"For what is your life?"

2011-12-12T20:50:00.004-05:00

I find that inspiration is like the passing wind. It comes quickly when life is at its stormiest and often ceases through the quiet moments. On the other hand, without a quiet moment one couldn't collect enough thought to pin down an inspiration. Interesting paradox, but there you are. That is my excuse for not keeping current here, pretty lame actually. So my apologies to all three of my readers.

It is good to be back in Indianapolis again even if it is freezing out. I love working with my hands and keeping an active mind and so the work with my brother-in-law is a lot of fun. Grace and I are settled into our little apartment here on the east side and enjoying life. Newest on our list of joys is our soon to be adopted puppy which will be old enough to leave its mother in mid January. I will, of course, try to make a post on my favorite breed of dog at that point.

I was browsing through my Google reader page and was a little sad to see that most of the blogs that I had been following had fizzled out or moved sites. I guess I've got some updating to do. I'll leave you with a picture of our late beloved companion, Molly, who we lost to GDV in Texas just before moving back. I never thought I could miss a big slobbery 120 pound dog so much. Blessings all.

Settling in...moving onward...looking upward once again.

2010-12-09T17:12:00.005-05:00

How is it that we always forget that it is God that leads us and provides for us until we approach crisis? I am fast approaching the completion of my undergraduate degree in biology and am astounded at how little time I have spent with the Lord over the last semester. Certainly I have been busy settling in with my new wife Gracie and figuring out bills and grades as each one comes in quickly and furiously, but really...how are we so blind?

It really has been a great summer/fall (I love the fall in my state). I got to take my wife to the orchard and spend beautiful evenings out on the town sampling Cajun food from our new southern favorite Mudbug's Cafe in downtown Carmel! Soon it will be time to spend my first Christmas with my wife and take her ice skating and all of the other great Indiana winter recreations!

But there is that other thing... As I watch my life fly by, I ask myself, "Am I being the man that God meant for me to be? Is this what a Christian husband looks like?" I am brought violently nearer to my crisis with the Lord as I receive rejection letters from the various dental schools to which I have spent the last six to nine months applying. I find myself asking, "So what now? Try again? Don't try again? Lab work? More school?" These are questions that must be answered and soon but why do we wait to seek the Lord until we suddenly are made aware of our need for his guidance and provision? I guess it is simply the weakness of my humanity. I tell the Lord that I trust Him for our future. I thank Him for bringing me through a biology degree with a faith that is still grounded in scripture and strengthened by the wonders of design and adaptation that I see in each living cell instead of faltering as so many others that have studied my field and caved in to the often over-expressed atheistic or at least agnostic views of the world around them. I am humbled and yet excited that creation still sings of His glory even with a degree in evolution...er biology from a secular university. Yes it is possible to look at the evidence and to believe with all the logic and reason of an analytical mind in addition to the throbbing heart of the child that I am before my maker. "I believe that you have carried me thus far, dear Father, and that you can carry me onward. If you can create such a universe, what a little thing is showing me the next step in life?"

Whose best interest?

2010-03-01T21:48:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking a lot recently about the responsibility that I am facing as I approach marriage. My life, although simple by most standards, was complicated enough for me before I met my fiance. At least I thought so. And now as my life is about to be bound up forever in that of someone else, I almost shake with apprehension. I ask myself, "What if I mess it up? How can I avoid shipwreck given my past failures and my current weakness?" In a recent conversation with my father-in-law to be, He said something to the effect that young men are almost incurable self focused before they are married. I looked at myself and thought, "Really? Is it that bad? I had no Idea!" What does one do and how can one even hope to shake off the tendency to turn inwards and act based on one's own best interests? I thought, "Surely I'm not that bad!" He said, "Even when you think you are thinking of your wife's needs or how she feels, you are often really thinking of how those needs or feelings affect you..." Smokes! That's a lot for a kid of 26 to chew on! Maybe someone else has an idea on how to deal with it!

Grace

2010-01-27T11:34:00.003-05:00

Yes! I am finally getting around to updating my blog! I know it has been something like 6 months, but since I didn't have access to the blogger website from my locale in Texas, I am playing catch up now. :)

First, and most important, the Lord has blessed me above even my dreams by giving me Grace Amaris Moulton as my future companion. I had known her family as simple acquaintances ever since I had gone through my training at ALERT back in 2002-04. Returning in April, though, to volunteer brought me back into their world and I quickly noticed this beautiful girl who had grown up so much and matured beyond even what I would have expected. Her father, Russell Moulton, asked me as I was preparing to return to Indy in May '09 for my sister's wedding, if I would like to work with him in the facilities department. I thought that this sounded like an interesting change of pace from volunteering in the kitchen, though I had enjoyed that immensely, and accepted. When I returned in June, the Moultons invited me and my mother who had driven down with me from Indy to their house to "break the ice" and the next day we asked if they would be interested in playing a game that I had brought down. My mom and Mrs. Moulton quickly became friends and the Moultons continued to invite me over throughout the course of the summer.

Having the chance to work and interact with Gracie was, needless to say, exciting for me but I tried to reserve my heart not knowing what to think about our relationship. I finally, lost my heart to her and spoke to her father about my position with their family. One thing followed another after this in fairly quick succession and Grace and I were soon courting and then engaged by September 3rd 2009! So that is the short story from my point of view! I am so excited to have you all meet my Gracie and can't wait to bring her back to Indy in the Spring!

Now, I'd better get off to class. Oh, yeah, I forgot to get to the rest of the update! I'm also back in school to finish my biology degree at IUPUI! I hope to finish applying to the IU Dental School this Spring/Summer and find out by the fall if I will get in for the 2011 class. May the Lord richly bless you all!

David – A Study on Faith and Leadership

2009-07-06T09:25:00.001-05:00

But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee. – 1 Samuel 13:14

These words of the prophet Samuel to Israel’s first king, Saul, are a fitting introduction to the life of King David, a man who to this day remains as, perhaps, one of the best examples of faith, loyalty, patience and humility. David begins his life in obscurity, seeking to please the Lord and to please his father and continues throughout his life time and again to show his understanding of the heart of God.

