Redemption

Hosea 7:13
Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.

The NIV says "I long to redeem them"

God's desire, from the instant we needed it, has been redemption. How incredible! How wonderful! How amazing is God's love for us.

Adam and Eve - IN God's presence - walking and talking with God in the garden still chose to sin.
And we're no different. Christians and non Christians alike. We've all CHOSEN sin. We all sin without thinking about it. We all sin inadvertently. And, when convicted of that sin, we (hopefully) repent and ask for mercy. But, there are always sins we CHOOSE to commit. Knowing God. Experiencing His greatness. Feeling the presence of His Spirit. And we still make the choice to sin.




And yet.... !!!!!

God's intention has always been to redeem us.

After sin entered creation, God told the deceiver - "he (talking about Jesus) will crush your head" Gen. 3:15. God has promised the destruction of evil. God has promised that Jesus will crush Satan. On the cross Jesus became obedient to death. Through the resurrection, Jesus guaranteed Satan's defeat. Jesus has crushed and WILL crush evil.

The reason for that is because God wants, and has wanted ever since it became necessary, to redeem us. His beloved. His most precious creation. GOD, the creator. The maker of everything. THE Glorious God. has made a way for us.

He longs to redeem us. He has already made it possible. It's already done!!

That gets me excited.

God is so good.

So, that's what I've been thinking about for a couple of days.

Bye bye.

What is Jesus Saying to You?

My in-laws sent me a link to a cool article / blog posting something or other. It's about Brother Yun, a Chinese evangelist. It's definitely a nice read.

Here's an excerpt from it:

“For a long time we have proclaimed a very strange gospel in this nation,” Yun says. “The gospel is a very comfortable and pleasant thing for everyone. But the gospel is really to die for Jesus. “The core of my message is taking up your cross and following Jesus every day-walking out from the security of the church structures and buildings. Jesus never said it would be a wonderful and peaceful joy ride to follow Him in this world. He said, ‘In this world you will have suffering, but do not lose heart, for I have overcome the world.’ “The requirement for a disciple, according to the Bible, is very high. First of all, you have to die. Taking up your cross means you have to die to your own desires-to self-and walk behind Jesus. That’s a disciple.”

You can check it out by following this link

Peace out.

Oh glorious day

Hey hey. It's me. Remember me?

I have been SUCH a blog-slacker lately.

I've been thinking a lot today about a song we sang (is "sang" a real word?) at a church we visited yesterday. So, I thought I would take a minute and tell you (if there are any "you"'s left reading) about it.

I don't remember the lyrics other than the Chorus which was just repeating the words "Oh Glorious Day". The song was talking about the day when Jesus comes back, or when we die and get to meet Him face to face.

And it was just so awesome to sing to Jesus and express that anticipation and joy and hope and peace (Advent theme, anyone?). Normally, I really dig songs that are more singing praises to God than anything else, which this song wasn't necessarily - by the lyrics alone. But, at the same time, I was totally caught up in singing that Chorus.

Sometimes, when I think about / imagine what it will be like on the glorious day, I get all giddy (like a little school boy). But, I can't help it. I get happy thinking about seeing His face. MEETING my Savior. Throwing myself at his feet, full of joy. Touching him. Hugging him. I just can't wait to run to Him like a baby to his daddy!

Anyhow.... That is what has been on my mind today.

Peace out.

Nice quote

This is from "At the Master's Feet" by Sadhu Sundar Singh

Scientific men do not recognize that He who set all created things in order and made laws for them, cannot be imprisoned behind the bars of his own laws. The ways of the great Lawgiver are inscrutable, because His eternal will and purpose is the blessing and prosperity of all His creatures, and the reason the natural man cannot grasp this fact is because spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).

Well said, Sadhu

Vintage Jesus

Mark Driscoll's Vintage Jesus. It's about an hour, but it's good.

New Searchwarp piece up

I have joined (or whatever) searchwarp. I did this because I am a rambler and searchwarp is a place for people who have more to say than is polite to try fitting into a blog post.

So go there and let me know what you think.

