Sermon on Epicurus

Ah, Epicurus was a genius. He’s one of my favorites. But this little quibble doesn’t matter. I’d just retort—with all the suffering in this world, there’d better be a better one.

I mean, the great philosophers have all agreed life’s pretty pointless, and some philosophers actually encourage bad behavior for its expedience.

Certainly, there’s an objective Ethics, which Epicurus is famous for quantifying the rational means to getting there, but then there’s people who don’t care about the collective, and only themselves, and there’s people who do care about the collective, but do all sorts of harm. It’s the fact that people are sinful, this world is cursed, but our hope should be to reach a better one through God’s power. As could heaven be heaven, if man had his original nature? That’s why we need Christ.

The Destruction of the Temple

First, there was flourishing, and peace in every corner of the world.
Then, the LORD reigns in our hearts, but His holy ordinance dies in our hearts---
Then, a fire explodes of hypocrisy in worship--so unholy--and it burns the people with sin.
Then, there is the repair. But it becomes costly, and wears down the soul.
Because hard times come, the rocky soil of your neighbors and friends wane, so with it yours.
And new politics arise, which must be made room for, and out with the old politics of Christ.
Then, fewer and fewer are found upon the Earth, to be blessed or holy, and one starves for company.
Then, at last, the faith is sold to the Roman City, and it sits in disrepair.
Then, at last, all the devils and demons come, 
And throw what is holy upon the floor and break the stain glass windows.
And that is how the Church dies.
I use nosisms, but do not mean me. As a Christian does.

Meditation on Heaven

Remember heaven will be even better than this:

I walk down the forest path, as the trees are in their mid fruit.
Every tree, and many varieties of them, bear their fruits.
Heavenly scents of the flowers and tree barks perfume the air.
The dust is gold, with rocks of Unakite, Pink Howlite, Turquoise
Coral, Carnelian, Amethyst and Jade.
Boulders, in their unpolished form spring up;
The tree's bark is textured, like a bark
With their variegated shaped leaves
Deep rooted in the golddust. The bells, and pears, 
And shapes of the fruit, growing from the shrubs
And wildflowers, and the grasses made into bread;
Many colors, as the insects fly--every insect
Killed by a Christian comes to Heaven---
And they glow as fireflies, and are harmless
With prisms upon their bellies;
And each makes a distinct honey, from the least to the greatest
Which the kine that feed upon the heavenly grains, 
All different manner, which men had slaughtered for the holy offerings
Or had eaten--every beef a Christian ate, comes to heaven too--
And there they feed upon the grass, and make milk
For all animals, from the reptile to the bird to the dog,
Make milk, and they make heavenly milks for cheeses
And holy drink, and mixed with honey, it is decadent.
I go through the woods, and find
The river of God, and behind me is Mount Zion
Sprawling 12,000 furlongs tall,
As high as the distance from Earth to the Moon;
It is a pearlescent Gold, of Red and Green
Like Jasper Stone, the ancient rocks tall
Bending inward where I would stand upon the waters.
A bridge, likenened of the path goes over
With trees planted atop it---like in Germany---
And so I walk over the forested path, surrounded by trees and the oceanic rivers
And I walk for days--which feel like minutes for I am so old--
And I come upon a house, with triangular architecture
Born from wood made from the Tree of Life---
As durable as Iron---and the gems like the rock
And boulders around her house, are as strong as Brass.
Unbreakable, and I open the door, and there,
See the waterfalls of my Mimi's house,
And the onyx and marble tiles, and the inlaid
Roof buttressed and painted by Michelangelo.
I walk into her room, and she descends the stairs
Smiling, and in her dawning raiment
Of her most precious righteousness---
Like being at her house as a child, the warmth and kindness
And love that surrounded her then, I feel it there
Which is only made by God's Holy Blessing--
And she dawns it, in such radiant colors I can't even describe.
She descends the staircase from her kitchen,
And we embrace, and my Hephzibah is there beside me
As the two speak on issues of Heavenly Politics--
Which are the joys of the Saints, and the carols sung
And the great carnivals:: and sorceries defeated on Earth.

