Reflection on my visit to Epcot (Disney World)

I was in Epcot yesterday. It was a nice place... However, I came out of it dissatisfied. All the things were great but they only left me longing for more. "Is that it?" was the constant question on my mind. Don't get me wrong, Epcot is a wonderful place. But neither Epcot nor any other worldly joy can satisfy a heart longing to be filled with the magnificent Living Water. Experiencing Epcot was as if I smelled a delicious dinner but the dinner never came. The world is satisfied with the smell, going on for days describing what a joy it was... However, the Christian would become only hungrier to get "the real thing." In his mind, he would be expecting dinner with the smell -- for he has tasted the Lord and nothing less can satisfy. All this notwithstanding, here's a warning to the "Christian pharisee." If he rejects the smell of dinner as being bad, is he likely to partake of the actual meal? I doubt it. The true Christian will delight in all things, small and great, since all of them speak of his first love: "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." (James 1:17) and "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." (1 Timothy 4:4-5).

All worldly joys in themselves are not the end, they merely point to the greatest joy: knowing and savoring Jesus. As C.S. Lewis says, "We are far too easily satisfied..."

The power of pleasure...

"If the heart is satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus, the power of sin to lure us away from the wisdom of Christ is broken." -- John Piper

Dennis is coming

Dennis is on its way into Alabama. It appears the center of the storm will miss Montgomery but we'll still get some strong winds. We won't have power for a day or two -- best case scenario.

"The men were amazed, and said, 'What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?'" (Mark 4:41).

God is sovereign over Dennis. Dennis obeys every word that proceeds from God... In fact, it is the power of God that sustains Dennis: "... in Him all things hold together" (Col. 1:17). He is the power that holds atoms together -- if He lets go, all things will simply cease to be.

What is our response to the author of this storm? Will we curse Him or worship Him? In His wisdom He works all things for good of those who love Him.

O Lord, be merciful upon us. Yes, we do not even deserve to live a single moment for we are all sinners and from our hearts proceed all sorts of vile and evil things. But in Christ, you have spared us from eternal punishment by laying it all on Him. We appeal to Your covenant -- spare the righteous and the unrighteous to demonstrate your patience and steadfast love. Blessed be Your name, O Lord! For You are great! Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May Your name be proclaimed in all the earth. Amen.

Good Health

I come from a culture that values health almost above all other things. It's very subtle -- no one would probably say that it is the case. But our speech betrays us... When people greet each other, they say "zdravstvuyte" (literally, "be healthy"); when someone sneezes, others quickly affirm, "budte zdorovi" (again, "be healthy"). Even birthday wishes almost always have health as one of the items wished for. In fact, sometimes, people wish good health above all things. Everything else is secondary, they say.

Is it wrong to wish good health? Of course not! But to wish good health as the ultimate end of all pursuits of man is meaningless! Why? Because health is a means to something. Saying that good health (as a means to immortality) is the goal of every man begs the "why" question. Why live long? What's the purpose of living a long healthy life? Everyone agrees that it is a good thing but no one seems to be able to answer this question apart from the Christian worldview.

The Christian worldview states that God created man for Himself and man's ultimate goal is to be happy in God! If good health is a means to be exceedingly happy in God, then by all means pursue good health. Unfortunately, in the Ukrainian and other cultures, pursuit of good health is a way to delay death and the judgement that comes thereafter. Of course, for Christians, death has no power because Christ swallowed up death in victory -- since death could not contain Life. He swallowed it up! We think of death destroying life but the possibility of life destroying death seems like a paradox to us! "O death where is your victory, o death where is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:57).

So what's the conclusion then? Pursue God and all His pleasures. All other things will be added to you, including health. Remember that the things He gives are only a means to Him. Don't use them as a means to run away from God. Pursue maximum pleasure -- don't settle for things that mimick it.

Ephesians 3:14-21

I was meditating briefly on Paul's prayer for the saints in Ephesus...
"I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

Magnifying God

There are two types of magnfication. First, is when we make tiny objects appear bigger than they are (as with a microscope); second, is when we make huge objects appear as they really are (as with a telescope). Magnifying God is the latter type... This is the theme of this blog: to magnify God that He may be seen as He really is... Let's face it: we have boxed Him in and have denied Him but He simply is... unchangeable, sovereign, mighty...