Traveling

That was exhausting. I am about to continue on to my last destination in my tour of ISM's ministry and New Zealand as a whole. Hamilton is where my internship will be based. I'll make time in the next few day to do a big update to wrap up my introduction to NZ.

But now I must rest for the final portion of my journey.

Pray for rest..

So tired...

Much More

(Psalm 63 ESV) 

        [1] O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

[2] So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

[3] Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

[4] So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands.

[5] My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

   David does some strange things with this psalm, this passage in particular. Not strange in the sense that they are unique, but this is strange to the natural line of thought you would usually take. David first makes note of his need for God, then in the next breath exults in God's goodness.
   This makes sense. "We need God, God is good, God is what we need, We worship God. What makes you scratch you're head a little is what comes after this:



[6] when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
[7] for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
[8] My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
(Psalm 63:6-8 ESV)


   David concludes that God is worthy of worship before God helps him. God's worth isn't even dependent on David's life (see v3)! So his worship couldn't be rooted in what God has done in the rest of the psalm. It only heaps glory on glory.

   By Himself, God is better than life before he gives it. How much more can we rejoice now that he saves?

That's a blog everyone. An update about my goings-on will be short in coming! Hope you enjoyed my senses on The Psalter.

Occultic Observations

   Today is a sick day, and it looks like tomorrow is going to be one too, and as usual when I'm sick I do a lot of reading and internet searching. I came upon videos talking about a guy named Alan John Miller. There are only two things you need to know about this guy:

1. He thinks he's Jesus

2. He's a pretty convincing person

   Alan is the leader of a small cult movement in Australia. His small but devoted group of followers live with him at a compound in the wilderness somewhere, and love him and his teachings. His teachings center around the same old re-hashed emotionally driven new-age crap-ola you would expect, but his laid back nature and unassuming demeanor lower your defenses. Alan rolled a 12 on charisma, and it shows.

   And his followers are very emotionally convinced that he is who he says he is. In an interview when one guy is asked who Alan is to them, he breaks down in tears within a matter of seconds. Eerily enough, these seem to be normal people. They don't look crazy at all, and they don't seem deficient in any way.

   Just prior to this I happened to read an article from the Christian Post on my man John Piper. All this made me marvel at the grace of God for keeping me in his good graces.

   Not the thing you might expect to hear from me while I'm currently in the field doing missions stuff, but it's true. The only reason I'm still a Christian is because God is "..able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy." (Jude 1:24 ESV)

   The logical conclusion for me is that since I am so reliant on God for just keeping me in the ring, how much more dependent am I for the strength to fight?

God help me [literally]!