The Girl With The D'wagon Tattoo

We are getting to the season where the weather warms and tattoos on females are becoming more and more visible. Until I started doing driver examinations I had never dreamed that so many women had so many tattoos in so many places.

The writing on the neck or the floral design on the shoulder or the little ankle icons are easy to spot. But honey, when you lean over to get the insurance documents out of the glove compartment and I see a large landscape scene tattooed on your lower back just above the exposed Grand Canyon no longer covered by those low riding jeans, Yikes!

The fashions of today show way more than many of these gals realize (ha ha). Yes, you're 17 and already nicely developed so you wear your blouse and jeans cut low to advertise the fact and to show off that nifty rose petal and your mom or dad for goodness sakes is there with you for the test and they let you go out in public that way. Bet they never check your internet, music, TV or DVD selections either.

Fashions can change, but what's going to happen to that really unattractive blue and red and orange ink in 25 years? It will still be there under your pale white skin while just about everything else in your life will have changed. 

 

I know, I'm just an old fart and a conservative one at that. Tattoos are something I associate with male sailors who got drunk on shore leave and found themselves in their bunks the next morning with imbedded ink on their arms honoring mom or a current flame.

I actually had a guy come in for a test this year who was an ex Navy Seal. He was average size with a wirey build and wore a sleeveless shirt that showed off forearms and biceps that looked like Popeye's. In fact he had a scrunched up mouth and funny nose and if he closed one eye he would be a spitting image of Popeye. His arms and biceps were entirely covered with tattoos, and on him them actually looked, well, appropriate.

I have a son-in-law who is a minister and he has a cross tattoo on his arm from college days and he probably still loves it. Two of my nephews who are brothers (and over 18) went out and had identical cross with scripture verses tattooed on their sides Ouch! I was kinda involved in the drama with the moma before she gave her blessing and I didn't voice an objection.

Hey, maybe needing the help at my age and having a wealth of life experience behind me, I could with sound mind and body have a tattoo on the back of my hand which says; “When she leans over to get the insurance, turn your head”.

More Than Overcomers

We are in the middle of a sermon series at church that addresses the subject of taking offense.  One aspect of that regards the attitude of legalism.  This has prompted me to share something I wrote several years ago.  It is a little long but well worth it, and it begins with my all time favorite scripture verse!

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus". (Romans 8:1)

Jackie and I were part of a leadership team with several other couples for a Catholic Charismatic prayer meeting that met for a good number of years in the basement of a local Catholic church. Even though I disagreed with a lot of Catholic doctrine, I always felt freedom to teach what I believed to be truth, careful to be respectful and not openly critical of Catholic doctrine. It was easy to do because most people, including Catholics, have limited understanding of the meaning of the doctrines their churches teach. 

 

I was transparent about my relationship with God, sensitive to the move of the Holy Spirit while leading a meeting, excited about worship and proclaiming His majesty, and people responded to that. After helping in leadership for many years there came a time when a couple of people started to ask for more specific teachings on Catholicism (ideally by a priest or a nun). One time I gave what I thought was quite a good presentation about Mary, but as luck would have it the people who wanted us to be more Catholic were missing that evening. It wasn't long after that, actually after one of the best meetings we had in a long time, that I felt a loss of freedom to present things the way the Holy Spirit was leading me. Overnight I developed a strong feeling that my time at that prayer meeting was over, and soon Jackie and I left.

 

It was only a couple of months later that the Lord finally gave us a release to leave the Catholic Church as well. When we did there were several other couples that also soon left, including one of the leadership couples who were very good friends of ours. We ended up going to different churches and they went to a non-denominational Pentecostal church on the south side of town. Mike became very active in that church but gradually got sucked into their legalism, and without realizing it was being oppressed by their authoritarian pastor. 

 

Once he asked me to listen to a tape of one of his pastor's sermons that really made an impression on him. Later that day I put it in my car tape player and was horrified at what I heard. The pastor began by browbeating some of his congregation, not by name of course, and then went on with some gibberish which made little sense. But it was easy to pick up the main focus of his teaching. Stated simply, it argues that -  Christ is coming soon for a bride without blemish - before Christ comes there will be tribulation - people who do not live holy lives may falter in this tribulation and may even lose their salvation - for the bride to be um-blemished judgment will start first in the church - thus everyone must conform to the pastor's idea of holiness.

 

Even though this was a church where the gifts of the Spirit were allowed, their misguided theology on the meaning of "a bride without blemish", and the substitution of law for the leading of the Holy Spirit put on the people a burden where no one ever felt truly redeemed. And anyone who questioned the pastor on this was considered a cancer brought by the devil to destroy that local church. 