The first piece there is a defense of MY belief in the trinity.

Peace out.

Obama rules

I did not vote for Obama. I disagree vehemintly with some of his policy. I was disappointed last night when his election victory was announced. The end.

Today there are a lot of people who, like me, did not vote for Obama who seem to be REALLY upset. According to some, our country/ economy/ way of life/ EVERYTHING is going to fall apart with Obama at the helm. People are really upset. (And, of course, those who wanted Obama to win are very happy). But those who didn't... Really, really upset.

I have to say that I don't feel the same. Don't get me wrong. I DID not want Obabma to get elected. But I don't believe that Obama's presidency is something to get SOOO upset about.

I did a quick biblegateway search for "rulers" and pasted the following three veses:


Colossians 1:16
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and .for him


Titus 3:1
[ Doing What is Good ] Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,

1 Peter 2:13
[ Submission to Rulers and Masters ] Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority


To "do whatever is good" in relation to our rulers is to pray for them. To submit ourselves to them.


Ya see, God's supremicy, God's plan to bring about HIS glory, God's kingdom does not fail. God is not shocked by our nation or who we vote into leadership.

God will be glorified through Obama, as through everyone and everything else he has made. I think there are a lot of Christians who need help getting their heads out of certain holes and realize where their citizenship is SUPPOSED to be. Our job as Christians is to pray for our leaders. Not gripe and complain because the guy you wanted didn't get it.



This is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made. That the Lord has made. I will rejoice. I will rejoice and be glad in it!!!

John Piper

I'm all fired up!!

Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.


Jesus is Lord. Jesus is not A l (lower case l) lord. Jesus is Lord.

I simply can't believe that God would have every knee bow IN HEAVEN and on earth and under the earth to anyone but GOD himself, namely Jesus the Lord

Palin for VP!

I have it so easy! I check the GDC blog just about every day. And, I'm constantly stealing Jared's stuff. Thanks Jared!

GDC blog

Go to the Gospel Driven Church blog by Jared and check out his deal on Killing your idols. It's good stuff. For real.

Tolerate This: part 2

Jesus did not preach tolerance.

Jesus did preach love. Jesus taught us how we are supposed to live our lives. Jesus fulfilled God’s law for us. He IS God. He is the Word of God made flesh.

Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God. It’s really crazy to try understanding the Trinity. God as Father, God as Son, God as Spirit. But a doctrine that’s hard to understand, or even impossible to understand this side of eternity, doesn’t change it. Doesn’t make it less true.
ANYHOW… I’m rambling now. This isn’t what I wanted to talk about.

The point is this: God did not contradict Himself or His commands as the man Jesus.

Anyone who would say that Jesus taught, or preached, tolerance has to come to grips with this. To believe that Jesus taught tolerance is to believe that God said one thing and did another. If you believe this, then you believe that God is, in essence, a liar.

What did God command in the ten commandments?
Exodus 20: 1 And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
No other gods before me. No idols. I am a jealous God. Pretty clear right. One God. No exceptions. No Buddha. No Mohammad. No Baal. No Asherah. No Zeus. NO OTHER gods!

By the way, looking at “Jesus taught tolerance” through the lens of the first commandment is only one way to show that it’s wrong. FYI.

Jesus could not have later come and taught that God would tolerate other religions, or other Gods. Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (emphasis mine). Catch that? Jesus taught exclusivity!
NO ONE comes to the Father except through me! NO ONE.

You cannot possibly believe what you’re saying if you’ve ever said these words, or anything like them: “I believe in Christ, but who am I to say what’s right for everyone else. I wouldn’t be so audacious as to tell other people what their supposed to believe.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAY WHAT’S RIGHT FOR EVERYONE ELSE. JESUS ALREADY SAID IT. Do you believe HIM or not????? If you answer yes, then you ARE saying what’s right for everyone else. It’s Jesus or it’s nothing. It’s Jesus or it’s not seeing the Father! That’s it!

