A Call to Anguish...

Probably the most 'prophetic" word...i've heard in a very long time...I pray it messes with you as it does me.

Hammer of God...Arise!

"Pure 'Northernness' engulfed me; a vision of huge, clear spaces hanging above the Atlantic in the endless twilight of Northern summer, remoteness, severity. . . ." This northernness is not necessarily Christian, but when turned to Christ it is redeemed like all sinful things and stands upright. But we have little interest in such redemptions or their results because the church in our era is slack and effeminate. We do not look at an unbounded northern sky and see the eternity of God; rather, we look mystically inward to the swamps and standing puddles of our own hearts and see just what one might expect in such places - but not very much and not very far. -C.S. Lewis

I was reminded of this quote from Lewis, as I was planning my purchase of the new J.R.R. Tolkien book, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudru...it's an early, long-unpublished work by Tolkien. It's a thorough reworking in verse of old Norse epics that predates Tolkien's writing of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The book includes an introduction by Tolkien and notes by his son, Christopher Tolkien. J.R.R. Tolkien, whose fantasy novels have sold millions of copies, he died in 1973. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun" was written in the 1920s and '30s, when the author was teaching at Oxford University.

When I was purusing the book, I was so pleased to see how my favorite author was captured as well, by the truth that is found in the shadows of the old myths. They truly are shadows cast, unaware of the full Truth that is at the roots of their literary emanations. The truth of Christ, fulfills all those myths. He embodies the longings of all the cultures, people and ancient ways.

I've had a deep prophetic resonance with the shadow myths of the Northern lands of Scandinavia. I purchased this "Hammer of Thor" necklace when I was in Norway. I wear it when I preach to remind me of a June, 2004, prophetic word (Hammer of God, Arise) the Lord gave me while I was in Oslo, Norway. One of my deepest prayers is to participate in a church planting endeavor in the Scandinavia countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland...someday.


I took the quiz below and it told me: "You Scored as Thor...you are the mighty God Thor! You have the great hammer Mjollnir, as well as gloves and a belt of power. You are protector of the weak, and loved by all."

Interesting...

"Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" -Jeremiah 23:29

Which Norse God Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com
Best music to listen to while taking quiz: Nox Arcana's: "Blood of the Dragon"

Becoming all flame....

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, 'Abba as far as I can I say my little office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?' then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, 'If you will, you can become all flame.' -from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers

I was in the singing part of our worship yesterday morning at Jacob's Well; and during the song "Inside Out" I thought I read the line that says: "Your glory goes before all fame....as "Your glory goes before ALL FLAME". I seriously could of sworn that I saw "ALL FLAME" istead of ALL FAME, so when I got up to speak, I was going to share the above quote...but as I read the lyric back again on the screen...it didnt say ALL FLAME...it said "All FAME"...I stood there feeling a bit dumb.

Then during the evening service while we were singing it again, I was thinking about the above quote and I was looking at my hands and thinking about the fact that we have 10 fingers. I thought about the evenness of two plus two and how it adds up to 10 on our hands when both hands are together but how the fingers are added up to an odd number when each hand is by itself. I know, strange thoughts but thats me. I ruminated on the "Why-ness" of that configuration.

This morning I was reading Eugene Peterson's book "Working the Angles" and I came upon this portion:

"The five book arrangement of the Psalms is, then, strategic: for every word that God speaks TO us there must be an answering word FROM us. No word of God can go unanswered. The word of God is not complete simply by being uttered; it must be answered. For the FIVE books of God's creative/saving word (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) to us there are FIVE books of our believing/obeying (The prophets, Job, Wisdom books, Psalms, Song of songs) word to God. Five is matched by five, like the fingers of two clasped hands."

I put the book down and pondered in a fairly amazed moment of Spirit connected serendipity.



Today, with hands upraised, I pray:

"Consume me from the inside out...and let the light and glory of Jesus, shine and transform me into,
...all flame...for Your fame Oh, God.

Bible & Prophecy Cartographer Extraordinaire..

All the charts you will ever need to diagram, explain and let others know you have everything figured out...well, I'm not quite sure about the accuracy of everything portrayed or the theology behind it...but dang this dude could draw..these are way better than my D&D dungeons on graph paper.