 

I felt really bad for Mike. His wife knew that they were losing the freedom in the Lord they once so richly enjoyed and she had wanted them to leave that church for a long time. I met with Mike to show him the red flags that the tape revealed but he couldn't seem to comprehend any of my points. He is the type of person who will go 110% at anything he does and so there was an appeal for what appeared to be a calling for a life totally dedicated to the Lord. But this was leaving him spiritually oppressed and confused. 

 

I interceded for Mike for over a year, asking God to lead him out of that place. Every time during the two hours it took to mow our lawn Mike was my special prayer focus. And praise God, eventually things came to a boil and he got burned enough that he realized he had to leave that church to retain his sanity. Leaving a church under those conditions can produce the same depression, grief and anguish that a death in the family does, and it took Mike well over a year to recover. We ended up having home church with his family and ours for seven years, and the Lord really blessed it.

 

I relate the above as a word of balance because it IS the desire of the Lord for all of us to grow in holiness. In the first chapter of Ephesians it says; "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him, in love".

 

God does indeed want us to be holy and blameless, and we became that way when we were born again by the rebirth of our spirit. At salvation our reborn spirit, which now is perfect as Christ is perfect, also became sealed by the Holy Spirit, to protect our spirit from corruption and separation from God. "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory". (Ephesians 1: 13-14)

 

So even though our mind and our body may struggle with being out of the will of God, our reborn spirit now belongs to Him, and is protected by Him. When we surrendered our life to the Lordship of Jesus, and our spirit united with His Spirit, from that point on our spirit belonged to Jesus. 

 

Many view salvation in the sense of a direction we are heading which may change based on our actions. Christ then only lives in us while we believe and proclaim Him as Lord. But I do not believe that a human spirit, once reborn in Christ Jesus, can become un-reborn. The world cannot make it happen, and we cannot. We are allowed to rebell in the body and the mind but we lost the ownership, the lordship, of our spirit when we surrendered it to the Lordship of Jesus. 

 

Rebellion will result in the loss of fellowship with the Lord, but we remain part of His family. We belong to Jesus, who is our Lord, our brother, and our good shepherd. And as a good shepherd Jesus will not lose any of His sheep. "Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8: 35-39)

 

This is a hard concept to grasp. We do not make ourselves holy by striving to conform our thoughts and actions to an ideal laid out in scripture, or presented by a pastor, or teacher, or even as directed by the Holy Spirit. We are holy by virtue of having a reborn spirit. Our minds and our bodies, even after we are reborn, may still struggle to understand or do what God desires for us. But holiness is not in what we do, it is in who we are in Christ Jesus. 

 

We are saved by grace; "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast". (Ephesians 2: 8-9) This grace came when we were still living carnal lives apart from God. But it caused our spirit to be reborn, making our spirit a holy temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. His presence should produce in us a desire to live in a way that is holy and pleasing to God because we were created by God to do good works and to live in them. And this will come as we allow the Spirit to transform our minds, so that our bodies also will learn to be submitted to His will.

 

Jesus is coming for a church that includes both the living and the dead, the great and the small. And all will one day stand before God's throne, hearing the four living creatures proclaim; "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come". (Revelation 4:8) That is a promise to all who know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

At The Corner Of Romence And Lovers Lane

Jackie and I lived in Kalamazoo for the first few years after we got married and we have now been back in town for a few years.  The street with most of the malls, restaurants and other enterprise in the area is Westnedge Avenue, pronounced West needgs  (as in need followed by a gs), not West - Nedge (edge preceded by an N) as heard so often on a particular TV advertisement.  The main shopping areas on Westnedge are located in the city of Portage (Port Ege, not Port Age).

The three main ways that Jackie and I might take when heading to Westnedge would be via Kilgore, Milhem (Mill em, not Mill Ham) or Romence roads.  On all three routes we cross a road called Lovers Lane.  Jackie was actually in a very bad car accident while in high school at the intersection of Lovers Lane and the aptly named Kilgore Road. 

After about the 10th time I remarked to Jackie while crossing Lovers Lane while on Romence that it would be so cool to tell people that we lived on the corner of Romence Road and Lovers Lane she remarked to me that Romence was pronounced Row Mence, not Row Mance.  I knew that, I believe I actually pronounced it the proper way, but my brain had always registered the name with the meaning "romance."  That probably makes me a romantic, if not then at least a romencnick.