After being anointed by Samuel, David goes about his life radically and sometimes almost exasperatingly differently from virtually every other instance of those anointed as kings over Judah and Israel. Whereas others recorded in the Bible immediately seek to depose the current king, David serves him faithfully for years. He, time and again, models humble servant leadership while seemingly forgetting his anointing. The first example of this is his encounter with the giant, Goliath. In this instance he shows great faith that the Lord will prove faithful as those who will, offer themselves as examples to others, even when it may cost everything. David had no hope outside of God, no hope or desire for any glory but the Lord’s. From this he emerges a captain of Israel.

But here the blessings seem to end, for David, even as he serves faithfully, incurs the jealousy of his superior. This portion of David’s life exudes patience. Forced to flee his jealous father-in-law, king, David lives for years wandering and hiding in the wilds of Israel and the surrounding country. Life seems too much to hope for, much less the distant memory of an old man’s words over a shepherd boy. Even though David is loved by all but the king, he doesn’t use this fact to his advantage. Twice he has a perfect opportunity to destroy Saul and take the kingdom for himself, and twice he refuses to touch him. This modeling of loyalty, and the equity with which he deals with all around him, plants loyalty in the hearts of those who join him in his exile. These nearly 600 men remain David’s most loyal servants throughout his life.

Even when God finally deals with David’s enemies, David does not immediately assume that God’s time has come and try to make himself king. He simply asks God if he should return to Judah to live. It is the people of Judah who initiate his final crowning as their king. David shows this same lack of concern for his own position later on in his life when his own son rises up against him. Absalom deceives Israel into following him and David, rather than fight to hold his own, leaves Jerusalem that no blood should be spilled there. As David leaves Jerusalem, a priest named Abiathar brings the Ark of God as a symbol of God’s presence with David. David however tells him to return it to its place in Jerusalem saying,

Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation: But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him. (2Samuel 15:25-26)

In doing this, David reveals a true humility of heart, showing that he doesn’t simply assume that God will be with him or should be with him. It is God’s will and purpose that matters to David here, not his own well being.

Of course, no study on the life of David is complete without looking at his reaction to reproof upon failure. He sinned gravely by stealing another man’s wife and indirectly murdering the man through treachery in battle. For a time those who have grown to love David’s heart are crushed and depressed by his fall. But when a prophet of God comes and confronts David about his sin, he quickly sees his error and humbles himself sincerely before the Lord. Unlike his predecessor, David makes no excuse, shifts no blame and pleads not for his own forgiveness but for the life of the son of his sin.

Perhaps above all the life of David gives hope to those who read his story; hope that though we are small, the Lord can use us; hope that though we are sinners, the Lord can forgive; hope that though we tarry long for the Lords leading, He will remain faithful; hope that although we are alone, God may still be with us. His story teaches us to wait on the Lord, though all seems lost, to hope in the mercies of God. All four of these qualities: faith, loyalty, patience and humility are the groundwork which God seeks to lay in forming a man called to be a leader, an example, but most of all a man after God’s own heart.

Matthew 7 - The narrow way

2009-03-09T10:22:00.003-05:00

If you have time, or if you don't, listen to this...

YouTube Video - Matthew 7

Mark

A question for God

2009-02-10T21:25:00.012-05:00

I asked God the other day...
"Why, God, don't you speak a little louder? I'd really like to hear your voice in a more tangible way. I grow weary of straining to hear your still, small voice. Why won't you just tell me what to do with my life?"

In my heart I could just barely make out a faint whisper, "I often speak quietly for your sake, my son. If I were to speak any louder would you be able to handle it? By my spoken word I created the heavens and with a single word the world came into existence. My words are not lightly cast about, they always accomplish a purpose. I know when you need a whisper and when you need more. Just trust me and live."

I thought about that for a while and realized its truth. Then I asked myself, "Why am I always asking God questions anyway?" He has already given so much to live by and for in His written word. What more do I need. What kind of a friend am I to constantly come asking for help but never seek His good in the relationship? Why can't I just come and sit with Him for a time, simply enjoying His presence? I think I'll try it again.

Psalm 29
3The voice of the LORD is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The LORD is over many waters.
4The voice of the LORD is powerful,
The voice of the LORD is majestic.
5The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion like a young wild ox.
7The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire.
8The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everything says, "Glory!"

Ice Upon the Wind

2009-02-01T14:43:00.007-05:00

The winds of inspiration blow for but a moment...so listen as they pass.

Our lives are but the breath of God,

Upon a winter morn.

A vapor frozen in the air,

And hanging on the glass,

In which He fancies kings and serfs,

And wars in icy frames.

A picture here and gone anon,

But real because He speaks.

A word with God becomes our bone,

All worlds within His tongue.

And yet He came and died for us,...

...But ice upon the wind.

-MZ

2009-01-29T14:58:00.011-05:00

So, for the first time in my college career, classes were canceled because of snow! Woohoo!

It's a good thing too, because I'm not sure if I would have been able to get my little cavalier out of that mess in a hurry!

...But I did waste some time doing other stuff...

...Just like the 8th grade. ;)

(Yeah, so I know it's only been a day and I usually wait a month between blog-posts, but then we don't get snow like this every day here in Indiana.)

Year 25

2009-01-27T21:13:00.004-05:00

So here we go again! Another year. Another semester. Another chance to learn. Another chance to fall and pick myself up again.

This semester I'm only taking 3 biology lectures, 1 lab and 1 capstone paper. That all boils down to a puny 12 credits, but all the other classes that I need are scheduled in the wrong months or hours. So I just have to wait a little longer for this piece of paper that tells me I am worth a few more dollars to somebody...as long as the economy picks up again, that is.

Nothing extremely new or exciting is going on at the moment, unless the forced exocytosis of a tetrahymena culture's food vacuoles by adding alcian blue interests you. I guess I'm a little excited about my new PU scope being mounted on my Mosin rifle, but nobody but Johnny Klotzle and precious few others really care about that so I won't bore you.

What am I learning right now? I was riding to school with Eric Frantz the other day and we got to talking about the presence of Christ with us, how He is in this very room and how great the implications of that truth are.

