Matt W Cook

I’m reading through The Eye of the World with my wife. It’s a lot of fun curling up on the couch, turning all the screens and speakers off and reading out loud together.

The series is all about the rise of the prophesied Dragon Reborn who is destined to fight against the dark one and save the people of the world. It’s wild. I’ve talked about it before.

It starts off in a tiny village. Everyone has heard the prophecies of the Dragon. In fact, there have been many false Dragons rising up and proclaiming themselves. Many more than usual. In a time when there are false Dragons in almost every country, who would take another claimant seriously? But it is in this setting that the real Dragon is actually reborn.

Someone would be tempted to say, “Hey, there are false Dragons all over the place. Why should I think that this guy is the real one?”

That sounds like what people say today when they talk about faith. “There are so many religions today, how can I know which one is right? Maybe none are!”

But truth, like the Dragon, comes with signs. In the book, the Dragon has a set of prophecies that prove him. Only the true Dragon can touch the mystic sword Callandor. Only the Dragon can unite the warring Aiel clans. Only the Dragon’s blood will free mankind from the Shadow. In the midst of countless false Dragons, the true Dragon will stand out. He must stand out.

Truth has marks as well. And in a world filled with false Truths, it will stand out.

What are the marks of spiritual Truth? Can you recognize them?
– Truth is true all the time.
– Truth changes a person.
– Truth agrees with other truths.
– Truth has complex depth.
– Truth has peaceful simplicity.

What are other marks of Truth?

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This is second-hand unless you’re reading it at http://www.theilliteratescribe.com

I’m reading through The Eye of the World with my wife. It’s a lot of fun curling up on the couch, turning all the screens and speakers off and reading out loud together.

The series is all about the rise of the prophesied Dragon Reborn who is destined to fight against the dark one and save the people of the world. It’s wild. I’ve talked about it before.

It starts off in a tiny village. Everyone has heard the prophecies of the Dragon. In fact, there have been many false Dragons rising up and proclaiming themselves. Many more than usual. In a time when there are false Dragons in almost every country, who would take another claimant seriously? But it is in this setting that the real Dragon is actually reborn.

Someone would be tempted to say, “Hey, there are false Dragons all over the place. Why should I think that this guy is the real one?”

That sounds like what people say today when they talk about faith. “There are so many religions today, how can I know which one is right? Maybe none are!”

But truth, like the Dragon, comes with signs. In the book, the Dragon has a set of prophecies that prove him. Only the true Dragon can touch the mystic sword Callandor. Only the Dragon can unite the warring Aiel clans. Only the Dragon’s blood will free mankind from the Shadow. In the midst of countless false Dragons, the true Dragon will stand out. He must stand out.

Truth has marks as well. And in a world filled with false Truths, it will stand out.

What are the marks of spiritual Truth? Can you recognize them?
– Truth is true all the time.
– Truth changes a person.
– Truth agrees with other truths.
– Truth has complex depth.
– Truth has peaceful simplicity.

What are other marks of Truth?

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This is second-hand unless you’re reading it at http://www.theilliteratescribe.com

H1N1

It’s a much better name than Swine Flu, eh? I think it captures a more serious and mysterious feeling. You’re more likely to be afraid of a deadly virus known only as H1N1 than you are of a disease called Swine Flu. Seriously, it just sounds silly.

According to Wikipedia a whopping 6,508 people have been killed because of H1N1 this year. Wow. A lot, eh? Good thing there’s a lot of public awareness on this.

Do you know how many people die a year from hunger? A little more than 30 million.

H1N1: 6,508
Hunger: 30,000,000+

You wanna see a scary graphic?

That scares the crap out of me.

I know you’ve heard this all before. I know it’s very fashionable to talk about solving world hunger as we reach for the nearest bean burrito. I realize that I’m just playing to a fad. But seriously, hunger? HUNGER?! 30 million people died because they couldn’t get their hands on a freakin’ piece of bread? There is something seriously wrong with that.

And this is the part where I’m supposed to encourage you all to be thankful, maybe support a kid from Compassion Canada and eat all your vegetables. What are some ways that we can help solve this insane (and completely preventable) problem of world hunger?
1) Give food to someone who doesn’t have food.
2) Get involved in your government and push them to spend more money on aid to developing countries.
3) Live simply.
4) Go to Asia and open a school / orphanage / food bank.
5) Support someone who wants to go to Asia and open a school / orphanage / food bank.

We live in a global village, right? So the starving folks in Asia are your neighbours, right? And whatever you do to your neighbors you do to Jesus, right?

