Tales from the Darkside

A longer time ago than i would care to remember i was in a car with two friends of mine. We were doing the "guys hanging out thing" when somehow the conversation turned into a banter of Star Wars and the faith of myself and one of the my other friends. We were witnessing to our friend using a contemporary "tool" if you will. For the past week or so i have been contemplating what it means to die to myself. I don't know if i fully understand the passages where Jesus is quoted saying "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, & Luke 9:23) There are many examples of people dieing for others outside of Jesus. Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon are two that immediately came to mind. But what is it that Jesus is calling ME to? In some regards a call to throw yourself in harms way can be easier to bear then the little things that all add up. Please do not misunderstand what i am saying here. I am in now way taking away from the incredible sacrifice of those who have given their lives for another. It is in the end the most that anyone can do for another. But it can be harder making those daily "little" sacrifices. The deferring of your preferences for others. Why do i consider this to be more difficult? Because, at least in my mind, the little things add up over time. The enemy whispers in your ear about the 'fruit' of taking for yourself. And it is in our sinful nature to want and to be selfish. We do not have to teach our children to be selfish. Some take to the teaching of giving and sacrifice easier than others, but even the most generous take for themselves from time to time. This is why things in life are hard. When we take the easy path down range consequences are sure to follow. And I struggle with taking the initiative in my own life. This is true in all things that are worthy of pursuing. In order to succeed routinely one must be willing to do the hard thing and take initiative. One reason Thomas Jonathon Jackson, aka "Stonewall", was so successful was that he was willing to work his men hard in order to seize the initiative and take decisive action. Early on his men complained about the workload. They did not see what he was doing. He has been quoted as saying, "I am obliged to sweat them tonight, that I may save their blood tomorrow." This is best understood by studying Jackson and his "Valley Campaign" of 1862.

YODA: Run! Yes. A Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger… fear… aggression. The dark side of the Force are they.

Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.

Ever notice how easy it is to succumb to anger? How quick we react when we have been "wronged"?

LUKE: Vader. Is the dark side stronger?

YODA: No… no… no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.

LUKE: But how am I to know the good side from the bad?

YODA: You will know. When you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.

What is hardest is to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are things that need to be painstakingly nurtured, reinforced.

LUKE: I'll try

YODA: Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.

LUKE: I can't believe it.

YODA: That is why you fail.

What is it that holds us back? We know these things (as Christians) intellectually, but why is it that we fail? Because we are inclined towards laziness and selfishness. It causes us trouble, it takes work. We succeed when we put off the old and take on the newness in Christ. When we die to ourselves we no longer care for what we want, but what we can do for others. There is a part in Eric Haney's Book Inside Delta Force that speaks volumes (to me anyway):

All day long, I crossed that mountain from one side to the other.... I would arrive exhausted and breathless at one RV (check point) only to be sent to the next back on the other side I had just come from. The mountain was too big to contour around, and the lay of the was such that I could never anything approximating a direct approach or maintain the hard-earned high ground for any length of time. Never getting anywhere, back and forth across the same mountain. It was a masterful torture. But then I had a revelation. What difference could it possibly make if I crossed back and forth over this mountain until doomsday? A mountain is a mountain, time was time, and route selection was route selection. The only that that mattered was speed and ground made good.... The frustration and mental torture I had been suffering were completely of my own making - and completely within my power to disregard.

- and -

I was physically spent and sore in every part of my body, But as I reflected on what I had undergone, I felt a calm sense of satisfaction and contentment. I had not just survived an ordeal, because survival in a sense if passive. No, I had conquered. But conquered what? I had to think about that a while, and then I realized: myself.

What had Eric Haney realized? That when he no longer minded, it no longer mattered. I think this post better describes yet another aspect of why i admire the samurai so much. The strived to die to themselves every day in order to serve their lord. "If by seeing one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in 'the Way'. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling." (from Haguakure) Am i perfect in this... not by a long shot. But i feel that it is a noble pursuit. Verse for today: Hebrews 9 : 24-28, ESV For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Will it come to that?

