spiders

this week i have a poem and a partial poem. first the partial poem is from the book"A Book for Boys and Girls or Temporal Things Spritualized" by John Bunyan (the pilgrims progress author) the section i have is from the poem "the sinner and the spider" and i'm amazed that some one could get so much from looking at a spider. i guess that when you are locked in a 17th century prison for not conforming to the Church of England you have time to think of higher things.

so when your not locked in a prison your thoughts are distracted by the stupid vanity of the world. so not all my poems are serious affairs about God; some are just plane whimsical in nature. at lest i think that my poem is funny. not so much Rofl or even lol but more like Nelson (the Simpsons bully) ha ha funny. and since theses are both about spiders i thought i put them together in this post to show the difference between a good God centered poet and me an idiot.

sinner and the spider

Sinner.

Thou venomed thing, I know not what to call thee,
The dregs of nature surely did befall thee,
Thou wast made of the dross and scum of all,
Man hates thee; doth, in scorn, thee spider call.

Spider.

My venom's good for something, 'cause God made it,
Thy sin hath spoiled thy nature, doth degrade it.
Of human virtues, therefore, though I fear thee,
I will not, though I might, despise and jeer thee.
Thou say'st I am the very dregs of nature,
Thy sin's the spawn of devils, 'tis no creature.
Thou say'st man hates me 'cause I am a spider,
Poor man, thou at thy God art a derider;
My venom tendeth to my preservation,
Thy pleasing follies work out thy damnation.
Poor man, I keep the rules of my creation,
Thy sin has cast thee headlong from thy station.
I hurt nobody willingly, but thou
Art a self-murderer; thou know'st not how
To do what good is; no, thou lovest evil;
Thou fliest God's law, adherest to the devil.

by John Bunyan 1688

The Tap Dancing Spider

This is a poem about a tap dancing spider
Whose stage was set on my typewriter
the rhythm he got from the songs in his head
He would dance all night without being fed
He was the best tapping spider you ever did see
Even better than that Michael flatly
He would jump and spin all in his dance
he only stopped to fix a split in his pants
I knew the news of this spider had to be said
But to my dismay he is now dead
It seems I forgot his stage was my typewriter
And the first letter of this poem was the end of our dear spider

the poem "Tap dancing spider” is copyrighted by Chris Carey 2008

Ps

John Bunyan's complete poem can be read here

the Law

Today most Christian don’t care much for the law. They tend to look at a select passage and twist them; “we are not under the law but under grace” “judge not lest you be judged”. But to take these out of context do a great disservice to the Lord. If you read all of Romans chapter 6 you’ll see that just because we are in grace does not mean we live in sin. In fact as Christian we should follow the law more closely than any other, because we are dead to sin. Since sin is in the breaking of the law and we are no longer sinner we should always be following the law. Not as a form of legalism, not because we fear that if we transgress God will crush us. No, this is the grace that we are under; that we need not fear the effects of the law (God’s wrath) because of the work of the cross. But it should be a strong overwhelming desire to be Christ like and He fulfilled the law perfectly. So our desire should be to keep the law also.

The second verse listed above about judging has many problems in that most people will equate judging to reproof or telling someone they are wrong. This is what Matt Henry (1714) commentary on Matt 7:1-6 says “Some cautions about reproving. Because we must not judge others, which is a great sin, it does not therefore follow that we must not reprove others, which is a great duty, and may be a means of saving a soul from death;” but since reproof is based on fact and judging is an opinion people that don’t have absolutes will see any reproof as judging. That is why the law is so important it has already been written on their hearts so everyone is angry if some lies to or steals from them. It is something they know is true from their very conscience. So the law and reproof must be used in evangelism.

I guess this needs a summary, as it is a bit scattered brained. First don’t judge using your opinion but reprove based on the fact of the law. Second Romans 6 we need to keep the plank out of our eye. (this is done by grace freeing us from sin and grace holding us to the law). Third we must reprove to save souls and the law is a fact they already know.A poem on how I view(ed) the Law of God in my Life

Loving Law

Harsh words that grate, like steel against a flint.
Sparks light that causes my soul to squint.
Unpleasant mirror, refection of my spirit.
Brings sorrow and fear, for what my deeds do merit.
Unbending ten, my flesh does appall.
What shame, for I have broke them all.
Vile cures, of unattainable perfection
Horrid Decalogue, I owe you affection.
Despised teacher, from when I was young,
Passing years brings your praise to my tongue.
Faultless map, to a lost sinner points the way,
To a blood stained cross where my debt was paid.
Glorious love that for a sinner like I,
Christ would bear my dishonor and die.
Amazing Grace, I would’ve never known
but at first the law, my sins had shown.

