Captain Nemo's Final Lesson

I have been thinking today about the value of pets. My sister's dog, Captain Nemo, is making his final trip to their country property. My sister is the sort of woman who loves animals like I do. I hate that she and her family have to say goodbye to someone hey have loved and cared for so well. I hate that I won't get to see the big bruiser come greet me as only he could. He loved his auntie as much as I loved him. I have been dreading this day as much as I dread the passing of my own furry heroes. Today it dawned on me as I thought about the way animals suffer because of our sin and how grossly unfair that is...that it is only a glimpse of the way Christ suffered to save those whom the Father has given him.

It doesn't change the way I am grieving for my sister's loss, or the loss of my four-legged nephew. It hurts and it makes me feel guilty mingled with a good dose of puny. He's 14 1/2 and a pit bull/lab cross. I have seen Nemo uproot a tree and carry it with pride to his mom for a chance to play fetch the stick, leveling anyone who didn't get out of his way. No malice, just brute strength and joy trailing 10 feet of tree limb beside him. It was our sin, not his that caused his body to betray him. Until a couple days ago his spirit was willing but now his too weak body has taken even that from him. It's just not right.

I'm not trying to play the fairness card. That's a fool's bet. I just didn't realize until today why it is that we animal lovers have to have our hearts break. Why our sin causes our pets demise. Christ,obedient to the point of dying on the cross, took our death sentence so we wouldn't have to, and how unfair to Him was that? Sinless perfection racked by our sin and guilt. Suffering because of us. Suffering because of me. Nemo gave me just a tiny glimpse of what my Savior went through on account of my sins. Captain Nemo was like that, a model of unconditional love used by God to teach me about the grace and mercy of the cross.

Isaiah 53:3-5
3 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our griefs He himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being {fell} upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.

Hebrews 10:10
10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:14
14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

1 Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, {the} just for {the} unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

(NAS)

Character Flaws, Sin and Remediation

I have been thinking about my last post in which I offered to talk about how having a job has shown or magnified my character flaws. Before I do though, I want to distinguish between character flaws and sin. My character flaws predispose me to sin in certain areas more readily than in others. Indulging in my character flaws is sinful. Entertaining the idea of indulging my character flaws is sinful. They are the weaknesses in me where my flesh makes itself known by screaming, "You know you want to!!" Too often I hear Christians lamenting that they "make mistakes" or are victims of their genetic make-up and intimate that they should, therefore, be excused from culpability for being prone to certain activities. Our cultural dependence on a medical model to define our behavior has given many what they see as a plausible excuse for sin. I don't see that caveat in the Word. For Christians, the Word is always our standard. It is the standard by which all will be j

Fear Down, Hope and Peace to Go!

Last night I had the honor and privilege to present some information to the women of my church. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love and appreciate them. The seminar I did was on fear. God is clever and He had me present the information to them because I needed it. It's not that I don't want to study things for my own benefit and growth, but whenever I do a topical study to teach it, I see how badly I needed it and how much more I have to repent of than I realized. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know. That's a topic I want to return to in another post. I want to talk about the ladies for a moment. They are an incredibly loving group of women. Women who seek God and are teachable. They have gone out of their way to include me and love on me, which speaks volumes of their characters because I am not all that lovable. I am not being self-deprecating here. I am a mix of endearing and maddening qualities like anyone else. What I am telling you is

Super Church a song for the Emergent-sy

In the early 70s I was in a youth choir at my church. Our youth pastor was a musician and his way of connecting with us as a group was through the choir and music. Somehow there was an affiliation between him and The Continental Singers, New Hope and Jeremiah People. He was worked with Moishe Rosen of Jews for Jesus too, I think. Are any of these names familiar to you? Though I remember the church fondly I was a profoundly lost and troubled young woman during my years there. That and time have muddled the memories quite a bit. Today I was digging through some old paperwork and one of the books to the musical we did. It's Getting Late For the Great Planet Earth, a folk rock oratorio by Cam Floria. Yes, that's right. Cam Floria put Hal Lindsey to music. There's a lot to laugh about and some to groan about but as I was looking through the songs and remembering, I found this little ditty and I only wish I could sing it for you. Just remember that this is circa 1972 and even th

rambling rosemarie

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