Rants on Issues that MATTER!!!
(to me)Archive for December, 2008
.the suffering servant.
This Christianity thing is hard.
Isn’t it? Sometimes I think that we try to make it seem so easy. We want others to think that everything is great and wonderful; that somehow we have it all put together and have everything figured out.
Can I be honest? The truth is that we don’t have it figured out, and it is hard. This past weekend, I was at Natalie’s grandparents house (which is on the east side of Michigan) and Natalie was shopping with her sister and cousin. During this time I was burning the NT to cd. Sometime thoughout this, Natalie’s grandpa said something to me that in a sense has been haunting me. He said “I still battle with this carnal flesh every day.” Battle? The carnal flesh, still after all of these years! Here is the thing, he is 80 years old and has been a Christian since he was about 20. So if you do the math, that makes it 60 years that he has been a Christian. Sixty years he has followed Christ Jesus and still battles his carnal desires. Sometimes, in my head I think that somehow in a few years I will “get” this Christianity thing. Yeah right!! Like I am someone special and can figure it all out and will not have to battle my carnal desires.
The thing is that Christianity is not about people having to be perfect. Rather it is about jacked up people needing Jesus. It is because of his death and resurrection that it is possible to have life.
So while I am in right standing before God, I will still have battle my earthly desires. While Christians are born again, the old nature still tries to win. Most days it seems like it is winning and that all I will do is sin.
All of this to get to the point, of that this Christianity thing is a battle. So while here on earth it will be a stuggle and there will be mass amounts of suffering. Yet the odd thing is that Christians can find joy in the suffering, because when we suffer well, because of what Jesus has done in us, we give glory to Jesus and when we glorify Jesus we find true joy in Him.
.spicy christianity.
So I like to cook, in fact I like it a lot. I love taking something as plain as some sort of food and make it taste amazing.
The way that I do this is by using different spices. Not just hot spices rather many different spices, in fact we have a whole spice rack that I love. In fact I can not imagine always eating food that had no spice… it would feel like I was not living. There are some people however that do not like spice on their food. Some I think are too afraid that they will be eating good food. Other people might think that if they eat good spiced food that means that they might like it and have to have it all of the time. Yet again some people might think that having such spice in their food might be a waste. Now if you are like my relatives you would like basically salt as your spice, while it is a useful spice, it is a horrible alternative to real spice.
Now here is the thing that is sad. Their are Christians that are afraid of living the true spicy Christianity. They, like the people who do not like spicy food, are missing out of so much of life. So what is involved with this type of Christiany? Well it is living fo the glory of God, which means submitting to Jesus. Most people, including most Christians, are afraid of giving up what they want to follow Jesus. They would rather settle for some bland thing that some people call Christianity. So here is the call to spicy Christianity- hoping that some crazy people don’t settle for the bland life, rather reach and dare to live life to the fullest, however scary that is.
.Unlikely Happenings.
So in case you have not heard there have been some unlikely happenings in Godwin Heights. You should go there to find out the latest news about this.
.break this vessel.
Break me Lord Jesus
Let me follow You alone
Hold me captive so You receive the glory
May You alone be seen in my suffering
In my brokeness may You alone be glorified
.boast only in this?…
Once upon a time, I was frustrated, now I am just sad at what I have continued to see. People saying things that go against the Bible, not in an attacking way; rather in an evangelicalism (if you can even call it that anymore) way. I see people who are boasting in their works-or if you rather, thinking that any sort of moral works lead to salvation.
Following a moral way is not going to save you! It just isn’t.
I am not perfect at this by any means, yet I need to daily repent of thinking that some how my moral actions will do anything to save me.
Think about it.
If my moral ways some how can help save me. If I am not that bad and can work alongside God in any way, then why the cross? Doesn’t that view lessen the point of the cross? If I can do something to save myself then why did God come to earth, suffer here as human and die? Doesn’t that seem like a waste? Or is it saying that the death of Jesus was not quite enough? On the other hand we could be saying that we were not that bad, that sin is not that horrible.
Have we looked around us? Do we see the effects of sin?
In my area people are getting layed off all over the place. Unemployment is high. There are shootings and murders that happen in my city. Good people die in car accidents because of the slippery snow covered ground. The economy is in bad shape-banks need bailouts-our big 3 car companies need bailouts- you and I need bailouts. People I know have cancer and are battling. Marriages are falling apart. People are dying in wars, famines, by disease and many other things.
Yet some want to say that sin has not affected us that much!
Are you serious? Take a look around and if it doesn’t look that bad to you, then look outside your bubble and look at the news. Sin has affected this world and everyone in it. The Bible talks about how all humans being dead in their sin. I heard it said that if you want to see what sin looks like to God, look how disease affects people, look at the complete sorrow of a family that has a cancer patient or a family that has had a miscarriage or someone who lost a spouse in a car accident. Sin is horrible and disgusting.
How can we work alongside God in saving ourselves when we are dead? Can we? How does a dead person help in saving themselves?
So what does that leave us with?
Either complete and utter despair or hope? If there is hope where is it found?
In Jesus… I know that is such a churchy/sunday school answer. Think about it. Ponder it. Now ponder Jesus and the cross. Some might be thinking the cross is a horrible and ugly thing. How can that be hopeful?
The Cross is an ugly and disgusting thing… yet so hopeful and beautiful at the same time. Let that sit there for a minute. Sin is ugly and disgusting and all of us were dead to it. Yet Jesus who is God, came to this earth as human, yet was fully God and man. He lived a perfect life, while suffering and being tempted by sin. He then was killed upon a cross. What is the beauty of this cross? It was that sin has been defeated. Christ died in our place… for our sins! God paid the penalty for our sins.
So what is there to boasting it is to be in? The cross of Jesus Christ alone! Not in what morals we have followed or what good things we have done.
What I have done is garbage, except for that which has been done because of the cross of Christ Jesus! May I not boast in anything except for the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I hope that you also may not boast in anything other than the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. May all boasting be in him, for him and to him- for his glory alone.
.tell the truth… why I am so angry.
angry-frustrated-confused. what are these emotions about and for. Well the way that some “Christians” are going. Can you believe the things that Tony Jones is saying or Doug Pagitt? Now it doesn’t really bother me what they are saying except for that they are influencing Christians near where I live. Pelagianism is something that was considered heresy from a very point in Christianity and has continued to be. Now some peeps are believing that it is true and when they listen to some dinks about what they believe they are “see it is within orthodox Christianity.” No it is not, it never has been nor will be orthodox!
Then we got Jones spouting off crap about how homosexuality is completely okay and that we should ordain people who are living in this sin. He is still trying to say that he is within orthodoxy with all of his crazy beliefs.
Here is my solution. Stand up and say I read the Bible and I have come up with something that does not fit within orthodox Christianity, so I will call it something else.
