Jesus on the cross

If I began to sing "Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound..." you'd know how to continue and finish the phrase. Or if I began "For God so loved the..." you could finish the verse. Much in the same way, Israelites in the 1st century could do it, only WAY better. In cultures that don't have access to tons of books, and computers, cell phones, billboards and printed advertisements at every turn, the ability to retain information through oral tradition is astounding. Israelite children would all memorize the Torah..the brightest continued on to memorize scriptures all the way through to Malachi. In Matthew's and Mark's account of Jesus, while Jesus is on the cross, He begins the first line of Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

Those listening would have been able to finish out Jesus' thought without Him actually saying all the words out loud...it was a really common thing for Rabbis to do. Notice the second half of the psalm, after David talks about experiencing feelings of depression, let down, fear, and self doubt.

18They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. 19 But You, Lord, don’t be far away. My strength, come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver my life from the sword, my only life from the power of these dogs. 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will proclaim Your name to my brothers; I will praise You in the congregation. 23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him! All you descendants of Israel, revere Him! 24 For He has not despised or detested the torment of the afflicted. He did not hide His face from him but listened when he cried to Him for help.
25 I will give praise in the great congregation because of You; I will fulfill my vows before those who fear You. 26 The humble will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. All the families of the nations will bow down before You, 28 for kingship belongs to the Lord; He rules over the nations. 29 All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down; all those who go down to the dust will kneel before Him— even the one who cannot preserve his life. 30 Their descendants will serve Him; the next generation will be told about the Lord. 31 They will come and tell a people yet to be born about His righteousness— what He has done.

For me this shows the connection between Matthew and Mark hearing Jesus say "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" and John remembering the last line of Psalm 22, Jesus saying "It is finished." How do you think we can better understand Jesus' thoughts and feelings on the cross in light of this?

Caller not Calling

A friend and great Bible teacher, Michael Bennett, last night spoke about John the Baptist and how we can look at his life to help us understand our own callings. I remember reading Erwin McManus' thoughts on John, and how John had this awesome calling to prepare the way for Jesus, then ends up in jail...wondering if he was wrong all along...and then gets beheaded. Its an intense picture about how our lives, with Jesus, are no longer ours to live...as Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, we've also died and been raised INTO Him. It's not ridiculous to say that God could ask you to do something radical, like for example give up all of your possessions,or move to a foreign country....or pray for your professor.
One thing that stuck out from these thoughts about John, was the encouragement to worship the Call-er not the Call-ing. Just like we might say worship the author not the book, or the Creator and not the Creation, there are many things seeking our attention and our worship. But those other things we worship leave us hungry and thirsty for more--we've all experienced that. But the beauty is that when we come to Jesus, we won't ever thirst again and we won't ever be hungry again. Yea. God is good to us.

F.A.I.T.H.--T

F...
A...
I...
Trust
H...

Trusting is another way to say having faith. I heard it a while back, our faith is not whether or not God exists, or whether or not Jesus lived, died and was resurrected... that's just pure fact. Did you know we have more documentary evidence for the resurrection of Jesus than we do for the murder of Julius Caesar? Theres actually more written evidence that Jesus lived than there is evidence that Julius Caesar lived. So if it isn't existence that we have trust in, what is it? Its the faith and trust to believe what God says. Much of it comes down to faith and trust in Jesus' words on the cross IT IS FINISHED.
When I think of praying for forgiveness of sins, and my own right relationship with God, I used to think I was appealing to God's sense of mercy. It was, "hopefully God is still patient and won't zap me this time I messed up" time and time again. I've heard it now said, and it makes more sense now, that when we pray for our right relationship with God, we are actually appealing to God's sense of justice. An example: If I were taken to court and found guilty of a crime...lets say robbery. What if, someone walks in from the back of the court room and says "Nope, I will actually take that punishment onto myself, I'll go to prison for him instead." The judge then sends the guy to jail and he serves out the sentence. It is not the judge's mercy that sends the other man to jail and keeps me free. If the judge were to later send me to jail that would be violating justice. Next time you pray for forgiveness, realize that you are TRUSTING in God's justice. Since it is finished, and the price has been paid, the penalty has been placed on Jesus, we no longer have anything left to do but to trust and place our faith in what was done on our behalf.