the poem "Loving Law” is copyrighted by Chris Carey 2008

waiting on the Lord

When I look at heroes of faith and the effort they put forth to honor God, I often feel ashamed and ask myself why I don’t seek God like they do. The only answer I can think of is that I just don’t esteem God high enough to go a weekend without eating; or I like videogames more than God so I’ll spend three hours playing them and only a couple of minutes praying. Neither of which is true in my mind but if you looked at my actions I don’t think that would be a far of a conclusion to jump to. My actions are exactly it Moses and Elijah each spent forty days fasting Daniel spent twenty-one, Jacob spent all night wrestling with God. Surely I could spend all night with God. I mean in college I pulled a couple of all nighters wrestling with term papers.Well it must have been the Lord that gave them the power and will to do those things so that they would have the power and will to do the other things that made them heroes.

“There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Roman 3:11

Twenty one
(Daniel 10)

Twenty one days Daniel, Fasted and prayed
Waited on the Lord, while an angle was delayed
And there in the river while his men all fled the place
Stood a Chrystal-like man with a flash of lightning face
He sought understanding, was humble before the Lord
His heart was pure and righteous his prayers were not ignored

For twenty one minutes, I Fasted and prayed
I waited on the Lord, got board and walked away
And In this concrete river as I flee from place to place
I don’t enjoy green pastures; I’m running like I’m chased
Understanding I did not seek and humility abhorred
Then I sit and wonder why all my prayers have been ignored

This is what I want, patients to endure
Push through the darkness, not quit premature
Lord teach me to wait, I want to be still
Let me lay beside your waters, and drink until I’m filled
I need to find myself, A Secret hiding place
Away from the world, In the presence of your grace

The poem "21" is copyrighted by Chris Carey 2008

Sovereignty

In joy and sorrow, in peace and pain
The Lord is sovereign above all He reigns
Two sparrows in trees and neither does fall
Apart from the will, of the Father of all
What man is this, the winds obey
And causes fig tree to wither away
In heaven, and earth, He reigns supreme
With power, controls all rivers and streams

In joy and sorrow, in peace and pain
The righteous the wicked on both it rains
through beatings and prison, Paul withstood
what was meant for evil, God meant for good
A man makes plans, his path selects
But God each step does direct
Omnipotent God, deserves our acclaim
Before our birth He knew our name

In joy and sorrow, in peace in pain
The thoughts of God, too high to obtain

the poem "sovereignty" is copyrighted by Chris Carey 2008

misc.

Well this week I have a lot on my mind, but I can’t seem to be able to focus enough to write them down in any coherent form. So this is going to be a short hodgepodge of miscellaneous and random things that may at some point be turned in a full post at some time

People are less violent to street preachers over history

The Apostle Paul and other church founders were beaten, stoned, burned, or/and killed in some other way, for preaching the gospel of Christ crucified. Stories of many soldiers of the Salvation Army (back when they were Christ’s army and not just some social do-gooders army) every week they would have street meetings. These soldiers would have to wear old clothes because they would be pelted by eggs, chamber pots would be dumped on them, and tent cables would be cut collapsing the tent on them. Today street preachers get yelled at, verbally abused, people "in the" church questioning them (Rob Bell and his bullhorn guy) and the police called to ask them to leave. See it’s getting less violent, it’s still not easy but it is less violent.

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Issues Ect.

I have never listened to it while it was on the radio, but I have downloaded a couple of hours that I’m currently listening to. From what I’ve heard so far this was a great show and I can’t believe that it was cancelled. But what really concerns me is that is that a solid gospel preaching church is falling away. They are giving up Christ so they can have a bigger church. That just ain’t cool.

Sentimentalism and Christianity

This week at work I was talking to a co worker about books that we like to read. I told him that I would classify most books I read as Christian theology, and went on to name St. Augustine, John Bunyan, C.S. Lewis, John MacArthur, ect. He then went on to say he has read a book like that. He went on to say something about only having one minute so make it count (I really don’t know much more about what he said because once I determined that was just so sappy sentimentalism I tuned out.) this is why I hate stupid “christian” forwards that are nothing more than idiotic love with no rules or just some good rules to live by. It is infecting our culture so much that people are thinking that that is all there is to Christian theology. But there is so many more and deeper things. (and now as I start to get in a grove I have run out of time)