Living Dead
Posted November 3, 2006
The knowledge of God is very far from the love of Him. -- Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living. -- John Henry Newman
The task to which we are called is not the sacrifice of any principle in which we firmly believe. It is rather to return to Christ not a figure of the imagination, but the Christ of the Scriptures and to listen to His voice in obedience, to discover afresh what is the Truth. All unpretentious Bible study, every effort to disseminate a true scriptural theology, and every earnest prayer is part of the task of promoting that unity which is truly Christian. We must not envisage Christian Unity as consisting of far-off and doubtful schemes, but as something very nigh which affects us all. If we are really to seek for Christian Unity, we must be prepared to pay the cost. For it must be based upon love, and love is always costly. It will never be attained until there is "far more humility, far more thought, far more self-sacrifice, and far more prayer, than there is at present." (Streeter) If we are right in the conclusion that such disunion as has been sinful in the history of the Church has been due to pride, self-assertion, and contempt for God's Word and commandment, then it follows that the way to the unity which God wills through humility, love of the brethren, and obedience to the Divine Revelation. When Christians pray to be shown where they have been wrong, proud, complaisant, or censorious, and to be put right; when they meet for common counsel and study of the Word, in the spirit of obedience and prepared to subject their individual opinions to the guidance of the Spirit; where the strong are willing to foster and strengthen the weak; and where all are seeking the common good rather than their own sectional interests: then the pathway to unity will become plain, and God will grant His blessing. -- G. T. Manley
Measure not men by Sundays, without regarding what they do all the week after. -- Thomas Fuller
The basis of our Lords appeal was himself. "Follow me," "come unto me," and "ye will not come unto me," indicate sufficiently that what he offered to men was himself. He seeks to win mens acceptance of the truth that had come in him. His words and deeds served to indicate what manner of man he was and what kind of work he had come to do; and all the time it is a person addressing persons, seeking to gain their recognition of and their self-commitment to himself. He sought to exercise no authority over men that was not personal, both in the way it was exercised and in the way in which it was recognized and accepted. -- John Huxtable (1912-1990)
We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking only to learn that it is God shaking them. -- Charles West
I believe in God like I believe in the sun rise. Not because I can see it, but because I can see all that it touches. -- C. S. Lewis
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Greetings.
I love this time of the year. I love halloween. Not for what it's history is, but I used to love to dress up and run up and down the streets. Now I have kids and we dress them up and go to our local church parking lot and stand in line to trick or treat. I think it's kinda lame, but oh well.
I also love horror movies. In particular, I am fond of zombie flicks. My favorites are probably the 90's remake of Night Of The Living Dead and the 2004 remake of Dawn Of The Dead.
I think that the whole notion of zombies is ironic. The dead come back to life and want to eat the living.
In this life where we live at in Hateworld, you can look at the zombie myth in several ways.
We being dead to the world in fact are some sort of "good' zombie. Dead to the world, alive in Christ.
Or, the world is full of dead people who think that they are living, they in fact are the zombies.
Dead to Christ and alive to the world.
Or one other metaphor that I have used a zombie for is my dead flesh.
It's dead and it always wants to consume me!
Romans 6 has a lot to say about living dead and dead living!
Romans 6:1-11
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Reckon yourselves dead indeed!
Colossians 3:1-10
"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,"
Alive in Christ!
Colossians 3:12-17
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
We are to be dead to the world and alive to God in Christ!
To be crucified with Christ is to be dead to this Hateworld!
Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 5:24
"And those who are Christs have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
Galatians 6:14
"But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
We are called to be set apart from the wickedness of this life. It's tough! The zombie-like nature of the dead flesh wants and wants and wants, and if it gets, it will consume and consume and consume.
We are to bear another death...
Luke 9:23-24
"Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.""
I am dead to sin. That may not always show it's self to be true. But One has died for me and rose again to the full newness of life on my behalf. I am dead to this Hateworld... but alive in Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
And for that I am eternally grateful!
Dearest Brothers and Sisters, grace and peace to you.
~ eric
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Currently Listening
Succulent Space Food For Teething Vampires by
Blaster The Rocket Boy
Flesheaters
They want to eat you up and then turn you into one of them!
They're gnawing and they're brawling and they're clawing at me!
Flesheaters, self breeders- fun for boys and girls!
Mind beaters, soul bleeders- eating up the world!
Self serving island they're fueled up and dying!
Physical temporal control of your soul!
Flesheaters, self breeders- fun for boys and girls!
Mind beaters, soul bleeders- eating up the world!
Flesheaters, self breeders- fun for boys and girls!
Mind beaters, soul bleeders- eating up the world!
Flesheaters oh-oh! (8x)
Underground dwellers trying to escape
The sky scraper corporate raper.
You still got a problem
The problem is you!
The corruption we made
Solecist's all that's made new.
If you deny Him you better hope there's no resurrection.
You better hope you can refute the facts.
Cause if you can't, you're not safe.
And yourself can never be made alive,
Unless yourself is crucified.
I'm alive in Christ!
I'm crucified with Christ!