I also read part of a book by Ted Dekker based on Hosea. Although I decided in the end I didn't want to finish the book, one thing really struck me. That is, how much God passionately loves us. He took us out of our lives of rebellion and continues to show us mercy even when we constantly are running back to our other "lovers". I also see a little more clearly how much pain it causes Him when we turn away from Him - how much pain it would cause me if I had to go through what He goes through with me. The book made it just a very little bit more personal. So, thanks Fred, for reccommending it.

What else? I am slowly learning that God is speaking the truth when He says that men make plans but God directs paths. Even though I don't like to plan my life all out, the little things that I do try to figure out always seem to go other than as planned. (Finishing school this Spring, for instance.) But that's OK. Thankfully my life purpose is not just to finish college, or to make a bunch of money. Nope, it is just to follow my God today...and then, tomorrow to follow Him again. How does it go?"...to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly..."

Until next time...have a nice rest of the year AM-25. (Anno Marcus - that's latin, I think, for "In the year of Mark")

Love...as far as I can understand...(draft 1)

2008-12-08T14:14:00.012-05:00

If you had to define love, what would you define it as? I think love is one of the most misunderstood words in our language. Most people have some sort of Hollywood version of love in their minds. Of course, most will also say that there are two types of love, one for friends and family and the other for "that special someone." The first type seems to be an affection with some kind of tolerance since it has to do with the relative unchangeable family status. The second is some ethereal feeling, something that you can "fall" into and sadly just as quickly out of. Since it is such a flighty thing society has reduced it for the sake of order to a contract. In essence if you will love me, then I will love you back and we will be married...or together...or whatever. Sadly, this contract perspective on love has had a devastating effect on marriages in our country. Our divorce rate has skyrocketed so that marriage "contracts" are perhaps less binding than business contracts. Even the Christian church has bought into the idea that love is a sort of feeling of goodwill towards another.

I am here to say that this idea of love is a load of...well, it's a lie! As I stumble my way through life I ask myself and I ask God, "What is love?", "How do we love?", and "Why is love important?" Here is a little of what I have been learning.

As for the first question, "What is love?", that one is relatively easy initially. I simply go to the Bible and ask God what He says about it? The first thing I find is that there are not two, but three forms of love. The first, phileo in Greek, is the affection of one person for another, like a brother or a friend, or even a spouse, but it has nothing to do with sexual desire. This type of love usually is dependent on reciprocation and does not usually hang around without a return of affection. The second form, eros in Greek, is where we get our word for erotic. It is romantic love and has everything to do with a man and a woman. This type of love, however, is even more fickle than phileo. These two types are what the world knows, and they aren't bad...but...they aren't all love is! The third type of love, agape in Greek, is used when describing God's love for the world when He sent us Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. This type of love is constant, it is a forever type of love. It does not require reciprocation. This type of love, I should also point out, is really hard to do. And I say "to do" because it is not a feeling, but a state of being and a constant conscious decision. You cannot fall in and out of agape. Agape is no contract. It is loving first and last; it is self sacrificing love even when the recipient doesn't care that you love them. This type of love, I must say, is impossible...that is for the world. I think Andrew Peterson says it well in his song:

Love is not a feeling in your chest.

It is bending down to wash another's feet.
It is faithful when the sun is in the west,
And in the east.

And this, I believe, is what it really means to find "True love". But how do you love like that?

That brings me to my second question, which by the way is a lot more difficult to answer. "How do we love (agape)?" To love this way means that a husband must love a wife that is unlovable. It means that a wife must love a husband that is impassive. A mother must love a rebellious child. A child must love an abusive father. Impossible, you say! That is true indeed, if you still are clinging to your Hollywood version of love which says that the way you love someone must feel good to them. This, however, is not the case with agape. Agape is a father telling a child he may not play in the street. It is not giving the loved one everything they ask for, but giving them everything that they need that you can provide. A child needs to be disciplined. A wife needs to receive affection. A husband needs to be respected. This is not Hollywood. This is love in real life...love as we have not had it for the ages since we lost it. How do you love? Love by doing the hard thing when it will fulfill the other's needs, even when it hurts. I should add that this cannot be accomplished in its essence by a non-believer. In order to love this way, you must come to understand and appreciate how God loved you this way. Then and only then, once you get a little picture of God's love (faithful, and totally other-centered) and learn to love Him back that way, can you hope to love others that way.

Finally I come to my last question, though I don't believe the previous two can possibly be addressed in so few words as I have used. "Why is love important?" Fundamentally, love (agape, that is) is important because as the Bible says, "God is love" and when compared to faith and hope, love is said to be the greatest. Besides these most important facts, though is the fact that love (agape) is a basic human need. It provides purpose for the complacent or shiftless life. It provides security through the hope of faithfulness. I is light in a dark, dark world. And it is more...but it is more that I will have to learn before you hear it from me, so with that my present thoughts on love end.

I've been trying to learn this love for the past months and the more I learn, the more I see how little I know of love. How little people in this land know of it. How greatly they need it. So do the world a favor. Go to God and ask Him to teach you His love no matter the cost. Trust me, it will most likely be a painful process. Jesus had to die, then love unrequited for nearly 2000 years waiting for me . Surely I can learn to love Him when He has already given His love to me; and surely I can fumble my way through waiting a while for others to love me back. It is, after all, what He has called us to do.

October is supposed to be cool...

2008-10-19T17:17:00.003-05:00

I love the fall. A cool, clear day! Refreshing color in exchange for the summer green that I loved so well just six months ago when it arrived. Pulling all my cool weather clothes out of the drawers again. (This comprises the majority of my wardrobe, since I live in Indiana and since I never shop, but receive all my clothes during the winter months, namely, at Christmas...hence, mountains of long sleeve shirts, etc.) I love a walk through the apple orchard. I love a good warm fire on a cool night long after the mosquitoes are gone.

A lot of important events in my life took place during the fall. I met Jesus in the fall. I was baptized into His family in the fall. My Dad was born 0n the 15th of October, and died on the 22nd of October. I went through basic training at ALERT in the fall(Oorah!). I'm sure there are more, but I'll spare you a longer list...

The only thing that makes fall bittersweet for me is the school year. I'm not going to lie, this year it is trying its best to get the better of me. I don't think I've been away from home since late August. Of course, this could also be partly because I ran out of money about then ;) Now I'm working weekends to compensate for a lazy summer...