Following Jesus vs. Cargo Cult

I had never hear the term prior to a few days ago, "Cargo Cult." I found out it refers to people from islands, predominately in the South Pacific, who saw military personnel arrive on the islands and then receive cargo drops from airplanes. The natives believed that by recreating and doing everything the military did, the airplanes would arrive and drop cargo to them. The natives would dress in camoflauge, organize around camps, and even built runways for airplanes to land at. These natives beleived that by recreating everything, airplanes would arrive and drop off cargo to them. They simply saw what the others had did and did the exact same things, hoping to illicit the same response. What the natives didn't realize was that although they did everything right, saluted, built runways and dressed in camo -- they didn't have a connection to the source of the cargo.
Following Jesus isn't about getting all of the actions correct. Often we think in the same ways as the "Cargo Cults." If we do X, Y and Z then God will do A, B and C. That is a view of God that limits us and limits God. The beauty of following Jesus though, is that we have the connection to the source. The 'Cargo' so to speak, doesn't arrive because we go through the right actions and motions, but instead because that's what happens when you are connected to the source.

Jesus told them "I'm the bread you want"

^{John 6:32-35} Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always!”

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.

Come to the person of Jesus, the One sent from heaven and you'll never need anything else. It's not come to church, not come to the bible, not come to small groups and missions trips...but come to the person of Jesus. ALL of those things are good, the gathering of God's people (church), the record and story of God and His people (the bible), discipleship, relationship and going to the ends of the earth to share Jesus. But at the center of it all is the fact that it is only in the person of God that we can be fulfilled. Its not something to earn, or something to attain, its a Father to know.

A way to view God

In Romans 4, Paul is explaining the implications of faith, and the implications of the family and inheritance of God. One way Paul refers to God, in verse 17, reveals something truly unique about our God. Paul refers to God as "the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were."This is huge! God calls things that are not, as though they were. In other words....in God's view things that we can't understand or see, God understands them and sees them. Its for his very reason that by Jesus death on a cross, there is a victory. Where in human eyes we see death, and defeat--God proclaims victory. This is also why Jesus is able to say "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." God flips our world upside down.
This is shown time and again throughout scripture--the way the world works is not the way God works. That's also why we can be entirely new, holy, blameless and pure, without really feeling all that different. The Bible teaches that you were crucified with Christ, and the old you has been put away. I don't really feel dead, but in God's Kingdom, He calls things that are not as though they were.
We also have to remember the power of God's speech, if God speaks something it comes into existence, just look at Genesis 1.

Healing from Imprisonment

Mike Erre last night, speaking about the nature of sexual sin and imprisonment,said that healing comes when you get sick and tired of giving in. Healing comes when you get sick and tired of hiding.

When he said that, I thought back to Adam in the garden--isn't that what we all do? We try and hide when we know we've messed up? Trust me from experience, when we finally stop hiding, when we finally say enough is enough I don't want to feel this guilt and this shame anymore....Jesus is right there to take it onto Himself. The beauty is the work has already been done, and the guilt and shame has already been paid for. God doesn't want you to have to go through that, and experience that perishing, that death--because He's already gone through it in your place. He offers the beautiful exchange program. God's gift to us is a new life--not as a result of our trying hard to stop or get it under control but as a result of what God does in us. 

F.A.I.T.H.--I

Forgiveness
Acceptance
Identity
T...
H...
I'll let God speak for Himself through scripture.
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Romans 5:1  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Hebrews 10:10 And by that will[God's will] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Ephesians 5:8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Colossians 1:21-22 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him
Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

F.A.I.T.H.-- A

Forgiveness
Acceptance
I...
T...
H...
Not only are we forgiven, we are accepted and adopted into God's family. Paul uses the imagery of Roman adoption a lot in his letters. Knowing Roman adoption practices help us to better know how God looks at us. When someone was adopted in Roman society, their past name,and all of their past debts were wiped clean. They were given a new family name. A biological child could be disowned, but an adopted child could never be disowned. This is God's grace. We have not only been shown mercy and forgiveness, but grace and acceptance. Our old debts paid for and wiped away, our old name (representing our old identity) is done away with and a new name/ new identity is provided. If you've been forgiven and accepted into God's family (which on the human side, only requires our belief in it) we are like adopted children. I heard another beautiful analogy about a newly adopted child and his new parents.
The adoptive parents found out, only a few days into housing their newly adopted son; that at dinner the child was stealing food to hide in his room. Rather than the parents getting mad at their son, they found out that in his 1st home, the child was deprived of food for days on end, and had developed the practice of stealing food from the dinner table whenever he could in order to survive. The parents weren't mad--but of course they didn't want him hiding food away in his room. As an adopted child God is not mad at you--when He sees you He sees holy, blameless and pure. As an adopted child God is not mad at us when we "hide food away in our rooms" so to speak--He corrects us and helps us, yea of course. But isn't that what any loving Father would do?