For some time my beloved and I have seen things within our local church that have caused us no small amount of concern. I am also not sure how much I should, or should not, share here. I will err on the side of caution. Recently we had VBS at our church, and the pastoral staff has never really made it a priority to participate. I have seen their wives help out, but rarely the men. This past year, as a means to drum up some excitement among the kids a challenge was issued that if so many kids were able to come one evening then the next night a dunking booth would be donated and the kids could dunk the pastors. (Side bar: I was not thrilled with this tactic to bring in more kids, especially since we have a space issue - and on top of that I was not thrilled with the idea of dunking the pastor as, in my mind, it comes across as disrespecting the authority of the church leadership.) Well, the kids met the challenge and the dunking booth was set up. The pastors showed up, but then did not stay for the whole evening. One was there less than fifteen minutes - and he was the "youth" pastor. When he was asked about what he was doing for the middle schoolers the response we got was "he does not have a passion for Middle Schoolers". I was dumbfounded. Lately several families have left the church because of the current state of our children's ministry. When this was mentioned to the senior pastor the response was "people always leave during a building project". We are in the process of a building project, but you would not really know it. With the exception of a small project board with a picture on it, and a line that mentioned how much was donated towards it, you would not know. My beloved and I have known a few of the families, and the reason was not the building project. The final thing I will mention is that none of the Pastors (we currently have three) keep regular office hours at the church. They all work from home (essentially). At a business meeting where the Senior Pastor was present, a friend asked him to pray about having maybe a rotating schedule or something so that there would be a pastor available if needed. The response was sobering. My beloved was present at this meeting so I am confident in this account... the man lost his temper. I cannot remember the exact words, but in essence she was told that it was not going to happen, and that we needed to trust him. But what if someone in the congregation wanted to talk to one of them? What about someone who was in need walking in? I know there are thousand and one things that can distract a Pastor, and that to some extent they need to be shielded, but I feel that this response was out of line. Also, since it was in such a public forum, and he was not a little angry, an apology and some form of request of forgiveness should have been made. It never was - to my knowledge. There are quite a few other things that have really raised some red flags. I am praying over 'Gunny's' blog post about just such a thing. I am concerned because this is the second time I have run into this kind of situation in a SBC church. I know this is not unique to the SBC, and this is not a slight against them, but I am getting "gun shy". Both I and a friend who also attends the same church, have searched around locally for another church. So far, in each case there have been indications that we would not be real comfortable there. We are even considering starting a "House Church". I am both excited and nervous about such a prospect. I am excited because it would 'free' me up to pursue a more in depth teaching, a chance to use some of my (self perceived) gifts. But is also scares me in that cults are started in similar situations. The gospel of Christ can get easily mis-interpreted. There is less chance of direct accountability. Such things should NOT be taken lightly. IF we do this with this other family I am going to need a lot of prayers, but for now we are sitting still (staying at our current church), praying about what to do, and seeking God for unity within the body of Christ. Verse for today: Hebrews 10 : 19-25, ESV Therefore, brothers, [3] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Music Monday - 20080512

This past week has been kind of a whirlwind. My beloved finished out her last week at work, and although it looks like they are going to offer her another (higher paying) job, she is telling me that she isn't going to take it. She has been talking about wanting to really be home for the kids after school, and not wanting to work. So, I went out and took a large chunk of the money I was (am) saving for an elliptical machine and bought her a $100 gift card to A.C. Moore so that she can build up her painting supplies. She loves to paint and draw. I am hoping to find a way to encourage her to do this more often, maybe even show some of her pieces. Who knows, maybe God will use this talent of hers to provide an additional source of income.

It's hard to say where God is going to take us. So many uncertainties. God gave me a verse on Friday night at our caregroup. To summarize it has to do with Moses telling God how he feels inadequate to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. There has been a burden on my heart for a long time in regards to some kind of ministry. With me getting out of the Guard, my beloved not wanting to work anymore, and the economy going the way it's going... a lot of uncertainty. I know we can't tell the day or the hour, but the world just seems like it's going crazy at times.

