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!

Judgment Day and Justified by Faith

    It's said that when people are in a near death situation, they see their lives flash before their eyes. I don't know if that's true but I do think such situations make us consider the brevity of our lives in the light of eternity. I have seen similar scenarios depicted in some Gospel tracts though I am not sure how accurate they are in depiction of the final judgment. Will we really have a screening of our entire lives before us? Some Scriptures might suggest that. In Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 (which some scholars think may be an account of real people in Hell and Heaven, respectively), we do see Abraham reminding the rich man of the good things he had in life and the suffering Lazarus went through. There are a number of Bible verses that inform us that people will be repaid according to their deeds. (Romans 2:6, 10, 11 and Revelation 2:23)
We have a very clear picture in Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. The King reviews the deeds of both the sheep and the goats and rewards or punishes each accordingly.
    It is important to note that judgment is not a matter of God sizing up our good and bad deeds to see if we make the nice or naughty list. Jesus says in John 6:28-29 that the work of God is to believe in Him whom He has sent. Salvation from sin and judgment is through faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection alone. It is through God's grace that any of us are saved. (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 2:8-10)
   Yet we often get that image of works being weighed on a scale for judgment, which is totally false. Movies and TV shows help enforce that mistaken idea. (See "Heaven Can Wait", "The Good Place", etc.) If it were up to our good works to save us, we'd all be in Hell because there is no one righteous- no, not one! (Psalms 14:1-3, Psalms 53:1-3, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23)  We all need the righteousness of Jesus- the only One who is perfect and met God's standard of perfection- because He is God. And our faith in Him imputed His righteousness to us! (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
  I actually had a dream last night that was much like the judgment scene I was describing at the start, except for some random things, as dreams tend to go. (For instance, I don't think the judgment takes place backstage of a late night talk show with Jimmy Kimmel hosting, but I'm fairly sure that's what I saw.) And I was apparently there for emotional support because in the dream I was with a woman in a screening room watching key events in her life like a movie, which ended with a review of the pros and cons in her life. And evidently she didn't make the grade. I was able to leave at that point as it wasn't my time or judgment.
As a disclaimer, let me say that dreams are often hazy images culled together from different things in our lives and I don't generally put much stock in them for meaning, etc. And maybe I had such a dream because I was recently reading through "Erasing Hell" by Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle.
   Of course, there were grave theological issues with that presentation, which is all the more reason not to try to make too much of dreams. (Which is not to say God can't use them, as He obviously has throughout The Bible. Just be cautious and ask The Holy Spirit to show you anything you need to see.) To quickly summarize, I believe we will stand alone before God, for one thing. And we will be judged based on what we did with Jesus. For a Biblical picture of Judgment Day, check Revelation 20:11-15 for the Great White Throne Judgment unbelievers will face and 1 Corinthians 3 for the Bema Seat judgment that believers will face. (Note: Believers in Christ's deeds while in Christ are judged in order to determine spiritual rewards from The Lord- NOT to judge about salvation. That is already secure with Christ.)
    Again- it cannot be emphasized enough that good works DO NOT save us! In fact, as Jesus makes clear in Matthew 7, good works can damn us instead! He says many will come to Him on the last day calling Him, "Lord, Lord" and present their resumes of good works that they were pridefully relying on and He will tell them- "Depart! I never knew you." That's a scary and sobering scene! Yet in Matthew 7:21, Jesus tells us who WILL enter the kingdom of Heaven- only those who do the will of His Father in Heaven. Okay- so what's the will of The Father? Jesus tells us in John 6:40. "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Jesus further clarifies in John 6:63 that the flesh is NO help at all; it is The Spirit who gives life.
        All that said, as James 2 reminds us, faith without works is dead. The good works DO NOT save- only faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection that pays for one time for ALL our sins (Hebrews 10:12) does that- BUT good works naturally follow salvation as an outpouring of God's work in our lives to be more like Him and as a natural response of gratitude to Christ for His saving work. (Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 2:12-13) As 2 Corinthians 13:5-8 says though, it's good to do a pulse check every so often and make sure we are in the faith.
      As one who often identifies with Mr. Fearing (John Bunyan's timid pilgrim who struggles with doubts and fears but does make it to the Celestial City in the end because of his faith in Christ), I find myself often going back to John 6:68-69 to say with Peter- "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God." This is one of my favourite expressions of faith in The Bible because it echoes my heart's cry.
       "Lord Jesus- I believe You are real and You are God just as The Bible says and You are the only Way, Truth and Life. I know I've done plenty of wrong in my life and I still fall into sin that I don't want to keep doing but You know sometimes I revel in the illicit pleasure some sins elicit.  Help me in that struggle to hold to You because I know You're infinitely better than sin. Forgive me for my many failings. Thank You for Your death and Resurrection that pays for all sins for all time. Even the good I think I've done is not really good if it's not from You and with Godly motives. I don't have any good deeds to rely on; I simply and wholly trust Your righteousness. Help me to remember that my salvation is based on Your grace in which I put all my faith. Cleanse me with the hyssop branch and I shall be clean. Use Me for Your glory as You see fit. Help me to not be scared or worried but rather to trust You with all my heart and feel assured in Your love and salvation. Thank You for always loving this knucklehead through all my goofiness and open defiance and sinfulness. You are Lord and You are my Saviour and Lord; I love you for loving me first- and for all the Awesome Goodness You embody that our world so desperately needs. I need You and trust You no matter what. Use Me to tell folks about You all the more. Thank You. In Your Holy Name, Amen."
      As one of my favourite quotes from C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" says, “I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia." Puddleglum has this bold statement of faith in "The Silver Chair". Likewise, I'm on Jesus' side no matter what and I'm going to seek to live for Him as His Spirit enables me no matter what. No matter what my fickle fink-le funky feelings tell me, my faith is firm in Father God and I'll trust the facts of His Word.
     "My faith has found a resting place not in device nor creed. I need no other argument; I need no other plea.  It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me." (Shout out to Lidie H. Edmunds, a pilgrim who went before me in that great cloud of witnesses. :-)) Or as Edward Mote said, "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand- all other ground is sinking sand." Where do you stand? There is a Judgment Day coming we will all face one day. There are two dates that we have no idea when they will come but we know one or the other will happen in our lifetime. Either we will see The Lord Jesus return in our lifetime or we will die one day. Why do we work so hard to avoid our funeral instead of prepare for it? It's easier to forget these truths and the eternity of both Hell and Heaven but it doesn't change anything when we do. As Flannery O'Connor observed, "A Good Man is Hard to Find". That's quite true- only God is good. And sometimes we need a guy with a gun at our heads to keep us honest. What do we say when we really think about these realities if we're honest? Those who worship God must do so in spirit and truth. So be truthful and pray and consider what you need to do as the Holy Spirit leads. "Now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2) While you're gathering ye rosebuds while ye may, grab onto the Rose of Sharon while ye may. Today is the day of The Lord's favour- but the Door will not be open forever.
 