The title "Christian"

What does it mean to call someone, something, or yourself "Christian?" In this appalling article by Rush Limbaugh, he states that the Lords Resistance Army, yes the kidnapping, murdering, pillaging LRA, is "Christian." For those of you who don't know about the LRA, its the group behind the child soldiers, and murders of many innocent children in Uganda and Central/ East Africa. Invisible Children and now Kony 2012, are documentaries made to help educate the world about whats going on in parts of Africa.
So is the LRA Christian, simply because they claim to carry the title? What do you think?

F.A.I.T.H.--F

Forgiveness
A...
I...
T...
H...

Imagine you get a letter from the bank and it says you owe 10 billion dollars. I mean, I could be more realistic, say the $65,000 debt many of us LC students will have from student loans--I'll go with $65, 000. Imagine I'm not able to pay it off and over the years the debt grows and grows, and although I make some payments, it grows to 150,000 dollars.
Now, imagine my dad says to me "I'll pay off your debt, I'll pay everything you owe." The bank, accepts the payment, and my debt is forgiven--I no longer have a debt in fact.
So it is with Christ. Often we think of ourselves as still needing to pay the debt that has been paid off. We think there is something we have to do still in order to pay back the money. But it would be UNJUST of the bank to ask anything more than the 150, 000 I owed that my dad paid for. Another option then is to go to my dad and want to pay him back. But in Christ, our Father in heaven is SO loving that He pays off our debts , purely out of His love. And it costs Him, His son...it costs God His Son so that we can have it for free...that's forgiveness

What it means to be persecuted

For a moment, take a look at this article from the Huffington Post. This article isn't appearing everywhere but I'm sure many of you have seen it. If not, it might be a good opportunity to continue to raise awareness about whats going on in the world today. Many of us will never have to make the choice between being hung and following Jesus. Some of our family in the world still do.


Huffington Post Article about one man in Iran, Youcef Nadarkhani

American Center for Law and Justice's Campaign to raise International Awareness

Extremes

I love that knowing Jesus, I'm presented with 2 extremes. On the one hand I have the clear option of the world, especially as a college student and a (now former) football player. The new song from Wiz Kalifa, Bruno Mars and Snoop Dogg spells it out even, the chorus goes

So what we get drunk?
So what we smoke weed?
We’re just having fun
We don’t care who sees
So what we go out?
That’s how its supposed to be
Living young and wild and free

The option of the world is to view freedom as smoking pot, getting drunk and going out. And this same philosophy says "that's how its suppose to be, because we are young." On the other end of the spectrum is Jesus. Who says living apart from God is actually slavery, getting drunk, and smoking pot actually leads to slavery. In fact, I personally know what God is talking about when He refers to those who sin, being slaves to sin. Anyone who has ever experienced an addiction knows what I mean. It's slavery. I choose the philosophy of Jesus when it comes to freedom. Jesus says He has (already completely) set us free, and the other extreme says I can be free if I do these certain things. I choose to live a life where substances don't dictate how I feel, I don't need help letting loose or being relaxed. I choose to live a life where I swim against the stream, I walk opposite of most people around me, I choose Jesus-not as a system of morality, but as a model to live my life by. When I get to whatever is next, I won't enter in because I've figured it all out or because I've achieved anything, or done anything really well...I'll be invited in because I know the Host of the party.

Love doesn't...envy

Jesus says "Love your neighbor as yourself". The inherent prerequisite to being able to love others is loving yourself. We can all agree the bible talks about pride and narcissicm as being unhealthy, but the other side of the spectrum is just as unhealthy-- sometimes the problem is not people being too narcisstic but being so down on themselves they can't love others as themselves. If you do not love the person God made you to be, how will that transfer to loving people as you love yourself?
Discontentment breeds envy. When we are not thankful to the ways we've been blessed and we are not content with what God has given to us we begin to envy. Essentially at the heart of this issue is a doubting of God's goodness. "I wish I had...." or "If I just was..." Now to qualify, these thoughts and statements aren't always wrong. This wording isn't the problem, but sometimes this wording can reveal the heart problem. God has given us many things, He has made us all uniquely, we all have different skills, passions, desires and that is a good thing. We aren't mass produced robots. When we are discontent with how God has made us, we begin to look outwardly at others and see what God has given or done for them and we begin to ask, "why don't I have that?" "Why am I not like that?" Again, these statements aren't inherently wrong but they might reveal a bigger issue. You may not have that or may not be like that because God wants you to be different and unique and He has a purpose for that difference.
And so, love does not envy because love is fulfilled in God. Love finds its worth and value from God. Love doesn't envy because envy is difficult, its negative, it brings you down. I think Paul's words to Timothy apply to this ^{1 Tim. 6:6-7} "But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either." We've brought nothing in and we'll take nothing out- so we acknowledge the temporary nature of the things we can see and hold, and place our hope in the things unseen.

