Rich Man's Warning

A poet, I am not. Still...

Rich Man's Warning
by Jon Smith (12/27/04)

Just live life for the best
And you'll die like the rest

Though you compare very well
You will still go to Hell

Apart from the Christ
Your life is a waste

The anser is Jesus
He died to save us

Reject all His claims
And you'll wind up in flames

Strive to be best
And you'll burn with the rest

Or rest in His love
And to heaven above
You will go

Incarnatus

I recently came across something I wrote back on January 13, 2005, which, incidently, is my birthday. Not that I am a poet, although I am related to Emily Dickinson, but I occassionally enjoy writing a bit of soul sugar now and then...

INCARNATUS

From dust to dust
How most men live
But then there was that One
Was born, lived, died
Like you and me
But then He wasn't done

First died then rose and judges now
upon God's holy throne
If you call Him Lord and Savior
He'll call you His very own

While men like grass and glory fade
There once was One among us
His name was Christ
And He still lives

Divine
the Incarnatus

Ebenezer

Last night our ministry decided to try something new, well, new to us anyway. We decided to raise an Ebenezer in honor of Thanksgiving, a la 1 Samuel 7:12. So we gave everyone a pen and a piece of paper cut in the shape of a rock, and we asked them to answer the question, "How has God helped you?" While a duet played on stage, everyone wrote their answer and placed it in a basket up front. Then, during the message, we had a couple of people build a 'rock pile' for us with the papers we'd collected. I didn't have time to look at them last night, but reading the answers this morning was a real blessing. From Alyssa's, "I'm thankful for the Bible," to the student who was thankful for God's help coping with the loss of her father, it is impressive to see the many ways God is moving in our community.

Letters to the Editor: Newsweek: A Dissident: The Case Against Faith

So, its a long shot, but I submitted an opinion to Newsweek magazine about an article they published entitled A Dissident: The Case Against Faith and appearing in the November 13, 2006, U.S. Edition. Short and mild, perhaps I'll get lucky... In truth, I'd like to lambast Sam Harris for his hateful hypocrisy, but I've neither the time, not the energy for it. I'm sure he's a sensitive and intelligent human being who deserves a much better reading than offered in such a short article. As it is, he's wrong, and if he's not careful, his willful illogic will have negative and eternal consequences. I've copied the letter below, but Newsweek wants $20 to view the article on-line, and it's not worth the price.

Regarding "The Case Against Faith" (pg. 42 of the November 13
issue):

Sam Harris presents an interesting case against organized religion. Interesting, but not really convincing. When he compares the Christian belief of Jesus return as "a sacred genocide," and refers to Islam and Christianity as "fairy tales," he sounds as dogmatic and close-minded as any religious zealot. Ironically, as an atheist, the core of his own dearly held belief is as circumspect as any held by the world's great religions.

President George W. Bush

Even as I type the President of the United States of America is speaking on the campus of MSSU. His motorcade drove by the BSU a few minutes ago and Mandi and I stood outside with the kids and waved at it as it drove by. In what appeared to be the President's car, a man waved back. Of course, there's no way to be absolutely certain, but I'm pretty confident that the President just waved to my family. I attempted to get a photo with my camera phone, but my phone sucks and I suck at using it. Oh well. It was still cool.

Recent God story

A recent God story: Yesterday I printed out an outline I requested from Rose Bear (the wife of Roger Bear, BSU director at Indiana State University) on civic christianity, which included the quote, "...on caring for the needy. Of all the issues we could get involved in, the Bible has more to say about this one than all the rest put together..." That's honestly all I remembered since Wednesdays are my busiest day. That night however, as I dropped off our kids at AWANA, Mandi and I were approached by a couple of "bums" who needed a ride. Call it providence, but we gave them their lift and $20 for dinner. Their story is irrelevant, its just that I've lived here over a year now and NEVER been approached that way. On the same day I got that outline? Ha! God is funny.

SONICFLOOd Concert

Last Thursday, the 26th of October, SONICFLOOd decided to drop by the BSU. In fact, they opened our service with several worship songs before turning it over to the BSU praise band. It was amazing! I still can't believe we had a band of that stature playing in our building. Cool! After they finished their set (only 3 songs) they stuck around for the service, and hung out afterward. On Friday, I had the opportunity of getting to know the guys a bit since I was the chauffer for them all day before their concert at Forest Park Baptist Church. Given the fact that they meet about a hundred new people every day, and that all of those people want a little piece of them, I was pleasantly surprised by how sincere they were in ministering to everybody they met. Hangin' out at the hotel, eating dinner at Quiznos, chillin' around the church before and after the concert, or on stage during the show, they were always the same guys. I call that integrity. And while I wasn't a huge SONICFLOOd fan before this, knowing their character has given me new respect and admiration for their music.