Blogging Block

Last night I realized that a few days had passed since I last blogged, so I sat down at the computer to write a new entry. I was completely lost. I had no idea what to say. It was weird, because I always have something to say.

So, instead of forcing words to come or just not posting anything, I thought I'd point you back to a post I wrote this summer. It was on my mind because we had worship practice last night and was again reminded of the pure joy and beauty of singing to my Savior! Oh, I do love Him. . .

Have a wonderful day, and if you have any words of wisdom to end my blogging block, please pass them on. . . =)


http://thehillforgirls.blogspot.com/2009/07/worship.html

Unstoppable

There are a lot of reasons why I believe the bible is really true. One particular reason, though, is on my mind this morning. The whole notion of Christianity is pretty crazy, right? God comes down as a man and lives, preaches, dies, and then rises from the grave and says that we should follow after him. Hmmm. . . It isn't a particularly logical faith, is it? But despite the illogical nature of Christianity's main claim there is another word that describes this faith as well: unstoppable.

There are followers of Jesus on every continent all over the world. In some places that fact alone is still a reasonable cause for persecution and death. In countries where Christianity is against the law, the church seems to be growing all the faster. Millions of people meet together each week in underground churches to silently worship the Savior that died to redeem them. Just last night some of my girls and I were singing in my basement. . . Oh, it makes me so sad to think that there are young people out there who can't sing out loud to Jesus.

Gamaliel, a Pharisee during the time after Jesus' death and resurrection, had interesting words to share at a hearing condemning the apostles for preaching about Jesus.

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God. Acts 5:38-39

Interesting that a man who did not believe in Jesus would so accurately explain the nature of the situation, isn't it? And does it strike you as amazing that those words were written almost 2,000 years ago? Christianity has not yet failed. It has grown, and multiplied, and miraculously moved through out this world.

People are dying for Jesus just as readily as the apostles did in the beginning. I am so encouraged and inspired when I think about the faith of the millions who have gone before me, and I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the church of Jesus will continue to grow and enlarge until the day He comes back to take us home.

I will leave you with another quote taken from my bible study in Mark. We are nearing the end of the book, and Barabbas has just been released and Jesus sentenced to death. It is unjust and unreal to think of a radical murderer being released, and Jesus, a preacher man making crazy claims, dying in his place. . . but then again, nothing about God's work in Christ is logical, is it?

Barabas was a guy burning the system down, he is killing people. . . But if you let Barabbas go, you can always stop him. The most Barabbas will do is go out, round up another bunch of guerrillas and start another riot. You can always stop him by bringing out the national guard and putting down his riot. Find out where he is keeping his ammunition. Raid his apartment without a search warrant and shoot him while he is still asleep. You can stop Barrabas.

But how do you stop Jesus? They nailed him to a cross. . . Then they buried him, rolled a stone over his grave, wiped their hands and said, "There is one radical who will never disturb us again. . . " Three days later Jesus Christ pulled off one of the greatest political coups of all time: He got up out of the grave. .. the leader of a new creation - who has overthrown the existing order and established a new order that is not built on man." (Tom Skinner, "The U.S. Racial Crisis and World Evangelism" in Christ the Liberator, p. 208)

Jesus is unstoppable. People may reject him as God and refuse him as Savior, but that does not change the reality of who He is and what He came to do. There are millions whose lives testify to these truths. Oh, how deeply I long for my life to be one of them!!

The Cross

I'm getting to the end of the book of Mark now. . . Having spent the last several weeks learning about Jesus' life and ministry, it is especially meaningful to read about His death. I am so deeply moved and encouraged when I think about the fact that he willingly walked the way of the cross. He chose to obey His father and fulfill the scriptures.

Sometimes I think we loose sight of the enormous sacrifice that Jesus made. We minimize it in so many ways. . . It hit me again today as I was reading in Mark 14. . .

They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Why would Jesus be so crushed with grief? Why would he beg his father to change the plan? Because the pain and agony He was about to face was excruciating. Maybe we tend to minimize the cross because Jesus was God. . . So we subconsciously think that it wasn't really that bad. That somehow He didn't really feel the pain because, after all, He was God. But I think we have it backwards. I think Jesus felt all of the physical pain one could possibly bear in His body because He was fully human - and He felt all of the grief and anguish He could possibly bear in His soul because He was fully God, carrying the sin of the world.

Whatever the reasons are that we minimize the cross, this passage is an in-your-face reminder that the burden Jesus carried was bigger than anything any one of us has ever experienced. . . He willingly walked to the cross not because His "God-ness" eased the physical pain and agony of the cross, but because His love for us propelled Him forward and led him to endure the pain and agony of the cross.

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. Hebrews 12:2-3

You are the joy that propelled him forward. You are the reason that He endured. You are the soul that He died to save. . . Do not become weary, and don't ever give up. The Creator and Sustainer of the universe is on your side. And there is no length to which He will not go to draw you into His arms of love.

Mighty is the power of the cross.

Food for my Soul. . .

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

and on that note. . .

have a good day friends.

the Lamb

I am still reading through the book of Mark. This morning I was so moved and encouraged by both the biblical account and the thoughts that my bible study author shared that I want to pass them along to you. I was reading Mark 14:12-26, where Jesus is celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples (you can find the original instructions for the Passover meal in Exodus 12). But very quickly it becomes obvious that this is not the Passover meal of old. If you have a moment, grab your bible and read through both Mark 14:12-26 and Exodus 12:1-20.