The Good News isn't a formula

^{1 Peter 1:24-25} For
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like a flower of the grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.

And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.

I heard Josh White make the comment that the gospel isn't about reciting a certain formula-- its more about sharing what God has done for you. Reading this passage in 1 Peter and realizing Peter says THIS is what was proclaimed as the gospel, its kinda odd. When I think of preaching the gospel, "All flesh is like grass" doesn't really come to mind. Often times we think preaching the gospel = the four points of evangelism. Jesus' commission for us to preach the gospel was taken by his friend Peter apparently differently than the way I normally see it. Preaching the gospel should be about proclaiming good news (in whatever form that takes) not necessarily getting through a formula.

Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.]

We've all seen or heard this prayer, either in person or on T.V. It's kind of ironic that by the time the prayer comes to, "and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us"--it seems that we've already fallen into the issues associated with rote memorized prayer. We should realize the gravity of that prayer. We are essentially saying "God, treat me how I treat other people. Just as I have forgiven other people, forgive me." If we reevaluate the "as we also have forgiven our debtors", we realize part of prayer is God opening up the door for us to partner in the answer to the prayer. When we pray "Father your will be done on earth" what if God says "Okay, bring my will to _______" Part of prayer is about partnering with God in what He's already doing on earth, because His Kingdom isn't far away, its at hand.

Fans and Followers

The Gospel accounts distinguish between the fans of Jesus and His disciples. Repeated throughout we see the construction "Then Jesus said to the crowds[or multitudes] and to His disciples."

What distinguishes a fan from a follower? I think of a weird corollary between some LA Laker fans and the fans of the German National Soccer Team. When the LA Lakers, made it to the finals, all of a sudden Laker flags were flown from cars, people bought t-shirts and jerseys and Laker fever overtook the city--but only once they got to the Championship game. I'm sure you've experienced the same with "fair-weather fans." The German National Soccer Team fans on the other hand prepare 3.5 years in advance for the World Cup. Songs are played on the radio and sung in pubs. People paint cars, get tattoos and when the game finally happens nobody is caught dead doing anything BUT watching the game. I was in Germany when they lost in the Semi-Finals last World Cup, it was as if everyone in the room had just watched their best friend or their mother die.

Fans put on the jerseys, watch most games, know the stats and the records. Followers prepare, they get ready for the season, they wait hours for the chance to meet the players or coaches. Fans put the stuff away when the season is over, they talk about how they wish the team had done this -or-that differently. Followers wear their colors proud after the season, they anxiously wait for new acquisitions and the next season.

I'm so thankful I have the opportunity and the invitation to be a follower, invited to the special team party, and given the real game worn jersey of the all-star player. Perhaps a weird analogy, but I think it fits. The great thing is we all have been invited to be followers, not just fans.

Sight to the Blind

I read once that the difficulty of Jesus' type of ministry isn't giving sight to the blind....its teaching people who can see that they might really be blind.

^{Isaiah 42:16-17} I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness to light in front of them and rough places to level ground. This is what I will do for them, and I will not forsake them. They will be turned back and utterly ashamed --those who trust in idols and say to metal-plated images "You are our gods!"[my emphasis added]

From cover to cover, the Bible is about God healing the blind.

When I read this passage I think of my own past blindness. As someone who was pretty good, didn't really do anything that bad, and believed that my own goodness, or my effort to try and make the right decisions was what God asked of His creation.
Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see.

God's Blessing

Numbers 6:22-26

The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

“‘“The LORD bless you

and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you

and give you peace.”’



Read in verse 22 and 23: God instructs Moses to tell Aaron to tell the Israelites how God is going to bless them-- God partners with His image bearers to bless His creation.

Love is...patient

Funny that the first thing Paul lists in 1 Corinthians about love is that it is patient. Thats not what I've learned from movies, TV and a lot of friends. I learned in middle school and high school that love was a feeling you got. Love justified actions. People did some crazy stuff and the explanation sometimes was "They're in love." I noticed it became a justification for crimes even, murder and abuse. A man or woman cheating on their spouse was caught in the act and was attacked in anger. The woman was cheating on her husband, she REALLY loved this other guy though. The husband loved the wife so much he couldn't bear to see her with another man, so when he did, he killed her.

