by MW Cook

What must a man possess who possesses the Possessor of all things? – Savanarola

Ruth and I watched Braveheart the other night. There’s a man with focus, eh? A man gripped by one thing and one thing only. Unrelenting, to the point where people questioned his very sanity. This could be transmitted over to our Christian lives I’m sure. A single purpose, a sole reason to be. For Wallace, it was freedom from foreign oppression, for the Christian?…

Kinda funny, I seem to see spiritual parallels in a lot of Gibson’s films – Signs, The Passion (duh), Lethal Weapon (actually, not likely).

One more spiritual object lesson:

Ruth and I both enjoy Indian incense. I noticed that the cheap kind is very pretty looking and lasts for quite some time, but the smell’s rarely pleasant and it always messes up our sinuses. The expensive stuff, on the other hand, burns out quickly and looks rather rugged and course. Yet it smells wonderful and has yet to trouble our heads at all. The good stuff may not look all that nice or last long, but it’s good. The poor stuff may look nice and hang around seemingly for ever, but it’s quite bad. I guess we could translate that into spiritual terms in the words of Jim Elliot – “I ask not for a long life, but a full one.”

I’m in the midst of preparing for a sermon this Sunday. I’m trying to take to heart the psalmist’s words in Psalm 127 – Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. Too often my plans are made and then I consult God on it. It should be the other way around. I don’t decide on a subject to preach and then ask for help; I ask what I should preach on and then seek help.

It’s a litte late (Ruth is already in bed) but I’m not tired at all. I’ve been like this the last few days. At night I’m full of energy. I feel like I should stay up and get things done. Maybe I’ll read and write for a while before bed. This is when my mind is most agile and focused, I feel like I can do so much right now. I wish that would transfer to the morning. It’s kinda funny – I’m really a night person at heart, and Ruth does good in the morning. Sleep is annoying, yes? Yes.

Some want to live within the sound

Of Church or Chapel bell;

I want to run a rescue shop

Within a yard of hell.

C. T. Studd (1860-1931)