I think tough times like this are good for me, though. I never regret them and God always ends up teaching me something great that I don't see until the end. I guess it should make me feel loved that I get to struggle through some tough times, because God did say that He chastens those He loves! (Hebrews 12:6)

I have to tell myself often that, "If I fail this test, class, etc., I will not die...life simply goes on...and God is still true to His promise that He will work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)"

So that, at least, is a good note about school troubles. I've also been reading Piper's book, Future Grace, and that has been enlightening. God's graciousness is something He has been talking to me about lately. Maybe I'll post on that another day.

As-Salāmu `Aleykum

Be "Known"

2008-09-10T20:13:00.008-05:00

I was thinking, recently, about something Jesus said. He was talking to some people on a hill somewhere in the middle east, telling them a little about life and a little about His Father's kingdom. Then He said something interesting...it almost didn't even sound Christian, if you know what I mean. You know how the thing seems to be knowing Him, right? Well, He was talking about how He would be deciding who would go into God's kingdom and who wouldn't, and He said that a lot of people would be pleading their cause and telling Him all the good things they had done for Him. Then He drops the bomb. Funny that I've never really seen this for what it was before now. Ready? He said that He would tell them to go away because...HE NEVER KNEW THEM! Not because they didn't know Him, like many churches and good Christian books would have you think. Read it for yourself...

21"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
~Matthew 7:21-23

So the big deal is to be known of Christ rather than to know Him... Not just known of, but known for real. Known personally. (The Bible relates this kind of knowing to a marriage relationship.) Actually, to boast of knowing Christ could be considered a little proud...who could really KNOW God. Well it sounds nice, but God is really big...we can't hope to completely know Him...only parts of Him, little by little. But since to be known of Him is the important thing anyway... and, I should add, a lot more likely in the end, then it can turn out OK after all. Just seek Him(to be known of Him) with all you've got(don't try to hide anything...He's God) and do His will...

"Hold My hand..."

2008-09-05T22:15:00.007-05:00

3Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
7Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
~Psalm 37:3-7 (NASB)

So...this trust thing was never something I was really good at. In theory it is really an exciting place to be, you know, trusting and waiting on a faithful God...but in practice I never quite get to the resting part. I ALWAYS seem to be fretting that, "Oh it worked out for them, why can't it work that way for me?"
God gently reminds me, "Do you really want to live some other's story?"
"No," I reply, "but I'm kind of scared of the dark..."
"Darkness is as light to me," He says, "Hold my hand and come with Me." And yet I tremble.
"It seems so long...I'm tired," I complain.
"Faith, my son, not much longer now. Remember how I waited for you, before you knew of Me? Now walk a while with Me."
"But it hurts!" I sob.
"Remember how I loved you, even when you turned your back on Me? Was that so very different a pain? Come and I will teach you how to love this way."
"OK, Abba, but teach me gently..."

Summer's End

2008-08-17T13:41:00.006-05:00

Wow...

Four months since my last blog post. My creativity must be waning these days. My whole summer lies buried in pages that no one else will likely ever see. It might have something to do with my poor, lovely dell laptop dying at the age of four. Mourn with me.

School...yeah, school is the plan and since I've only got two more days I guess I'd better start getting mentally ready. I think another year of biology should just about do in my college career.

...and now since my creative juices or lack thereof have effectively run out and I am in the midst of conversation which is drawing my attention elsewhere, I'll leave this post until...well, until I' m good and ready to write again.

The Midwest

2008-04-19T20:44:00.004-05:00

So, it turns out that the Midwest is not as safe as people would have us believe. Actually it's downright dangerous. I woke up the other morning to my bed shaking...shaking, just out of the blue at 5:37 in the morning. I was like, "So yeah, God, thanks for the reminder that I'm being lazy and should have been up a few minutes ago...hey! This is an earthquake!" Yep. Here in my very own state, in my very own city(well not really here, but I felt it here) the earth decided to remind me that it is still here beneath my feet and is a little miffed that I would forget it and take it for granted that it stays nice and stable for me most of the time. On thinking about it now, I really am thankful that it does. It would be rather inconvenient for the ground to be jumping all around all the time, especially if I end up being a dentist eventually. I mean, how annoying would it be to try to do a root canal with all that going on?

It really wasn't that big or nasty of a quake, just a 5.4 or something and it was like 300 miles away, but it was rather exciting. But back to the Midwest safety thing, I hope no poor Californian ran to us for a refuge from quakes. I'm afraid they'll have to find someplace new to hide. In addition to quakes we get stuff California doesn't and I guess that sort of makes up for our boring terrain and rough weather. For example, how many floods and tornadoes do you hear about in Cali? I guess they've got forest fires and stuff, but I'm sure we could conjure up one of those too if we really felt left out.

Comparing my State to California there's not a lot they've got that we don't (taking into consideration that we've got it all at a much smaller scale) We've even got "coastline"...er maybe I should call it Lake-line, I don't know, and I'm not sure if you can surf in the Michigan. The only thing we really don't have is mountains, but we do have our little hills down south...ok I know I'm stretching things just a bit. Oh yeah...I guess we don't have any deserts...hmm...who needs those anyway? Ok, I give...my state is a little more boring than Cali, but you've got to be content with what you're dealt right? But we still had an earthquake and it turns out our fault is bigger than the San Andreas if I'm not wrong. So WOOT for earthquakes! (That's the first time I've ever used that phrase...if it's a phrase...WOOT, that is)

On a more serious note, though, I was thinking about how quickly ones life can change. This was brought on, of course, by the earthquake kind of coming out of nowhere. I was thinking that earthquakes are one phenomenon that are a lot like Christ coming back, only on a smaller scale. What I mean is, every one in it's range suddenly has to stop and take note( and even make some decisions if it is a big one). Almost no one can simply ignore it. That's how it's going to be someday. Everybody's just going to be bumming along and then...bam, that final spiritual earthquake is going to wake us all up for good. I want to be a little more ready for that one, how about you?

2008-03-31T18:07:00.003-05:00

Is there a language that can describe my God? He is love...but He is more than love! He is faithful...even when I am the opposite of faithful, even traitorous, He is faithful, but He is more than faithful! He is good. In all things and through all things God is good. Good is defined by what God is...but He is more than good!