I'd argue thats not love, thats a cheap imitation of what God calls love. I've never been in that situation and I pray I never will, I don't mean to make judgements and I know these situations aren't easy. I'm not pretending (nor would God I beleive) to downplay the real pain, and hurt of being cheated on and I'm also not downplaying passionate feelings one human being might have towards another. But if love is patient, where does patience fit into this example of a real situation referred to as love? The decision to make is either: love isn't patient, or that's not love. I vote #2.
Love is patient- that means love waits, it's literally "long-suffering". I don't know what it looks like for everyone, but I know I want to love patiently, as God loves me and as I know real, authentic love is where life abundant is found.

Life's Questions

We as Western Europeans want teachings and philospophies that answer the questions: "Does God exist, is there a heaven, what happens when I die, is there a meaning to life?" Notice that Jesus teachings, are structured in such a way as to raise more questions than provide answers. This fits right in with the ways Rabbis taught and talked in the first century, argument was made through questions and questioning.

^{Matthew 5:43-48} “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This passage brings up way more questions, How do I love my neighbor ? Why do I pray for people who persecute me? Why does God cause the sun to rise on the evil and the good ? Really, what will happen to me if I only love the people who love me? How in the world can I be perfect as God is perfect?
I think part of the reason Jesus taught/ talked like this is so that we could never fulfill His teachings apart from a reliance on Him. None of those questions can be answered apart from a relationship with Him and a reliance on His spirit. The new covenant is not like the old one, Jesus did more than heighten the interpretation of some laws and declare foods clean--He presently provides us with the power to live out His teachings.

2 Timothy 2:11-13

This saying is trustworthy:

For if we have died with Him,
we will also live with Him;
if we endure, we will also reign with Him;
if we deny Him, He will also deny us;
if we are faithless, He remains faithful,
for He cannot deny Himself.

Our God

^{Isaiah 41:17 -18} The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the barren heights, and springs in the middle of the plains. I will turn the desert into a pool of water and dry land into springs of water.

Notice what God promises to do. He promises to take the least likely scenarios and situations and use them to provide for the poor and the needy. He says He'll make the unthinkable, unimaginable happen. Thinking back to Genesis 1, God's creation is accomplished through His speech, as He declares something it comes into existence. God states in this Isaiah passage He will accomplish these things, the Creator God of the entire universe loves His creation and provides. Tying these 2 together, God's creation through speech in Genesis 1 and His statement of using deserts to form pools of water, think about what God says about us. We often think of ourselves as spiritually void, empty, broken and worthless,which living apart from God and without Him we are. But for those of us in Him, realize what God says about us, God speaks these things over us. And if He has spoken these things, saying "you are...", God's speech carries power.

Isn't there somebody else better?

^{Matthew 1:3} Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar

In Jesus' geneaology we see a list of characters who are not really the gold standard of living for God. What's crazy and cool is to look back at scripture and look at the stories of people who messed up time and time again and how God used these people to bring about the birth of the Messiah. For those of us who have already come to know Jesus, sometimes we find it hard to beleive that God would use us. Often times the thought is, "I'm not smart enough, good enough, christian enough, I don't know as much as I'd like to about the Bible and I don't have the answers to all the questions."

As my old buddy Andrew Foote used to say--God is in the habit of drawing straight lines with crooked sticks. I'd even go as far to tweak this saying to God is in the business of making straight sticks out of crooked sticks. Read Genesis 38, God uses human mistakes to work together something good. This story shows that just becuase something good comes out of the situation doesn't make any of it easier. There was mourning , trouble, arguing, hardship but in the end, beyond what Judah and Tamar would ever see, good came out of it because God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him. This doesn't mean it doesn't matter what we do, read Romans 6...If God used them, couldn't He use you?

Isaiah 9: God's zeal

^{Isaiah 9:7} Of the greatness of His government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

This one verse is thick with important stuff about Jesus. The overall tone, ending this section of Isaiah's prophecy about his coming Messiah, of greatness, peace, justice and righteousness is summed up in the fact that God's zeal will accomplish it. Notice it is not human zeal to make it happen, but God who is most committed and able to make His plans happen. Whats cool is that in the case of the Messiah, and I believe with God in general, we don't have to worry about not being able to accomplish something God wants to have happen-as He is eternally more committed to having His will be done than we are. That is such a relief because then we don't have to worry about the things God has called us into, we can rest in the fact that God's zeal for where He has called us to will accomplish it.

Questioning ourselves

^{Exodus 3:11} But Moses asked God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
After Moses' asks for God's name ^3:14 God replied to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.'