Calvinism

I have seen, over my few years
Men destroyed by scripture.
I have seen men go astray
Who were once very good.
I have seen children abused
By preachers, and women raped.
I have seen the sick cast into hell
Because there was no voice of wisdom.

I do not know why some men
Are pursued all their life by truth;
And for some reason they listen.
I do not know why.
And some men, never hear a sound word
Until it is far too late.
I do not know why.

I do not know why,
Those professing to be sound
Believe the word of God
And do not try its wisdom.
They preach a false gospel
That is so popular right now
And try to win souls like a cult
To bring men into the fold
By simply telling them,
"I'll lead and you blindly follow."

I have seen men destroyed by shepherds
Priests, evangelists, even the Holy Bible itself.
I do not know what protects one man
And damns another.
But, I have been bequeathed with a full Gospel
And I know the truths of scripture with my every absolute breath.
I know every moment in history
And have compiled it, and tested it
And seen it's true. I have tested every Word
Spoken by my LORD, and found them faithful.
I do not know how it came to me,
And not to many of you.

Love God’s Law

"Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"

God's law is self evident. It's the best law, and that's what's going to convert the nations. It is the effects that God's law has on the heart, that's what causes the heathen to convert.

As it says, "The Law Converts the heart." Why? Because it's self evident. Not everything self evident can be understood by everyone. It's difficult. An element in Euclid isn't going to be understood by everyone, but we see the effects engineering has, by holding up bridges and building machines. The same thing with God's Law, it makes a better world for everyone.

But, again, you argue with me, I think that's because you don't understand what I'm saying.

If you don't realize Christ's law is self evident, and objectively better, and observably so, I don't think you can call yourself wise yet, and by contending with me, you strive with the wind to try to convince me of this vanity. As, the only apologetics that is going to work, is showing people the error in their way, and knowing why Sin causes suffering, and justifying God through the Holy Statutes of His Commandments.

As Paul said, "We minister through power." And that power is through the Law of God, and Grace, and its self evident nature, that NO ONE can say it is faulty. They do, you can still show them it's not, through ministering to them by exposing their sins, which they all know are wrong.

You're just wrong. If God's law isn't self evident, then there is no hope for anyone to come to Christ. None. If the Heathen do what's wrong, then you prove to the sheep that the heathen suffer for it, and that they have no love, peace or joy. That's what we minister with.

If the Law is not self evident, then there is certainly no way to convert anyone. The Gospel is to no effect, and is noisy cymbals. It's the fact that God's statutes are true, and everyone knows it, and they do create better people. That's what saves people. Nothing else.

On Mormonism

This is giving me flashbacks to my Messianic Jewish days. Christianity is a robust faith, because it has nothing to do with dietary restrictions, but simply doing what's right. It has nothing to do with Touch not, Taste Not, Do Not. It has everything to do with how you treat other people. It's a religion that encompasses love and compassion, but also discipline. Like Sin to a Christian has teeth. What Paul lists in his letters as sins, are to rational people,---not brainwashed by the culture,---common sense. I've always preferred the faith of Tchaikovsky,  Michelangelo, Tolstoy and Hans Christian, to the constipated faith found in Evangelical circles lately. Like this hearkens to Evangelicalism, when Jesus wasn't necessarily a prude at all. He drank wine at weddings, cussed once or twice, and taught His disciples to enjoy their life and one another's company. But there were clear boundaries. And I'm more of a Baptist, Lutheran Catholic than anything else. I learned my New Testament from Lutherans. My Old Testament from Baptists. And my aesthetic and moral judgment from Catholics. I'm not really a protestant or catholic, but a hybrid of the two. I think it's obvious what the faith is, and that's what made it so persuasive, but we've gotten a long way from that.

The Salamander

Oh, it is real, said Bulfinch...
Yet the ecologist says 'tis not.
The brat in college says, 
"It matters not, 'tis a fable
"Therefore to be disregarded with the trash."
The historian said the Salamander
Was born from the flames
To ancient imaginations
Because it would flee out of the fire.
I, I do not know, because the world is lying.