Invisible Hero

Invisible Hero

She’s the invisible hero,
To the friends she’s never had
She’s the shoulder no one’s cried on,
Because she’s the only one’s who’s sad.

So, she releases her emotions,
like ink spilled upon a page
Her cry for help is silenced
by her life within the cage

A life locked in chains,
laughter missing from the air,
It's easy to be forgotten,
when its simple to despair

The marks hidden on her arm
prove she doesn't know her worth
finding freedom in a moment,
each breath rejects her own birth.

Eyes cast down with downcast I’s
A pretty girl is destroyed by lies

If only she could see,
the beauty behind her tears
If only she could lift her hands
And push against her fears.

Anguished Angel

This one follows me everywhere I go. Every new book, every site. It's not mine because it was a gift for someone else. Everytime I read it, I think of her struggle, her journey. To a degree I think I've failed her, and if your eyes find this page serendipitously know for that I'm sorry.

Anguished Angel
Far too often she's left waiting for the sun to pierce the darkened sky,
Far too often she feels forgotten, releasing an unheard sigh
Far too often she's left in pieces, left to wonder why
Far too often she's left alone, by herself to cry,

Anguished Angel with broken wings, halo replaced with chains,
Someone's filled your hands with weight, soaked by a thousand rains
Anguished Angel with no hope, freedom stripped away,
Someone's filled your heart with pain; your trust has been betrayed

She's hoping for a future, but feels that chance will be denied,
Hoping for the truth one day, instead of consuming lies.
Battered like a ship at sea, the horizon consumed with storms,
Her body cries for blood bought peace or some power that transforms.

Anguished Angel, with beauty marred, not outside but within,
Someone's taken your hope away, and replaced it with chagrin.
Anguished Angel, your life in flames, afraid of consuming fire,
Someone lashed out against your soul, and stole away your desires.

Anguished Angel, please hold on, even though hope slips away,
Anguished Angel, please press on, after every night there comes a day.
Anguished Angel, please rise up, against the surging tide,
Anguished Angel, please push through, every storm will subside.

Copyright ©2007 Brian Anthony

Covenantal Salvation

The point of my writing is less about answering any significant questions and more focused on struggling through questions. The more I know, the less there seems to be certain.

The idea of covenants is nothing new, and certainly something that most Christians are comfortable with. The Old Testament is saturated with covenantal relationships. God and the people or Israel, God's covenant with Abraham, God's covenant with Moses are just a few of the covenantal examples found in scripture. Many Christians faced with the question that the bible supports polytheism with a different God in each of the Testaments. They will point out that Scripture claims that Christ is the same yesterday today and tomorrow. Some perhaps will point to the first verse of John. "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God" To point to God's eternal nature. So, if God is in fact the same today, as he was in the both the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Why do we then act as if there are no covenants?

Often times in my experience, people are more comfortable with the concept of covenantal relationship, but seem to deem it too legalistic for our day and age. Some would point to the new Covenant being under Christ and being a covenant of Grace. However, this is only valid if you neglect to consider the contents of the New Testament. It, much like the Old Testament is saturated with covenantal language. Some of the flagship verses contain this language.

John 15:1-8 "If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit." Verse 7 goes on to say that "if a man remains in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be given to you."

This verse is important that it brings clarification, i believe to the oft misquoted "when two or more are gathered passage" This is the covenant part, if you remain in me. If.You.Remain.In.Me. IF. So, in order for Christ to remain in us, we must remain in him. Let's switch the word remain, to abide. To remain seems to be still, maybe resting but also possibly stagnant. To abide, is to endure without yielding. So, we must abide in Christ, THEN he will abide in us. This should be be confused in thinking that we can accomplish such an act apart from Christ, but the two acts are synonymous.

Often I hear John 8:36 proclaimed, “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Which is true, however, most do not recognize the qualifier of this statement is found a few verses back in verse 31 where it says “IF you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So, to be set free then, according to verse 31 we first must hold to his teachings, a sign of a disciple, then we will know the truth and accordingly experience freedom.

We clamor about free will, yet act as if we have no responsibility to follow Christ. We concern ourselves with rights and grace, but fail to pay the cost. We verbally yearn for a revival, yet internally are comfortable in our complacency. There are to great commandments in scripture, first, what is known in Judaism as the Shema, which is found in Deut. 3:5, a call to love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” The second is to love your neighbor as yourself” found in Mark 12:28-31. Given the highly narcissistic nature of church society this last one is quite challenging.

The fact is that our salvation with God is covenantal. The New Testament is full of the if/then covenantal language. We cannot, we must not believe that we cannot deny Christ in our actions and think to cling to grace when we stand before him. We will find, on that day, it is not grace we have been clinging to but the coat tails of the father of lies.

Matthew 10:32

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge them before my father in heaven. But who ever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

Cost of the Cross.