Here are Tim's thoughts and reflections:

The first Passover meal was held on the night before a great deliverance - a deliverance from physical slavery. The Lord's Supper was held on the night before an even greater deliverance - salvation from sin and death itself!

This is a tremendous claim. Jesus shows a tremendous "audacity" in changing and revising a Passover meal that Moses said was to be done as a perpetual ordinance. He is saying something like this: "My death is the central and climactic event toward which the whole story of the people of God and the history of salvation has been moving. Every other deliverance by every other leader, every other sacrifice by every other prophet, priest, king, and hero - have all been pointing to this night. This is the climax of all history. I am about to deal with evil and sin and death once and for all."

What a powerful explanation of the truth of Jesus' death and resurrection! He is the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophesy and practice. He is my Passover Lamb, whose blood assures my safe passage into an eternity with my Maker.

Tim ends the study by saying:

If you stopped Israelites in those days and said, "who are you and what is happening here?" They would say: "I was a slave, under a sentence of death, but I took shelter under the blood of the lamb and escaped that bondage, and now God lives in our midst and we are following him into the promised land."

That is exactly what a Christian says today.

So, if you stopped me this very morning and asked, "Who are you, Erin, and what is happening here?" I would say this:

I was a slave, under a sentence of death, but I took shelter under the blood of the lamb and escaped that bondage, and now God lives in our midst and we are following him into the promised land.

My God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. . . and He will finish the work that He began in me, and in this world. Thank you for cross, Lord, and for the perfect spotless Lamb who paid our price and suffered our punishment. . . You are awesome.

Committed: Part 2

Tuesday is cleaning day at my house. . . as I've been marching around with my Windex and broom I've been contemplating this morning's post. I want to clarify one important point (if you haven't read that post yet you should probably read it first. . . ).

There are moral guidelines that should impact the life of every single believer. There are rules that we should follow. It isn't that we get to live these willy-nilly, "whatever you prefer" kind of lifestyles, but that our love for God spurs us on to obey Him when and where He calls for obedience. The mistake we often make is applying God's laws above and beyond the point that He requires, therefore creating a tiered version of Christianity in which only those who follow all of the 'extra' requirements are truly mature and spiritual.

So, while it is vitally important to extend grace toward each other as we each strive to walk with Jesus as closely as we can, it is also important to recognize the truth of His word and hold each other accountable to His good, holy, and righteous standard.

If you love me, you will obey what I command. John 14:15

(now that I am rereading this I am quite certain I have already written pretty much this exact same thing before. . . hmmm)

Committed

What does it look like to be committed to the Christian life? I remember a mentor once saying that she thought all Christian women had to wear denim jumpers and big bows in their hair. There is nothing wrong with a tasteful denim jumper - but if you met this friend of mine you would know that it would be a painful death to her sensitivities. . . Maybe you have had similar thoughts - not specifically about jumpers - but about the conformity of the Christian life.

And this is where the Christian church has done an incredible disservice to the world around us. We have encouraged this conformity complex in our communities. First of all, we do conform to each other, and then, we actually make rules over and above what the bible asks of us that force us to conform even more. I don't think this is a good idea. When we get specific in areas that God was not specific, we risk missing the point and making Christianity something it is not.

Jesus addresses a similar issue with the Pharisees. They had placed a huge emphasis on hand-washing rituals (among other things) and were confronting Jesus as to why His disciples were not following their rules. His response to their rule-making ways is this:

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. Mark 7:8

We must be very careful not to turn the Christian life into a list of rules and traditions that God Himself never asked of us. The truth is that the expectations for the Christian life are very high, and the cost for truly following Jesus is great. But it isn't as black and white as some believers want to make it with their legalistic rule-making.

Yes, as we seek to be like Jesus we will start to look a bit the same. For one, we will all start displaying the fruits of the Spirit. We will be loving, forgiving, patient, kind, generous, and on and on. We will also all live for the same purpose - to draw the world around us into a love relationship with Jesus Himself. We will be on a mission that could cost us our life - or at least our reputation and popularity.

So in some senses, we will conform. But in other ways we will be beautifully, marvelously different! When we follow Jesus we don't lose the personality traits that God gave us from birth. I long to be a part of a Christian community that is diverse, creative, and sometimes even slightly offensive. That might sound weird to you - but if we were a group of believers who were reaching our communities for Jesus then we would continually have nonbelievers and new believers in our midst. . . and though our hearts are forever changed the very moment we come to accept Christ as our Savior, the life transformation is a process that usually takes time. So in my mind, a truly living, powerful group of Christians will always include people who don't really look or act like "proper" Christians.

So can we please let go of the rules that bind us together on false terms? Can we stop obsessing about superficial things and get to the heart of the matter? The heart, after all, is what Jesus cares most about. If we are going to be a group of people who bring healing, love, and hope to a desperate world around us we need to be sure that we're getting the message right - and not weighing it down with unnecessary obligations.

I don't have to wear denim jumpers or bows in order to be a fully committed Christian. I just have to surrender the whole of my life to Jesus.

Simple, or not.

One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Mark 12:28-31