Matthew 13:44 - "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."
What incredible peace and joy lies in the heart of the person who has found the greatest treasure this stage of life has to offer - Jesus Christ.
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Joy Comes From Faith in Jesus
So often I praise God with , “Thank you that you are in charge Father.”
This faith that I have in Jesus is based on almost three decades of friendship with Him. I trust Jesus for the same reason I trust my wife. Experience.
As the apostle Paul once said, “I know the One in whom I believe.”
This allows me to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
This faith that I have in Jesus is based on almost three decades of friendship with Him. I trust Jesus for the same reason I trust my wife. Experience.
As the apostle Paul once said, “I know the One in whom I believe.”
This allows me to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Pharisee in Me
This is the second last post on a series about Christians and sin.
The first post in this series was:
My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third: I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
The fourth: The Big Lie
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/big-lie.html
The fifth: Let’s be Honest
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/lets-be-honest.html
There are two churches in our little town. Both evangelical, Bible based, socially concerned congregations. These congregations are as good as congregations get.
Still like most congregations, the one we attend carries within it the idea that sin, the reality of sin, the entity of sin is a problem that is dealt with at the front end of salvation. Sinners need to be saved but once they are saved we just get on with the business of living, of “making” a living. The people of course would vehemently deny this. My interaction with them as a counsellor however, shines a bright light on the desire common to all, which is our desire to hide the real self, to avoid transparency.
Believing (wishing?) that sin is dealt with at the front end of salvation causes us to hide our true selves from others and from ourselves. Believing this lie brings to a congregation a lack of transparency that is deadly for any Church body.
It’s as deadly as pretending that radical Islam isn’t at war with us.
It’s as deadly as pretending that satan isn’t out to destroy us.
Pretending that we can defeat this enemy on our own is building into our Christian life a "failure by design" scenario.
Whenever not sinning becomes the goal over and above living in a state of forgiveness for our sins, look out!
“Who among you is without sin?” was the withering blast from Jesus.
“You brood of vipers,” was hurled by John toward those who wanted to look “good” (Pharisees / us) to the outside world while ignoring the filth within.
“If we claim to be without sin, we lie to ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
The question being asked by Ginx, and one that is relevant to the point of this series of posts is, “If we aren’t becoming better people, what does Christ and Christianity have to offer people of the world?”
Um, how about salvation, forgiveness, mercy and grace?
These things are not found anywhere - except at the foot of the cross. That is why the early Church was so attractive. When we love one another, people look to Jesus because the world does not possess love - Nor mercy, nor grace and especially not forgiveness - Not the kind the Jesus offers.
When pretending to be good is more important than maintaining our salvation, when pretending to not sin is more important than honestly dealing with our sin, we are working against and not for our Saviour. The judging, the hiding, the hypocrisy of it all makes non Christians gag.
Following Jesus is an intensely personal walk. We are saved the same today as we were the first day that we brought our sin filled lives to the alter. We need God’s grace on a daily basis. We need His forgiveness on a daily basis. Who would turn down an opportunity to receive God’s grace except one who doesn’t want to be vulnerable to that grace?
And that, Ginx, is about as much as I want to say, for now. For you to judge Christians for buying expensive suits is understandable - I guess. On the other hand, you and I and everyone else are susceptible to self-deception. We are all prone to justifying our actions.
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.”
Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “I was the worst.”
Our state in sin is present tense and will remain so until the day of Jesus’ return.
There never has been and never will be a Christian whose life doesn’t possess thoughts and actions contrary to the will of God. One of the things that is able to keep us on track is the knowledge that when any conversation turns to talk of sinners, the conversation is about “me.”
The most amazing thing, and this is something that Ginx and all others need to know, is not that I and other Christians will continue to sin until the day that we die, but that in spite of our sin God not only ALLOWS us to have a relationship with Him, He longs to have a relationship with us. He died to make that relationship possible.
He did that for you!
The first post in this series was:
My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third: I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
The fourth: The Big Lie
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/big-lie.html
The fifth: Let’s be Honest
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/lets-be-honest.html
There are two churches in our little town. Both evangelical, Bible based, socially concerned congregations. These congregations are as good as congregations get.
Still like most congregations, the one we attend carries within it the idea that sin, the reality of sin, the entity of sin is a problem that is dealt with at the front end of salvation. Sinners need to be saved but once they are saved we just get on with the business of living, of “making” a living. The people of course would vehemently deny this. My interaction with them as a counsellor however, shines a bright light on the desire common to all, which is our desire to hide the real self, to avoid transparency.