Jesus Christ – THE Jesus Christ – is the judge of the whole world. Everyone will see Him face to face. Every single person will bow down before Him and every single person will say, “Jesus is Lord! Jesus is the King of Kings! Forever!”. And every single person will be told by Jesus whether or not they will experience eternal life with the Lord or not. Jesus will tell every single person to enter into life and a place prepared for them in God’s Kingdom, or to enter into the eternal death and a place prepared for NOT THEM per se, but a place God specifically made for Satan and the rebellious angels.

God’s desire is not that anyone should go to that place prepared for Satan, a place of fire, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. But God simply CANNOT tolerate anyone who CHOOSES to reject Him and CHOOSES to worship ANYTHING ELSE.

God is not a “tolerant” God, with regard to our acceptance of Him.

God is merciful. God’s faithfulness is unmeasurable. God is so incredibly gracious to forgive anyone and everyone who asks. God WANTS to forgive and glorify Himself through that mercy. Please understand that mercy and forgiveness are completely different than “tolerance”. It’s important.

Jesus did not preach tolerance.

I'm so sad

Yesterday I saw something in the morning AND something separate in the evening that made me upset. Sad upset. Well, angry upset too I guess, but more sad.

In the Oklahoman newspaper, there is a report about a "sleuth" minister who goes to churches like a secret shopper goes to businesses. He visits the church and critiques it. He writes notes and reports and whatever, and the idea is to benefit the church by giving honest outside perspective. WHAT CRAP! The entire thing is based off corporate, consumer driven, marketing tactics. This guy can tell you if your church is doing well based on whether or not people see your church as friendly. Does your nursery have smells coming from it? Is your LANDSCAPING fresh and friendly?


Then, in the evening, I came across a flyer at the Cameron University seeking "Band Members" to "lead worship". The flyer makes it clear that this church, which, by the way, "isn't your grandma's church!!!!" want's people who know how to rock and like - and I'm not kidding here - smoke and lights!
The idea here is that the church need people who can put on a good show, in order to appeal to their target market (people who want to "rock").

We are so disgustingly full of ourselves, I feel ill.

Our "churches" seem to care very little about why we're gathering. WHO our worship is for.

"Come to our church. It's so cool / friendly / clean / landscaped / loud and rockin / ______ and on and on. Oh, and by the way, God, we're fine on our own but if you want to come too, that's cool with us. Just try to fit in though, OK?"



Yuck!

Funny

Sing Like Mary Sang

Tolerate this

Jesus Christ did not preach tolerance. He did not preach toleration.

Got it?!

He preached love. This is true. He did not preach tolerance.

Perhaps there is some story out there I'm not aware of, where Jesus saw the money changers selling and buying religion at the temple, that's different from the story I know.

Did Jesus see the church-turned-into-business and say, "Hhmm... well, I may not think it's right. It DOES violate God's law. BUT, we ought to show them we love them by tolerating their behavior. We don't want to offend them. Even though I think it's wrong doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong for them."

???

Just wondering.

Maybe I ought to be a better "Christian" and tolerate the crap people say Jesus taught, even though it's NOT IN THE BIBLE!!!

Couple of quotes

Does my faith cost me anything? Do I ACTUALLY know what it means to follow Christ, insomuch that I deny myself and take up my cross?

If I answer no, should that be a cause for concern? I think it might ought to be.

Discipleship means adherence to the person of Jesus, and therefore submission to the law of Christ which is the law of the cross.

When one knows that God will have the final victory, then suffering along the way is put into a larger perspective. Sharing Christ's suffering comes as a package with sharing Christ's resurrection glory. - these are both from "Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America."

Matthew 10:38 - anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 16: 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Yep, I think so.

I want to want what I ought to want

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.


I say that it is impossible to delight in ANYTHING unless it has already been something you desired. When you delight in something, you do so because it is fulfilling a longing, or a desire from your heart. Right?! I think so.

So this verse seems to be very circular to me.

If I am desiring God, if I am desiring to know Him, if I am asking Him for more of Him, if I am asking Him for a passion for His word, if I am seeking to serve Him as my King and my God... If I am doing those things, wouldn't He want to give me what I am desiring? Yes! His word makes that very clear. He wants us to seek Him, and His righteousness Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Before desiring money, food, fame, a big church, or ANYTHING else (that’s what first means), I ought to desire HIS KINGDOM.