When did following Christ become so easy? When did it become so safe? When did the words of Christ "take up your cross and follow me" stop resounding in our ears? When did we move from the idea that the chief end of man is to glorify God to the chief end of God is to glorify man? When did our hearts began only to break for ourselves instead of the lost? Why is our own personal safety and happiness become priority one? How do I continue to justify my materialism in the face of the impoverished? How do I believe to follow Christ, and yet so often his word leaves me unchanged? Do i believe I follow Christ, or am i living as if Christ followed me. When has being a Christian become painless and without sacrifice in North America? Has it ever been different? Is it different now, and my perspective is merely limited by my environment?

Why is everyone seemingly terrified of challenging their brothers and sisters to walk closer with the Lord? Why is o.k. to watch i supposedly care about fret away their salvation in sin? Why are we scared of confrontation? Where is the accountability? Why is our generation so damn therapeutic and obsessed with being politically correct? Christ's closes companions all paid a significant price, socially, physically, and most paid with their lives. Yet, i see people in my generation toting Jesus is my homeboy shirts, who are aghast that following Christ should cost them something personally. Their right, it shouldn't cost something, it will cost them everything.

Christ, toted amongst most believers as the example to follow,in Mark 8:34 told his disciples that to follow him, life would require them to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. We are not very good at denying ourselves, or taking up our cross. Often it seems, my prayers have been littered with requests for God to get me through the desert, to break some sin in my life, to get me to the end of some particular journey instead of the strength to get there.

Scripture denotes the importances of trials as character defining, and essentially sources of an unfailing hope (Romans 5:3-4, James 1) Regardless, our faith, and our journey will lead us to hear one of two things at the end. It will either be Well done my good and faithful servant (as did the faithful servant in mat 25)or I never knew you, away from me you evildoers.

Christ in me, Christ with me, Christ for me.

An Inconvenient Grace

Dirty. Dark. Smelly. Awkward. Painful. Disturbing. Costly. Complex.

What do you picture when you hear these words? What do you envision? A homeless man strewn along the sidewalk, rags barely covering his filth stained body? A man trapped by the images he sees on a computer screen? Perhaps a woman,whose arms are shredded with track marks, and face littered with signs of abuse? All of these associations would be accurate visual reactions to the words above; however, these are not what I had in mind.

Ever increasingly these words remind me of Grace. For a long time, when I heard the word grace, it was a clean and shiny concept often accompanied by it's equally smooth and appeasing friend Forgiveness. I thought Grace and Forgiveness to be like spiritual crutches, holding me up despite my weaknesses. I thought by grace God would change my flaws and redeem my inequities. I thought grace was freely given and received. I thought grace existed to free me from my struggles with my own sinfulness. I essentially viewed it as an escape clause for life. I cannot overcome something, oh well that's where grace comes in. I continue to disobey God's law, oh, well there's grace.

I was not alone in this thinking, various people would tell me as I shared my struggles with them, just accept God's grace, walk in it and he will change these things. However, the more time i spend thinking about it, the more I realize that Grace doesn't exist to change my circumstances, it exists to change me. And it's a lot more uncomfortable than I originally thought.

Grace allows me the strength through Christ to challenge my circumstances and overcome them.

Romans 5:3-5
because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

This is a process of Grace and suffering appears to be the cornerstone of this growth.

Grace is Dirty: because the people who need it the most are often unclean, phsyically, emotionally and spiritually. James teaches us not to show favor based on appearances, Christ ministered alone to a Samaritan woman who was surely unclean.

Grace is Dark: because we often don't understand it. It's often more complex than our sitcom-esq expectations. There are often loose ends and brokenness that remains, but hope remains. Christ, as he cast the demons of Legion, he let them go into the pigs instead of banishing them, why?

Grace is Painful: the ultimate expression of Grace is the crucifixion. Cross seems to be a much more pleasant word, we think redemption, savior, freedom. Crucifixion captures the reality, the cost of Grace. Christ endured torture, was beaten beyond recognition, and nailed to pieces of wood. This is Grace. Much different than my original concept of grace.

Grace is Costly: If the ultimate example of grace cost Christ his life, how could I, could we expect grace to cost us nothing? Often our grace is without consequence or repercussion. This grace is often both cheap and insufficient, and further, i believe unappealing to the world.

Grace is Complex: Starving children, the homeless, widows, orphans, the poor,friends, family and neighbors. It is pretty easy to be graceful to them, as it should be, after all it's our biblical mandate to look after them. What about the sexual predator, what about the serial killer or rapist, are these less deserving of God's Grace? Why is it, as Phillip Yancy says in his book "what's so amazing about grace" as he quotes a friend of his, "is it easier for a homosexual to get sex off the street, than a hug in church?"

When Christ ministered to the lepers, he touched them, they had an encounter with Grace. This was more than social justice at work, more than Christ touching the untouchables, although it was that too, it was Christ showing that there are no untouchables. By sacrificing his life, he taught us the cost of Grace, by touching the lepers, he taught us the boundary defying reality of Grace. By touching the leper, Christ shows that there is nothing to beyond his touch, nor should there be of ours.

Grace is dirty, Grace is dark, Grace is costly, but it is sufficient.