Wash Out

Exodus 40:29-38

 29 And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 30 He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, 31 with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. 32 When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the LORD commanded Moses. 33 And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

The Glory of the Lord
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys."

- I just read Exodus 40 tonight and finished the book in my daily Bible reading and prayer time with God. This is one of those chapters that some might consider "boring" because it goes into so much detail about the layout of the Tabernacle. (Spoiler alert- the last few chapters of Exodus detail A LOT of information about measurements and sewing and construction and all that was involved in setting up the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting. Mathematicians and scientists and architects and artisans of the fashion variety might particularly enjoy these chapters. :-))
    It might seem overkill at times (but just wait- Leviticus is up next! :-))- but that's really the point. As I was thinking about the precautions I'm trying to take regarding washing and cleaning upon entering my home in regards to the current virus pandemic, the Holy Spirit brought to mind the comparisons here.
Think of all the rituals Aaron and Moses and the priests went through to dare enter into The Lord's holy presence! There is a much more insidious disease to deal with besides a virus that can only kill the physical body. We are stricken with the disease of sin that kills the eternal soul!
    As we draw closer to Easter, I find it appropriate that I'm reading the Pentateuch in The Bible and being reminded of all the things the Israelites were bound to doing just so that their sins might be covered by the scapegoat. I am thankful that on the other side of the Testaments, in the A.D. era, we have the Lamb of God who was sacrificed on our behalf to take away the sins of the world! The overkill of the Old Testament system of sacrifices is over because the final Passover Lamb was killed for you and me! And thank You, Lord Jesus, that You not only were killed and buried- You were also risen by God The Father. (Romans 10:9) To quote "Godspell", "Long live God!"- eternally long! And because He has risen and lives again, we can also- if we let Him take our sins away and put our faith in the Lamb's completed work. To quote another song-  "Are you washed in the soul-cleansing blood of The Lamb?"

Isaiah 1:18- Though our sins be like scarlet, The Lord can wash them whiter than snow. :-)

Whiter Than Snow (poem)

(Note: This is another entry from the archives. For the purposes of historicity, I will leave in my original introduction and closing remarks from January 2011. It seems timely to post this poem since I again recently saw some snowfall that got me some time off from work. And the clean feeling snow leaves after it washes the world in white is always a great metaphor for the washing clean God does of every dirty heart that anyone proffers to Him in faith. :-))


Here's one last poem to wrap things up. This one was inspired by the wonderful snow storm God sent us that got me 2 1/2 days off from work and allowed me time to stay home and work on further writing and other pursuits. This poem was written as a reflection on waking up to a snow day and the picture that God gives us with the invitation to reason it out- and it is the best, most reasonable deal out there- how He can make our vile, filthy, blood-red hearts as clean and pure and white as snow- and cleaner and whiter.

Whiter Than Snow
(poem by Nathan Ludwick 1/10/ 2011)
(Isaiah 1:18)

What amazing transformation transpires in the night
As we slumber and then awaken to a world of white
The joy and wonderment light our faces with a warm glow
For the ground's fresh carpet of clean soft snow
Everything somehow seems free, new and alive
The world feels at peace and love spreads far and wide
As I traverse the diamonds beset with beads of pearl
I look to the Heavens and think "What a Wonderful World!"
And I make a snow angel and hear a song in the air
The song all creation's been singing that I love to hear
A song of hope and courage, of light and good cheer
Which makes me think of the prophets' and sages' contemplation
Of a love that bears all and offers us all this invitation
Mired in rags stained with filth and dirt though we be
Our misdeeds red as our faces, like blood running down a tree
As we embrace The Lamb, He clothes us with His wool and though
Our sins a study in scarlet, He transforms us whiter than snow.
.......................................................................................
(and yes, I have a couple of references to things within the poem too- like a famous Louis Armstrong song of course, a Sherlock Holmes story and "There's A Song in the Air" and "Angels from the Realms of Glory". :-))
And I should credit Rebekah Sewell for inspiring the "diamonds" line- brilliant. :-)

And this is really all for now. Hope everyone has a great week and I just love everyone today. And I really mean that- God loves me and because of His love, I love everyone. Because He loves everyone. And as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, everyone! :-))

Fry Everything (song)

Ecclesiastes 3 says there is a time and season for every purpose under Heaven- including a time to laugh. Hopefully, this silly ditty will help you meat up with some fun in this zoo of a blog. :-)

"Fry Everything" (parody of "Try Everything", as performed by Shakira in the Disney movie "Zootopia"; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 2/10/2020)
(Ecclesiastes 3, Acts 10, 1 Corinthians 10:25)

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh (×4)

I gassed up the fryer
It's just another night
Always gas up and just start again
The meat's lying down
My beef's on if cubed or ground
Marinade, ketchup's out, the season's next
Birds for next time
They're thawing now, all set up
No party's thrown and Thanksgiving is done

I won't give it up; no, I won't give in
Though I bleed Wesson
Morning- I'll start again
Through clogged arteries
I wanna fry everything
I wanna fry everything even though health could fail
I want Crisco soaking through my skin
'Til day reaches end
And then I'll start again
So I want heat
I wanna fry everything
I wanna fry 'til Mazola I exhale