And, if I am truly desiring to know God more and more, then I will be delighted to get Him. This makes sense. When I get what I desire, I am delighted.

So, when God delights me through Himself, through the revelations and gifts of the Holy Spirit and by allowing me to know Him and see Him and hear Him and obeying Him through Jesus Christ, then He will, according to this particular verse, give me more of Him (the desire of my heart). Right?! Right!

OK. Bye bye

It's All About Jesus

I've been reading "Missional Church: A Vision For the Sending of the Church In North America" Ed. Darrell Guder. I'm enjoying it thus far. This is a couple of sentences I came across this morning which I thought are cool. Here you go.

The gospel is Jesus himself. The New Testament's Gospels narrate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the action of God that both reveals God's passion for the world and achieves God's purpose for that world.

In other words, it's all about Jesus. The end.

Frowney face. Smiley face.

OK. Here we go.

It’s been a while since I have written anything. How’ve you been?

So, I’ve been really struck with a couple of things lately. Two great ____ (fill in the blank: truths, elements, realities, things) related to Christianity. Or maybe, more specifically, our relationship with God through Jesus.

There’s a before and after kind of thing that I’ve been thinking about. And, they’re both very important. And, I think, they are both necessary. Neither one of them is complete in itself.

There’s the repentance and the celebration.

So easy to say with one word. So incomplete (at least for me) if left at only one word.

Repentance. Lamentation. Feeling awful about your sin. Confessing that to God. Absolutely necessary. God is holy. God is everything perfect and pure. God is without sin, blemish, or anything else we could possibly associate with “bad”. We are not. We are sinful by nature. That’s who we are. There is nothing we can do to rid ourselves of this ugly truth. When we approach God, we do so as people all together different from Him. That’s what the word “holy” means. God is different. God is other. God is unlike anything else. And that includes us. Especially us.

We HAVE to approach Him in this way. And that requires a deep sense of sorrow on our part. Our sin offends God. Our sin is terrible. We have a very real reason to feel the need to repent for our sin. We OUGHT to feel that way. We should recognize that separation from God, and feel awful (I am intentionally trying to use words that will convey magnitude and weight here). I believe that if we don’t understand this, then we can’t really approach God properly. Ever.

Leviticus 19:2 Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Romans3: 9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
…23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,


Get it? Repentance.

Now, here’s the second part…!!!

Celebration. When we come to God, as repentant sinners, and ask God for his forgiveness…. HE FORGIVES US!! Actually, technically (and it’s real screwy to try wrapping your mind around it, but…) He’s already forgiven us. He’s already made it possible for us to be forgiven. Wwwaaaahhooooo!!!! Yeeeeeaaaahhhh!!! (those are the sounds we make when we’re really excited and happy!)

God loves us (prideful, hateful, deceptive, and on and on sinners) so much that he sent Jesus to make a way for us to come to Him (holy, perfect, righteous, beautiful and on and on forever HIM). I grew up with the Sunday school understanding of that. “God ‘made a way for us’. God ‘paid the price for our forgiveness’. God ‘saved us’.”

Yeah, that’s true. But the way in which God “paid the price” is very very important.

Our redemption came at the cost of Jesus Christ’s life. His actual, physical blood and life. His body broken for us. Literally broken. His beaten, whipped, nailed, stabbed body. And not only that. But his death. His life ended on the Roman instrument used for public, humiliating execution. The cross. Jesus, the Son of God died on the cross. His heart stopped beating. His lungs stopped breathing. His life was ended BECAUSE He was “paying the price” for us.

AND, it doesn’t end there either. His death ALONE, would not have completed our salvation. But, after being dead for 3 days, He came back to life. Physically. He was dead. Body in a tomb. Then, He wasn’t. Body no longer in tomb.

THAT is how he made a way for us to approach God.

