RonParrs.com: Notes from My Desk...

That Which is Eternal is Important

Thankfully I'm home writing... it's been a long while since I sat down to think and to ponder and to write.

Those of you who know me well, know that I'm a kind of melancholy guy. Oh yes, I may appear to be quite jovial and almost happy go lucky, but as my Mexican sisters would say, "Ron, eres tan serio..." (I think you can figure out the translation). I guess I am. I'll provide some further details about those Mexican sisters (and brothers too) later on so you'll understand the entire context - after all, context is everything. I like to think and ponder many things; maybe sometimes too many things!

As another year draws to a close and we prepare to celebrate Christmas and New Years, this is a good time to sit down, get quiet (maybe even alone) and reflect on the past 12 months, perhaps longer.

Christmas evokes that type of solitude and reflection. For thousands of years God promised a Messiah that would not only save men and women from their sins, but in doing so that act of salvation would restore a broken relationship between Creator and creature. Although once created perfect and in the image and likeness of God, Adam and Eve willfully sinned plunging the world and every man and woman who would come after them into a fractured and hurting world. On our own power, we would try to fix the mess and in doing so, the mess would be become messier. None of us can truly restore ourselves and everything attached to us to its original state without outside intervention.

Come and See!

There are 3 things that God is passionate about and one thing that comes out of these I have come to know and appreciate.

First of all, God is passionate about bringing Glory to Himself. In all that He does, everything seen and unseen, visible and invisible is designed to bring Him glory. Second, God is passionate about His Son, Jesus. God goes to great length to glorify the Son to bring glory to the Father. Third, God is passionate about having a relationship with His creation.

The one thing that comes out of these is His activity. God is active in all things; and not just active in the ways that we usually think about. What is God active in? He's active in creating; bringing new into the previously non-existent. He's active in sustaining; what He has already created must be maintained, sustained and otherwise taken care of. He is active in listening; in particular to the prayers and cries of His children.

One thing that we don't think of or consider is that God is active in pursuing. God is always in pursuit of His creation for the purpose of relationship. The God-head in its Tri-unity - its Trinity - is and always has been about relationship; an active relationship. The God-head of Father, Son and Holy Spirit has always been in a perfect relationship; a perfect community. In this community They lack nothing. They each have 100% of the other, all of the time; from eternity past and into eternity future. And that's why God is always in pursuit of us; of you and me. Minute by minute, day in and day out, year after year. God is always pursuing His personal relationship with us as individuals. This relationship is not for His benefit per se, but it is for ours. God desires us to be in relationship with Him; He's already in relationship with us.

The Most Silent of Days

From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, Christians around the world will celebrate the foundation of our faith.

To me, Easter or Resurrection Sunday is the most amazing holiday on the calendar. It is the one religious holiday I look forward to all year long. Easter fulfills the promise of Christmas. Easter is the believers' guarantee of life itself, even unto eternity. We must not take it for granted.

Easter week begins on Palm Sunday with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Jesus is very busy about His Father's business, whether it's cleansing the temple or teaching His disciples or teaching the crowds. Coming into Thursday (Maundy Thursday as many denominations refer to it), brings the Passover celebration and Jesus' Last Supper.

Good Friday, as awful as it is on its surface, is an incredible day. Jesus takes the earthly beating meant for each and every one of us and heals us ("by His wounds we are healed" Isaiah 53:5 ESV). Finally, Jesus is crucified thereby satisfying the Father's demand of atonement and sacrifice; it is the final and all sufficient sacrifice for all of eternity past and present to restore the relationship between God and man that had been broken so many thousands of years earlier by the simple breaking of the one command that God had given them; don't eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Ponder that for a moment if you will. Adam and Eve only had ONE rule to follow, one command to not break. All that I'll add is the fact that God is pure and holy and His standard is perfection. It is a standard that none of us can come close to.

Christmas: Those Who Know Their God

The older I get, the more I fall in love with and appreciate the Christmas story as found in the pages of Holy Scripture.

For some time I thought it was a bit of seasonal depression; lack of sunlight, overall dreary weather, cold, you know. But the more I think about it, my malaise or melancholy is more of introspective thoughts, especially as another year draws to a close.

Don't get me wrong, I love celebrating Christmas. I enjoy putting up the tree and household decorations. We don't go crazy, but it's Christmas. My favorite part of decorating is putting up the children's ornaments that we have saved over the years. Each ornament has a story to tell; whether directly or because it recalls a particular time of life. Now some in my family might disagree with this jolly sentiment, and I'll leave that there. That's not part of this thought.