Believing (wishing?) that sin is dealt with at the front end of salvation causes us to hide our true selves from others and from ourselves. Believing this lie brings to a congregation a lack of transparency that is deadly for any Church body.
It’s as deadly as pretending that radical Islam isn’t at war with us.
It’s as deadly as pretending that satan isn’t out to destroy us.
Pretending that we can defeat this enemy on our own is building into our Christian life a "failure by design" scenario.
Whenever not sinning becomes the goal over and above living in a state of forgiveness for our sins, look out!
“Who among you is without sin?” was the withering blast from Jesus.
“You brood of vipers,” was hurled by John toward those who wanted to look “good” (Pharisees / us) to the outside world while ignoring the filth within.
“If we claim to be without sin, we lie to ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
The question being asked by Ginx, and one that is relevant to the point of this series of posts is, “If we aren’t becoming better people, what does Christ and Christianity have to offer people of the world?”
Um, how about salvation, forgiveness, mercy and grace?
These things are not found anywhere - except at the foot of the cross. That is why the early Church was so attractive. When we love one another, people look to Jesus because the world does not possess love - Nor mercy, nor grace and especially not forgiveness - Not the kind the Jesus offers.
When pretending to be good is more important than maintaining our salvation, when pretending to not sin is more important than honestly dealing with our sin, we are working against and not for our Saviour. The judging, the hiding, the hypocrisy of it all makes non Christians gag.
Following Jesus is an intensely personal walk. We are saved the same today as we were the first day that we brought our sin filled lives to the alter. We need God’s grace on a daily basis. We need His forgiveness on a daily basis. Who would turn down an opportunity to receive God’s grace except one who doesn’t want to be vulnerable to that grace?
And that, Ginx, is about as much as I want to say, for now. For you to judge Christians for buying expensive suits is understandable - I guess. On the other hand, you and I and everyone else are susceptible to self-deception. We are all prone to justifying our actions.
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst.”
Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “I was the worst.”
Our state in sin is present tense and will remain so until the day of Jesus’ return.
There never has been and never will be a Christian whose life doesn’t possess thoughts and actions contrary to the will of God. One of the things that is able to keep us on track is the knowledge that when any conversation turns to talk of sinners, the conversation is about “me.”
The most amazing thing, and this is something that Ginx and all others need to know, is not that I and other Christians will continue to sin until the day that we die, but that in spite of our sin God not only ALLOWS us to have a relationship with Him, He longs to have a relationship with us. He died to make that relationship possible.
He did that for you!
Let’s Be Honest
Ginx asked me to do a post on Christians who sin. He did so because some Christians wear expensive suits and this really irritates him. Because we Christians sin so persistently, one post just won’t do.
The first post in this series was, My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third: I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
The fourth: The Big Lie
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/big-lie.html
If we we're honest with ourselves about human nature, we would know that the question is not “How could a Leader sin so grievously?” but “Why hasn’t it happened sooner?” When we live in such an atmosphere of denial how can we help but be ambushed by the sin that we pretend (usually for each other but also sometimes for ourselves) is no longer there?
Atheists know this. Why don’t we? Just who do we think we are? Whether it’s a public leader or us, when we “fall,” (meaning our sin has been exposed) it’s not because we’ve come to the end of the line - it’s just the truth of the situation is now known to others.
Having our sins exposed can actually be a good thing. In Daniel we find, “Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end . . .” When I tell my clients that the affair or whatever is a great opportunity for growth, they look at me like I’m crazy. What I mean is, the exposure of sin SHOULD send us back to the drawing board, back to basics, back to Jesus.
How can we possibly present a gospel of forgiveness if it is being presented by people who supposedly don’t need forgiveness anymore? And if the point of the Gospel is forgiveness, daily forgiveness, then why do we pretend that we can somehow outgrow our need for forgiveness? How in the world can I suggest a forgiveness for you that I myself don’t need? How is it that a Church that was once filled with the most base that society had to offer, now makes those people feel like it would be one more place where they feel “less than” and unacceptable?
It is a fact of relationships that we connect through our points of weakness - We do not connect through our points of strength. We, who profess the name of Jesus do so because we've recognsed and admitted that humans are weak, we are in need of forgiveness, forgiveness on a daily basis.