And He did it!! Luke 1: 76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins
Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

It is possible for us to come to God. And, we can approach him with boldness! Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
How crazy is that?! It’s awesome. Who are we to boldly approach God?! I’ll tell ya. We’re HIS. He forgave us. He forgives us. We can come to HIM!!


That’s the celebration. We can come to God.

Without considering both aspects of our approach, we miss something. If we dwell on the need to repent and don’t celebrate our redemption through Jesus, then we become gloomy, droopy, Eeyore-like Christians. If there’s no celebration in our Christianity, we are robbing ourselves of a joy that God fully intends for us to have. It’s a joy that is found IN Him.

And if we think that we can truly celebrate God’s wonderful gift of salvation, without a repentance, then we are wrong.
Acts 2: 38Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

With no repentance on our part, our celebration is hollow and fake. We cannot truly celebrate God’s mercy without a realization of what it is, exactly, that requires God’s mercy in the first place. Lot’s of people try it. But it’s no good.

Anyhow. That’s what’s been on my mind lately. God is so great. It is so awesome to praise Him (which He is worthy of, and deserves), and be blessed by Him through it.

I guess I ought to write more often and less (than this) each time.

OK. Bye bye.

Becoming the Archetype!

I know, I know. What is this, a blog or a post-your-favorite-video site? I will start blogging again soon.

But, for now, here's another video. This is one of my favorite bands. I am so very excited about their newest album coming soon!

Here we go.

Here's a good one I got from the GDC. He got it from Ray Ortlund. Anyhoo... enjoy.

Worship is...

A good quote

Our central lie is in the discrepancy between the language of worship and the actions of worship. We confess “Jesus is Lord” but only submit to the part of Christ’s authority that fits our grand personal designs, doesn’t cause pain, doesn’t disrupt the American dream, doesn’t draw us across ethnic and racial divisions, doesn’t add the pressure of too much guilt, doesn’t mean forgiving as we have been forgiven, doesn’t ask for more than a check to show compassion. We “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” expressing our desire to know Jesus, but the Jesus we want to know is the sanitized Jesus that looks a lot like us when we think we are at our best. Despite God’s Word to the contrary, we think we can say that we love God and yet hate our neighbor, neglect the widow, forget the orphan, fail to visit the prisoner, ignore the oppressed. Its the sign of disordered love. When we do this, our worship becomes a lie to God. -Mark Labberton

Stealing links and stuff

There is a really good link I saw on the gospel driven church blog. It's about Word-driven missions. You can check it out here.

It's, like I said, really good and has good comments too.

Can't get enough of that Bible!

So, the other day I was reading the bible and a couple of verses resonated with me. When that happens, I will usually write them (or it) on a dry erase board in our kitchen. Then, throughout the day(s), my wife and I can read those verses. So here's what is currently on the board in my kitchen:

Psalm 112:1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.

Proverbs 22:17 Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, 18 for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.

And, I'm thinking to myself when I read these things, "yeah. that's right. It's important to delight in God's commands. It's important to pay attention to the 'sayings of the wise' and apply my heart to what I'm taught." In other words, READING and STUDYING the Bible. That's important!

I've really been excitedly reading different "theology" books. And I keep getting more and more of them too. It's really been cool. But, through whatever has been going on in that regard, I have still maintained that reading the Bible is needed more than books on healing, or evangelism, or pastoring or any other kind of book. And having that drive to make the Bible a priority hasn't in any way slowed down my book reading. I'm doing both more. AND God has really been using that time alone with Him in His word to change my heart and my life. A lot.

Then, I checked out Jared Wilson's gospel driven church blog and, from there, read another blog post by Brian Jones, who is no longer blogging. The particular post that Jared had linked to was Brian Jones' belief that Christians spend Too much time reading the bible.

So after reading that, I felt compelled to post my own thoughts here.

Now, if anybody even reads THIS and, in turn reads THAT, you should know that I think Brian Jones has really just used a shocking title and idea to say something that does have some validity. The idea that ALL the Bible reading in the world doesn't do you any good IF there's absolutely nothing else in your life to compliment what you're reading. That's valid.