Anyway, with all of this going on I really didn't have a song for today until a friend who I was IM'ing suggested this song. Although the author wrote it when his daughter was born, I think it really expresses where I am at right now.

Weathered

by Written by Tremonti/Stapp

I lie awake on a long, dark night
I can’t seem to tame my mind
Slings and arrows are killing me inside
Maybe I can’t accept the life that’s mine
No I can’t accept the life that’s mine

Simple living is my desperate cry
Been trading love with indifference
yeah it suits me just fine
I try to hold on but I’m calloused to the bone
Maybe that’s why I feel alone
Maybe that’s why I feel so alone

Me…I’m rusted and weathered
Barely holding together
I’m covered with skin that peels and
it just won’t heal

The sun shines and I can’t avoid the light
I think I’m holding on to life too tight
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
Sometimes I feel like giving up
Sometimes I feel like giving up

Me…I’m rusted and weathered
Barely holding together
I’m covered with skin that peels
and it just won’t heal

The day reminds me of you
The night hides your truth
The earth is a voice
Speaking to you
Take all this pride
And leave it behind
Because one day it ends
One day we die
Believe what you will
That is your right
But I choose to win
So I choose to fight
To fight

From Creed's Greatest Hits Albumn

Well, I need to run along for today. May God richly bless each of you.
Verse for today:
Hebrews 13 : 2-6, ESV
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”

Confusion

Ok, when I broached the subject of having myself tested for ADD/Aspergers, my beloved asked, "why do you need to do that" For someone who feels slightly schizophrenic, that was not helpful. LOL I told her, "for one thing it would 'encourage' my employer to make some accommodations for me". Now, I am not looking for special treatment, but if I need help to excel and this be more productive for my employer, wouldn't it behoove them to help me out? Still, it is going to cost some money out of pocket. Something that is in short supply. All of this is on top of me fighting my own pride in continuing to pursue this. *sigh* At least Heaven won't be like this... :-)

Has anyone ever seen "Conspiracy Theory"? I don't know why, but I really like this movie. I like Mel Gibson. I've liked him ever since I first saw him in "Mad Max" and "Road Warrior" back in High School. Even with the 'controversy' of late with him, I still enjoy his movies.

Speaking of movies... I have been in the mood to watch the "Back to the Future" series, much to the chagrin of my beloved. She is not into those kind of sappy/silly movies.

I've also been tempted to call in to work, ask some friends to watch the kids for a day (or two), and just sit and watch all three of the "Lord of the Rings" movies - director's cut of course - back to back. I tell you what, when those movies come out in High Definition, along with the new Hobbit movie (2009, 2010), I just might dive in and buy a BlueRay DVD player, and a HD TV.

There is an excellent interview with Sinclair Ferguson over at the Sovereign Grace Blog. If you enjoy his teachings, or the man, I encourage you to jump on over there and have a read. :-)

Well, not much more to ramble on about today. I will be spending the weekend with not only my own brood, but a friend and her four kids from out of state. Please pray for my sanity. ;-)
Verse for today:
Hebrews 12 : 3-6, ESV
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Preparing for "battle"

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any [katana], piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:11-13, esv - note: actual text uses 'two-edged sword' )

I need to confess something (even knowing that some people who I know and live near, actually read this). I do not read my Bible enough. I do not pray enough. I do not study enough. And I am a poorer man, a poorer Christian, a poorer disciple for it.

The picture of the samurai of old have been blurred by time, distance, and my American cultural bias and influence. I know they were not perfect, and for the most part, not men who followed Christ and his teachings (even after the Portugese missionaries arrived). But, to reuse a bit of scripture from yesterday for an anology: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippeans 4:8, esv)

The first image that comes to mind of a samurai is the katana, or long sword. We (Americans at least) think of these men as masters of the sword. From a very young age they train to master it. As a Christian what is my sword? The Bible tells me that it is the very Word of God. If I am not in His word, if I am not studying His word, if I am not making His very word a part of me, then I am not learning how to use His word. Not for my own purposes, because if I am truly following Christ than I have laid down my life, but for His purposes and glory.