The Lake of Fire (song)

"The fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7) As much as it's important to not be held captive to fear, there is also importance in having some fear- a fear of The Lord. As Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, we should fear the One Who can destroy both body and soul in hell. We are all sinners by nature and all bound to eternal torment in hell because of our rebellion against God. That's a truth you don't want to be a Johnny-Come-Lately to learning- because there is a day it will be too late to do anything about it. (Hebrews 9:27) We will all die one day, unless The Lord Christ returns first. Either way, we will face judgment then. The Good News is that God loves us so much that He paid for all our sins by dying in our place and rising again! If we put faith in Christ for forgiveness and salvation and follow Him, we can have assurance of salvation from hell and the burning lake of fire and entry into Heaven instead. That's a truth you can cash all your chips in on. Cash it all in on Christ today. (2 Corinthians 6:2) Now is the day of salvation!


"The Lake of Fire"
(parody of "The Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash; copyright Nathan Ludwick 1/21/2019)
(Mark 9:42-50, Matthew 10:26-33, Revelation 20, Luke 16:19-31, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, Romans 10:9-13)

God had rebellion break
And He made a fiery lake
Found by sin's desire
In Rev. 20- the lake of fire

Christ's Book of Life or burning lake of fire?
Written down (or) not found?
In the flames (or) Paradise, yeah?
Will you burn or turn?
The lake of fire's for Christ revilers
(You) might fall into the burning lake of fire
Teeth are gnashed and ground
And the flames won't tire
Forever burns, burns, burns
The lake of fire, the lake of fire

The grace and love of Jesus
Sin-hearts like ours need it
To hell we're doomed at the trial
Oh, but Messiah reconciled

Christ still endured the burning lake of fire
He went down- that's how
Jesus paid our price there
And He returned third morn
Offering was final- all sins (for) all time, there
Devil will stew in burning lake of fire
20:10- it's found
Revelation- right there
Forever burns, burns, burns
Mark 9:48- the worm won't die there
And God yearns- Return!
The cross of Christ's still
Saving from fire
Saving from fire
Saving from fire