No love of God, no love of neighbor, no prayer, no righteousness - but tons of Bible reading... no good. yes. That makes sense. And that's basically how Jones ends this post.

The "points" he tries to make and the way he communicates them, not so valid. In my opinion anyway. There is - what do you know - no scripture to back up his idea. (Luke 1:3-4 is used in the post to show that the gospel was transcribed back in those days...)

Basically he says that Christians ought to actually share Christ. Wow! That's true!

BUT, to make light in any way of how important it is to read and know God's word... AND to actually think that there are just a ton of Americans reading the bible in the first place... I just don't think so.

Anyhow... later.

Ray from the Jason Tompkins Band

Ray from Jason Tompins Band

This is from the Jason Tompkins Band myspace page. Please read.

Donations For Raymond!!

For those of you who haven't already heard, Raymond Chambers, our ex-drummer was in a motorcycle accident about two weeks ago and sustained some serious injuries.

Raymond was the drummer for the Jason Tompkins Band from 1997-2005. During that time he was a huge part of our ministry at Ft. Sill.

We are trying to collect donations for Ray and wife, Ashley, to help take care of the medical expenses, physical therapy, and everyday living, as Ray won't be able to return to work for several weeks.

All donations are appreciated and every little bit helps. Even if it's just reposting this on your profile!

Go to the JTB site to contact and/or donate.

Thanks

I'm so stoked!!

I was able to get a few books this weekend that I am really excited about!!

1- a collection of Jonathan Edwards sermons. Hard back great shape, greater price.

2- Finding God by Larry Crabb

3 - The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

4 - Heretics by G.K. Chesterton

So, I'm pretty excited.

Now all I need to do is find a few spare years to read!

How awesome! How scary! How awesome!

Proverbs 15:11 Death and Destruction lie open before the LORD— how much more the hearts of men!

What a great verse. Death and Destruction lie open before the Lord! Death and Destruction are absolutely powerless before God. They cannot do ANYTHING whatsoever without permission. They are known by God. Completely.

How much more the hearts of men! Yikes! How I shudder at the things which I know God can see in my heart. And how glad I am, how I praise Him, how I just can't get over how great it is that He sees Jesus in my heart. God loves Jesus. God is pleased with Jesus. God sees the righteousness of Jesus in ME. Wow! Praise Him!

3-in-1 (day)

OK. So I got a little carried away today.

No posts for a long time, then 3 in one day. Oh well. That's how I roll.

I just wanted to encourage anyone whose interested to go to Jared Wilson's blog at http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/ and check out his "subverting suburbia" piece. It's a good read.

Do you know Him?

I love this.

Proverbs 14

It's been several days since my last post. So, if for no other reason than to get on and post SOMETHING, I thought I'd share a couple of things from Proverbs 14, verses 8 & 35.

8 The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
but the folly of fools is deception.
35 A king delights in a wise servant,
but a shameful servant incurs his wrath.

I often think about how "being a Christian" means SERVING Christ. We are called to be servants, just like Jesus himself said that He came to serve, not to be served (Mat. 20:28).

So, I read Proverbs 14 this morning and, what do you know - there was some instruction on gaining wisdom and being a servant.

Giving thought to my ways is helpful if I want to be wise! Wow! Who'd of thunk? Making rash decisions and not giving thought can leave me deceived. Oh how many times I am guilty of that.
And, the last verse here makes it clear that God (THE King) doesn't just want servants. He wants wise servants. And, not only that, those who are servants can still incur his wrath. Yikes!

God, let me be your servant. Whatever that means. However you would have me serve. And, let me be a wise and delightful servant.

Awesome quote from GDC

http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/

"Mission begins with a kind of explosion of joy. The news that the rejected and crucified Jesus is alive is something that cannot possibly be suppressed. It must be told. Who could be silent about such a fact?

The mission of the Church in the pages of the New Testament is like the fallout from a vast explosion, a radioactive fallout which is not lethal but life-giving."

-- Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society


Thanks for that Jared.

AAAhhhh!!! I get it.

