than birth...Recently a friend of mine (Chaplin Matt Temple) conducted a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">funeral</span>. He made me aware that the first statement in the famous "a time to...a time to" passage in Scripture is "a time to be born, and a time to die" (Eccl 3:2).<br /><br />The day of death is better than the day of birth (Eccl 7:2). Of coarse, that depends on who you are. Death comes to all. And that's why the Preacher avows, "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind" (Eccl 7:2).<br /><br />Societies are marked by feasting: from the rich American who snorts <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">cocaine</span> and wife-swaps, to the poor Haitian peasant who after work <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">inebriates</span> himself with moon-shine under the moon light blackness of a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">sweltering</span> Haiti night.<br /><br />"Sorrow is better than laughter" (Eccl 7:3a). "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning" (Eccl 7:4a). Are you wise? Go to the house of mourning. That is a philosophical tension in life. Jesus promises to make our joy complete, but he would tell us to go to the house of mourning---for this is the end of all mankind.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-61828162707126210202006-10-20T20:10:00.000-05:002006-10-20T20:17:41.373-05:00The Great Salt Lake<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/155/4439/1600/The%20great%20salt%20lake.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/155/4439/400/The%20great%20salt%20lake.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36364443.post-43913199514237931222006-10-20T16:23:00.000-05:002006-10-20T20:03:30.598-05:00Leap for JoyWhen the disciples "left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" (Acts 5:41) they vindicated Christ. Jesus Christ taught that those who suffer persecution for his name's sake are blessed: "Blessed are you when men hate you...on account of the Son of Man" (Luke 6:22).<br /><br />If that teaching didn't hit hard radically enough, he continues his rhetorical radicalizing, commanding, "Rejoice in that day." The holy madness continues with this final stroke, "...and leap for Joy!" Only Jesus could teach this.<br /><br />And why can the disciple "leap for joy!" when men hate him?---because Jesus promises, "For behold, your reward is great in heaven" (Luke 6:23). Allegiance to Christ means obedience to his command to leap for joy when men hate you for his sake.Samuel Lewis Ricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08081554711974394155noreply@blogger.com0