William Petruzzo

Today marks the 365th day of daily, consecutive blogging—without missing a single day! I’m like a hero. Alright, Well maybe not. But regardless, I am proud of myself for sticking to it. But, I admit, I’m a bit compulsive. Usually I like to do things in even increments. Like for example, if I’m going to take a walk, I want to walk one whole block, or five whole blocks. I wouldn’t like to walk two and a half blocks, then get picked up by someone.

So, with this blog, I’m presented with quite a paradox. I’m pleased that it’s now been one even year of blogging, but I’m distressed that it’s an uneven 365 days. What’s a compulsive person to do? I suppose I’ll be trapped in a cycle of blogging until the day I die.

Anyway, In the interest of this post being as much like tv-show-flashback-special as possible, I thought it would be an appropriate to recall a few of the posts over the last year that we especially well read or liked or hated or whatever. So, here we go.

December 18th, 2007 - Top 10 Seriously Epic Songs

This was originally posted on my blog hosted on Wordpress.com before I switched over to my own server. This was written mostly as a pseudo-inside joke between some friends who love to dub things as "epic" with a unique definition of the word. Since it was written last year, it’s had about 4,000 readers. Pretty weird.

June 21st, 2008 - A Good Bible Reading Plan to Plan on Reading

John Piper recommended the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan in his book When I Don’t Desire God (reviewed here). I tried it out and found it to be quite fantastic. This post was a write up encouraging others to try it also. Since then, quite a few people I know have (although I can’t necessarily take credit for that). I’m still using it, and still loving it.

April 21st, 2008 - Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

The documentary Expelled came out earlier this year, I wrote a fond review of the film, citing that it made some good points. But, within hours of posting it a small war broke out in the comments field of the post. I attempted to put a calm on the topic, but reason and personal relations were lost on the comment authors. I ended up deleting the entire thread of inflammatory comments and their retorts (including mine) and closing down commenting on the post altogether. That action however made me into a suspect of being part of the gigantic conspiracy to suppress science in then name of religion (Hmm, news to me). The flurry of negative attention was surprising and a tad comical, but nevertheless, lesson learned: turn the comments field off on all hugely controversial topics. No sense in cultivating irresolvable controversies.

April 24th, 2008 - 10 Ideas for Better Study & Devotion

I can’t remember where the idea for this post was born out of, but I got a fair amount of positive feedback, both in the comments field and in person from folk’s who’d read it. The gist was to share some of the practical things that have helped me, and people I know, to enjoy better times reading the bible and praying.

November 15th, 2007 - The Ever-Being in the Center

This is kind of a prose that was born after finishing CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce. I’m not sure I recall exactly how the inspiration came from that, perhaps just literary style. But, regardless, it was one of the writings that inspired me to start a blog in the first place. It’s still something I’m pleased with, even though I’ve never gone back and made modifications.

Well, I think that about does it for this year.  Check out these hi-lights and drop in your opinion, if you want. As for me, it looks like I’ll keep on blogging every day–at least until we get the calendar officially changed so that a year is an even 400 days!

Bah, good luck with that!

In the book of Numbers, the Israelites are wandering around the desert. As usual, they’ve started to look at their immediate circumstances, forgetting the incredible things God has already done for them.

They start complaining and cursing God and Moses, saying “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food [the manna].” (Numbers 21:5).

Of course, God is able to provide for them and up until this point, he consistently used Moses to do so. He’s proven it time and time again.

So, God, in his wrath sends “fiery serpents” which come in and start to bite all the Israelites, who then quickly die from the poison. The people quickly interpret God’s wrath in the disaster and come to Moses repenting for their sin. Moses responds to the people with compassion by interceding on their behalf.

God gives Moses the solution. He commands him to fashion a serpent and place it on a stand. When anyone who has been bitten looks at the fashioned serpent, he’ll survive the serpent’s bite. So, Moses does what God commands, and makes a serpent out of bronze and put in on a stand.

Of course, just like God said, it worked. Anyone who was bitten recovered after looking at the serpent.

Fast foreword about 800 years.

Hezekiah takes the reigns in Judah and becomes king. He does what’s right in the sight of the Lord and removes a whole bunch of the people’s stumbling blocks and offenses toward God. Among those stumbling blocks was an incredibly interesting idol.