A samurai lived to serve his lord. He was about his lord's business, and in everything he did, it was an effort to not dishonor his master. I don't know if the Daimyo actually knew his samurai personally, and with them still being human, this is probably not the best example. But my Lord, Christ, desires to know me personally. He wants to spend time with me. How do I get to know my Master? It is done in spending time in prayer, in thinking and meditating about what His word is showing me. About looking around and weighing it against what He has revealed to me.

In my opinion, I am a rather weak 'samurai' in the service the Lord Jesus Christ. But even the weakest samurai was to be of use to his lord to the Daimyo. And I further can benefit in that in my weakness, He is revealed to be strong. But that can only be possible when I yield myself to Him.



Verse for today:
2 Timothy 2:15-19, ESV
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, [2] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Concerns about the term "Christian Samurai"

Recently a fellow Christian who also refers to himself as a 'Christian Samurai', brought to my attention an article from "The Berean Call" titled "Samurai Christians". In it they expresses "concerns" regarding Christians trying to be seen as 'samurai'.

Mainly they raise three points:

1) PANTHEISM AND REINCARNATION.

2) RITUAL SUICIDE

3) CHILD MOLESTATION

I would like to put forth my own reply, for what it's worth.

Item 1 - As Christians there is an obvious answer to this concern. When I refer to myself as a Christian that means I believe in the Bible, and the Bible is very clear. "“You shall have no other gods before [or besides] me." (Exodus 20:3, esv) This is the #1 of the Ten Commandments. As a Christian I believe that there is but one God in heaven, and that 'the heavens' is not God. As a Christian I also believe that there is only the resurection of the dead to stand before God on the final day, there are no 'extra turns'. "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment..." (Hebrew 9:27, esv). As Christians we cannot be 'double minded' - just as a house divided cannot stand, nor can a man be double-minded (or divided of mind) and still be able to serve God.

Item 2 - I am not God, therefor it is not up to me to determine when I am no longer of use to my Lord. There are a lot of Christian teachings concerning suicide and I don't think I need to beat this horse. No where (that I can find) in the Bible is suicide condoned, and therefor - where my desire to be like a samurai, and the ways of the samurai may contradict the teachings of the Bible, I must conform my thoughts, beliefs, and actions to the Bible.

Item 3 - This is just plain sick in my mind. First and foremost as Christians we are to submit to the rulers that God has established over us (so long as the very same do not 'encourage' us to contradict or go against God). The laws of the United States, and most (if not all) of the world agrees. This is strictly forbiden and there are consequences for such actions.

I consider myself a "samurai Christian", but I am a Christian in the service to the Lord Jesus Christ first, above everything else. I have read Paul Nowak's book "The Way of the Christian Samurai", and I can find no mention of his support for the items listed as "concerns" (my term) mentioned in the aformentioned article. He is quite clear, and I agree, that what we are trying to espouse are the areas of the samurai that can show us ways of being more sincere, more dedicated, more 'single minded' if you will, Christian.

The enemy of our souls is crafty. It is not beyond him to insert strings of Truth wihin his web of lies and disception. This is true of anything we can encounter here on Earth.

I will wrap this up with two quotes from scripture:

1 Thesselonians 5:12-24, esv (emphasis mine)

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, [3] encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

&

Philippians 4:4-9, esv (emphasis mine)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

So, in essence, I consider myself "Kurisuchan" (クリスチャン侍), or a samurai who has the mind of a Christian - or the mind of Christ. Just as I do not feel that any one person, or denomination, has it all perfect in their pursuit of Christ, I know there are things that the samurai of old may have done that I will NOT do. But that does not mean that there are things that they did, that were not praise worthy and worthy of being emulated.

The joys of growing pains

Well, I decided to go ahead and "move" the 'Dojo' to the new Blogger digs yesterday afternoon, but I failed to follow the first rule in any form of data upgrades. BACKUP YOUR WORK BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING! LOL. (I'm yelling at myself here...)

