Our secular age doesn’t make much room for a world filled with blessings. Our age is one that wants to reduce everything down to cold sterile mechanisms, where everything is predictable, provable, and explainable. We are given the choice to live in a world of blessings or curses. What kind of world do you want to live in? God who blesses all humanity has made a way for us to live in a world full of blessings because Jesus rescued us from the curse. If we want to live in a world full of blessings then we have to do our part and impart blessings to others including those who curse us. When we bless those who curse us, we neutralize cursing. When we curse those who curse us, we normalize cursing. Choose to bless.

I have climbed highest mountainsI have run through the fieldsOnly to be with youOnly to be with youI have runI have crawledI have scaled these city wallsThese city wallsOnly to be with youBut I still haven't found what I'm looking forBut I still haven't found what I'm looking forI have kissed honey lipsFelt the healing in her fingertipsIt burned like fireThis burning desireI have spoke with the tongue of angelsI have held the hand of a devilIt was warm in the nightI was cold as a stoneBut I still haven't found what I'm looking forBut I still haven't found what I'm looking forI believe in the kingdom comeThen all the colors will bleed into oneBleed into oneBut yes I'm still runningYou broke the bondsAnd you loosed the chainsCarried the crossOf my shameOh my shameYou know I believe itBut I still haven't found what I'm looking forBut I still haven't found what I'm looking forBut I still haven't found what I'm looking forBut I still haven't found what I'm looking for

Think about it, there must be higher loveDown in the heart or hidden in the stars aboveWithout it, life is wasted timeLook inside your heart, I'll look inside mineThings look so bad everywhereIn this whole world, what is fair?We walk blind and we try to seeFalling behind in what could beBring me a higher loveBring me a higher loveBring me a higher loveWhere's that higher love I keep thinking of?Worlds are turning and we're just hanging onFacing our fear and standing out there aloneA yearning, and it's real to meThere must be someone who's feeling for meThings look so bad everywhereIn this whole world, what is fair?We walk blind and we try to seeFalling behind in what could beBring me a higher loveBring me a higher love Bring me a higher loveWhere's that higher love I keep thinking of?Bring me a higher loveBring me a higher love Bring be a higher loveI could rise above on a higher loveI will wait for itI'm not too late for itUntil then, I'll sing my songTo cheer the night along (bring it)I could light the night up with my soul on fireI could make the sun shine from pure desireLet me feel that love come over meLet me feel how strong it could beBring me a higher loveBring me a higher loveBring me a higher loveWhere's that higher love I keep thinking of?

Welcome to your lifeThere's no turning backEven while we sleepWe will find youActing on your best behaviorTurn your back on mother natureEverybody wants to rule the worldIt's my own designIt's my own remorseHelp me to decideHelp me make theMost of freedom and of pleasureNothing ever lasts foreverEverybody wants to rule the worldThere's a room where the light won't find youHolding hands while the walls come tumbling downWhen they do, I'll be right behind youSo glad we've almost made itSo sad they had to fade itEverybody wants to rule the worldI can't stand this indecisionMarried with a lack of visionEverybody wants to rule the worldSay that you'll never, never, never, never need itOne headline, why believe it?Everybody wants to rule the worldAll for freedom and for pleasureNothing ever lasts foreverEverybody wants to rule the world

The sixth century BC was a very difficult time for the Jewish people. Their holy city and their holy temple had been destroyed, and most of the survivors had been deported into forced exile in Babylon. The difficult challenge they faced was how to survive as exiles in Babylon and maintain their monotheistic faithfulness to Yahweh. How do you integrate into Babylonian society so that you can have a life but at the same time retain your Jewish identity? How do you live in a pagan world without becoming a pagan yourself? This is what the book of Daniel is about.

The Crucifixion is not a defeat to be overturned by Resurrection; the Crucifixion is a victory revealed by Resurrection. The cross was made by Christ to become the portal by which he invaded death to liberate the dead ones.

In Cain the world was organized around an axis of power enforced by violence. Violent power became the organizing principle for human civilization. This is the story of Cain of Abel, the story of Romulus and Remus, the story Sméagol and Déagol. These archetypal stories remind us of dark truths we would rather keep hidden. But Jesus came into the world to shine the light, tell the truth, and re-found the world. In Christ crucified the world is re-founded around an axis of love expressed in forgiveness.

On Good Friday the sin of the world coalesced into a hideous singularity that upon the cross it might be forgiven en masse.

John's poetic prologue to his Gospel is one of the loftiest presentations of Christology in all the New Testament—it's also one of them of the most beautiful passages of Scripture. John's theopoetics reaches its crescendo when proclaims that until we see Jesus, we've never seen God.

When Jesus was dedicated in the Temple, two old prophets -- Simeon and Anna -- spoke of the infant Jesus as Salvation and Redemption. Indeed, Jesus will save both Simeon and Anna, but neither of them knows how.