a flood of words, a torrent of letters...

just to say 3 things...

when the hon. bro. Jason Kranzusch asked for three things we know, i began realizing we know things in very different ways and amounts. (quantities? intensities?)

for instance, "Jesus loves me, yes, i know, for the Bible tells me so." also, "God created Earth, this i know, for the Bible tells me so." i've seen a couple of cool documentaries on ID, but my real basis for knowing/ understanding is still Scripture. likewise, besides an awakening of the fear of God when i was nine, the Bible is my only "real" basis for belief in Hell. (it's one of the hardest to keep to. if explicit descriptions hadn't come from Jesus' mouth, that one might be gone already.) so a lot i "know" because i've read the Bible and take it for true, not because i've experienced it... felt it.

similarly, there's stuff i "know" from listening to other people. "you don't ever want to be under bad leadership!" "never marry a Latino." [there are asterisks all over that one.] "it's unhealthy to give a child solid food under 6 months of age."

but thinking about what i know that i know that i know because i've felt it deep in my craw, and lived by it, and seen it time after time after time? the list gets much smaller.

most of what i "really" know falls under the statements below. the statements overlap. they build, really. #1 is the premise and cannot be extracted from the others. it's also the most well-documented, and unthinkably, the one i most consistantly doubt. i very distinctly did not want to make this creed-ish, but that's how it turned out. funny: they're all about God. but of a truth: the things i really know are not propositions. that's merely the only way i can transfer it from me to you.

1. God is good;

2. We are not,

3. But we are to be.

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1. God is good.

"taste and see that the Lord is good! blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"

proofs:

~ the Andes mountains at age 16 and one month. the most beautiful creatures i had ever laid eyes on... and it felt, mortifyingly and devastatingly, like they were made for me?! ohhh... vice versa, vice versa. now, i see.

~ my brethren therein. their faith, servanthood, and good company.

~ my family. their God-ward devotion (year after year! not by rote! there can be perseverance of the saints!) and simple, uncomplaining, unmitigated love.

~ children. when they help one another, their spontaneous acts of kindness, their dignity and purity. their potential for good.

~ the night sky after a run. the breeze, clouds, moon, constellations, endorphins, traffic noises... the whole 3d experience.

~ making music or having it made

~ baptisms.

~ Christmas.

~ Easter.

~ the Church. when she prays like she means it. when she's where she's supposed to be. when she's busy loving. when she takes others by surprise. when she says truth so sweet and straight there has to be a pause and then "amen!" when everything makes sense. her in prison. her poor and happy. when she's brave. [when she wins!] conquering and unconquered. enduringly uncompromised. grateful.

~ "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous"

~ " “And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ Yes, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ "

~ "He will bring justice to the poor of the people;

He will save the children of the needy,

And will break in pieces the oppressor. "

~ "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

~ "Did we with ink the oceans fill and were the skies of parchment made

Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade

To write the love of God above would drain the oceans dry

Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky!"

~ "Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"


2. We are not*.

[*God is still, even though He knows!]

proofs:

~ "Nothing lasts except the grace of God by which i stand in Jesus"

~ "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself."

~ "without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy."

~ "Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ "

~ "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

~ "i was so foolish and ignorant; i was like a beast before You. Nevertheless, Thou art continually with me. You take me by my right hand..."

~ "my flesh and my heart fail! but You are the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

~ "Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing Were not the right Man on our side, the man of God's own choosing"

~ "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust."

~ "Frail children of dust and feeble as frail In Thee do we trust nor find Thee to fail Thy mercies how tender! how firm to the end..! our Maker... Defender... Redeemer! and Friend..."

~ "O ye of little faith! Why did you doubt?"

~ "Just and Holy is Thy Name
i am all unrighteousness
false and full of sin am i
Thou art full of truth and grace."

~ "Just as i am
Without one plea
But that Thy blood
Was shed for me
And that Thou bidest me
Come to Thee
O Lamb of God...
i come.
i come."

~ "take heart, beloved basket-case of God! if God were to give up on you, He would have done it a long time ago." -g. tebbe


3) But we are to be.*
[because, you see, He is.]

proofs:

~ "Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith"

~ "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus"

~ the brethren pastores in Peru

~ sundry brethren and sistren hither and yon

~ breaking bread with them.

~ their prayers!

~ hearing someone pray something i've prayed on a good day... there's game afoot!

~ "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. " -c.s. lewis

~ "For this is the will of God: your sanctification."

~ "...our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."

~ "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death"

~ Love covers a multitude of sins.

... and those whose love has covered a multitude of mine...

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