Why it isn't fair

We trade in a currency of injustice, in exchange for the healing of others.  Christ bore injustice against himself that we might know healing by his stripes, in particular.  In the same way, we must at times bear injustice so that we might set another free.

Which brings us to nature

The debate we see often in secular psychology circles is the debate between nurture and nature, and which of those drives us as people.  In Christian terms we talk about the difference between the flesh and the spirit.  I've have always felt that Calvinism, at it's heart, reverts man back to naturalistic state, that it divests religion of the supernatural and pushes us back into a world of predetermined, programmed creatures who cannot divert from their programming.  Some how "unless the Spirit draw them" came to mean that we are incapable of being drawn to God unless He is, in that moment calling to us.  But is God ever not calling to us?  Does He ever not want fellowship with us?  My experience has been that all mankind feels the constant pull of the divine.  That the Father is always pulling at us to be greater, to move past the natural.

Did He just create our body, or did He also create our soul?  Were we created with the innate ability to seek out our creator, or is it something only activated in specific people once we are "chosen"?

The biggest argument I see against predestination are highways.   They are paved.   Once they were paths, but some one made them straighter, cleared out brush and debris, they covered them with concrete and asphalt, all to make it more comfortable.  Monkey's don't do this.  Heck, for all their hype about opposable thumbs, they never even got around to getting central air conditioning.

In fact, lets take man off the earth.  What does the place look like without us? It looks like it always looked, minus the changes in the weather shifting around migration patterns, the world continues along a predetermined course, covered in wildlife that never builds an skyscraper.

But man does.  We have been given authority, dominion, if you will, over all the earth.  We can change it, shape it, destroy it.  We among all creation redefine creation according to our comfort and hubris.  It's our sandbox, and we're the only ones with the shovel.  I find it comforting.  If free will didn't exist, you'd never know, as you'd lack the capability to question it, to feel it, to describe it.  It would be like trying to imagine a color you'd never seen.

So I guess my question now is, how much authority do I have, and what do I plan to do with it?

I wish more worship leaders understood this

This article discusses the benefits of repetition in music.  I've always felt that music in church is the most interactive part for most, so it works better when 1.  You keep a stable of songs that everyone knows, and you do at least one of them every week, 2.  You keep the solo's to a minimum, because it makes it a performance piece instead of a congregational work.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/07/300178813/play-it-again-and-again-sam

Going to War

Someone called my bluff this week. Someone I don’t even like listening to, but they said to me what no one else would, and it was the right thing to say.  We were talking about my career arc, where my life was headed and such, I was telling them how hard it was to accomplish what I wanted because of the factors working against me.

“Those are just excuses”

Ouch, really?  You mean I’m just using these as reasons to not do what I’m called to do?  You mean all that’s standing between me and destiny are excuses?  But aren't they reasons?  Aren't they cold hard facts staring at me like a great iron wall between myself and fulfilled purpose?

No, those are excuses.

So I’m going to war on them.  To see if they are as strong as they claim.  If they can really keep me stuck here not moving forward.  It’s time to test their armor, see if they have more endurance than I do, or if I, through my perseverance can out last or overpower them.

They are just excuses.

I made them, I created them, I gave them power over me.  I decided that they were worth more than my effort.  They were detours that denied me passage.  Well, I’m going to jump the rails, I’m taking this off-road and off-script.  Because this is me, there is where I need to go, and those are just excuses.

This song hurts me