peace . love . joy

Now, here is a topic to ruffle feathers. Most of us know something about it and that it is a reality that is happening even now as I write, as you read this. But most us don't quite want to talk about it for whatever reason. But really,

What is Martyrdom? Or perhaps, what is a Martyr?



Asking around produces a few usual answers:
Somebody who dies for his\her faith
Stephen (Acts 6-7)
Some of the 12 disciples who died for Christ
Voice of the Martyrs
Restricted Nations
Serious stuff

The word "Martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς (mar'-toos), which actually means something more along the lines of "witness", and occurs in its various forms (of the word) multiple times in the Bible.

There is no promise of death nor suffering within the definition of mar'-toos itself. Our perceptions of such is deduced mainly from the deaths, murders may be a more fitting description, of the early Christians, and from a single verse: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." (Matthew 5:11)

Instead, I think when Christ called us to be His Martyrs, His Witnesses, though He did promise insults, persecution and false testimonies against us because of our faith and trust in Him, it was to shift our focus from possible horrid demises & sticky endings to the verb, the action, the process of being a Martyr. The living far outweighed the dying.

He wants us to testify, to affirm, to profess, to give evidence. That is what we have control over, that is what we aim to be, that is what we must do simply because we cannot help it! What comes after is that which is not within our control and is not what we are to be trapped up in: what comes after is the world's response to the Savior's Love.

That is the meaning of Martyrdom.

Hearts that are furiously beating...
Bones that are painfully burning...
Actions that are blatantly testifying...
And lips that are tirelessly proclaiming...

... the Good News...

Regardless.

Is your life the life of a Martyr?

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
~ Acts 1:8

Take a look at the mountain
Stretching a mile high
Take a look at the ocean
Far as your eye can see
And think of me

Take a look at the desert
Do you feel like a grain of sand?
I am with you wherever
Where you go is where I am

And I'm always thinking of you
Take a look around you
I'm spelling it out one by one

I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again
I love you more

Just a face in the city
Just a tear on a crowded street
But you are one in a million
And you belong to Me

And I want you to know
That I'm not letting go
Even when you come undone

I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again
I love you more

I love you more

Shine for Me
Shine for Me
Shine on, you shine on
Shine for Me

I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again
I love you

More than the sun
and the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you, yesterday and today
Through the joy and the pain
I'll say it again and again
I love you more
I love you more

And I see you
And I made you
And I love you more than you can imagine
More than you can fathom
I love you more than the sun

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep."
~ John 21:15-17

I remember once while I was reading this passage with my youths, I stopped and finally, after years and years of reading this same passage, realised what Jesus was saying to Peter.

Thrice Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, thrice Peter answered he did.
But three times, each time, Jesus responses to Peter's declaration of love differently.

Βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου \ Feed my lambs
The Greek word for "feed", pronounced boskō, means to pasture; to graze; to feed; to keep, and "lambs" literally mean what it denotes: lambs, or baby sheep, if you like. So altogether, Jesus is asking Peter to look after His little ones, meeting their requirements for life (food, water, shelter, etc.).

What does that mean for us, for us who profess to love Jesus?
It means to satisfy the babies'-in-faith hunger, thirst and basic welfare. We feed them life-sustaining milk, tidbits from the Bible, the crucial nuggets of wisdom and Truth they need to grow, every so often, like a mother breastfeeds her infant. We tenderly place them onto our shoulders and pat them on the backs, following up each session of feeding, making certain they understand all that was taught, answering any questions they might have, like a mother burps her infant. We protect them, watching out for them, young and innocent, from ravenous wolves, like a mother shelters her infant. We are careful not to overfeed them with knowledge, giving them only what they can bite off, like a mother periodically laying her infant down to sleep.

Ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου \ Tend my sheep
Ποίμαινε (poimainō) differs a little from boskō. It means to tend (as a shepherd does); to feed; to rule; to supervise. Supervise His people.

To supervise means to oversee; to superintend; to have the oversight and direction of. It's like an added-on responsibility of a shepherd: we don't simply pasture the sheep; we herd them! In the olden days, one of the shepherds' jobs was to make sure the sheep reach markets in time for shearing. As overseers of the whole flock, we receive direction from God, the First Shepherd. We know where He wants the flock to go, and move them to specific areas He wants them to be at at specific junctures. We nurture their individual gifts and talents whether they are artisans or managers, whether they are caretakers or techno-wizzes. This is our duty to them, this is our calling from God.

The last command serves like a reminder, like a marriage of the two prior instructions:
Βόσκε τὰ πρόβατά μου \ Feed my sheep

Make certain, as much you can, the flock never hungers, never thirsts. Make certain, as much you can, the flock heads in the right direction and are not led astray. Make certain, as much you can, the flock receives opportunites to grow.