So, I've been thinking for some reason lately about what Jesus talked about in that famous Sermon on the Mount. Especially that part where he reveals that God cares about what's in your heart. Shocking, I know. God cares about your heart... crazy to think.

Not only are you guilty of murder if you actually commit the act of murder, but you're also guilty of it if you hate someone. Not only are you guilty of adultery if you actually commit adultery, but when you look at a woman (or a man) with lust in your heart, boom... guilty. Sorry all of you "you can look as long as you don't touch" people.

- As a side note - I really am deeply saddened with how little adultery matters today. Nobody seems to give a second (if even a first) thought to this particular sin. As a matter of fact, I know of people who will practice adultery, openly having an affair [which means having sex with people other than your spouse], with no concern whatsoever, unless the fact is pointed out.

"How dare you mention that! Don't you know I'm married! Saying crap like that could get me into a lot of trouble". I hear stories like this that come from a local bar, and I just want to scream. For crying out loud! If you don't want people to talk about your affair openly PERHAPS you might consider NOT having an affair openly!!! Or, maybe you should consider what it means to be faithful to the person you swore you’d be faithful to and not have an affair at all. Just an idea.

Anyhow, it bugs me. Almost selfishly I guess. When so many people consider marriage something to do on a weekend or whatever, as long as it is cool and as long as it's something that you want, then it would follow that a lot of people would consider MY marriage irrelevant. If someone doesn't consider marriage a serious thing, then my wife is considered free game. Right?

My wife out shopping-

Random guy: "Hey there girl, you're looking good!"

My wife: "Yeah, I'm married so.... leave!"

guy: "Hey, that's alright. That doesn't bother me..."

And on and on....

Ok. now I’ll make a transition.

So, like I said before ranting and raving, I've been thinking about what Jesus said.

Matthew 5: 28 - But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Oh Crap! that's me. As seen above, it bugs the life out of me to think about how "adulterous" we as a society are today. But according to God's standards I'm just as guilty as any "random guy" aren't I? Yes. If God sees the sinful act and the sinful heart which would perform that act as being equally guilty, then, I am (and I think the point of Jesus' saying this was that we all are) guilty.

And, I know this is getting long now, but I want to share WHAT it was that got me thinking about this because I think it's cool.

I have a 3 & 1/2 year old and a 2 year old. Both boys. It has been so amazing watching them grow up. And I noticed recently, or more accurately, started thinking recently, about how they call the things they want theirs. For the most part this applies to toys. But it can extend to anything they want.

Ben (my youngest) will see a toy car. He says, "there's my car" and then picks it up to play with it. It's "his" car. And Gabe (the older) is the same way. I think most kids are like that when they're young. And this carries over to the toys that are clearly not theirs.

When visiting cousins, my boys will call the toys there "theirs". "Oh, it's my _____". whatever. And, it's not like there's a big problem. When it's time to leave the cousins house and leave the toys there, or if they have to share the toys at home with each other, they do. No problem. No UNUSUAL problem I should say. They are still kids.

At any rate, recently my brain made some sort of weird connection between that child-like behavior, and what Jesus was talking about.

A child sees something they like or want and innocently claims it. As we grow up, we learn to restrain whatever it is that makes us "claim" things that aren't necessarily ours. But, the heart doesn't change, does it? Isn't that maybe what Jesus is talking about?

When I see a pretty woman, what's my heart reaction? Do I "claim" her, or say that I want her, in my heart? When I hate someone, am I not saying that I want them dead? Am I "claiming" in my heart that I desire them to be gone?

See, I think that one of the beautiful things about children is that they give us is insight, from an innocent perspective, into how we all behave. We know that children are innocent. So, when Ben takes Gabe’s toy car and says, “it’s mine”, we to tell Ben no. We are telling Ben that his behavior is not acceptable. But we see outwardly what Ben’s desires are. He wants the car. He says it’s his.

Man sees woman at bar / on TV / walking down the sidewalk / wherever and wants her. While he may not be a child and audibly say “she’s mine”, he says inwardly that she is his. That’s what Jesus was talking about there. God knows exactly what’s going on in my heart, regardless of whether I express it outwardly.

