Perfectly Poisoned

Aside from all the swordplay, my favorite scene in The Princess Bride is the scene where the Man in Black enters into a battle of wits with Vincini. Vincini is the mastermind behind the kidnapping of the princess. He accepts the Man in Black's challenge. The Man in Black hands a small container to his adversary and has him smell it. Vincini says "I smell nothing". "What you do not smell" responds the Man in Black, "is iocanine powder. It is orderless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in water and is among the more deadly poisons known to man".

I'll save you my quoting of the rest of the scene. Suffice to say, iocaine was the perfect poison. You can't smell, see it or taste it but its there. It could be placed in my wine or yours or both as see in the movie. As I have been thinking about the message I plan to preach this Sunday this seemed like a great illustration to lead into it.

We find in Genisis that God has created a garden, a perfect place for His perfect creation. There's just one thing you needed to be careful of, don't eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That fruit is poisioned so to speak. Eve speaking to the serpant about the fruit says that "It is pleasing to the eye" and there seemed to be nothing forboding about the fruit other than God's command not to eat it.

This poision was perfect. Even with a warning from God it appears that Adam and Eve neither one saw what was coming. This poision was so perfect that it affected them all the way down to their DNA, which has been passed down to each generation right to us today.

We are fallen, broken, shattered in some way. We are a pale reflection of what we were ever intended to be. Sin has so taken us that there is not one area of life that is not affected by it. We are poisioned, perfectly poisioned.

There is an antidote though that can save us from certain death. But society, including some Christians, has tried to treat the symptoms that arise from our being perfectly poisioned instead of showing and helping to administer the antidote.

Whare are some ways you see those around you trying to treat the symptoms instead of offering the complete cure. What happens when we only treat the symptoms of our perfectly poisioned state?

Drawn

Not pulled. Not pushed. Not draged. Drawn. What is it to be like drawn by God? Do we go kicking an screaming? I don't think so. Are we diving head first into something without checking the depth of the water? I don't think that's it either. When I think of what it means to be "Drawn" by God there is a very different imagery in my mind. I imagine someone walking through woods or even in a city and they have that look as though they can hear or see something that they just can't help but want to investigate. But that noise that sound or sight that has caught their attention is too soft and too far away for them to make it out. Its intriguing and fasinating but just too far off to fully appreciate. So that person begins looking for the way to get closer, to get a better view or better understanding of what has caught their attention.

I believe that's what God does for us sometimes. He's speaking in that still small voice or He is showing us something He has for us and we just but we can't make it out just quite right from where we are. We must move closer if we are to hear what He is saying clearly or if we are to see all the details of what has caught our attention. We realize that if we stay just where we are we might miss something. Who knows how long before its just not there anymore. We are drawn closer. Moving cautiously so as not to miss our target destination. No one is forcing us to go but we just can't help ourselves. We have to check it out. We are just drawn to what He is showing knowing that it could be something great and knowing my God it just might be.

In what ways have you felt drawn by God?

Life Happens

Last week was supposed to be the week I got all caught up, with my posts here, with my class, with stuff at the church... Well that didn't exactly happen. It seemed like the harder I tried to push ahead the more life just pushed back. That's not to say that things were hectic or crazy, just crazier than normal. But there was a lot of good stuff happening. Last week was a week to build bridges as well as relationship, to push ahead, and find our balance. I praise God for everything that was accomplished last week. But there is still much work to be done. I'm understanding from a different perspective the scripture, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.". I am trying to take great care in the foundation that I am putting down knowing that there will be someone who will have to build on it.

Still working on converting sermons to google docs and uploading. Also hoping to start uploading audio at some point. If you have been following the messages in our "Consumed" series we had liberating service touching on the topic of guilt and how to be set free from guilt that doesn't belong to us and from the idea that we are somehow on God's "B-list". Coming up this Sunday we will be dealing with bitterness. As a special treat on Sunday July 17th Jon Hensler will be concluding the series with a message on "Being Consumed by the Holy Spirit". I am looking forward to what God is going to continue to do as life continues to happen.