Jesus said, "I am the way..." He is the way...the way to the Father, to fulfillment, to salvation...but He is more than that! He said, "I am the truth...", and so He is. Not only does He have the truth, but He is the truth, but He is more, still! He said, "I am the life...", the only life worth living and life that none of us has without Him, a different kind of life than just what our bodies have, a greater, higher life. Yes, He is all this, but He is more still.

Words, perhaps will always fail when trying to give others a clear picture of our God. He said it best Himself when He said, "I am that I am." He just is...and He is so much more than we can fathom, that He says it in very small words so that we will understand a part of it. He gives us the Bible to describe Him in part...but no one book, no one world, no one universe can contain Him, or with anything it contains describe Him. He is still more, still greater, still deeper than any has said or ever will say about Him. There are simply not the words in our weak tongues to describe Him fully and rightly.

Yes, He is more... Are your knees weak as Isaiah's were when He saw just a glimpse of God? None can have an encounter with God and not be changed forever. Jacob limped for the rest of his life after having an encounter with God. Have you encountered Him? ...Because if you have your life will show it! People will see it on you; they will say, "Whoa, what is with them?" Those that have encountered God are marked forever; some have loved Him to the salvation of their souls and walk marked as His children; some have fled in rejection of Him and walk marked by the death that pursues them still...

He is all that His people have said and more...and most of all He is here...

2008-02-17T14:57:00.004-05:00

Luke 5:4-5 ~ And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."

I love Peter's response here! He had been trying all night to catch fish. He KNEW there were no fish in that area. I mean, he was the fisherman, not Jesus. Why did Jesus ask him to waste his time and dirty the nets yet again? But he did it anyway...and look what happened! We think, "Lord, I've tried it there and it didn't work!" But when Jesus moves us to try just one more time, we had better obey, for that is our chance to see God shake reality out of it's place for us. It is only then that He can show us that he knows a bit more about fishing than we do... Peter found out that day that Jesus could deliver on His word...even when it seems crazy. How much more can He bring something out of nothing when we are working in His real business? I mean, if Jesus knew when the fish were there better than Peter(a fisherman), then surely He will know when people are ready, since fishing for men is His field of expertise!

Wandering No More...

2008-02-14T10:13:00.002-05:00

I've decided to change my theme/nickname. Not really ultra important, but I decided that "TheWanderingHermit" is no longer a completely satisfactory explanation for where I am at in life. I'd kind of like to think of myself as going somewhere instead of just wandering. I mean, God is leading after all. I've just got to keep my eyes where they belong. The "Hermit" part may or may not still be true, but I'm working to change that one too in spite of my school schedule and my personality. And then, we are not permanent residents of this place, but just traveling through as well.
So, let the journey begin...

John 12:26 - If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will [my] Father honour.

Psalms 39:12 - Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I [am] a stranger with thee, [and] a sojourner, as all my fathers [were].

This Is The World

2008-01-16T22:13:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you've just got to stand back and look at life. Take it in and remember...then look to the future with the hope that Someone is there before you. As I was doing this back in the Fall of '05 these words came to me...

This Is the World

Mark C. Zeller - Fall ‘05

Looking back for a while on the days that have gone

There’s a lot you have shown me, a lot I’ve done wrong

There are rocks where I’ve stumbled and grass where I slept

There are friends who have loved me and tears when they left

Chorus

This is the world I have lived on,

And this is road I have trodden

I stand on the mountain and hear the wind blow

I walk through the valleys where wide rivers flow

Looking up for a time on the days on before

There’s a lot yet to learn there, a lot yet in store

But faithful you’ve been, Abba, faithful remain

Faithful in light, Father, faithful in pain

Final Chorus

This is the world that you died for,

And this is the road where you suffered

I stand on the hillside and hear your words call

Come to the valley where cool waters fall

...Lately a good friend has moved on to a new stage in life. It gets me thinking while I sit here with that bittersweet feeling that comes from sadness that things aren't as they once were mixed with excitement for his new horizons, "Thanks God for friends, for brothers, for people that I can love and that can love me...people that make this life worth living."

One...Four...Ten

2008-01-09T21:53:00.000-05:00

One more day and how many chances have I let pass me by...?

Erwin Lutzer woke me up this morning with a message on gifts and the importance, or rather the necessity as believers in acting them out. He even went as far as saying it was sin not to live our gifts...to take what the church gives without giving back to God. I think of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), and it seems to jive with what he is saying.

One problem I stumble over, though is this, "What if you're not sure what your gifts are?" I'm completely open to ideas here as I often ponder this question.

David...and people

2007-11-11T15:33:00.000-05:00

Psalm 63:3 ~ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise you.

So, if David could go through life with that attitude, even when people all around him disregarded God, why can't I? I get so tired of people talking about how this world came to be by itself, as if they really knew it was so! So tired! When will they just get it and admit that they don't know? I wish I could know as much as they know and show them that I can come to the opposite conclusions with the same data that they tout as supporting their point of view. Someday...

Anyway...until then...and probably even after, I'll just have to say with David, "You are enough, God!"

What to do, eh?

2007-10-05T16:22:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking lately about what my life is about, and it seems to me that it just moves on in spite of me. I mean, I purpose to do a lot of good things and then end up doing a lot of not so good things or at least not doing the good things... I ask questions like, "What are my responsibilities to God at school?" I get down over my being so often caught up in my own stuff that I miss opportunities for good. I get a little overwhelmed with all that could be done and all that I don't do...and then I remembered this verse:

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8

Ah...that simplifies it a bit. Just three things. Seems a bit more manageable to me, I don't know about you. Do what you know to be right. Love mercy and committing acts of mercy. Walk humbly with God. I love it!

Ready For The Storm?

2007-07-15T18:48:00.000-05:00

So, not that it matters really, but I haven't posted anything for over three months. Inspiration ebbs and flows, I guess. Anyhow, for the few that actually read this, I should say that having made it back safely from the other side of the world, I now turn to the daily grind of a summer job and wondering how school will go as I return to IUPUI and switch my major yet again (Now Pre-dental Biology). I wonder...will I stick to this one for the long haul or not. Am I ready for the storm? A song by Rich Mullins with that title really speaks to me. If you haven't heard it, definitely listen to it at least once.