God help us if we pretend otherwise.
The first post in this series was, My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third: I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
The fourth: The Big Lie
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/big-lie.html
If we we're honest with ourselves about human nature, we would know that the question is not “How could a Leader sin so grievously?” but “Why hasn’t it happened sooner?” When we live in such an atmosphere of denial how can we help but be ambushed by the sin that we pretend (usually for each other but also sometimes for ourselves) is no longer there?
Atheists know this. Why don’t we? Just who do we think we are? Whether it’s a public leader or us, when we “fall,” (meaning our sin has been exposed) it’s not because we’ve come to the end of the line - it’s just the truth of the situation is now known to others.
Having our sins exposed can actually be a good thing. In Daniel we find, “Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end . . .” When I tell my clients that the affair or whatever is a great opportunity for growth, they look at me like I’m crazy. What I mean is, the exposure of sin SHOULD send us back to the drawing board, back to basics, back to Jesus.
How can we possibly present a gospel of forgiveness if it is being presented by people who supposedly don’t need forgiveness anymore? And if the point of the Gospel is forgiveness, daily forgiveness, then why do we pretend that we can somehow outgrow our need for forgiveness? How in the world can I suggest a forgiveness for you that I myself don’t need? How is it that a Church that was once filled with the most base that society had to offer, now makes those people feel like it would be one more place where they feel “less than” and unacceptable?
It is a fact of relationships that we connect through our points of weakness - We do not connect through our points of strength. We, who profess the name of Jesus do so because we've recognsed and admitted that humans are weak, we are in need of forgiveness, forgiveness on a daily basis.
God help us if we pretend otherwise.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The Big Lie
Ginx asked me to do a post on Christians who sin. He did so because some Christians wear expensive suits and this really irritates him. Because we Christians sin so persistently, one post just won’t do.
The first post in this series was: My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
While Ginx feels strongly about how much Christians spend on clothes, I personally think there is something far worse. We, as Christians, often perpetuate a lie.
The biggest sin, the most damaging sin that Christians perpetrate is the message that we can become good people, that we can live beyond the grasp of sin, that we can attain holiness this side of heaven. Thousands of books have been written and billions of dollars have been made telling people, Christian and non Christian alike that we can, if we “do God” just right, someday be free from the influence of sin and thereby be righteous people here on earth.
That’s why we are so surprised when Preachers fail. We mistakenly believe that Pastors must somehow be closer to perfection than we are. Why else would they be Pastors? How else could they be allowed to be Pastors?
I walk a fine line in counselling. On the one hand, I want people to know, that I know, “There but for the grace of God go I.” I want the clients to know that I don’t see myself as more spiritual than they. I’m just this guy with some training and experience who feels called to walk alongside those who are hurting. The problem with that is, people WANT to believe that some people CAN get it right. People want to believe that I’m better than they are in the area for which they are seeking help. They want to believe that if I can get it right then perhaps they too can get it right.
After all, why should someone come to me if I’m just as screwed up as they are?
If my clients understood the nature of sin, they would not be surprised at all that - yes I’m a marriage counsellor and - yes my wife rates our marriage at 9/10 - but I don’t always treat her the way I should. My insensitivity is not reserved to the blogsphere. If we understood the nature of sin, we would not be surprised at all when Pastors are caught with someone other than their wives, or when Christian business people succumb to greed, like buying expensive suits. In reality, I think that we don’t WANT to understand the nature of sin. We want to believe the lie of possible perfection because if perfection or “very good” is possible then:
We’re ALMOST there.
We’ve almost got it figured out.
We’re almost holy even as our Father in heaven is holy.
All it will take is:
Just one more rededication.
One more book.
One more really sincere prayer of repentance.
What a joke! And worse, the joke is on us. That’s why there is such outrage when very public Christians leave their marriages or are charged with fraud or ?. By falling into the grips of sin, the Singer or Politician or Evangelist is making the charade of perfection impossible to maintain for the rest of us. They’re making “us” look bad.
Can you see how wrong that is? Can you see how far from reality that is? In truth, we aren’t ALMOST close to anything resembling leaving sin behind. To believe otherwise, to present to the world otherwise is to set the teaching of Jesus up for ridicule. To present otherwise is to “give great opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to despise and blaspheme Him.”