Pronunciations of common words can vary quite a bit from region to region.  For example, here in West Michigan words with AR are very harsh, or hARRsh.  Our friends from Missouri pronounce park as pork while we overkill it as pARRRRk.  Hey hon, let's grab some pop (not soda or coke) and take the cAAR to the pARRK.

When we did road testing in Holland we would need to get on I96 West.  The green road sign would give the location down I96 West as Benton Harbor.  (Note: When you could first arrive at a beautiful destination such as Saugatuck/Douglas or South Haven, why, except for the minor fact that I96/US31 merged with I94 60 miles later, would anyone mention Benton Harbor?).  The people translating for our Hispanic costumers would always pronounce the city as Ben tone whore bore while I would properly give it as Ben Ton HARRR BRRR.

Anyway, back to being a romencnick, I noticed this week that the name of one of my customers was someone whose name was Romeo Love.  No middle name.  Now really, where else during the normal course of your day are you going to run into someone who calls himself Romeo Love?  Jackie was dying for me to come home and tell her more about Mr. Love. 

Turns out he was a middle aged African American man, pudgy, about 5'6" tall, with short, greased, curly black hair.  He wore lots of gold bling and had a huge diamond ear stud, although it was so big it might have been glass.  His sister brought him in an ordinary Chevy Malibu, but with a name like that I might have expected a pink Cadillac CTS.

I really didn't know how to address him when he showed up.  "Hello Romeo" felt awkward, as did "Hello Mr. Love".  I settled on Romeo.  He had just moved back to Grand Rapids after being in, where else, LA for 12 years.  Romeo told me that they never made a Californian out of him, which meant I think that his friends wanted him to "chill out" a little more.

"What type of work did you do in LA?" I asked at one point in the test.  "Work?" he responded, and it was really just like that, "Work???".  "I'm on that Social Security".  I'm guessing that Romeo can act his old self back here in Michigan because I was told later that he tried to get the phone number of one of our young secretaries when he came in to make his appointment.

Romeo did fine on his test.  I then had a series of average, boring people with average, boring names.  But I got to go home to a woman whose maiden name was Johnson, and she has made my life exciting every day since I met her.

Something

It was in 10^th grade when the Lie first hit me. I saw it coming and it took a glancing blow across my face, which made me cry. The Lie didn't immediately take root but it had a lot of company and so it just hung around, hiding in the popcorn fields of other lies that I walked through every day.

Eventually it found its way in and made itself comfortable, and as it did it began a metamorphosis, changing not only itself but other parts of me as well. I thought this was progress, growth, and it began to call out for me to walk further down paths that I still knew deep within were dark.

I wanted the light path, not having any idea where it was, and resisted. Oh, the lie still had me and told me dark was light, and I thought I was good. Taboo was a construct, a social necessity, and all would die regardless. Such is the logic of the Lie.

But Something keep me from walking too far, to go where I could not find my way back. I knew, I felt that Something was protecting me, and I cried out to the Something to understand it. And the more I cried the more frustrated I became. I wanted the light path to appear, but appear it did not.

The Lie told me that time would heal my frustration, that progress and growth were inevitable, that the dark path was not dark. And so I lived my good life throughout the day, but tried to understand the Something for hours each night.

One day, Truth strolled by. Truth looked me square in the eye and said “Follow me. I know the Something. I will show you the light path.” “But how will I understand” I pleaded. “Make the light path appear.” “Follow me” answered Truth.

Well, as you can imagine, the Lie was not happy. He called his friends and they had a conference. A plan was formulated. But the Something grabbed me firmly, with both hands upon my shirt, and it held me so tight I was in awe of it's power. I wanted to obey the Something, and this silenced the Lie.

Truth came every day and I began to understand the Something's plan. I could see it's worth, I could see it's power, but still I could not comprehend the Something. It was too big and my mind was too small. A few times I asked the Something to show me the light path, but instead of appearing, Truth would eventually stop by, just to say hello.

It had been OK with me each time I asked to see the light path and did not. I knew it was either there or not. But one afternoon, two months after I first met Truth, my heart was stirred with desire, and I asked again. And once again the light path did not appear. For the first time, utterly disappointed, I sighed, “What is wrong with me?”

Truth smiled and gave me a word. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”

Truth lead me to my knees and showed me that now was the time to confess that I was a rebel, to ask forgiveness from the Something, to accept that His Son's death paid the price for rebellion demanded by the Something. This I did, and asked as well that the Son would come into my heart not only as Savior but as Lord. “Fill me as well from the inside with Truth” I added.

Truth took my hand so we could take a first step together. Then, opening my mouth, I spoke a language that Truth now gave me. The light path appeared and the Son came into my heart, and for the first time I began to partially comprehend the Something.