So what!? What do I do with this? How do I deal with my anger at “every other” man alive for being adulterous, when I am just as guilty?

I’ll tell you what. I ask God to forgive me. And I rejoice and celebrate, jumping up and down while clicking my heels together! and thank Him for forgiving me. Psalm 103:12 - as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. I ask Him to continue working on my heart so that I would not be so quick to judge everyone else and overlook the fact that my heart is just as in need of God’s grace and mercy as anyone’s.

Alright. I ought to be done for now.

See you later.

I know, right?

I don't get it.

Not only don't I get it, I can't stand it.

It's just a funny quirk of mine I suppose, but for some strange reason, "I know, right" bugs me.

Example: Me - It sure is hot outside today.
You - I know, right?!

My response is usually something like this: I don't know. Do you know? Are you asking me to verify whether or not you know that it's hot outside? Or did you tell me you agree it's hot outside, and also ask me something else that I missed?

Am I a loser?

A little background to this question / story, which I'll probably do a lot of. I'm something of a rambler, as my wife would tell you.

I check out this website www.noisetrade.com just about every day. It's a nice site developed, in part, by Derek Webb. You can pay any price you want for the music on there, or "tell 3 friends" about it and get the music for free.

So, I was checking out the site to see what new music is on there (there's at least one new band / album just about every day), and I saw an EP by a group called JackoPierce. Immediately I was thrown into a nostalgic trip.

You see, JackoPierce would likely have no meaning whatsoever to me, had they not been a group that an old high school friend of mine listened to. But, I can still remember Roger's JP t-shirt. Roger turned me on to some VERY cool music, by the way. Thanks for that, should you ever read this Roger.

But, back to the nostalgic trip. I began thinking about high school. Everything about it. The friends, the good times, etc. I LOVED high school. Seriously. I really, really had a great time in high school.

I grew up in a small upstate NY town and went to school with essentially the same 80 or 90 kids in my class every year K-12. And, I was in the same First Baptist church 90-95% of every Sunday of my life, until I joined the Army and moved away. Those things combined gave me some truly awesome, life long friends. I really miss that town and those people when I think about them.

Now, I live in OK. I have an amazing life here. I have an incredibly awesome wife and a family of my own. I have made some really great friends here, and in the Army. I wouldn't trade what I have now for the world. Really, I wouldn't. So, in no way does my missing old friends and family back home belittle how much I love the people currently in my life. I'm just saying.

And that's the thing. "I'm just saying."

Sometimes I wonder if I am a. the only one (or, at least, one of a small few) who feels so fondly of "home" or b. just a weirdo loser.

Am I that guy? Am I the guy who still tells, and laughs at, old high school inside jokes when I do get together with my old friends? Yes I am.

Hopefully, this doesn't make me TOO much of a loser, if I am indeed a loser. And if, so... I guess I'll just have to live with it.

I just wonder about that sometimes. It seems like high schoolers always want to get away. I know this to be true. It was true of SO many of my class mates. It's pretty much a known thing. When you're in high school, you can't wait until graduation so you can get the _ _ _ _ _ _ out of "this place." But, I was really never like that. And you really never hear a lot about people who do want to go back home. There is that saying about how you can "never go back home", or something along those lines. That would indicate that I'm not completely alone here, but it just seems to me that more people want to get out (which would seem to be for a reason) than want to come back.

See. I'm rambling. I have no idea where to take this from here.

Oh well. Just thought I'd share.

bye bye.

Beginning

Hello to all who might be reading this.

My name is Josh Cranston. This is my first blog. I have visions of blog grandeur!

Just kidding. About the grandeur part. This really is my first, and only blog.

I have no idea what sorts of things I could possibly say that would merit creating a blog, but we'll see. The nice thing about the internet is that it gives voice (and soap boxes) to those who would otherwise not be heard from.

I have been reading Jared Wilson's blog here. http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/

I enjoy it and have thus been inspired to create my own.

I will probably be stealing some of his links and stuff because I like a lot of them and I think his site is put together nicely.

Okey doke.