Balance

Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air and feather canyons everywhere, I've looked at cloud that way. But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone. So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow it's cloud illusions I recall. I really don't know clouds at all.

Moons and Junes and ferris wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel When every fairy tale comes real; I've looked at love that way. But now it's just another show. You leave 'em laughing when you go and if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away.

I've looked at love from both sides now, from give and take, and still somehow it's love's illusions I recall.
I really don't know love at all.

Tears and fears and feeling proud to say "I love you" right out loud,
dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I've looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they say
I've changed. But Something's lost but something's gained in living every day.

I've looked at life from both sides now, from win and lose, and still somehow it's life's illusions I recall.
I really don't know life at all.

I've looked at life from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow it's life's illusions I recall.
I really don't know life at all.

John Piper and the Prosperity Gospel

I ran across this short clip and although I don't completely agree with John Piper, I fell this clip has a strong message. We need to realize how myths about christianity and God that persist in our culture keep us far from him.

 Now break the mold and be free to live for him.

 

Mother, father, son, daughter. Husband, wife, partner, friend.

These are the one word descriptions that tell the stories of our lives. When we come together as family, as friends, as lovers, we become more than the sum of our parts. We're the most successful of all the animals on our planet because we are the most social. And that is why each of us is inextricably bound to others. In the end those social connects, those bonds are what it's all about.

When they are strong, we are happy.
When they are threatened, we worry.
When they disappear, we suffer.

In many ways navigating the social world is more complicated than a voyage to the moon, but it's the journey we have to take. Because whether we like it or not our happiness is in each others hands.

and they lived happily ever after?

Does this notion of Ever after only exist in fairy tales? I'm no princess and the real story goes something like this...

Today, a friend of mine had a miscarriage one week before she was due. Their precious child, so eagerly awaited, will never see the light of day or enjoy the thrill of growing up.

Lost in the maze that we call life we some times forget how unjust life can be.

Today, a wife found out her husband was cheating on her after 29 years of being a devoted mother and a great wife. The nights they shared under the pale moon light as youngsters no longer hold weight. The pang of disillusionment floods the future she thought she could trust FOREVER.

Whether in the past,the present, or in the future some thing or some one will cause hurt. Intentionally or not this hurt sinks to the place in your heart where fairy tales are chased away by reality, the cruel older sibling.

Today, a young woman suffers from an illness that surrounds her body and suffocates what's left of her self esteem. What was once the cloak of invisibility has now cascade into a nightmare of endless hospital visits and broken dreams. Where does this leave her? Stranded some where between the arms of a disloyal lover and the uncertain future.

We fool your selves into thinking that this world of hurt and pain resides in a galaxy far, far away. Sadly these people live right next door. They stare at you as you drive to work and they catch the bus. They scream through a smile begging for us to take notice.

Is it too late for that prince and his white horse to come around?

Escape from the stress

Since we cannot escape from stress, we must learn how to respond to it in a healthy way. We must also learn how to free ourselves from toxic emotions. This is where Godly Trust comes in. Godly Trust is the first of the eight laws of health. Godly Trust is the only true remedy for stress. If you are ever going to find rest in stress, you must anchor the ship of your life to something outside of yourself. You must build on something stronger and tougher than you are. The foundation that you build on must be immovable. It must be able to withstand a 9.5 magnitude earthquake, a death in the family, a foreclosure and any other disaster that comes your way. If you trust in your job, you can lose it; a spouse, they can leave you; a house, it can be foreclosed; your money, the stock market can crash. You see everything in this life is transitory, it’s not guaranteed. Trust in divine power is the only thing that comes with a guarantee. Why? Because God is self sustaining and all life is derived from Him. He has no beginning nor does He have an end. His very word is what holds up this earth and prevents it from spiraling out of control. He’s omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere at the same time). I mean what can truly beat that.

Happy Sabbath


Archives David Asscherick

Theme for the Day

Let the mountain that distracts you, inspire you instead.

I find my self frustrated. It's ironic because this morning I woke up in the best of moods. To those who don't already know this I am NOT, I repeat not a morning person. Well this morning I woke up on the right side of the bed and a peppy as you can be at 8 am in the morning I was up and out headed for class...
I guess I need to recap the night before. There I sat friend in one hand and a cup of natures Earl Gray tea in the other chatting about life, the church, our families, love and all those thoughts that invade the human curiosity.
In My sense of complete frustration I asked my Eva, "Why do we keep making the same mistakes in life when we know we are only repeating our failures?" Her answer was plain and beautiful. She humbly explained to me that God doesn't reveal him self as he did in the time of Moses, Abraham or Isaac because he doesn't have to. This only confused me more but I listened on.
Eva went on to vividly explain that as humans we are unable to decipher the difference between right and wrong. God in all of his righteousness knew this and therefor sent the Holy spirit to dwell amount us. Only through the intervention of the Holy spirit can we begin to see a glimpse of right and wrong. Even further, having lived with the trinity, Satan is well aware of the plan of our salvation. His attempts to sabotage our happiness stems from thousands of year of practice. Me, I'm just a "newbie" nothing he hasn't seem before. The good news though is that fundamentally our Father searches for ways to call our attention to him.
There I was chipper as a Blue Jay and ready to hit the streets sharing the Love of God one smile at a time. At one point when I recalled the night before I made the childish mistake of telling Satan, "You have no hold on me. Do your best"! How dumb of me to proclaim that to the king of sin. Although I knew God had my back I had also forgotten how cunning Satan can be. You know what they say, be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it. Although I had God on my side I still had my old selfish, judgmental and independent mental cap on with out realizing it.
Who would of believed it but Satan didn't have to work to hard to bring me down. All morning I spent in constant communion with God. Just chatting and talking but when mid morning came I was surprisingly exhausted. Strange thing was that I had slept 9 hours the night before which was rare so I shouldn't have be tired. Even so Satan wasn't taking my threats lightly. After making me tired I began feeling sick to my stomach and by the time I made it work I was in the worst of moods. I tried to stay perky remembering the night before but my greatest attempt to fight off the devil only got weaker as I made my way to the Gym to "relax". I found my self annoyed with the loud chatty women on the tread mill, the fan distracting my counting and irritated with the room's humid temperature. I stopped my self mid stretch and realized my threats to Satan many hours earlier was nothing he couldn't handle with a generous dose of my predisposed mood swings. How had he accomplished this? Simple for him yet tragic for me.

I was served yet another dose of Humble Pie and caught a glimpse of the war that wages around us constantly. The war between good and evil with our hearts as the winning prize.

Lesson learned: Don't play games with the devil. He'll never play nice.