God commisions Moses to a specific mission. Moses' response is a questioning of himself and his own abilities. "Who am I?" Moses asks of Himself. I think it is no coincidence that as Moses questions his own identity, God's identity seems to be a response to Moses' questions. Moses' question of "Who am I?" is answered by who God is. Moses asks "Who am I?" and God soon after says "I AM." Our questions of "Am I good enough? Am I smart enough, am I well-spoken enough?" are all answered in God's goodness, God's intelligence and God's power to speak. When we question ourselves, God is there to say "you don't have to do it alone."

^{2 Tim. 1:7} "For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

This hit me like a freight train the other night...

^{1 Cor. 13: 1-3} If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understnad all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

To some up what Paul says, I think he's saying " If I [insert anything here] but do not have love, I have nothing." Paul is saying we can go through all the motions, do all the right things, act righteously, even experience manifestations of the Holy Spirit, sound smart and get great revelation from God--but without love, it's of no purpose.God showed me I had begun to start to drift away from the centrality of love. God loves you, He asks you to love Him, and love His creation. His love for you is not dependent or contingent on your love for Him but He knows that every fullfilment you seek, every hope, every dream, every relationship, every pleasure, every pain, every aspect of life was designed to be lived in love with God. Apart from that love, if we choose to reject it, we live a fake, counterfeit version of the life God designed.

Isaiah 9: Peace with God and coming Peace

^{Isaiah 9:5} For the trampling boot of battle
and the bloodied garments of war
will be burned as fuel for the fire.

This is an amazing promise about what the Messiah will accomplish in the world. On the one hand, peace will be brought, the boot of battle will be burned as fuel, because in the culmination of God's coming Kingdom, boots and the weapons/ instruments of war are not needed. Obviously at this point we don't see this fulfillment entirely, warfare and violence are still commonplace in our world, but there will come a day when all of that pain, and destruction is done away with completely.
The other half of this amazing promise says that the bloodied garments of war will be burned in the fire. This may apply as the boots of battle, referring to the impending peace that will come and how the instruments of warfare will be no longer needed. But, it could refer to the forgiveness that Jesus offers. The bloodied garments of war, the evidence of violence and destruction, are burned in the fire and completely done away with. As Jesus forgives and makes us into new creations, born-again, the old bloodied garments of our past mistakes and past problems and past decisions are done away with 100% completely forgiven. That's why there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 9: relief from oppression

²The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
a light has dawned
on those living in the land of darkness.
³ You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy.
The people have rejoiced before You
as they rejoice at harvest time
and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
⁴ For You have shattered their oppressive yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as You did on the day of Midian.
⁵ For the trampling boot of battle
and the bloodied garments of war
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

 For the Jews hearing this from Isaiah, they would have understood what it was like to be under an oppressive yoke, in fact well into the time of Jesus' ministry, some hundreds of years after these words were first spoken, Jews understood what it meant to be under oppressive yokes. In Judges, Midian was an oppressive nation that ruined crops, attacked Israel and forced them to live in mountains and caves for 7 years. Under Babylonian rule, Greek rule, and Roman rule, Jews experienced oppression from outside rulers. A prophecy that said one day they would be relieved from this yoke was gladly welcomed. In the days of Jesus taxes had to be paid to the temple but also to Rome and tax collectors made all their money from exploiting and taking extra commissions from the people they collected taxes from. There was a tax on land, tax on travel, and a tax simply on being alive called a "head tax." So when Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, most people expected the releif of their oppression to come in the form of a governmental revolt, especially because they understood all of the revolutionary vocabulary of Jesus and His followers. What most didn't understand is that Jesus' Kingdom was not of this world, but of so much more.

^{John 8:34} Jesus responded, “I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. ³⁶ Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.

Jesus presented not a relief from governmental oppression but an oppression that run deeper,a freedom from a slavery of the soul.

Righteousness

^{Matthew 5:20} Jesus said "For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

^{John 19:30} When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” Then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

^Romans5:1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We fulfill Jesus' command through faith in His ability to declare us righteous.

Honor God with your body: shout out to 503strength.com

It's a simple yet sometimes difficult question to ask yourself: "do you honor God with your body?"

^{1 Corinthians 6:19} Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

I use to think that "living a Christian life" was all about drawing lines and boundaries and it was ok to get as close to the line of sin as possible without going over and actually doing something wrong. Thats why I always use to ask the question..."well where do you draw the line?" The question always came up in reference to bodily actions, mostly drinking alcohol and sexual purity. "What's too much?" "Is it really THAT bad?" and "Define drunk."
This all turned around when it was pointed out to me that what those questions really are asking is "How close can I get to sin without actually sinning, or sinning too bad." Looking at Paul's encouragement in Corinthians and thinking about the fact that God calls us to be holy as He is holy, the question to ask instead is "How holy, pure, and honoring to God can I be?" There are 2 things to realize about this: (1) you can't make yourself holy and pure through your own personal effort and (2)  in Christ we are holy, blameless, pure, without blemish and "honor God" is not a commandment to earn favor, but a response to the fact that we already have been bought and made new.