What happened to the Lie? It's still around. Looks a lot darker than I remembered. When it comes my way I tell it; “Go to Hell!”

I Can Suspend Myself In Mid Air

Two nights ago I dreamed that I was playing hacky sack with someone who looked like one of those Kung Foo masters you see in films, white beard and all.  In my dream I could actually jump and hold my body motionless while waiting for the arrival of the oriental ball, then kick it to any desired location.

I was about to relate this dream to Jackie when we arose from our slumbers that next morning when she blurts out first, "I just had a crazy dream.  Was in the back seat of a car giving birth to baby girl.  At least the delivery was painless!"  Since Jackie's dream trumped mine and because I wasn't quite sure how to explain Kung Foo hacky sack to her, I responded, "Wow, it would be tough to actually be a mom again at your age".

Through the years I have had variations of the suspend yourself in mid air dreams.  It started when I was about 5 and found myself on top of what once was a giant sand dune at Tunnel Park.  I leaped and descended rapidly until at just about two feet off the ground I again jumped, slowing myself enough for a soft landing.  Immediately I awoke, finding myself laying on the floor next to my bed.  Later on I would have the same type of jumping, falling and landing safely dreams, although not waking up floor bound.

I don't know if those dreams were some type of subconscious inspiration or not but in real life I became quite a good jumper.  In high school my reach was 7'4" and from a standing start I could touch the 10'4" mark, a 36" vertical leap.  My hands were not big enough to palm a basketball but from a running jump I could dunk a volleyball.

And volleyball was about my favorite thing.  Although just playing intramural or family games and not having any of the proper bump and pass skills my daughters would later learn I could hit and block with the big boys.  And I had something that was known as "hang time", the illusion that after I jumped up for a block there was actually a pause before my body would respond to gravity and descend.

Yes, those type of abilities are only discussed in hushed tones across a sweaty locker room bench between exhausted guys who have just been vanquished.

But also in real life jumping ability doesn't last forever.  My oldest child was male and then four females, and I remarked one time to Jackie that I can't wait for the girls to have boy friends come over and we could play basketball.  "What makes you think they would want to play would you?"  she wisely responded.

Well, eventually they all got married, most to guys taller than me.  One day I go out to the driveway hoop to play a little pick up with the son-in-laws and find that my vertical is now 2" and those guys can easily snare all the rebounds.  And then hold the ball over their heads while encouraging me with "Is everything OK Dad?"

Lucky for me I can still shoot the 3.  And now and then dream of suspending myself in mid air. 

Masquerade

Masquerade

Who would have thought

the part I played

was serving wine

from a silver tray

As guests I sought

wandering or stayed

in their coupled rhyme

at the Masquerade

With intricate masks

and tailored threads

the mood was free

and charm was spread

So was my task

through laughing heads

to serve, not see

the inner dreads

But round about

the midnight hour

when mystery held

it's strongest power

I heard this shout

a stronghold's tower

was quickly felled

and spirits cowered.

And every face

came bright and clear

I saw each life

and felt each fear

And wondered of this fragile race

Of all we hold so dear

why hide with costume the inner strife

and not look in the mirror

I left that night and walking slow

I cried for each I saw

And prayed that light would let them know

He died - for all.

2nd Passover Story - The Last Supper

In the 22nd chapter of Luke is one of the three gospel accounts of the last meal that Jesus has with His disciples. It was on the first day of the Feast of Passover and Jesus was getting together with them to celebrate the traditional Jewish meal.  

 

"Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching . . . Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed, and He sent Peter and John, saying, 'Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it' . . . And when the hour had come He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God' ".

 

There were seven major Jewish feasts and three of them ran together at the beginning of the Hebrew calendar. The timing of the new year was established by God through Moses at the first Passover, and the first three feasts were agriculturally based, during the Spring harvest time. 

 

The Feast of Passover remembered God's deliverance of the Hebrew people out of Egypt and their protection from the 10th plague. The death angel would "passover" any dwelling which had the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the door post and header.  

 

The meal that the Hebrews ate the night before leaving Egypt was prepared in a hurry, so The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a symbol that they must always be ready. And because leaven represents evil the bread without leaven is also a symbol of the cleaning out of evil from one's life. 

 

The celebration concludes with the Feast of First Fruits, thanking God and offering to Him the fruits of the harvest and thus His provision for the people.

 

The context of Jesus last supper was a Passover meal. The unleavened bread the Jews used looked like a large cracker, with stripes because of the way it was cooked.  Jesus takes some of this bread, gives thanks and, "He broke it, and gave it to them, saying 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me' ".  