~Ready For The Storm~

The waves crash in the tide rolls out
It's an angry sea but there is no doubt
That the lighthouse will keep shining out
To warn a lonely sailor
And the lightning strikes
And the wind cuts cold
Through the sailor's bones
Through the sailor's soul
'Til there's nothing left that he can hold
Except a rolling ocean

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
I'm ready for the storm

Oh give me mercy for my dreams
'Cause every confrontation seems to tell me
What it really means
To be this lonely sailor
And when the sky begins to clear
The sun it melts away my fear
And I shed a silent weary tear
For those who mean to love me

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
I'm ready for the storm

The distance it is no real friend
And time will take its time
And you will find that in the end
It brings you me
This lonely sailor
And when You take me by the hand
And You love me, Lord, You love me
And I should have realized
I had no reasons to be frightened

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
I'm ready for the storm

Musing in the Garden

2007-04-04T22:30:00.000-05:00

Here is one of my musings from a long while back.

Heaven’s Hero – Earth’s Hope
Mark C. Zeller – 11/2004

My mind flies back two thousand years. Black is the night that my God gave himself up to be tied by ropes meant for me. Still is Gethsemane as heaven’s hero struggles to lift the leaded burden that we have forged. The silence is split by voices and the blackness by smoky torches. Intruders where they have no place, invade the seeming peace. “Whom do you seek”, comes Jesus’ voice, unwavering. “Jesus, the man from Nazareth”, is their demand. I see his peaceful eyes and my very spirit trembles as I feel the power held back like a flooded river beating on a dam. The very earth seems to wait in expectant silence, waiting for the command of the voice that spoke it into being. The heavens seem tense with anxiety and apprehension as if they wish to crush these men who seek to take their master, and yet all remains still as these poor wretches wait for this man’s reply. If only he would command it, nature would undo itself to serve him. The very men who seek him are held together by his sheer will alone and if he would but forget them for a moment, they would be as if they had never been. Finally, after what seems to me to be an age, he replies, as all creation listens. “I AM HE.” Those who were seeking him fall back as if struck down by some unseen hand and as they pick themselves up from the dust Jesus again asks, “Whom do you seek?” Again they reply, “Jesus of Nazareth.” He responds on behalf of his disciples who have been watching in horror, “I have told you that I am he, if you seek me let these others go their way.”

So The Lord of all bowed and let his pathetic creation take him and bind him, beat him and lash him, scorn him and finally crucify him that I might have another chance and more than that, salvation and eternal life.

Buridian, Aristotle and I

2007-03-29T11:58:00.000-05:00

There is a problem, posed by a fourteenth century philosopher, where a donkey placed between two precisely equal haystacks starves to death because of indecision. Aristotle tells of a man, equally hungry and thirsty, placed between food and drink who also suffers a similar demise. I often feel that I am that man, that donkey, placed in the midst of a multitude of good decisions with no deciding factors. My only hope being to try each one and failing or finding it not to my taste, to move to the next. To remain is to perish, yet following one path after another becomes painful as I come up empty and disillusioned. "What is the way?" I ask. "Is one as good as another?"

I have made decisions, some good, some as yet have proven neither good or ill. I have followed each path, believing it to be the good way at the time, but the next step is always as the last, uncertain. Is it futile to ask for a direction in life? Is it wrong? The song "The Silence of God" by Andrew Peterson comes to mind:

"It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faith
It's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been sane
When he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the heaven's only answer is the silence of God"

Of course, the song doesn't end there. It goes on to tell how Jesus knows our sorrows...top notch lyrics, even if some people don't prefer his voice. This one is one of my own, voicing similar sentiments:

A Lost Sheep’s Song

2005 - MCZ

If Jesus said his sheep would know his voice,

And he would lead them all by waters still,

Then why do I in blindness face my choice?

Oh, who will show me here the Father’s will?

It seems that others always know the way.

As I look on and watch them fly on by.

They leap the heights. I cry on day to day,

And I stay here, uncertain, wondering why.

These babblings likely make me look a fool.

A fool, I feel! My Lord my only prayer.

My heart’s a mess, my mind a stagnant pool.

Are these ears deaf, and these two eyes impaired?

Chorus

Understanding comes to me as slowly as the dawn,

But I will praise the Lord on high as he leads me ever on.

~After Final Chorus~

Yes, I will sing my praises to Jesus Christ the Lamb

Hallelujah, Hallelujah to the great I AM.

Tomorrow's Yesterday and Yesterday's Tomorrow

2007-03-13T03:09:00.000-05:00

I read "The Screwtape Letters" last weekend and I had a few thoughts. In his letter to his nephew, the master tempter Screwtape talks about time and how we are bound by it. He says that the present is the only thing remotely like the eternity of the spirit world. The future is only today tomorrow and the most we can do about it is do our duty today. The enemy wants to get us to dwell on tomorrow's problems or solutions, or on yesterday and how good it was, and forget our duty today. If he can do this then he wins by getting us to waste our time and forget our duty in the now. What is our duty, you ask? What does God say? Do justly. Love mercy. walk humbly. Do all as unto Him. What else can we do? Live today like it's the tomorrow you looked forward to yesterday and with the intention of having no regrets when it is tomorrow's yesterday...

Tomorrow’s Yesterday

Mark C. Zeller - Fall ‘04

Tomorrow has become the day just after this day’s yesterday.

Still I look forward now to yet another future better day.

Bridge

Why do I fly to the future and not stay where you’ve laid me?

Why do I run towards the rising sun, forgetting what you gave me?

Chorus

Time flies quickly on its way,

While I look to another day

I can’t enjoy this path I’m on,

While looking for another dawn

So give me patience now, my God,

To live each day upon this sod

Oh summer, winter, spring and fall, I look for something far away.

Why I can’t find it, I don’t know, but I keep looking anyway.

Contentment comes so hard for me, and I wait so impatiently.

I know I should be thankful, Lord, for all the things you’ve given me.

Spurgeon

2007-02-26T08:33:00.000-05:00

I read this in Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotional for today. I thought it was worthy of a post. I can't add a whole lot. I think he, pretty much, says it all.