(Chorus)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh- fry everything! (×3)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Look how fat I've become
I filled my heart with crud
Don't need "Lube Jobs 'R' Us"- Grease is on my breath
Don't grease myself up
At beach for sun to tan
Sometimes I'm so tan that I quote "Houseguest"

I go look up 1st. Corinthians
25- read in 10
And then I'll say "Amen!"
God said, "Kill and eat!"
I wanna fry everything!
In 10 Acts, fry Peter's whole buffet meal

I won't give it up- no, I won't go vegan
But I'll eat garden
Salad fried- start skillet!
Nothing fried I won't eat
I wanna fry everything
I wanna fry even goat milk, soup and kale

I'll keep on making country fried steaks
I'll keep on saying fried foods are safe
Don't do "missed steaks"

(Repeat Chorus)

Fry everything!

White as Snow (song)

There is a funny contradiction in the world today. On the one hand, some people want to keep insisting that all human beings are essentially good, though some make mistakes at times. But in the end, it's all like a Disney movie with some villians, of course, but ultimately most people are good overall. Of course, it seems that some of the same people who make these claims also shake their fists at God in Heaven and blame Him whenever evil erupts its repulsive ooze over humanity once again- and people suffer and lives are lost. Then the question is raised for me- how could a good people allow evil in the world? And when we're standing there, frozen in shock, maybe that's when we can come to recognize the truth- there is evil in this pervasive world- and we're it. We were all made to be good- made in God's image, Who is perfection itself- but we made the fatal choice to rebel against The Lord through Adam and Eve's sin- and now the world is under the curse of sin. Thankfully, God Himself has provided the remedy for sin. Though it stains us scarlet red, God can forgive our sins and make them white as snow. They've all been paid for by Jesus' death and Resurrection. We must take all our sin and let it go- leaving it nailed to the cross and put our faith in Jesus and live for Him instead. Thank God for His love and forgiveness!

"White as Snow" (parody of "Let It Go" from Disney's "Frozen" by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 5/29/2015)
(Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 45:21-25, Isaiah 64:6, Psalms 14:3, Psalms 53:3, Romans 3:1-20, Romans 3:23-26, Romans 6:23, Proverbs 20:9, John 1:29, 1 John 3:1, 1 John 1:7, John 3:16-21, John 14:6, John 10:1-18, John 6:35-40, Hebrews 10:10-12, Colossians 1:15-20)

Verse 1
.............
The snow glows white in Wisconsin tonight
What a fitting Christmas scene
The winter brings transformation
The fall looks like it's washed clean
Our sin is howling like a swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep from sin; Heaven knows we tried
Won't let Him in
But think He's pleased
If you're good, girl; boy, always keeping clean
Conceal evil
Don't let it show
Well, on our own...

Chorus 1
...............
We're evil! We're evil!
(I) can't hope to match up to The Lord
Yes, we know we're evil
Turn away and seek The Lord!
Isaiah 64:6 says
All good deeds we've done-
The Lord says they're rotten filthy rags anyway

Verse 2
..............
It's funny how resistance
Makes everything His fault
And we feel He's hidden- if only
He'd let us see Him all
The Christ revealed that wish for you
Jesus- God's image- Way, Life and Truth
He died for wrongs
And rose so we'd
Be free!

Chorus 2
................
All evil
In one go-
Christ has won over sin for all time!
Let Him go
Save your soul
You need to receive Christ
Hear what God says in Isaiah
Let's read 1:18

Bridge
.............
Like how snow flurries through the air into the ground
Our souls can be washed clean though our sin's scarlet- hear God now
"Come use thought- realize this- I can wipe (out) all bad!"
Though all you've known is black, the cross has changed all that!

Chorus 3
................
White as snow!
White as snow!
(My) sins are white like wool thanks to God!
White as snow!
White as snow!
That perfect Lamb of God!
Here I stand- by The Christ I'm saved
Like it says in 1st. John
Behold how The Father's loved (in) 3:1- yay!

Separated- I cut myself clean

[Another (slightly updated) entry from the archives- March 17, 2008 to be exact. Some of the references in here are from one of my previous workplaces- and the experiences related here are fairly typical of me. LOL. :-) And yes- of course that's a DC Talk reference in the subject line. :-)]