Adding in a little extra: this extends to health and fitness, like the people here http://503strength.com/

Isaiah 9: God's Chosen People Expanded in Jesus

²The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
a light has dawned
on those living in the land of darkness.
³ You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy.
The people have rejoiced before You
as they rejoice at harvest time
and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
⁴ For You have shattered their oppressive yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as You did on the day of Midian.
⁵ For the trampling boot of battle
and the bloodied garments of war
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

 This passage, speaking about what Jesus would make happen with His birth and life, talks about how God has enlarged the nation of Israel and how God's people rejoice greatly. The nation of Israel, God's chosen people, is enlarged in Jesus to include more than was acceptable to the religious leaders of the first century. Israel, representing God's chosen people comes to include Jews and non-Jews alike, those who were accepted by society and those who were rejected, rich and poor, male and female, anyone willing to accept the gift Jesus offered.

^{Galatians 3:28} There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.

Dare to be used by God

^{Ephesians 3:20} Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

 Reading through scripture, we read time and time again how God uses less-than-likely candidates to change the world. One example of this is King David, God chooses the youngest son, a grandson of a Moabite + Israelite marriage and a shepherd in order to become the King of Israel (and a bit of a famous one.) Throughout scripture, God chooses the unlikely to do great things. Looking at Jesus' geneaology we see misfits and mess-ups who God chooses to bless and use in order to bless the entire world.

Do we dare to ask God to use us in the same ways? Would you be willing to ask God to use you in unimaginable ways? For a long time I would have said I was willing to die for my faith, I think many would. Perhaps the more difficult question is...are you willing to live for your faith? I want to live a life that echoes the words of Isaiah when he encountered God.

^{Isaiah 9:6} Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Isaiah 9: A light has dawned

For Jews living in the first century, it was common for someone to quote one sentence of scripture in order to invoke the entirety of a passage. It was a rabbi training method for the older Rabbi to say one sentence and expect the student-apprentice rabbis, the disciples, to be able to quote what was immediately before and after that sentence.So when the angel says "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11)to the shepherds,  any Jew reading or hearing the story would harken back to Isaiah 9

²The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
a light has dawned
on those living in the land of darkness.
³ You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy.
The people have rejoiced before You
as they rejoice at harvest time
and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.
⁴ For You have shattered their oppressive yoke
and the rod on their shoulders,
the staff of their oppressor,
just as You did on the day of Midian.
⁵ For the trampling boot of battle
and the bloodied garments of war
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶ For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,

and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ The dominion will be vast,
and its prosperity will never end.
He will reign on the throne of David
and over his kingdom,
to establish and sustain it
with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

Verse 2 speaks of a hope for people living in darkness. Imagine yourself living in a windowless room your whole life, where the only light came from an old light bulb situated in the middle of the room. Your entire life would be viewed with the aid of dim light, and that alone. But if one day, you were brought out of the room, outside into bright sunlight, there would be a bit of fear and a period of adjustment, but after you'd experienced the light, it would make no sense to go back to living in the darkness. Jesus came to offer this same hope and this same light.

More on names

^{Genesis 17:1} When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. ² Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
³ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

In the beginning we see God gave Adam the job of naming the animals. By giving something its name, you not only give it an identity (how you and others will know it) but you also claim a sort of stewardship over it. Think of parents naming a child, a family naming their new dog-this sense of stewardship was even greater 2000 years ago. Names in Jewish culture had great significance. It is common in scripture for God to give people new names, after interacting with them. We see this with Abram in Genesis 17, Jacob in Genesis 22 and many other times. A really interesting example of the power and meaning of names is in the book of Daniel.

^{Daniel 1:6} Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. ⁷ The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

Their original hebrew names reffered to the God of Israel, but the Babylonian king had them named to relate them to the Babylonian gods. Turning Hananiah "God who is gracious" to Shadrach "command of the moon god." Mishael "Who is like God" to Meshach "Who is what Aku [name of a god] is?" and Azariah "God has helped" to Abednego "servant of the god Nebo."