I think Jesus is hungry.

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I was digging around in my computer again and I found a neat little thing I wrote a couple years ago.  I was preaching in Romans in Pakistan at the time and when I arrived at chapter 12 I realized that the passage could be adapted to make a great family code.  So I codified it and here is the result: The Cook Family Code:

October 5, 2007

Cook Family Code:
Based on Romans 12:9-121

01.    Love genuinely.  Verses 9 & 10
    Love God with all your heart.  Love each other with brotherly affection.

02.    Hold tightly.  Verse 9
    Hold on tight to what is good, but hate what is evil.

03.    Rejoice continually.  Verse 12
    Rejoice in the hope God gives us.

04.    Live fervently.  Verse 11
    Don’t be lazy in zeal, but be fervent in the Spirit.

05.    Serve gladly.  Verses 11 & 16
    Serve the Lord and others.  Give yourself to humble tasks.  Be humble.

06.    Overcome patiently.  Verses 12, 14, 17 & 21
    Be patient in trouble.  Never take revenge.  Don’t let yourself be overcome by evil, rather overcome evil with good.

07.    Give compassionately.  Verses 10 & 13
    Give to the needs of others.  Outdo one another in showing honor.

08.    Entertain indiscriminately.  Verses 13 & 16
    Always be hospitable.  Associate with the ‘lowly’.

09.    Dwell harmoniously.  Verses 15 & 18
    As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Rejoice with all who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

10.    Pray hard.
    Pray always, even for the people who give you trouble.

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I went to the ROM twice last week. I feel like I could go a half dozen more times. If you’ve never gone I highly recommend it. On Friday evenings you can go for half price. And the crowds are really low at that time, too.

I wish I could go into detail about the amazing things I saw there. We started at the Dead Sea Scrolls. One of the scrolls on display was Psalm 121. Right beside the display there was a hidden speaker softly playing the voice of a Hebrew girl chanting the Psalm. After that went around to all the exhibits from the nations. We gazed at ancient wall-art from Egypt. We saw the magnificent statues of the Romans. We saw the art and beauty from the mightiest kingdoms of men; Japan, China, Persia, Africa, Europe and all other places where we dwell. And then we toured the Natural History section.

And we almost forgot about the art of Man.

Gazing at the ancient bones and fossils we felt awe. The marvelous gemstones took our breath away. What creativity! What beauty!

As we left we passed the hall that used to be the main entrance to the museum. Looking up at the ceiling we saw a beautiful mosaic with the words from Job 37:7 – That All Men May Know His Work.

Why do we have museums? Why do we glory in the natural and man-made marvels of the earth? So that all men may know his work.

I wonder if it’s possible to attach that slogan to all we do?

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Last year, on October 17, Devraj Joseph was promoted. His body crumbled and his spirit soared, being loosed from the chains of death that had been pulling on him all his life.

In Pakistan we celebrate a loved one’s death anniversary the year after they die. So we’ve been thinking a lot about him and the impact he had on our lives.

He was a songwriter and singer. So in honor of his promotion I’ve decided to give out three of his songs. Download them!

Raja Yesu
This is probably my favorite song by him. It was originally written in Urdu, I think, but Devraj sings it here in Sindhi. The song goes, “King Jesus came / King Jesus came / In order to give utter peace / King Jesus came.”

Budho Sundayso

Hear the Message
Come into the presence of Jesus
To be rid of sin.

No salvation without him,
He will give you the water of life.
Drink! And quench your thirst.

He has the Bread of Life
Eat and kill the hunger.

Chaddo Jag Ji Mayo

Leave the world’s riches, wealth and possessions
There’s no peace found here.

Don’t trust in this world
Because this world is deceitful and small.

Yay for my father-in-law. Yay for Jesus

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I saw an interesting advertisement while driving home from work the other day. It was for a Camero. It looked lovely. The car was all nice and shiny; exactly how a car ought to look, right. The slogan seemed fitting:

The power of Lust.

So, what comes to your mind when you think of Cameros? Anything? Whenever I hear about or see a Camero my mind always pulls me back to a time when our family was living in Grimsby.

I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time. My mother suddenly wanted us to come home straight after school every day. We couldn’t play outside alone or after dark any more. And the police were pulling over and interviewing anyone with a cream-colored Camero. Do you remember that?

If you do then you probably remember names like Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka, Kristen French and the Leslie Mahaffy. Do you remember? Google their names if you don’t.