Should we who follow Jesus be different? Should there be less sin in our lives as a result of following Jesus? Yes and yes. And in reality, there is less sin in our lives - NOT - than in other people’s lives necessarily, but less than before we met Jesus. I truly am a new creation in Christ Jesus. When I told a women who I went to highschool with about my life, and what I’ve been doing she replied, “You! But you were the worst one! Yes, Jesus does rescue from slavery to sin. Jesus does give us the option and the ability to resist a pattern of sinning, but sin is not and never will be absent from our lives and we’re fools if we think otherwise. Christian or non Christian, we’re fools if we think otherwise.
The first post in this series was: My Favourite Commandment
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
The second: My Favourite sin
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-sin.html
The third I yam what I yam
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-yam-what-i-yam.html
While Ginx feels strongly about how much Christians spend on clothes, I personally think there is something far worse. We, as Christians, often perpetuate a lie.
The biggest sin, the most damaging sin that Christians perpetrate is the message that we can become good people, that we can live beyond the grasp of sin, that we can attain holiness this side of heaven. Thousands of books have been written and billions of dollars have been made telling people, Christian and non Christian alike that we can, if we “do God” just right, someday be free from the influence of sin and thereby be righteous people here on earth.
That’s why we are so surprised when Preachers fail. We mistakenly believe that Pastors must somehow be closer to perfection than we are. Why else would they be Pastors? How else could they be allowed to be Pastors?
I walk a fine line in counselling. On the one hand, I want people to know, that I know, “There but for the grace of God go I.” I want the clients to know that I don’t see myself as more spiritual than they. I’m just this guy with some training and experience who feels called to walk alongside those who are hurting. The problem with that is, people WANT to believe that some people CAN get it right. People want to believe that I’m better than they are in the area for which they are seeking help. They want to believe that if I can get it right then perhaps they too can get it right.
After all, why should someone come to me if I’m just as screwed up as they are?
If my clients understood the nature of sin, they would not be surprised at all that - yes I’m a marriage counsellor and - yes my wife rates our marriage at 9/10 - but I don’t always treat her the way I should. My insensitivity is not reserved to the blogsphere. If we understood the nature of sin, we would not be surprised at all when Pastors are caught with someone other than their wives, or when Christian business people succumb to greed, like buying expensive suits. In reality, I think that we don’t WANT to understand the nature of sin. We want to believe the lie of possible perfection because if perfection or “very good” is possible then:
We’re ALMOST there.
We’ve almost got it figured out.
We’re almost holy even as our Father in heaven is holy.
All it will take is:
Just one more rededication.
One more book.
One more really sincere prayer of repentance.
What a joke! And worse, the joke is on us. That’s why there is such outrage when very public Christians leave their marriages or are charged with fraud or ?. By falling into the grips of sin, the Singer or Politician or Evangelist is making the charade of perfection impossible to maintain for the rest of us. They’re making “us” look bad.
Can you see how wrong that is? Can you see how far from reality that is? In truth, we aren’t ALMOST close to anything resembling leaving sin behind. To believe otherwise, to present to the world otherwise is to set the teaching of Jesus up for ridicule. To present otherwise is to “give great opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to despise and blaspheme Him.”
Should we who follow Jesus be different? Should there be less sin in our lives as a result of following Jesus? Yes and yes. And in reality, there is less sin in our lives - NOT - than in other people’s lives necessarily, but less than before we met Jesus. I truly am a new creation in Christ Jesus. When I told a women who I went to highschool with about my life, and what I’ve been doing she replied, “You! But you were the worst one! Yes, Jesus does rescue from slavery to sin. Jesus does give us the option and the ability to resist a pattern of sinning, but sin is not and never will be absent from our lives and we’re fools if we think otherwise. Christian or non Christian, we’re fools if we think otherwise.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
My Favourite Sin
Ginx asked me to do a post on Christians who sin. He did so because some Christians wear expensive suits and this really irritates him. Because we Christians sin so persistently, one post just won’t do. The first post in this series was: "My Favourite Commandment"
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
If people were to go by my behaviours, they would probably say that Rod’s favourite sin is judging. Anger would be a close second and they both mix together rather nicely to form a potent combination of nasty. While Jesus has brought me a long, long way, my willingness to flirt with anger and judging is far too common. I’ve harmed more relationships with these two behaviours than any of the other crap that I’ve pulled over the years.
Atheists who throw Mt.7:1-5 at Christians do so for no other reason than to deflect criticism of their own behaviours. They misunderstand the message completely and not so innocently.