“…and he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it” (2 Kings 18:4)

What? The Israelites, for eight hundred years, sporadically, had been worshipping this bronze serpent that God had commanded Moses to make. In it’s original day, God produced it, mercifully, to save his people. But it was just a thing. God used it, clearly. But still just a thing. It wasn’t God and didn’t deserve worship. But an inattentive people confused something God used for something deserving worship due to God.

The bad habit is repeated later in Acts 14.

Paul and Barnabas are in Lystra and Paul heals a guy who can’t walk. The crowd there are amazed and conclude that “The gods have become like men and have come down”. Of course, Paul and Barnabas (rightly) freak out and rush to clear up the misunderstanding. It doesn’t go especially well for them; but that’s going off topic.

I thought it was interesting. These two (of several) occasions in scripture when we see God do something good and the good thing get the praise.

This habit hasn’t gone extinct. We still fall into it. We still turn our eyes to the incredible works of God in us and through us and around us, instead of allowing those things to direct our eyes to God himself. It’s a daily battle to remember that God is the treasure, not the gifts that he gives.

The bronze serpent in the desert was a gift from God. But eight hundred years later, it was just an idol. It did nothing and provided nothing. Paul and Barnabas were just men and through them, God gave a great gift. The those men died and no their not healing anyone now.

The same is true of the gifts we now enjoy. Our money, our time, our friends, our churches, our entertainment, our comfort. All of it. While good gifts today, they will one day lose their value.

Jesus, however, will not. I’d like to remember that he’s not just the giver. He’s also the gift.

I think it might be that we take the ability to exist for granted. Can we really be blamed for that? We’ve been doing it, indiscriminately since we were born. If there’s one thing that’s pretty thoroughly ingrained in us it’s that we exist. Barring a few exceptions, there aren’t many places on earth that we won’t continue to exist. Our atmosphere is perfectly suited for us. We breath in and out and it keeps us alive. Even if we fall into a nasty or dangerous situation, there is the plain and simple confidence, that if no one kills us and if our organs keep working, we’ll live. It’s fascinating actually. It’s what causes people to run from dangerous situations; hope that if no one kills us, we’ll still be living. If we don’t crash the car, we won’t die. If we take our medications, and go to the doctor, our life will go on. The bear minimum is taken for granted, but the bear minimum isn’t nothing. It’s still something.

I watched a documentary on the Discovery Channel this evening entitled When We Left Earth. It’s about the development of the space program and NASA. But what I kept thinking about was the complete and total despair of space. Unlike earth, space holds no guarantees. If a person were left to space, existence could no longer be taken for granted; no matter how well the person’s body actually works or the absence of immediate dangers, space simple does not sustain life.

It’s fascinating to me that the thing perhaps most taken for granted by people, is also perhaps the greatest gift from God. The simple ability to not die. Sort of brings some new life to that weird Matt Redman song, Breathing the Breath.

Lord, we’re breathing the breath
That You gave us to breath
To worship You, to worship You
And we’re singing these songs
With the very same breath
To worship You, to worship You

There’s something I really love about thunder storms. One of my favorite things to do is to sit on my front porch during a really active, noisy thunderstorm. I always seem to forget ho much I love it until the opportunity arises and I’m reminded. I could sit out there for hours if the storm would permit. I think it’s got something to do with a sense of totally detached chaos. I have absolutely no control over a storm. It will happen regardless of what I do or do not do. That is fascinating to me.

Tonight was a storm, right in the vein that I love. The lightening was almost continuous and the thunder was that kind that you’re uncertain of which direction it’s coming from. The kind that has not so many cracks, but far more rumblings that you can feel in your chest. I imagine it was like Moses in the cleft of the rock. Just beautiful.

Grant me fear that I should be
Humble before such as thee.
Thee complete, I cannot see,
But in thy works, behold, majesty.

Make for me a heart of flesh
And place it here inside mine breast
Ever more to know mine Lord
For upon the cross I hath been blessed.

For more information on this edition of Reading Classics Together, swing by Challies.com or pick up the book, The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross by Arthur W. Pink.

This week Pink discussed Jesus’ “Word of Victory”. Namely, John 19:30.

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

One of the most profound things that Pink said, toward the end of this chapter, was the crushing defeat that Satan suffered, indicated by these words, “it is finished”. While once Satan had a legal claim on us, as sinners with unpaid debt, he no longer does. Believers have been purchased outright and there is nothing more to be done to make satisfaction. It is finished. In fact, if indeed we did want to add something to Jesus’ work, not only would it be foolish and arrogant, it would also muddy up and defile so already perfect a work.