The power of Lust.

Lust is a scary thing. It convinces people to do scary things. It turns people into … what? I don’t want to say animals, because animals don’t do the sorts of things that lust suggests. But we are certainly less than people when we obey it. Lust destroys. Lust kills. Lust desecrates.

Be wary of the sheer power of Lust.

But Lust is nothing more than a destructive power. A strong one, but only destructive. It can’t hold a candle to Love,

for love is strong as death.

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I was digging around in my hard drive again and I found a neat little document I was creating while I was in KLBC. I had been writing down any quotes that I came across from sermons and books and such things. It was about fourteen pages long by the end of the year. Here’s an excerpt from the section called ‘Motivational’

• “My longings, my hopes, my dreams, and my every effort has been made to live for Him who rescued me. To study for Him who gave me this mind, to serve Him who fashioned my will and to speak for Him who gave me a voice. The passion for learning, the recognition of the value of study, and the need to understand great thinkers and their thoughts-all were gradually put into their legitimate place. Our intellect is not intended to be an end in itself, but only a means to the very mind of God. Books which were once a curse become a gold mine.” – Ravi Zacharias
• “My Jesus, my king, my life, my all. I again commit my life to you. I will place no value in anything I posses or in anything I do except in relation to thy kingdom and to thy service.” – David Livingstone kneeling on his wife’s grave at her burial
• “The shortest route isn’t always the best route because it bypasses some of life’s most important lessons.” – Ravi Zacharias
• “I love to hear my Lord spoken well of and where I see His footprint I’ve coveted to put mine there as well.” – John Bunyan
• “John Welsey preached more then 10,000 sermons in his lifetime. When he was he 83 records in his journal that he was angry at his doctor who would no longer allow him to preach 14 times a week. Also in his journal at the age of 86 he writes “laziness is slowly creeping in, there is a tendency to stay in bed past 5:30 am.”
• “The center beam proclaims God’s holiness, the cross beam declares his love. And oh how wide his love reaches. It is nice to be included. You aren’t always. Universities exclude you if you aren’t smart enough, Business exclude you if you aren’t qualified enough, and sadly some churches exclude you if you aren’t good enough. But though they may exclude you Christ includes you. When asked to describe the width of His love, He stretched out one hand to the right and the other to the left and then nailed then there in that position so you would know He died loving and thinking of you.” – Max Lucado
• “Is it a small thing in your eyes to be loved by God – to be the son, the spouse, the love the delight of the King of glory? Christian, believe this, and think about it: you will be eternally embraced in the arms of the love which was from everlasting, and will extend to everlasting – of the love which brought the Son of God’s love from heaven to earth, from earth to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to glory – that love which was weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spat upon, crucified, pierced – which fasted, prayed, taught healed, wept, sweated, bled, died. That love will eternally embrace you.” – Richard Baxter
• “Remember your ultimate purpose, and when you set yourself to your day’s work or approach any activity in the world, let HOLINESS TO THE LORD be written upon your hearts in all that you do.” – Richard Baxter

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Have you ever read the Wheel of Time? You should. It’s a great fantasy series that is liked even by people who don’t like fantasy. Go get it.

If you’ve read it you probably know about one of the strange servants of the Dark One: Grey Men (Gray Men?) A Grey Man is someone who sells his soul to the Dark One in exchange for the power to go about unnoticed. It’s not that he becomes invisible. You just don’t notice him. Until he plunges a knife into your chest, of course.

Defeating a Grey Man is theoretically easy, actually. It’s just noticing that he’s there at all that is the problem.

It seems that it’s the same way with the Christian life. Satan does not always roar as he prowls around. The Shadow which sometimes looks like an angel of light, and sometimes it looks like a Grey Man. Which is to say it looks like nothing at all.
But you know what? Rand al’Thor, the hero of the Wheel of Time, was never beaten by a Grey Man. No Grey Man even came close, really. Why? Because Rand was paranoid. Rand thought there was a servant of the Dark One around every corner. And he was mostly right. Good thing he was paranoid, too. Otherwise he’d be dead.

I realize that I’m not paranoid. In the physical world that’s a good thing. But in the spiritual war I signed up for, it’s a stupid thing. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I am a servant of the light in a mortal battle against the shadow. How have I been able to survive so long without being paranoid?

We’re in a war. There are casualties in war. And I think most of the casualties are the ones who live out that very word: CASUALty. A casual soldier is a dead one. We need to watch more. Pray more. Fight more.

Beware the Grey Man.

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