Poems by Luke

Soldier unbuckles helmet, lays gun to side. His battle buddy died. “A good cause in a bad war, friend.” “I know. Still sucks.” The resources are exhausted. “Was it worth it though?” “Sure.” A sigh. A groan. This weary man has seen better days, but then again worse as well. “Don’t underestimate the value of peace of mind.”

22 and served his leave. Nothing has changed. Nothing but himself. Change is good, right? A better man in a world that got worse. “I appreciate the holiday and the discount at your stores, but I’d much rather be where I can think out loud.”

He killed a man…or an “it.” A bad guy though for sure. “I’m tired, just so very tired.” He lived by the code. He lived with honor. “I’m still tired. I will be for awhile.” “You made the institution proud. Take your pin and memories and move on. We’ll continue this conversation engraved in marble.” That’s free too. The benefits are great, sure, but he is just so tired.

Hail champions of the human race

Let’s take a look inside all these books

Who’s giving all their thoughts away?

What ideas are on the dining plate?

You write me a song and I sing –

This is the melody of my mind:

Such mysteries disguised in vocabulary

A strange tongue, so intriguing to us all

Well my mind is an open book

I wrote all my thoughts into it

It’s all there take a look inside

Can you interpret the language?

Hail champions of the human race

I like you because we think exactly the same

Or not, maybe we don’t, what’s the tell?

So now everyone’s confused like me

Ignorance is supposed to be bliss

I’m not quite there yet but getting to the point

No return from what you have learned

Hypothesis about the past is overdone

Trying to control the truth – it’s a free bird

Maybe it will perch upon your shoulder but leaves

Like the rest of us looking up, dazed

But there’s still this unsettling peace

Hail champions of the human race

You made it look like everything was together

So we read your books to feel better

And I guess we all do now somewhat

You talk to me from these pages

I can never respond back to you though

You’re probably dead some years ago

We never even got closure on my frustrations

I hope you know that I loved you

You made me so angry and I loved it

Thank you for all the inspiration

You’re not breathing, but I’m still singing:

Hail champions of the human race

Oh God, this sobriety is terrifying and I realized what I’ve done

This “Good News” you speak of and of your chosen ones

I’ve failed and pinned the benefits as the purpose of your son

So I repent of my misanthropy to see the man I have become

Give me the grace to have the faith to receive the grace in store

As I acknowledge my selfishness and how I’ve played the whore

The clichés were true all along and here’s what I’ve learned and more:

The principles you’re teaching me through trials and daily chores

“Here is a trustworthy saying,” you beckon unto me

To fight those who do not know or have the eyes to see,

Is backwards in all arguments as they simply cannot be

Taught until you teach them with the love that plants the seed

So I remember to tread lightly as all these steps are of your grace

And until the perfect comes to pass and I see you face to face

I am merely a worker who was saved to serve the human race

So God, I beg a little more favor in hopes to keep this pace

Moments like raindrops to make a stream. It’ll take time for this river to carve away a canyon.

Lover Lies, Lover Lies

Hold my hand. Kiss my neck.

Lover Lies, Lover Lies

Please tell me I’m wanted.

Lover Lies, Lover Lies

I give myself to you!

Lover Lies, Lover Lies, Lover Lies

I submit to you Lover Lies, we are going to get married.

I love you so Lover Lies, I love you so.

Whatever you ask I give you in a hurry.

Lover Lies, Lover Lies, Lover Lies.

You lied Lover Lies!

You said you’d love me forever

You lied Lover Lies, you lied!

I sit here now stained, my purity stolen. I’m broken and compromised, and all because you lied.

It’s a term that comes up a lot in certain theological discussion, yet despite never being directly mentioned in the Bible there is quite a bit of debate over free will. Now I’ve heard some people who say they believe such a thing exists and I’ve heard others insist it is un-biblical and in contradiction with the sovereignty of God. Honestly, I’ve never really put that much thought or care into the matter, but recently the matter has struck interest in me.

If there is one thing I’ve learned about logic and such it is this: The answers are always simple, however, the explanations are never.

It is from this presumption I begin my analysis. So the first question I must ask is this: What is free will? From my understanding, for something to be free it must be what it is without outside force. Simply, it is what it is because it is. If something is free, it is objectively that. Secondly, a will is a desire or want. So under that logic free will is an objective desire without a compromising influence.

Now, how to prove or disprove this: Is “free will” (as we have coined the term) evidenced in the Bible?

When I think of freedom, I automatically contrast it with the opposite - slavery. Since the Bible does not directly state anything about free will, I must base my observations on what it does - slavery.

Throughout much of New Testament the authors portray a life that is without Christ is one that is enslaved to sin. Take 2 Peter 2:17 for example when it talks about some people as, “slaves to depravity.” Galatians 3:23 continues with this theme as it portrays those without faith as “slaves to the law,” and we see in 1 Corinthians 15:56 that “the strength of sin is the law.” Thus we can conclude that until Jesus comes and sets us free and we have faith, there is no free will.

So what about after we’re saved? Have we then acquired this “free will”? We can look no further than Romans 6:18 where it states, “you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” So what is this? After Jesus saves us we dispose of one kind of bondage for another? And if I’m a slave to righteousness, than why do I still sin?

An argument against free will seems to make sense under the selected Biblical passages, but it doesn’t fit well under logic. In these situations it’s easy to pull the Isaiah 55:8 and Isaiah 29:14 cards and call it a day, but that’d be quite ignorant.