What someone calls you, and how someone refers to you is important. I believe as God renamed Abram, renamed Jacob-He has also renamed us. Notice Abraham and Jacob did not leave their interactions with God unchanged, neither should we. When we meet with God we are changed, sometimes we are even given something to mark that interaction,like Jacob's limp, or we may simply choose baptism as this sign. The beautiful thing though, is that in Christ we have new identities, and just like for these men thousands of years ago- that change has power.

The Divine Name

^{Exodus 3:13} Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

First of all, its kind of a goofy question that Moses asks. Moses foresees a situation where he claims to the nation of Israel that he is a messenger sent from God and the people's response is "What is God's name?"
What is amazing about this passage though is two-fold. On the one hand, God reveals His name to His people. Names had power to ancient Israel, and even as we know today, telling someone your name is an invitation into relationship. Giving your name to someone is an invitation for them to get to know you, to reveal a part of yourself unknown before. It is huge that the Creator God has a name, meaning He is a personal God, not an ethereal force in the universe (Acts 17).

At the same time that God revealing His name to us invites us into relationship, His name itself also reveals there is still mystery in our knowing Him. His name can be translated "I am" "I will be what I will be" even understood by some as "I am the one that exists" "I am who I am" and/or "I shall prove to be whatsoever I shall prove to be." God's name represents a truth: He is personal, yet full of mystery. We should remember that God is not like the force described in Star Wars, indifferent to the world and human beings-instead crazy in love with each of us. We should also remember God is full of mystery- we cannot figure Him out or put Him in a box- He routinely shatters our preconceived notions that would try to limit Him.

What God says about our worth

Bill Johnson points out that something's worth and value is defined by how much someone is willing to pay for it. When we look at the cross and ourselves in light of this, we see that in God's eyes, we are of great worth. We have such value to Him that He was willing to step into human existence, and die to purchase each of us. So if Jesus was willing to purchase us with His own life, how then should we view our own worth and value? It is true that none of us alone can do anything of worth (Jn. 15:5) but in God's eyes we are of great value and great worth. Is it more honoring to God to view ourselves as worthless and without value? or to trust what God says about us and trust in what God has shown us.

^{Matthew 13:45} “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had, and bought it.

Often it's been interpreted that Jesus is talking about us selling everything to buy into the priceless Kingdom of Heaven. Of course, Jesus does call us to die to ourselves in order to live in Him; but is it possible that we are the pearl that Jesus has bought? Jon Courson suggests this in his commentary on Matt. 13. Jesus' death on the cross shows us what God thinks about our worth, and what He is willing to pay for us: Himself.

The Power of Words

 ^{Proverbs 18:21} The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Words have power. I hate to admit it but the old saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" just isn't true. Sure, I understand the meaning behind the saying--that is--"don't let people bring you down by what they say about you" but words hurt. This proverb gives a vivid illustration of the power of the words we use. On the one hand we can make words hurt, manipulate people, tear them down and sow death. But on the other, we have the opportunity to use words to give life.

^{John 6:63}The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

The way Jesus spoke gives us the example of what it means to hold the power of life in our words. Words filled with love, spoken out of love, have real power and bring life. 

New Year-New Beginning

^{2 Corinthians5:17} Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Looking back on 2011 there are plenty of things to be thankful for. Think of the hot meals, running water, roof over your head and breath in your lungs--we can start there and generate a HUGE list of blessings we've received over the past year. Looking back, there are also some things that weren't so great, decisions we've made or things we've said, people hurting us, or things we'd wished we'd done. The new year brings new opportunities, a new chance to step into what Paul talked about in his letter to the Corinthians. Jesus' invitation is not a new set of rules to live by, trying to live a good life-its much bigger than that. Jesus' invitation is to do away with the old person, and to be made new, born-again into a new person that is filled with God's spirit and able to live life as it was meant to be lived-to the full.

^John10:10 I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

first chapel service of the semester this week

Love

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a sermon in 1957 commenting on what Jesus said in Matthew 5,

'But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.'... Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies. Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing.

What MLK Jr. is hitting on is the thought that Jesus was giving an un-attainable command. The thought that "love for your enemies is a nice thought, and something to strive for, but not anything that's really practical or we can achieve." On the contrary, as MLK Jr. points out, Jesus wasn't playing. Jesus charges us to live lives that aren't conformed to the world. Instead of getting back at people who hurt you, love them. Instead of only treating your friends as worthy of love, love your enemies as well. The amazing thing about this way of life is that we can trust its how life was designed to be lived. Loving our neighbors and our enemies is where life abundant is found. Another beautiful thing about this way of life is that in Christ, its not our own strength and "try-hard" attitude that will make it happen. Instead, God's Holy Spirit works through us to empower us to love. Am I willing to let God do that through me? Would you be willing to let God do that through you?