Nevertheless, my own judging of others is completely out of line.
“THEREFORE YOU have no excuse or defence or justification, O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another. For in posing as judge and passing sentence on another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practising the very same things [that you censure and denounce]. [But] we know that the judgment (adverse verdict, sentence) of God falls justly and in accordance with truth upon those who practice such things. And do you think or imagine, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God's judgment and elude His sentence and adverse verdict? Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repent.” Romans 2:1- 4
When it comes to judgment day, I’d much rather be accused of being too forgiving than too judging. I want to be too forgiving, but instead, I’m someone else. Luckily for me, we are living in the age of forgiveness. God is persistently refusing to give up on wayward people such as myself. The day of justice will come, but it is not now.
Here’s the thing about judging. Judging is the opposite of mercy. Our Creator is a working definition of Mercy - Our God IS Mercy.
A couple days ago, I heard an atheist say that if Jesus hasn’t come by now, He isn’t ever coming back. Gee, that’s original. 2nd Peter 3:2-15. Rather than thinking that this amount of time is a long time to wait, we should be blown away by God’s mercy. I don’t like to wait for thirty seconds for my kids to obey me and God waited for thirty years for me to come onside. God will not cut short the days He has planned for Creation until every last person who is going to be saved, is saved.
That is one of the things that is wrong with judging others and trying to change others. There is nothing in God’s plan about “fixing the world,” prior to Jesus' return. During this stage, sinners don’t get fixed. We get saved.
Once I’m saved, it is not my job to go out and fix others. My job is to point others toward the same salvation that was offered to me. As is oft said, evangelism is one beggar telling other beggars where to find food. As Christians, we don’t leave the realm of the sinner. As Christians we are merely given the tools that allow us to interact in a different relationship to sin, our sin.
Just a few important facts:
Both heaven and hell will be filled with sinners.
Heaven is for sinners who have accepted their state of sinfulness and accepted forgiveness.
Hell is for sinners who have refused to accept their state of sinfulness, and refused forgiveness.
Both heaven and hell will be filled with people who don’t think they deserve to be there.
http://makarios-makarios.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-favourite-commandment.html
If people were to go by my behaviours, they would probably say that Rod’s favourite sin is judging. Anger would be a close second and they both mix together rather nicely to form a potent combination of nasty. While Jesus has brought me a long, long way, my willingness to flirt with anger and judging is far too common. I’ve harmed more relationships with these two behaviours than any of the other crap that I’ve pulled over the years.
Atheists who throw Mt.7:1-5 at Christians do so for no other reason than to deflect criticism of their own behaviours. They misunderstand the message completely and not so innocently.
Nevertheless, my own judging of others is completely out of line.
“THEREFORE YOU have no excuse or defence or justification, O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another. For in posing as judge and passing sentence on another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practising the very same things [that you censure and denounce]. [But] we know that the judgment (adverse verdict, sentence) of God falls justly and in accordance with truth upon those who practice such things. And do you think or imagine, O man, when you judge and condemn those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God's judgment and elude His sentence and adverse verdict? Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long-suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repent.” Romans 2:1- 4
When it comes to judgment day, I’d much rather be accused of being too forgiving than too judging. I want to be too forgiving, but instead, I’m someone else. Luckily for me, we are living in the age of forgiveness. God is persistently refusing to give up on wayward people such as myself. The day of justice will come, but it is not now.
Here’s the thing about judging. Judging is the opposite of mercy. Our Creator is a working definition of Mercy - Our God IS Mercy.
A couple days ago, I heard an atheist say that if Jesus hasn’t come by now, He isn’t ever coming back. Gee, that’s original. 2nd Peter 3:2-15. Rather than thinking that this amount of time is a long time to wait, we should be blown away by God’s mercy. I don’t like to wait for thirty seconds for my kids to obey me and God waited for thirty years for me to come onside. God will not cut short the days He has planned for Creation until every last person who is going to be saved, is saved.
That is one of the things that is wrong with judging others and trying to change others. There is nothing in God’s plan about “fixing the world,” prior to Jesus' return. During this stage, sinners don’t get fixed. We get saved.
Once I’m saved, it is not my job to go out and fix others. My job is to point others toward the same salvation that was offered to me. As is oft said, evangelism is one beggar telling other beggars where to find food. As Christians, we don’t leave the realm of the sinner. As Christians we are merely given the tools that allow us to interact in a different relationship to sin, our sin.