Each day I choose what clothes I wear, I choose what food I eat, and I choose what people I talk to. I am 100% responsible for those choices and and I choose to do them for whatever reasons I can come up with. Now all this sounds like “free will” to me, but according to scripture that’s not true. How do I justify these two? Perhaps, a better definition is in order…

Imagine you walk into a restaurant, and the sign at the front directs you to seat yourself. You find a table and your waitress gives you the menu. You ponder and choose your food and drink choices, and at the end of the meal you leave a tip and go home.

Notice how many decisions you made in the previous example; now notice what you didn’t choose:

You didn’t choose the layout of the restaurant. You didn’t choose your waitress. You didn’t choose what food and drinks would appear on the menu, and while you did choose how big of a tip you left, you didn’t choose that leaving a tip is a cultural norm and an expected part payment. Do you see where I’m going with this?

This world we live in, the parents we have, the passions that burn inside us; we chose none of these. What we did choose is how we react and relate to them. We didn’t choose the things that influence us (for the most part), we solely chose how we dealt with them. This is what I’m getting at:

We are dealt many options as human beings, and they’re either from the hand of God or from the hand of the devil. We don’t have a say in what these options are, but we do get a choice to pick one of them. We don’t pick the cards were dealt, but we do choose how we play them.

I think the term “free will” is misleading. I think a more appropriate term would be “influenced wills with responsibility.”

I applaud you if you’ve read through this entire post. Please leave a comment and let me now what you think. Is my logic off? Am I totally over-thinking all of this? Your feedback is appreciated, thanks!

Your history is dead.

We wait for no one cause the sun will set regardless of what you do.

Your destiny is here.

I see the stomach you have, and it’s an appetite for destruction.

Your story is lost.

For no one will listen even if the dead speak to declare.

Your god is pale.

His skin is lifeless to the touch and your offerings went in vain.

Bastards, bastards, all of you are bastards.

You’re acting just like your father.

Liars, liars, all of you are liars.

Sucking venom from the tit of the whore

Exchanging mercy for money –

Rip the heart from the pig you are

Let the blood drip all over your 401K

Stab the back of him who calls

Execution to all you thieves

Lately I have pondered the necessity and usefulness of labels, and have come to some fairly considerable conclusions. I understand the necessity they appear to hold. One may say that labels are needed to quickly pin one’s ideological, social, and religious beliefs as to better condense conversation and take a stand for something, but I have come to realize that this route of determining affiliation may be too simple and dangerous. Let me explain:

It is my opinion that labels merely separate us from one another. The whole point of a label is to make a distinction specific to someone. Take for example in politics; If a candidate labeled themselves as “Republican” or “conservative”, a whole flurry of emotions come to the person perceiving that person. For someone who is like-minded, this would conjure up a description of a person who fights for good morals, wants to lower taxes, reduce debt, and keep America a “Christian nation”. On the other hand, one who associates themselves as a “liberal” or “Democrat” would conjure up a description that portrays said candidate as a war-loving, anti-homosexual, fundamentalist who is narrow-minded and doesn’t care about poor people. For both, the definition of “Republican” or “conservative” is 100% accurate in his/her own eye, yet clearly different and polar opposite to someone looking from the outside.

This is what leads me to my next point: All language is symbolic and interpretive. A word is merely a distinctive sound made by someone or a written pattern that people perceive to have meaning. To a person in America, a greeting would be the shake of a hand, while in some European countries that same greeting would merit the exchange of kisses. Both are genuine “greetings”, yet to different cultures they are completely different things. A European greeting being used in America could come off as totally offensive to many people. With that in mind, I assume you can tell where I’m going with this.

Recently I dropped the label “straight-edge”. If you don’t know what that means it is a movement that encourages people to abstain from drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products as these are viewed to be destructive to the body. First off, I have not at all changed how I live my life. I still abstain from all of these, just without the label. Why? For the same reasons stated above. For someone in Los Angeles, a person who is “straight-edge” would be recognized as those who waits outside bars at night and beats up drunk people as they leave. In California, Edge(as it is also referred to as) is a gang movement, yet that is not at all what I represent!

The thing about labels is this: With a label comes different perceptions that vary from person to person, and with that perception comes baggage and life experiences associated with that label that may be positive, negative, or neutral. Because of this, my belief is labels are completely correct for the person labeling them, yet can be completely incorrect for the person perceiving them.

Another example: I was talking theology with some friends one day and the term “Calvinism” came up. If you’re unfamiliar with what that means, it’s fine. It is simply a popular train of thought and Biblical interpretation in the Christian community. I myself know many people who call themselves a “Calvinist”, yet are completely different from one another. The friend I was with during this conversation asked, “Calvinists? Aren’t those the people who believe mission work isn’t very important?” That question was based off her preceding knowledge and experience with the term. For some Calvinists, that term would be absolutely correct, yet for others that description would come off as offensive and heretical.

Do you see the problem here, folks? There is so much noise and personal agenda behind labels that I find them to do more destruction that good. I personally have no problem with people labeling me, however, I refuse to label myself because of the dangers. I acknowledge that this approach will make articulating what I believe much harder and drawn-out, yet for the sake of preserving an accurate identity I feel it’s worth it. Granted, this will mean explaining everything to everyone when personal beliefs are questioned, but I feel like in the end it’s a good waste of time.