Monday, May 17, 2010
CS Lewis
I finally finished up Mere Christianity tonight. There was so much in that book, I don't even know where to begin in this blog. In fact, I would prefer you read it yourself. In my opinion, every citizen of the world should be required to read this book in order for them to make their own judgement of who God is and what Christianity has to offer. So many get things so twisted that its almost impossible for people to understand what Jesus really did here on Earth. This book cleared up so many confusing topics in Christianity for me and helped me to understand my God. Not to sound contradictory to the Word of God, but the contents of this book are a perfect complement for the Bible. I HIGHLY recommend this to YOU!! Read it. I promise that you won't regret it. But, reading the Good Book should be our first priority.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Rescue
From the book, When God Weeps:
The face that Moses had begged to see--was forbidden to see--was slapped bloody (Exodus 33:19-20). The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around his own brow...
"On your back with you!" One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier's heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner's wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier's life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do "all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). The victim wills that the soldier live on--he grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings.
As the man swings, teh Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm--the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless--the nerves perform exquisitely. "Up you go!" They lift the cross. God is on display in his underwear and can scarcely breathe.
But these pains are a mere warm-up to his other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon his spotless being--the living excrement from our souls. The apple of his Father's eye turns brown with rot.
His Father! He must face his Father like this!
From heaven the Father now rouses himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The Son does not recognize these eyes.
"Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped--murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten--fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh, the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk--you, molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig the elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp--buying politicians, practicing exhortation, filming pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves--relishing each morsel and bragging about it all. I hate, loathe these things in you! Disgust for everything about you consumes me! Can you not feel my wrath?"
Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.
The Father watches as his heart's treasure, the mirror-image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rage against humankind from every century explodes in a single direction.
"Father! Father! Why have you forsaken me?!"
But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply.
The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished.
All your sins are covered. My sins are covered. We're free.
The face that Moses had begged to see--was forbidden to see--was slapped bloody (Exodus 33:19-20). The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around his own brow...
"On your back with you!" One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier's heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner's wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier's life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do "all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). The victim wills that the soldier live on--he grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings.
As the man swings, teh Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm--the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless--the nerves perform exquisitely. "Up you go!" They lift the cross. God is on display in his underwear and can scarcely breathe.
But these pains are a mere warm-up to his other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon his spotless being--the living excrement from our souls. The apple of his Father's eye turns brown with rot.
His Father! He must face his Father like this!
From heaven the Father now rouses himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The Son does not recognize these eyes.
"Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped--murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten--fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh, the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk--you, molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig the elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp--buying politicians, practicing exhortation, filming pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves--relishing each morsel and bragging about it all. I hate, loathe these things in you! Disgust for everything about you consumes me! Can you not feel my wrath?"
Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.
The Father watches as his heart's treasure, the mirror-image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rage against humankind from every century explodes in a single direction.
"Father! Father! Why have you forsaken me?!"
But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply.
The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished.
All your sins are covered. My sins are covered. We're free.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Sharing Joy
First of all, I wanted to look back over the past 365 days in my life. This has been a wild ride and an incredible year. I feel like I'm treating this as New Year's but summer time is around the corner and it will be the start of my final year as a kid before I head out and start paying some bills. Right now, I'm one exam shy of wrapping up my 3rd year of college. This time last year would have been the beginning of my summer vacation. At this point, I felt like I had been living life the same way over the past two years. I was just so complacent and stagnant in everything. I never looked outside the box to see the world around me. My life was more of a day-by-day routine.
My life changed a lot shortly after summer started. I made a huge decision that has affected me greatly spiritually as well as challenging me to grow up and really be a man. This was the first step of really opening my eyes to see that I needed to stop living for just myself. I needed to serve others. Life's not about pleasing myself.
Since then, I've been able to pursue my dreams even more. I've been able to write tons of music and even record some. Music is where my heart is. What's been so awesome is that I've been able to channel what I've seen into music. I've started to see more of the injustice in the world and the fact that so many people around me are missing the point. So many don't see the Love that they've been shown and they take each day for granted. I wish I could illustrate to everyone the things I've understood so that they can start to realize these things and how important it is to not put yourself first all the time.
None of this is what I wanted to say today. I wanted to put my thoughts into words regarding something that I read earlier today. I'm reading a book called Boy Meets Girl, by Joshua Harris. The book is about the 'proper' way to date when preparing for marriage. There's no way I'm ready for marriage, especially after reading this book, so I'm going to enjoy my time as a single for now until "my lady" shows up.
My life changed a lot shortly after summer started. I made a huge decision that has affected me greatly spiritually as well as challenging me to grow up and really be a man. This was the first step of really opening my eyes to see that I needed to stop living for just myself. I needed to serve others. Life's not about pleasing myself.
Since then, I've been able to pursue my dreams even more. I've been able to write tons of music and even record some. Music is where my heart is. What's been so awesome is that I've been able to channel what I've seen into music. I've started to see more of the injustice in the world and the fact that so many people around me are missing the point. So many don't see the Love that they've been shown and they take each day for granted. I wish I could illustrate to everyone the things I've understood so that they can start to realize these things and how important it is to not put yourself first all the time.
None of this is what I wanted to say today. I wanted to put my thoughts into words regarding something that I read earlier today. I'm reading a book called Boy Meets Girl, by Joshua Harris. The book is about the 'proper' way to date when preparing for marriage. There's no way I'm ready for marriage, especially after reading this book, so I'm going to enjoy my time as a single for now until "my lady" shows up.
Harris wrote something that made me realize a ton of stuff that I've never thought of before. He writes, "Doesn't a sunset that you're able to marvel at with a friend seem even more beautiful than the one you watch alone? When we share something with others, we increase our own enjoyment." I've never thought about this in this way, but it's so true because you have someone there to share the beauty with.
Although this is referring to including your family more in your joy during your courtship/engagement, I took it more generally. I was thinking about hilarious videos that I've watched on YouTube lately with some friends. (YouTube is awesome, we all know) Some of them I thought were so funny were not so funny the next time when I watched them again by myself. It was because of sharing the experience with others. When you see a really good movie, the kind that changes people's lives, you want to find out who all of your friends has watched it. Even though you watched it separately, you can share the goodness of the movie when you talk about it. This causes you to appreciate the movie even more.
More than this, it got me to thinking about when I discuss Jesus' Love and how He's been working in my life. He's done nothing but show me just how crazy He loves us (read the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I blogged about it a few months back.) It's awesome when you start to realize just what he did for each of us. Not too long ago, I was trying to define the word 'atonement' with a friend. From that conversation, I comprehend a little more of what was done for me. Sharing with each other is such a great time to be able to spend. This is one thing that we are called to do. It builds into each other. And above all, it will leave you feeling more joy than any YouTube video can put in your heart.
Love God and Love People!!
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