New Wine in New Wineskins

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
(Matthew 9:14-17, NIV)

I used to read this and wonder what is Jesus talking about? I mean, I get the fasting vs. celebrating, but what does he mean about the patch and wineskins. I didn't get it, but now it seems so simple. You don't mix the old with the new. Who in Jesus' day would do such things that were against the common sense of the day?

Take a second look, the old cannot handle the new. The old, threadbare cloth tears, the old, brittle wineskins split. You can't take your old way of thinking about God, yourself, others, the cross, and salvation, sprinkle on a little grace and end up with a new way to follow the old doctrines of self-justification and self-promotion. It just doesn't work.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
(2 Cor 5:16-17, NIV)

The Next Chapter

I was reading a book the other day, one of the fun authors that I like to read without having to account for whether or not I am learning anything, and I kept getting interrupted. I would end up almost literally reading a chapter at a time. Some chapters were shorter, so I might catch two before I had to set the book down and accomplish some work. I found myself always looking forward to the next chapter to find out what was going to happen. The end of this deployment is like having to set the book down and wait to see what is going to happen in the next chapter!

Verdict: Not Guilty

It is interesting how the delivery of a verdict causes people to react. The verdict of Not Guilty apparently does not equate to innocence, although the American legal system works on a stated presumption that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. The reality is that, before the case is ever started, innocence or guilt are already presumed based on opinion; without all of the facts, which could not possibly be known until the case has been presented.
 

What does it take to be truly innocent when the verdict of Not Guilty is not enough to expunge your record? The accusation will hang over your head until you die, you will never be able to escape in this life.
 

This is the same predicament of the "sinner". The accusation stays haunting them for the rest of their life.

Please note, that I purposely tilted this to discuss the predominant viewpoint which surrounds me in regards to the verdict for George Zimmerman. There is much to comment on about all the viewpoints, and please don't confuse this as indicative of my opinion with the trial.

My only wish is to show how this dissatisfaction with the negative response to the Not Guilty verdict correlates to the concept of being a "sinner saved by grace".

Hello, again!

It has been a while. Where to start? Yeah, hard to start over, hard to go back to where you were. At times like these, it is just time to pick up where you are.

 

I am in Afghanistan. Again.

 

What is different is that I have had to say something that is the hardest thing I have ever had to say. I had to tell someone that a friend was dead. So thankful that I wasn't telling his wife. I was barely able to maintain composure as it was, and that didn't last beyond making it to my room. At the moment, I had been still subconsciously struggling to come to grips with the reality. I had thought it was another pilot in another aircraft.

 

It didn't help that my first flight afterwards, I thought I heard his voice on the radio. Just my memories playing tricks on me in my head. It doesn't just affect me this way, it affects many of us who knew him. He was one of those guys, even if you didn't like him, you liked him.

 

Where is faith in this? Odd question, because it seems to suppose that faith should shield me from this, from life happening around me. I haven't tried to use faith in that way in a long time.