Jesus was not saying the same thing thrice.
He was talking about different things each time he responded to Peter's "You know that I love You". He was spelling out explicitly what He means when He says to watch over His flock: to pasture, to oversee, to nurture.

But they cannot be taken apart for they are intimately intertwined.
They are the 3-part follow-up to the ultimate question.
They are the 3-part bullet-points that spell the Quest the Lord has proposed to us.

This is our Quest with a capital "Q".

Will you raise your swords and hammer your shields?
Will you shout and clang your weapons together?
Will you kneel and receive the Quest?

And will you ride forth,
brave blistering winds of confusion, of much talk and wayward distractions
& scorching deserts dry as bones, of seeming hopelessness,
to fulfil that Quest?

Jesus is asking
"Do you love me?"

What say you?

"No man can come to Me unless the Father who hath sent Me draw him; and I will raise him up at the Last Day."
~ John 6:44

When God woos and courts us, in what manner does He go about this delicate business?

Is it a gentle affair?
Often, we read of Jesus as the Master fisher-of-men, an analogy from which many conclude that Jesus' wooing us, the fishes, is of a gentle nature, placing a significant emphasis on the processes of "attraction". Maybe this is because we tend, or perhaps even want to see Him as a kind and loving Savior, a silent and affable lamb, always patient, always caring. And so it is difficult for us to visualise Him as an agrily passionate and urgently violent Lover.

Perhaps it is so.
And perhaps "we only see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe... We lie to ourselves so much that after a while the lies start to seem like the truth" (Dr. Meredith Grey, "Grey's Anatomy").

In John 6:44, the Greek word used to record Jesus' meaning, translated here as the English "draw", is "" (pronounced hel'ko). It refers to a (figurative & literal) drawing; (a less violent) dragging.

That same hel'ko is also used in other instances in the New Testament such as Peter "drawing" his sword to cut off Malchus' ear (John 12:10), the disciples "drawing" the net after casting it on the other side of the ship (John 21:6), Peter "drawing" the net to the land when the ship neared the shore (John 21:11), Paul & Silas being "drawn" into the marketplace to face the rulers (Acts 16:19), etc.

While there are other Greek words used, such as suro, to mean roughly the same thing, the difference is hel'ko alludes to a purpose, be it in the final destination of the "drawing" or the aim the "drawing" serves.
And, compared to suro, another term for "dragging", hel'ko bears less brutality and force, though, if I may point out, this does not suggest a lack of intention nor urgency.

Each time hel'ko is used in the Bible in relation to God, many Bible dictionaries add that this metaphorical usage of "drawing" also pointed to a "drawing" by use of an inward, divine power. So when God hel'kos us, God the Father is drawing us nearer to Him, by the stirring of the Holy Ghost sealed within us, through Jesus the Son, a drawing not with a lenient and strengthless hand, but by a nature heavily pregnant with purpose, energy and urgency.

This is His idea of wooing, His idea of courting.

God knits us together in our mothers' wombs, and so carefully and meticulously, in His divine and perfect timing, reveals Himself as desirable and compulsory, as faithful and sovereign. He showers us with love so simple and yet incomprehensible, so gentle yet suffocating, that tugs at our heartstrings and causes our bones to ache. Those intimate moments we've shared with our Groom, the visions of life promised through this communion, the knowledge of what He has already done for us, the sacrifice He has made on the Cross.

All this in a bid to hel'ko us to Him!

Such is the extent and depth of His love that He would willingly pay the highest price, quietly perform the highest sacrifice, to lay down His life for us.

All that remains is our answer.

Does your heart ache,
And your lips beg?
Does your nose seek,
And your eyes search?

How does one respond to such a powerful hel'ko?

Will you echo the words of the Bride as she cries
"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth -
For your love is better than wine.
Because of the fragrance of your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
Therefore the virgins love you.
Draw me away!"
~ Song of Solomon 1:2-4a

Will you turn and run, o runaway bride?
Or will you walk towards the altar?

Will you depart from His presence and hide?
Or will you walk with Him forever?

Do you take Him to be your wedded Husband?

Do you with deepest joy come into your new life with Him?
As He has pledged to you His life and love, so too do you happily give yours to Him?

Do you in confidence submit yourself to His headship?

And will you live unto Him, loving Him, obeying Him, caring for Him and ever seeking to please Him?

Do you therefore throughout life, no matter what may be ahead of you, for better & for worse, for richer & for poorer, in sickness & in health, pledge to Him you life as an obedient and faithful wife?

