Poem

Four hands down, one palm low

a few pieces of toast
and two cups of whiskey
sit so dutifully between our stillness

whats important is
not what's said or not said
but who he is

and that my hand goes quickly to my breast pocket
and with three quick flips
of both thumbs

I lay out a hand
and put every chip and dream and tear
on the table

Movie review

North and South

This is a BBC production of an Elizabeth Gaskell Novel . The story is very good and thus far I think Gaskell gives Austen a run for her money. This production is very well done. It is well cast and the time period really comes alive.

Ms. Hale, the Heroine is pretty rough around the edges and so his her counterpart Mr. Thornton for that matter. The scenes and dialog between them are very intense and full of energy and misunderstanding which always makes for good viewing in the stuffy and ultra-civilized style of the period.

Ms. Hale is taken north to the industrialized section of England by her Parson father who mysteriously left his religious post in the south. She comes in contact with Mr. Thornton a manufacturer who owns a large cotton mill.

Cultures collide and two endearing and deep characters mature before your very eyes.

A very believable supporting cast of mill workers, bankers, widows, constables, servants and much more create a wonderful set of subplots. The struggle of the workers is especially interesting.

The story weaves through death, union strikes, prejudice, scandal, intrigue, love lost and love found. Its broken into four episodes that were televised in England, so you do not have to endure the 300 minute journey all at once.

No King but King Jesus

Luke 4:16-21

And he (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The spirit of God bears witness as to who Jesus is. Anointed, Jesus is God's son which is also a term referring to one as Israel's King. The gospel is the story telling the fulfillment of God's promises and those promises are declared by all Jesus does and says. Who Jesus is cannot be separated from what He does. His birth is good news, His life is good news, His ministry is good news, His death is good news and His resurrection is good news.

Liberty here is no platitude. It is something no government or politician can give you. It is not some vague idea we tote out on the fourth of July. The founders understood that God bestows Liberty on us. It is his free gift, given trough his slain and resurrected son; Jesus, the Christ. We must restore, take back, these words. Words have power. In the name of The Word, we bare in battle against the world the word of God, The sword of the Spirit. And by its fruits we must separate these words from their secular and dead meaning. Liberty as been declared to the captives, and we must be good stewards of that liberty.

Psalm 2:1-3 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

Worldly liberty is nothing but bondage to every vain and lustful desire of the heart, unfettered and filthy. The Christian is slave to none and servant to all. God frees you from yourself to seek His glory, His will; the will of Him who works all things out for your good. Modern secular governments seek to remove the "fetters" of Christendom to replace them with "freedom" and to ensure that "freedom" all they require is total and complete submission in every area of your life; your children's minds, your health, your womb, your first fruits. Real civic liberty is based on spiritual liberty; Liberty from the bondage of sin and death. To have Liberty in our civics we must strive for Christendom, which is the kingdom of Jesus Christ and looks to him for all comfort and peace. Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother.

The spiritually blind sees nothing that does not lead to discontent and despair. Spiritual eyes see even the coming sword stroke as a sweet and kindred friend, a blessing from God.

Look with eyes of faith, healed eyes, and see the Liberty that is given to you from Jesus, by his sacrifice and glorification. This is the way to understand our roles as Citizens and the role of our government. It is an office, exercised under the authority of the Triune God. They will answer for it, yet, so will we. Pray that God will give you obedience and fear before him that you may seek His will. Pray earnestly that God will show mercy to us and convert our Civil institutions to the faith of their Fathers. The faith of Christendom. Faith in the one Lord.

His authority astounded them. It is still astounding. Let us represent the Gospel in our public square in a way that is still astounding. In a way that is True and Beautiful and honoring to our Lord.

Quote

Henry Van Til is credited with coining the aphorism culture is religion externalized... If we assume by these words that religion is an internal, private affair which occasionally becomes externalized when it interfaces with culture, we have missed the point. Our Christian faith is to effect all areas of our life in obvious, overt ways. Van Til was describing an inevitable process: artifacts necessarily reveal the worldview of the individual or group who makes them. Thus culture is the concrete expression of a society's religious and philosophical commitments; it flows out of the heart - as it were - of the society that produces it. (Plowing in Hope, 15-16. David Hegeman)

Poem: Life in the Regeneration

Life in the Regeneration

the fog of carnal know how

from birth

is a bitter state of heart

deep within

where only the immaculate

precision surgery

of the sword

coming from the mouth of a lion lord

can articulate

the lack of real belief

but the bitter stings

of the swings

of a loving tongue

equip, in our lowly state,

the strength

to look beyond the dieing day

to the everlasting dawn

to attain true blindness

of the flesh

to sing abreast

the marvelous burst

of rising, like a lion roaring

with praying hands

we take this life

and burn in sacrifice

the sum, the part, the whole