This year is especially introspective for me. The events of the past twelve to eighteen months have been life-changing to say the least, and as difficult as this period of time has been, I can honestly say that I'm glad God has allowed me to traverse this time. I'm also very thankful that God has also surrounded me with a multitude of people - family, friends, customers, business acquaintances - to prevent my being alone in these times.

Resurrection is Impossible

For the Christian, that's not a true statement.

God has the power to resurrect anyone and anything. In the final judgement, God will indeed resurrect everyone who has ever walked the earth. Some will pass into eternal glory and everlasting life while sadly, many others will be condemned to eternal punishment and separation from their Creator - whether they believe in Him or not.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself.

The Easter season is my favorite. Easter doesn't have the hoopla of Christmas, and I guess that's one of the reasons why I like it so much. There's less busyness; less preparation. As I think and write about the Easter season in general and Resurrection Sunday in particular, my mind is always drawn to the fact that it is not just a single day holiday. It's a holiday celebrated over a long weekend: Good Friday to Easter Sunday. Three days of remembrance; the solemnity of Good Friday, the Saturday of anticipation and the joy of Sunday.

Being Thankful This Year

For many, Thanksgiving is a truly great holiday that kicks off a broader holiday season.

Families and singles are traveling from place to place by any means possible through almost any weather possible to be with loved ones for a long weekend of rest and camaraderie. It's off to grandma's and grandpa's for a family gathering. Students make both planned and surprised visits home. There's a feeling of hustle and bustle, but also of anticipation as we travel about whether it is to the next town over or across the country.

A Human Picture of God's Plan of Adoption

What picture comes to your mind when I say the word "adoption"?

Some of you will think of a childless couple lovingly taking into their arms a precious infant or toddler for the first time. Others of you will think of abandoned and unkept young children (toddlers) left to almost fend for themselves in the disasterous orphanages of Romania, and how many were taken by Americans and Europeans and given better lives in loving homes.

Both of those pictures are true and truly lovely. Adoption is a wonderful thing. Adoption is a life-changing thing for both child and parents. Since we celebrate Adoption Month in the month of November, I wanted to put out a few of my thoughts on this very important topic.

Where is William Penn When We Need Him?

Everybody needs a grandfather!

Grandfathers and grandmothers - sometimes more than moms and dads - are the secret to a solid family. We just love being around grandparents for who they are. They may be "old" (have to watch what I say since I'm a grandfather), but there's just something that is satisfying about their presence.

More than knowledge, grandparents have wisdom. Wisdom is an acquired attribute. Wisdom is acquired through trials, errors, tribulations, and applied knowledge. They understand history because of a better perspective.

As we look toward another season of elections, we need to examine history. And we have to look at history with both eyes and ears open, putting aside personal prejudices.

Read this great article originally published around the Fourth of July.

"His first book got him arrested. When the jury refused to convict him, the judge put both him and the jury in prison. Later, the writings of this radical man became foundational for the Constitution of the United States. If George Washington is the 'Father of our nation,' then William Penn is the 'Grandfather'."

via www.foxnews.com

Divine Obedience

Prayer is typically viewed as being a time of silent "talking" to God. Sometimes we're not too silent.

We praise and adore God in prayer. We recognize Who He is and what He does. We seek His guidance and provision in our lives. We ask Him to intercede in the lives of friends, relatives and loved ones. In prayer we confess our sins. Those are what I would call the "quiet" part of prayer. We may even sing and worship but that is still relatively silent.

But then there's the "active" part of prayer. Throughout this study, we have sought to transform or reform our lives into lives of prayer. A life of prayer is when we are "being" with God throughout the entire day. We are thinking about Him and speaking to Him. We may sing to our Father during the day, but He's looking for more from us.

How Easter Killed My Faith in Atheism

I LOVE Easter and the Easter/Passover Season. It is my absolute favorite holiday time of the year.

In Easter we find all that Christianity means as well as all that it brings to mortal men and women. In Easter we find true hope and forgiveness. In Easter we find life and assurance in a "hereafter". You could even say that we are demonstrated that there is a guarantee of a hereafter supplied by a loving, but just God. Jesus Christ overcame death in His Resurrection.

Passover was a foreshadowing of what God had in store for His creation. We just needed to wait for His perfect timing.

Back in January 2012, humorist Ricky Gervais presented his arguments (there's a link to this in the piece below) for atheism and why he thought he was a better "Christian" than many Christians. In this follow-up essay, writer attorney, former atheist and Christian apologist Lee Strobel offers his defense of Easter (author of "The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Easter") and how this season and holiday changed his life forever.

Continue reading by clicking on the link below from the Wall Street Journal.

via blogs.wsj.com