To that effect, Pink shares an excellent illustration:

Some years ago a Christian farmer was deeply concerned over an unsaved carpenter. The farmer sought to set before his neighbour the gospel of God’s grace, and to explain how that the finished work of Christ was sufficient for his soul to rest upon. But the carpenter persisted in the belief that he must do something himself. One day the farmer asked the carpenter to make for him a gate, and when the gate was ready he carried it away to his wagon. He arranged for the carpenter to call on him the next morning and see the gate as it hung in the field. At the appointed hour the carpenter arrived and was surprised to find the farmer standing by with a sharp axe in his hand. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “I am going to add a few cuts and strokes to your work,” was the response. “But there is no need for it,” replied the carpenter, “the gate is all right as it is. I did all that was necessary to it.” The farmer took no notice, but lifting his axe he slashed and hacked at the gate until it was completely spoiled. “Look what you have done!” cried the carpenter. “You have ruined my work!“ “Yes,” said the farmer, “and that is exactly what you are trying to do. You are seeking to nullify the finished work of Christ by your own miserable additions to it!” God used this forceful object lesson to show the carpenter his mistake, and he was led to cast himself by faith upon what Christ had done for sinners. Reader, will you do the same?

Do you ever think about the vanity of life? I mean the extreme brevity of it all. When I was a little kid I always used to groan at the idea of having to wait a whole year for something. A year seamed like such a long time. But as you get older, and I don’t mean to claim too much wisdom, time seems to move more quickly. Or maybe time doesn’t move more quickly, you just realize that time, in general, isn’t as long as it seems.

When you think about how short a person’s life really is, eighty, ninety years, it’s almost frighteningly short. If you’re a fundamentalist, we’ve been around eight or nine thousand years. If you’re into the science thing, it’s more like millions of years. Think about money, if you had a million dollars, you wouldn’t give so much regard to how you used five or ten dollars here or there. But if you only had eighty dollars, you’d sweat every time you had to spend a buck. But that’s our lives. Eighty years, and we’re spent.

Solomon got it; all of life is vanity. Short. Fleeting. We have little or no control over it. It was written about it Psalm 91. “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10). It’s perplexing how little normal people actually consider thoughts like these. I mean, even without any kind of spirituality, it still might be among the most glaring philosophical challenges. One day we aren’t. The next day we are. The next day we aren’t again. It’s twisted really.

Earlier this afternoon I was doing some research for a blog network I’m starting up called Under the Sun. I searched to see whether the domain name was available, but found that it wasn’t. What I found instead was a webspace occupied by Sharon Hundt. About nine years ago, Sharon lost her son Greg, at age 17, to cancer. He’d fought hard against the illness for three years before his body finally gave in during surgery to remove a tumor. Therapeutically, Sharon decided to construct a website for her family and in the remembrance of Greg. You can read through stories and thoughts and memories at underthesun.com. I’m sure that Sharon would be glad to know that in some way people were still finding ways to meet her son.

Reading Sharon’s grief, and in some ways sharing in the experience of losing her son, it has reminded me that our lives aren’t guaranteed to us. It’s a wonder that we’re born in the first place, let alone continue to live day by day. The story of Greg’s fight and death, even at a young age, has reminded me of the vanity of life. The only decisions that I can be sure of are the ones that are made right now. I cannot be sure of next year, next month, even ten minutes from now. So in light of that, I agree with the author of Hebrews in saying that a certain day has been fixed, “Today.” (Hebrews 4:7).

I was working on some other blogs this afternoon and one of the weirdest, funniest, saddest, most perplexing ads popped up from my own Google Adsense account. Take a gander:

I’m not even exactly sure where to start here. Am I supposed to be enticed? Offended? Angered?… Aroused? The fact that this ad was even presented holds some evidence of the mounting problem of sexual sin within the church. Look at her face. She’s definitely not saying, “Let’s get really kinky and wait for marriage”. Her expression and body language is clearly a sexual enticement.

“Certified Christian”? I don’t remember getting my certification. “Safe Christian Community”, seriously?

But here’s the kicker, “Christians Join for FREE”. What’s that supposed to mean? Does that mean that there are folks on that website who aren’t Christians, but they made up for it by paying the registration fees? Or does it mean that there’s only Christians but during the sign up process they make sure they get a good look at your membership card. You know, come to think of it, I’m not sure I know where my membership card is.

I make light of it, but there is not business where there isn’t market. This is a reflection of the greater condition of the church and it isn’t too pretty. Let’s pray.