Another weekend has ended and another week has begun. Tomorrow is our prayer meeting at work. I always look forward to that! :-) I managed to get lost not once, but twice this weekend!!! LOL- Friday night I wound up driving all through Maudlin and Simpsonville and out towards Belton and Honea Path before I finally turned around and got back home.  So that was an interesting drive.  Then on Sunday afternoon/evening/night I drove way out towards Marietta and Cleveland (the one in SC, apparently- not Ohio!) and eventually out by Table Rock- which is a beautiful state park, by the way.  My uncle and aunt’s family go there for vacation fairly often.  And so I wound up going to Rocky Creek Baptist Church Sunday morning and had a great sermon taken mainly from Joshua 23, all about following God’s call to be holy and separate from the world.  And then in the evening, in a totally different county (I was somewhere near Pickens or Pumpkintown or something by this point)- I visited at Holly Springs Baptist Church and heard a great sermon taken mainly from 1 Peter 1:13-16, all about following God’s call to be holy and separate from the world.  Talk about deja vu, huh?
Wow! I just find it so awesome how God weaves together stuff like that to flow together so smoothly- even though I wasn’t even at the church I’d intended to go to that evening- but instead got way lost and went to a church in another county- and yet both messages I’d heard that day were very much on the same lines of being holy.  It was also interesting talking about being separate from the world- note that Jesus said we were to be "in the world- but not of". (See John 17:15-17)  We don’t have a choice about being in the world, obviously (I mean, unless you’re dead or you volunteer for that NASA mission to Mars or something ;-)) - BUT, we don’t have to be of the world- and if you’re in Christ, then you’re not of this world! (as Petra pointed out in an awesome 1983 album and song! :-))
In fact, as both sermons talked about, Christians need to be separate from the world and its influence and instead surround ourselves with friends who will help build us up in the faith.  But there is a slight caveat here.  This verse came to mind during church on Sunday- and I’ve just now been able to track down where it’s located (as I’d been trying to remember and racking through the New Testament)-
"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world." (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)   Right- there’s no way you can fully get away from the immoral people in the world because as it says here, you’d have to leave this world to do that!  But if you read on in verse 11, it says to not associate with someone who calls himself a "brother" (i.e. Christian) but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. In fact, it says with such a man, do not even eat.  God will judge those outside the church- but expel the wicked man from among you (within the church).  But as one pastor pointed out, we should love everyone because God loves everyone.  The example of homosexuals was brought up, as it’s continuing to be a big issue in America today- yes, we should love those who identify as homosexual because God loves them [and of course, we should love everyone because God loves everyone] - but we can’t condone their lifestyle because God doesn’t. [i.e. Just to clarify, while I do believe, due to our fallen world, people can be and are born with homosexual tendencies- but the sin comes in when people choose to act on these tendencies and engage in lust, same sex relationships and sexual encounters.] And we should definitely befriend unsaved gay people and all lost people so that we can share the Gospel with them. [Also to note: I specifically mentioned gay people here because of the example raised in the service, but also to address a tendency some Christians have of avoiding those with particular temptations to sins that we perhaps may not deal with nearly as strongly or just don't understand and perhaps feel uncertain of how to relate with them as a friend. Of course, I think this is exactly how we should relate to all people- in a manner of friendship driven by a sincere love of Christ, which in turn drives us to sincerely love one another.]  (Now I know my brother Kevin would probably interject at this point- so let me clarify. I don’t think that you should ever establish a superficial relationship for the sole reason of "converting" someone to Christ. People can (and will) see right through that. People are people- not prizes. Establish friendships with people to be friends with them- and through that window, by all means show the love of Christ to them- and as God opens up opportunities- share with them about Christ.  And always remember that it’s the Holy Spirit who does the work of converting- we just share the Good News.)
Anyway- I just thought both sermons were great- and that it was cool to hear some of the things that one pastor mentioned- because it’s some that I must admit don’t always get addressed very often in Southern Baptist churches- but at least one pastor went there!  We looked at 1 Corinthians 6:17-20 to focus on sexual purity in particular, and also the Biblical prohibitions we have in place via The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17 or Deuteronomy 5:1-21 - it’s in both places!) - And it’s also good to remember that they are prohibitions in some aspects, but there’s also things that we should do as well.  And ultimately, the laws enable us to truly live the good life that God wants us to live if we follow them as we should.  So they only prohibit us from destruction and woe.
We also hit on 1 Corinthians 8:8-13 (talking about being careful not to be a stumbling block to a weaker brother) and 1 Peter 5:8-9 (watch out for the devil- a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour!)
And we looked at 2 Corinthians 6:14-18- and here, let me get back to what the pastor mentioned that doesn’t always get addressed too often.  Smoking is harmful to the body- so don’t do it!  God tells us to take care of our bodies because they’re His temple- so smoking, drugs, alcohol and any other substances or lifestyles that are destructive to our bodies should be avoided. (The pastor said- "I know some of you will say, ’I have an uncle who smoked all his life and he lived to be 90.’  Well, he might have lived to be 100 if he hadn’t smoked!"- :-))  And the pastor also talked about gluttony- which is eating too much.  And it’s a sin just as much as anything else. Americans are killing themselves because of eating too much.  People are getting heart attacks because they’re too fat. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s the truth- and that’s why I need to be careful myself of being gluttonous and making sure to get out and get some exercise!
Well- I know I’ve been going on for a while here- I just thought there was a lot of good stuff in there.
So anyway- be separate from the world- not by "shunning all evildoers"- but by not allowing the world’s influence to be your main influence- that should be God and His Word.  Let your life stand out so starkly from the rest of the world that people take notice- and as the Sanhedrin noted of Peter and John, let the world take note that "these men had been with Jesus".  I trust that everyone can say of us who follow Christ that we have been with Jesus and are walking with Him