What I failed to do was save a copy of the old HTML code. Blogger is great at moving all of the original content from the old to new, but what was not moved were some of the 'bells and whistles' that I'd added over time. Things like my little 'blogthings' (yes there are non-girly teeny-bopper ones), and the blog award that I'd been given, so I will be working on sprucing the place up some. I really want to add a graphic for the Japanese charecters for "Christian Samurai" (クリスチャン侍 - or 'Kurisuchan') - after doing a little research I am told that this is the 'most correct' way of expressing this concept. I had learn of two different ways of saying it, one was sort of diragatory (which was kind of an eye opener to the gaijin), but this one is 'more correct' in that it is basically a term that is used to describe someone who 'has the mind of a Christian' (or perhaps the mind of Christ?), with the last charecter referring to the term 'samurai'.

Oh, and before I forget... I saw a NOVA episode titled, "The Secrets of the Samurai Sword" - facinating stuff. For example, I had been unaware that the reason the samurai sword has the characteristic arc in the blade is because that it is made with two different levels of carbon in the steel. When the blade is cooled during the process of making it, the inner core cools faster than the outer shell and thus pulls it up into its distinctive shape.

Ok, well, I've rambled on long enough about nothing particularly important so I will just say this... remember to back up your work! :)



Verse for today:
Hebrews 4:9-13, ESV
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any katana*, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

* Note: the text is actually, "...sharper than any two-edged sword, ..."

Put one foot in front of the other...

I am not really sure, but I think I am at least partially insane. Why would I say this, and can someone who is partially insane really recognize it? And if they can, are they really insane? Way back when, when I was just starting High School, I decided I was going to join track team. Not the boring 100m dash, or hurdles type of track. No sir. I went straight out for the Cross Country team! Why would a relatively poor kid, with no real back ground in running - let alone long distance running - just decide one day to go out for the Cross Country team? I must be crazy. Well, due to various reasons with my home life I did not really make it on a team until my tenth grade. And, once again, I went out without even practicing before hand. The first day we ran twelve (12) miles! In the August heat of Washington DC area. I remember I didn't make it the whole distance, but I didn't quit either. Then, we ran twelve sets of hills. Hills that were about a hundred meters long. Once those were completed we ran twelve sets of wind sprints. The sprints were accomplished by running around the quarter mile oval around the football field, and on each straight away you ran all out. When you reached the corners you slowed to a jog. I was not really all that good. My best time - ever - was 20:03 for our home course. For those of you who actually know about this sport, that is not a really good time. Most of the winners were coming in around the 15:00 range. My only goal was really just to break the 20:00 'barrier', but alas it was never to happen. I did this for two seasons and I did not complete either season - dispite my team going to the state championships both years. I just did not feal that it would be appropriate for me to go when I never placed above 6th on my team (there were only six of us) and they only ever needed five to compete. Those two years served me well when I later joined the National Guard. Maybe too well. During the first week of basic training, when the drill Sergeants are all yelling at you and they are still trying to asses your fitness levels, they had us perform a complete Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT), and based on how well you ran the two-mile course determined weither you were placed in the slow, medium, or fast group. I made the fast group by only four seconds! That meant we always ran faster, and farther than the other two groups because, well, we were the fast group. I also had a brain cramp during the second week of basic. One of the four road guards in our group hurt his knee. For some reason I said, "I'll take your vest. When you heal up you can take it back". Guess what... he never took it back! For eleven weeks I ran in the fast group, and for eleven weeks I was essentially running wind sprints. You see, as a road guard you have to sprint ahead to an intersection, help stop on coming traffic, and then sprint back into formation! At the end of basic I ran two miles in 12:39. My best time ever (up to that point). Why am I bringing all this up? Well, recently I decided (after having my colesterol checked) that I need to get into better shape. So, I've started running again. I love to run when I am in shape. I love the burning sensation of my body trying to get enough air while I am jogging, the sensation of electricity running through my muscles. The chance to just clear my head and get away from things. But I am not in shape right now... so... I just hurt. LOL But, I'll get there. Verse for today: Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-13, ESV Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.