"Salvation is of the Lord." {#Jon 2:9}

Salvation is the work of God. It is he alone who quickens the soul "dead in trespasses and sins," and it is he also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both "Alpha and Omega." "Salvation is of the Lord." If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful; if I have graces, they are God's gifts to me; if I hold on in a consistent life, it is because he upholds me with his hand. I do nothing whatever towards my own preservation, except what God himself first does in me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord alone. Wherein I sin, that is my own; but wherein I act rightly, that is of God, wholly and completely. If I have repulsed a spiritual enemy, the Lord's strength nerved my arm. Do I live before men a consecrated life? It is not I, but Christ who liveth in me. Am I sanctified? I did not cleanse myself: God's Holy Spirit sanctifies me. Am I weaned from the world? I am weaned by God's chastisements sanctified to my good. Do I grow in knowledge? The great Instructor teaches me. All my jewels were fashioned by heavenly art. I find in God all that I want; but I find in myself nothing but sin and misery. "He only is my rock and my salvation. "Do I feed on the Word? That Word would be no food for me unless the Lord made it food for my soul, and helped me to feed upon it. Do I live on the manna which comes down from heaven? What is that manna but Jesus Christ himself incarnate, whose body and whose blood I eat and drink? Am I continually receiving fresh increase of strength? Where do I gather my might? My help cometh from heaven's hills: without Jesus I can do nothing. As a branch cannot bring forth fruit except it abide in the vine, no more can I, except I abide in him. What Jonah learned in the great deep, let me learn this morning in my closet: "Salvation is of the Lord."

"For what is your life?"

2007-02-17T19:38:00.000-05:00

James 4:13-15 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

How often do we make plans and set up future events in our minds only to have them swept away as Gods plan turns out to be a little different than what we had thought? There is actually great comfort in this passage, especially for those of us who don't know where we're headed anyway. If our lives are going to unfold as the Lord wills them, then why stress? Surely he'll show us our way as the time for action approaches. Of course, he may wait until there is no doubt in our mind that we would have been lost without his direction, which may be quite a while for some, namely me. If so, we are very fortunate indeed, since otherwise we may have credited our accomplishments to ourselves and all our hard work and discretion in choosing such a wise direction, thereby losing God's blessing through pride.

Colts and Goals

2007-02-05T01:10:00.000-05:00

Watching the Super Bowl from the other side of the world is interesting. If you can get it on TV at all you are fortunate. None of the really funny ads make it around to this side of the world, instead they have some soccer and cricket ads that besides being in Hindi, sometimes run a little long making you miss whole plays. Few enough people here know what the Super Bowl is, much less who is playing. It makes you start to wonder, what is all the fuss about, really? For the players it is a fairly big deal, I suppose. I'm sure Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning are elated at this moment over their victory, but beyond a trophy, a ring and maybe a pay raise, what does it mean to them personally? How often do people finally reach long looked for goals only to realize that they have been working toward something that really doesn't fulfill them as much as they thought it would? They will continue living life as they have. They'll have to form new goals and look forward to something else. There will be more successes, failures, joys and tears and life will move on. Thank God we have him to look to and our final goal isn't here on earth, but is a hope secured in heaven. More than this, our reward is not something that is exhausted, for God is our reward. When you finally reach Him you realize that He goes on and gets better yet. The more you know Him, the more you realize that He is enough and that He goes on...not suddenly saying,"OK you've made it, that's all there is to me."

Words

2007-01-07T22:27:00.000-05:00

I was thinking today about God's words. Isaiah 55:10-11 say that God's word goes out and does not return to him void, but accomplishes what he purposed it to accomplish. I was thinking, that is pretty amazing. When we speak, we have no idea what the outcome will be. We could offend someone or get into a million different kinds of trouble, but when God speaks... When God speaks, not only does He say what he wants to say, but His words accomplish things. His words aren't sounds and waves and such, but actions! The Bible is his word. Christ is the Word of God. In the beginning, God spoke...that's all...and the world was made. This really gives us reason as children of His to, as the next verse in Isaiah says, "Go out with joy, and be led forth with peace." We can be certain of this, that God is in control and that he is not behind on our personal current events and needs. Not only this but when he speaks words of love to us, mountains will move and the earth will tremble, for God has spoken...

January...it did come after all...

2007-01-06T13:10:00.000-05:00

So, January is here and I've got a week until my flight to India. Tons of details and goodbyes will, I'm sure, leave me worn out before I get started. For the last week or so and during the coming one I have been and will be working on an SEO(Search Engine Optimization) project for my brother-in-law's company. In India I'll probably do more of this type of work as well as just being with his family and, perhaps, a little touring here and there.

Days...

2006-12-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

So, life is odd. My little sister turned 18 yesterday and a good friend left for a far off place, my little brother turned 20 today and another good friend married yet another friend. The semester is finally over, but Christmas will come and go as it ever has, and that is quickly. January 13 should arrive practically before I finish eating Christmas leftovers and I'll be off to India. What I will find there, God only knows, but one thing it is certain, that is, I will find that God is there before me. I pray that my eyes will be opened to see things that I have not seen before and that I may bless those that I serve there.

Flexibility is something that I have had to learn new lessons with quite frequently in life, and once more, I may get a refresher course in it. Susan Smith, the wife of Jerry Smith who I will hopefully be working with in Mongolia, was found to have a tumor while here in the US.(Please remember her in your prayers when you pray for me.) This means that my plans for Mongolia may change a bit as the weeks move on, but as we would say at ALERT, "Semper Gumbi"(Always Flexible).

A day ago I heard it,
A lullaby to close my eye
A score of years confirm it
That as an echo, so we fly
~MZ

What are you giving to Jesus this Christmas?

2006-12-12T05:55:00.000-05:00

Erwin Lutzer was talking about Christmas this morning and I thought he had a great point. He said, in effect, "Isn't it great that we celebrate Christ's birth? I mean, wouldn't you appreciate so many people throwing a birthday party in your honor if you were God? A couple of slightly important details in the fine print though. You're not invited! Tons of gifts will be given, but NONE of them are for you. They are all for other guests that have invited themselves and who either don't know you or have chosen to forget about you. This is a celebration not for you, but only in honor of you."