Let me not forget the sober truth that sin is a murderer and let’s all remember together the sentiments of Richard Baxter:

“Use sin as it will use you; spare it not, for it will not spare you; it is your murderer, and the murderer of the whole world. Use it, therefore, as a murderer should be used; kill it before it kills you; and though it brings you to the grave, as it did your head, it shall not be able to keep you there. You love not death; love not the cause of death.”

What a chilling reminder to receive whenever we quietly court so dangerous a mistress.

One of my favorite televisions shows is Malcom in the Middle. It went off the air a few years back, but I always record the syndicated airings of it on our DVR box. One of the episodes I watched a few days ago featured the show’s three youngest brothers visiting their oldest brother at a ranch where he works. In the episode, the youngest of the crew, Dewey, is asked by kindly and naive owner’s wife not to touch some antique native American toys. Of course he does anyway and ends up breaking it. The woman is heartbroken and yells at Dewey. Of course, Dewey then feels bad and later goes to apologize to the woman, who then feels bad for yelling at him. She tells him that the best medicine for guilt is to work your body to the bone until you’re sore all over. So, the two of them go off and clean every inch of the ranch until they both feel better.

Of course, we know that the woman’s advice to Dewey is technically bad advice. Working hard is about as good a medicine for guilt as Aspirin is for cancer. But, I think there is a shaft of truth in her sentiments.

I have a small fire pit in my back yard which, a few times a week, friends like to gather a round and enjoy each other’s company. Well, as it is, firewood quickly becomes a pressing commodity. Yesterday, I happened upon a apple tree being cut down, so I collected most of the wood and hauled it off to my house. I ended up with a couple dozen huge sections of freshly cut tree that wasn’t going to season very well in its gigantic condition. So, a friend and I spent a few hours this afternoon splitting wood.

In several hours, we worked through about half of the pile and managed to keep all of our fingers and toes (usually I lose one appendage or another when swinging an axe). I have to say that it’s interesting how similar the feelings are following a strong devotion and swinging a fifteen pound axe for three hours. It sheds experiential light on the old proverb:

“From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.” (Proverbs 12:14)

I believe I will enjoy this opportunity over the next few days to hack up the rest of this wood and experience what kind of physical and spiritual rewards the work of these hands might bring.

For more information on this edition of Reading Classics Together, swing by Challies.com or pick up the book, The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross by Arthur W. Pink.

This week in Seven Sayings, Pink explored Jesus’ declaration of thirst in John 19:28:

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ “

Pink spends a considerable time talking about the display of Christ’s humanity in the statement, “I thirst” as well as a considerable amount of time discussing the fulfillment of prophecy in his statement. But I thought what was most interesting was in his bringing up the idea that Jesus is not a priest who cannot relate to our own sufferings. It was the briefest of sections in the chapter, so I decided I’d just share the whole section.

The problem of suffering has ever been a perplexing one. Why should suffering be necessary in a world that is governed by a perfect God? A God who not only has the power to prevent evil, but who is love. Why should there be pain and wretchedness, sickness and death? As we look out on the world and take cognizance of its countless sufferers, we are bewildered. This world is but a vale of tears. A thin veneer of gaiety scarcely succeeds in hiding the drab facts of life. Philosophizing about the problem of suffering brings scant relief. After all our reasonings we ask, Does God see? Is there knowledge with the Most High? Does he really care? Like all questions, these must be taken to the cross. While they do not find there a complete answer, nevertheless they do meet that which satisfies the anxious heart. While the problem of suffering is not fully solved there, yet the cross does throw sufficient light upon it to relieve the tension. The cross shows us that God is not ignorant of our sorrows, for in the person of his Son he has himself “borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4)! The cross shows us God is not unmindful of our distress and anguish, for becoming incarnate, he suffered himself! The cross tells us God is not indifferent to pain for in the Saviour he experienced it!

What then is the value of these facts? This: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted (or tried) like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). Our Redeemer is not one so removed from us that he is unable to enter, sympathetically, into our sorrows, for he was himself “the Man of Sorrows”. Here then is comfort for the aching heart. No matter how despondent you maybe, no matter how rugged your path and sad your lot, you are invited to spread it all before the Lord Jesus and cast all your care upon him, knowing that “he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Is your body wracked with pain? So was his! Are you misunderstood, misjudged, misrepresented? So was he! Have those who are nearest and dearest turned away from you? They did from him! Are you in the darkness? So was he for three hours! “Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest” (Heb. 2:17).