"Marriage is like a party:
You know what you want the end to be, but you've got to stick to it.

Sometimes, you dance blissfully through it,
and other times, you plough stubbornly through it.

You'll find creases that need to be ironed out
and you'll find hearache,

But you keep on going,
Have fun along the way,
And it'll turn out great."
(a comment I once heard)

I remember growing up, one of my favourite cartoon films was Disney's "101 Dalmations" (1961) (and before any of you ask, no, I am not a flower child. I wasn't even conceived in then!). The opening was, I felt, one of the most enjoyable scenes:

Pongo was looking out the window, searching for a mate for his "pet", Roger. And he as he watched female pair after female pair stroll along, he supplied a running comedic commentary.

Funny, isn't it, to see pets, especially dogs, looking and even acting like their owners? But it gets even more interesting to realise that this pattern actually carries over from the happy watercolor drawing boards of the Walt Disney studios to gritty real life. Sunglasses flaunted proudly by a couple strolling along the sidewalk, the master and his English Bulldog, beautifully and painstakingly combed blonde tresses adorn the heads of two lovely ladies, the mistress and her Afghan Hound...

But before this transformation of the pet (since we like to think the owners have the upper-hand) can take place, there must first be a purchasing of the pet by the owner. After the purchase, or perhaps with the purchase comes a promise of a good relationship, a good life together. The purchase is made with an idea that the pet will make the owner happy, and the owner likewise the pet.

It's somewhat of a shadow of what a real marriage is:
Vows of commitment toward each other
Promises of constant companionship with one another
...
And it usually starts off with wanting to be happy together, thinking each would make, and strive to bring the other happiness, or the chinese 幸福.

But what if marriage, to a man or a woman, or indeed even to God, is more than just to bring each other happiness?
Happiness, no doubt, is one of the goals of marriage, one of the ideal aims, but what if it is not the por ultimo?

Returning to the dog and the master, dogs, in fact practically all breeds of dogs, have the ability to be trained and the capability of undying loyalty... And the potential to resemble the master.

Now, I'm not suggesting that we're dogs. Instead, perhaps
the big purpose of marriage is for us to resemble our Master, our God.

The call to Christ-likeness is not found in one conclusive be-all-and-end-all verse, or even passage for that matter. No, its significant and varied meaning bearing a network of vast implications is found across the Bible, specifically the New Testament.

"By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked."
~ 1 John 2:5b-6

The more we spend time with Him, the more we fear Him (becoming more awestruck), the more we know Him (becoming more intimate), the more we yearn to resemble Him.

We, at the altar, standing across from our Groom, our Lord, give the "go" to change for the better, to change to become like Him.
We, in the days to come, living with our God, effectuate our commitment to persevere in becoming like Him.

But this change occurs not on our strength. We endorse and allow it to happen, to continue, but it is God, in the Spirit, who is hard at work:

"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
~ John 16:7-15

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."
~ 2 Corinthians 3:18

The Spirit works to mould us through people, through circumstances, through spiritual disciplines. It moulds us to become like Christ in service, in love, in patient endurance, in mission.

We are not dogs who merely resemble our Master, looking and sounding like Him, but that is all. No, we are created to possess a far greater capacity for intellect, our calling more complex:
to reflect Christ.
To learn to think as He thinks, to feel as He feels, and the freedom to choose to act as He acts.

Our Groom's gift to us is happiness.
Happiness through holiness.

What is your gift to Him?

Friendship vs. Marriage

In many discussions with other people, the most commonly cited defining difference between the two is the "s" word: sex. For some, they speak of it as a "consummation" of a marriage, and for others, sex within marriage is a God-approved and blessed act of mutual accountability toward holiness and for the purposes of procreation. But for all, sex is good, sex is desirable. More specifically, though, it is the closeness that both partners feel through the act of sex that is the goal.

In our marriage with God, perhaps to speak of the consummation of our union in terms of what as humans we understand as sex would bring some discomfort to our minds. And so, we replace the distinctly mortal and finite concept "sex" with a more "acceptable" term "intimacy".

Intimacy with God.

How many of us have counted as one of our blessings an exprienced "spiritual high"?
Returning from a mission trip, during an intense worship session, after an awesome time of fellowship over Bible study... That fantastic connection of our spirits with His, that alignment of our wills with His... That indescribable union. If anything, we'd label these instances as feeling intimate with the Father, with the Groom. And of course, we love it and want more of it!