How sad is this? Isn't that how we treat Christmas sometimes though? I think it's time we turned it around and quit asking each other what we want for Christmas and start asking Jesus what he wants. What does he want us to give to him. Obviously the most important thing is our heart, and if we haven't given that then anything else is a mockery. But for those of us who have told Jesus that our lives are his, shouldn't we be seeking to give in Jesus' name this Christmas? Not just in form, but in truth. How can we give in Jesus' name? Well, to start, we should not be giving anything that distracts from the purpose of the celebration, anything that encourages greed and selfishness. I listen to people talking about what to give to others, and if we are going to be giving to Christ as he gave to us, then our gifts should be a sacrifice of love even as his was to us. Perhaps parents should teach their children to give as Christ did, not to the rich or his kin, but to the poor and to his enemies, to the effect that the focus is no longer "What do I want for Christmas?" or even "What do you want for Christmas?", but rather "Praise God for his gift to us! How can we thank him this Christmas?"

~Matthew 25:45~

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Noah

2006-11-29T06:24:00.000-05:00

I was thinking of Noah this morning and how he preached the flood for something like one-hundred and twenty years before it finally came. It came just when he had completed the ark. This point is interesting for, at least in this case, God waited on his children to do a laborious work to bring his final promised acts about. Could not God have simply brought the flood waters right away and saved Noah and his family by some other miracle, and thereby saved Noah some work and discouragement along the way? Sure, but he chose to let Noah toil, building the ark and preaching without effect for all that time. How wearying and trying to one's faith would that be? Not one convert in one-hundred and twenty years! Surely his message seemed like foolishness to the scientists of his day, for, what was rain? Their world didn't work that way. It went against the "laws" of nature. So it is with us these some two thousand years after Jesus Christ's ascension. Could it be that God waits on us to complete a work for him?

Upheld

2006-11-28T18:17:00.000-05:00

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. ~1 Peter 5:10(KJV)

Today I am grateful that it is God that makes us perfect, establishes our ways, strengthens us when we are weak and settles us when we are shaken in our faith.

If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. ~Psalm 37:23-24 (NIV)

There is freedom in these words. It is not we who step firmly in the right direction or with the right heart, but God who makes our steps firm. We who trust in the Lord will not fall when we stumble for he is with us through the rocks as well as in the gardens.

I say not,"May your road be smooth," but "May the Lord be with you and uphold you, though all your ways be weary."

Sunsets in Black and White

2006-11-20T21:41:00.000-05:00

I felt like posting something tonight and so here you are...
I wrote this one on my way home from Indy one night. A glimpse into my mind on the road... I tend to wax eloquent, at least on paper(I'm not known for vocal eloquence), when I'm in the right mood or in the right place. Even Indiana can inspire one at times...

Mark C. Zeller – 9/06

V.1
The streaked skies, black canvas torn
A light invading dark domains
The clouds as titan sheep unshorn
With horns of gold and wreathed in flames
The shepherd sun unfolds the morn
And climbs to pastures o’er the plains

Chorus
Some days I wish I wasn’t bound down to this road
Some nights I cry
That I could rise to pastures high above this load
That I could fly

V.2
The dying day sighs out its praise
The moon awakens in the east
A veil of blackened space o’ertakes
The light of even ‘neath the trees
This road amidst the deep’ning maze
Of time a wand’ring, wayward breeze

Out of the boat!

2006-11-17T06:09:00.000-05:00

"And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus." ~ Matthew 14:28-29

I woke up this morning to a song about this verse. I think we often jump to the part where Peter starts to sink and say, "Oh look at how Peter's lack of faith caused him to sink." We fail to realize, however, that Peter was ready to die for his belief in the Savior! He was getting out of his place of relative safety in the boat into, or rather onto the stormy sea. How often do you and I display this type of faith? Perhaps this is why we don't see God work in the incredible ways that he did through Peter and the apostles...because we stay in the boat.

...in the long run we don't know how many chances we will get to glorify God by letting him show his power through our weakness tested, so get up, get out, and trust...

...for, what else is life?

Promises - 1

2006-11-15T18:32:00.000-05:00

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." ~John 14:12-14(KJV)

Sometimes I wonder...how strongly do we really believe these promises of Christ? Does our faith stop at salvation? Is God different now then He was in the days of the apostles?

These are strong words. Greater! Whatsoever! Anything! To ask in Christ's name, perhaps, is the place where we fail. What can we truly ask in His name? It must be, as the previous verse says, "That the Father may be glorified in the Son." So let's ask boldly, in the Spirit, that the Father may be glorified,...

...for, what else is life?

A Voice Through The Flames

2006-11-12T22:24:00.000-05:00

In honor of the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church(11/12) , I'm posting this poem that I wrote a while back about the Anabaptists during the reformation. Remember them...and live remembering!

~A Voice Through The Flames ~
Fall ’04 – Winter ’05
Mark C. Zeller
Cannot you also hear his cries,
And yet you sit and close your eyes?
I hear the mob’s cry rend the air,
And yet his face is calm and fair.
They rush him quickly to the flames,
And even yet no one he blames.
He follows onward to the end,
This weak and hopeless sinner’s friend.
Still now I hear his cries go on,
As years have come and years have gone.
Why do you stand with heart so cold,
And think on flesh and seek your gold?
Your heart with stone has been replaced.
What have you done with heavens grace?
Return and live for Christ, my friend,
Before you wake to find the end.

January cometh...oh, but it doth...

2006-11-12T16:55:00.000-05:00

...and, Lord-willing, I will be heading off to India to visit my sister, my brother-in-law and their three soon-to-be four awesome kids. There I will be working with my bro a little bit with his business and helping my sis with her "pack" as much as I can. hopefully, I will also be learning a lot in the process about their work there. My purpose for going is somewhat to take a sabbatical, but also to look into working long-term overseas, to gain a better knowledge backed by experience of what it's like over there, and to serve in any way that I can.

I will be flying directly from India to Mongolia in March if everything goes as planned. At this point, though, I haven't got all of the initial planning and details worked out and it's kind of stressful, so I would appreciate a prayer here and there, when you think of me. I should be in Mongolia at least until June, probably the end of June. So that is the basic run down.

as always,

Mark's First Random Post -

2006-11-12T15:14:00.001-05:00

A lot of fun and, hopefully, not wasted time...is about to take place!