 

The bread that they were eating was bread from the old covenant. It was eaten once a year, just as it was only once a year when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat for the sins of the nation.  Jesus was telling His disciples that this bread was always looking forward toward Him, and from now on when they would eat it they would remember that it was His body that was broken for them and His body that was lashed with stripes for their healing (Isaiah 53:5) and it is new life in Him that is the bread that feeds their souls and protects them from evil.

 

Jesus then takes a cup which is filled with wine. He has already told His disciples earlier in John 15 that "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser", and they needed to abide in Him to be able to bear fruit. The fruit of the vine at the Passover meal represented the blood from the slain lamb that was applied to the door posts and header on the night before their ancestors left Egypt. 

 

Jesus at the beginning of the meal gives thanks for the cup and says; "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes". And then after they eat the bread He again takes the cup, saying; "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood". Here Jesus was telling His disciples that the Passover cup too was always looking forward to Him, and from now on they would remember that the blood He shed on the cross was shed for them.  He is the true Passover Lamb. 

 

Indeed, at the moment of Jesus death the curtain in the temple that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in two from top to bottom. No longer would there be need for the high priest to sprinkle blood once a year for the sins of the nation. No longer would man be separated from God because of their sin.  By the shed blood of Jesus God could give new life to the spirit of man. This was a new provision from God, a new covenant that would bring men into the kingdom of God. And that is what all the disciples of Jesus should remember when they would eat the Passover meal.

 

The early church was a Jewish church. They still observed the Jewish feasts but now they understood their prophetic fullfillment.  Jesus is the Passover Lamb, He is the Unleavened Bread, He is the First Fruits of our redemption.  He was the first to be resurrected, a promise that one day they also would be.

 

And because in Jesus there was no longer was a separation between God and man the early church would take the cup and the bread and incorporate them into their fellowship meals.  The veil was torn, the need for a formal priesthood had ceased, and all could remember what God had promised and how Jesus had accomplished it all.  

1st Passover Story - Jesus Feeds The 5000

This Easter season I want to share with you two articles I wrote several years ago about Passover.  Here is the first.

"Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Jesus therefore lifting up His eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to Him, said to Philip; 'Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?'" (John 6:4-5)

The context of Jesus feeding the 5000 in this story is that it was the beginning of the feast of Passover. A great number of people were following Jesus because He was healing the sick. They were away from home, hungry, and not able to have the traditional Passover celebration with their families. Andrew finds a boy with five barley loaves and two fish, and Jesus blesses this food and distributes it to the multitude. Everyone eats as much as they want and twelve baskets full of leftover fragments were gathered. 

In a sense Jesus, who we will see in the next article as the Passover Lamb, is having a Passover meal here with the Jewish nation.  In Jewish tradition at the feast of Passover a chair is left at the table empty for Elijah, a great prophet of the past who was prophesied one day to come again. He would either proceed, or be, the Prophet Messiah who would deliver the Jewish people from their oppressors.

The multitude does not understand Jesus as the Passover Lamb, but the sign of the multiplication of loaves and fishes does lead them to believe that He is this promised Prophet, and they want to seize Jesus and make Him king. Jesus escapes to the mountains alone and later that night walks on the water to the boat of His disciples and arrives at the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The multitude find Him there the next day and Jesus tells them; "you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you."  

The people ask Jesus to tell them what the works of God are, and He replies; "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."  Understand here that the people have seen Jesus heal the sick and feed the multitude. Their theology permits them to comprehend Jesus as a Prophet in the vein of Moses or Elijah, but not as God come in the flesh. So they inform Jesus that Moses gave the nation bread out of heaven (the manna) to eat and that this was a sign that Moses was from God.  Jesus should confirm to them that because of the sign of the multiplication of loaves He too was a Prophet that would deliver them.

Jesus answers them; "it is not Moses who has given you bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world . . . I am the bread of life; he who come to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." 

Jesus was telling the people that there was something much greater than Moses or Elijah here. Moses prayed to God in the wilderness after the people grumbled about being hungry, and God provided manna as food everyday until they entered the promised land. But now the Son of the Father God that Moses prayed to was in their midst. And He was more than a healer, provider, and political deliverer. In Him was eternal life. 

"No man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God . . . he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die . . the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh . . He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

God provided food for the people in the wilderness and yet death still came to their physical bodies. God now has provided in Jesus food that would spiritually lead them to eternal life, and physically lead to a bodily resurrection on the last day. Jesus gave up His flesh on the cross for the sins of man. By believing in Jesus we are partaking of the bread that comes down from heaven. "It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." (John 6:63)