But what about the times when (and I say "when" and not "if" because it will or has already happened to every one of us) we don't feel that intimacy we crave?
When you pray and feel nobody's (ie. God) listening, when you sing songs on Sunday and feel nothing, when you engage in studying the Bible and sense a wall blocking your way... When you feel alone and unwanted, cast aside... Like you're living in the same house as God, but you feel He's not acknowledging your presence... Like the intimacy, the romance is gone. And you just sit and wonder what's happened, when and why did this relationship grow cold...

Regardless what answers you find, this Truth must be remembered:
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever"
~ Hebrews 13:8
That you not be led away by diverse and strange teachings.

And with that, we examine our lives, for the one who has moved cannot be the Lord, and therefore, it is us.

Sin on our part may be the reason for the lack of intimacy:
"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness."
~ Isaiah 59:1-3

Emotions may be the reason for the lack of intimacy:
I like what Dr. James Dobson wrote in "Emotions: Can You Trust Them?". He said that "(emotion) has a definite place in human affairs, but when forced to stand alone, feelings usually reveal themselves to be unreliable and ephemeral and even a bit foolish". Even so, he goes on to explain that to "minimize the impact of emotion on human behavior" would be a terrible mistake. Emotion is not bound by the logical faculties of reason, and thereby a powerful tool the Devil may choose to wield. "Every river of emotion running deep within the human spirit has the capacity of overflowing its banks and flooding the mind with its rampaging waters... Our purpose has been to fortify the banks of those rivers with scriptural truth and psychological understanding".

Lack of discipline, of self-control may be the reason for the lack of intimacy:
Our relationship with God is built on the premises of studying His Word, of communicating with Him, of bending our wills to His, of worship. Should we lack in any of these, our union is headed for disaster.

Know these three are but three from a long list of possibilites that can account for the coldness in a relationship with God.
Know these three are not isolated, but have the ability to become a confusing ball of yarn:
For example, sin causes guilt. Guilt may lead to an overwhelming emphasis on the human unworthiness. And that may lead to a continued belief that culminates with a sense of unworthiness to commune with the holy God, a foothold for the Devil, let alone engage in a relationship with Him.
Sometimes because we don't feel close to God, we lose interest and desire to study His Word, we forget to talk and walk with Him...
And this is but two permutations of these three factors.

These could lead to adultery, the Hebrew נאף (nâ'aph) meaning the breaking of wedlock, particularly by the woman, the bride. Straying from the marriage bed by courting and worshipping that which we should not: sexual immorality, deceit, sorcery, drunkeness, rivalry, jealousy, anger, dissensions, etc. (ref. Gal 5:19-21).

Would it disturb and frighten you to know that while God loathes divorce, there exist verses allowing divorce for one reason and one reason alone: adultery?

"You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
declares the Lord.
Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like an Arab in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land with your vile whoredom.
Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have the forehead of a whore;
you refuse to be ashamed.
Have you not just now called to me,
'My father, you are the friend of my youth -
will he be angry forever,
will he be indignant to the end?'
Behold, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could."
~ Jeremiah 3:1-5

Divorce from your union with the Lord.

But read on:

"'Return, faithless Israel,
declares the LORD.
I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful,
declares the LORD;
I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God
and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,
declares the LORD.
Return, O faithless children,
declares the LORD;
for I am your master;
I will take you,
one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion."
~ Jeremiah 3:12b-14

If anything, this goes to show how much our Groom detests divorce,
how much our unfaithfulness hurts Him,
how much He longs to be reconciled with us,
how much He loves us.

"God's silence is as much a sign of God's presence as of God's absence. That divine silence is not a vacuum to be filled, but a mystery to be entered into. Unarmed with words and undistracted by noise, a holy of holies, in which we too may be struck dumb by the power of the unsayable God" (Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent).

We can find intimacy when we feel no intimacy.
When we truly sense the Lord watching, but not speaking, our yearning for Him to just at least say a word, a yearning not answered, a hunger not sated, a thirst not quenched,
our longing for the goodness of what we have tasted reminds us of the realness of God,
His choosing to be quiet reminds us of the sovereign power Jehovah is,
the absence of communion is the grace He offers us.

All this in a bid, His bid to nudge us closer, draw us more tightly into the arms of our loving Groom, Jesus the Christ, who very interestingly is the only one on this planet to have ever heard the true deafening power of God's silence, and that during the time when He wanted and longed for it most: nailed to the Cross, crying out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

He longs to be intimate with us.
We long to be intimate with him.

Listen and root out the sin in your life.
Never give up the discipline of coming to Him daily.
And hide His Truth in the depths of your heart.

Our marriage with God truly is worth the fight and the perseverance.

Consummate your marriage with God daily,
and dwell in the intimacy that comes only with such a communion.

"I am sure that neither death nor life, angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of god in Christ Jesus our Lord"
~ Romans 8:38-39