Just a few important facts:
Both heaven and hell will be filled with sinners.
Heaven is for sinners who have accepted their state of sinfulness and accepted forgiveness.
Hell is for sinners who have refused to accept their state of sinfulness, and refused forgiveness.
Both heaven and hell will be filled with people who don’t think they deserve to be there.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Avoiding Difficult People
Have you ever had to spend time with a difficult person? You know, people for whom:
. Nothing’s ever good. Teachers are lousy. Doctors are ignorant. The Church never does enough for them.
. Family turmoil goes wherever that person goes. Sides are taken. In-laws dread the visit. Spouses grieve their poor decision to marry that person
. Raising children is an obsession. They’re either over-protected or not protected enough. This person goes after coaches and mentors to do more, more, more for their child.
I remember we were out with a couple for a meal and they asked what we’d been doing. We talked about this and talked about that and then Wendy mentioned that we’d had so-and-so over for a meal. So-and-so is a classic difficult person, a FUBAR in the truest sense. And the other woman said, “Be careful. She’ll want to be your friend.”
“Be careful. She’ll want to be your friend.”
That was someone’s advice to us regarding another human being. Hmmm.
Be careful lest you befriend someone who needs to be loved and accepted.
What most “normal” people don’t get is that difficult people are that way for a reason.
Used and abused, neglected and often living with brain damage and / or mental illness. Social interaction is not their strong suit. Their walls are up. Trust is down. Anger, fear and bruised memories lie just below the surface. They try too hard in social situations and they rarely succeed. And here’s the heartbreaking part. Rather than triggering compassion in others, difficult people draw wrath, rebuke and criticism. Difficult people draw gossip and rejection.
Be careful lest you befriend someone in need.
That’s horrible advice, yet many live by that creed. After all, life is short. Who has time to waste on those who probably won’t love you back. Worse, those who wouldn’t be able to show love even if it occurred to them to try.
Understandably, most people avoid difficult people.
Jesus stepped down from His thrown in heaven with the sole intent of walking this earth in the company of difficult people, losers and social outcasts. Jesus stepped down from His thrown in heaven to walk with me, to guide me, to lead me, to love me and to forgive me.
How can we do any less for those who are rejected and shunned because they are difficult to be around?
. Nothing’s ever good. Teachers are lousy. Doctors are ignorant. The Church never does enough for them.
. Family turmoil goes wherever that person goes. Sides are taken. In-laws dread the visit. Spouses grieve their poor decision to marry that person
. Raising children is an obsession. They’re either over-protected or not protected enough. This person goes after coaches and mentors to do more, more, more for their child.
I remember we were out with a couple for a meal and they asked what we’d been doing. We talked about this and talked about that and then Wendy mentioned that we’d had so-and-so over for a meal. So-and-so is a classic difficult person, a FUBAR in the truest sense. And the other woman said, “Be careful. She’ll want to be your friend.”
“Be careful. She’ll want to be your friend.”
That was someone’s advice to us regarding another human being. Hmmm.
Be careful lest you befriend someone who needs to be loved and accepted.
What most “normal” people don’t get is that difficult people are that way for a reason.
Used and abused, neglected and often living with brain damage and / or mental illness. Social interaction is not their strong suit. Their walls are up. Trust is down. Anger, fear and bruised memories lie just below the surface. They try too hard in social situations and they rarely succeed. And here’s the heartbreaking part. Rather than triggering compassion in others, difficult people draw wrath, rebuke and criticism. Difficult people draw gossip and rejection.
Be careful lest you befriend someone in need.
That’s horrible advice, yet many live by that creed. After all, life is short. Who has time to waste on those who probably won’t love you back. Worse, those who wouldn’t be able to show love even if it occurred to them to try.
Understandably, most people avoid difficult people.
Jesus stepped down from His thrown in heaven with the sole intent of walking this earth in the company of difficult people, losers and social outcasts. Jesus stepped down from His thrown in heaven to walk with me, to guide me, to lead me, to love me and to forgive me.
How can we do any less for those who are rejected and shunned because they are difficult to be around?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Science > A Search for Cause
When a bridge collapses.
When a person misses an appointment without calling
When someone goes from being an atheist to a Christian
We all ask “Why?”
It's perfectly normal for us to ask "Why?" for the things we experience and observe. Science itself, is, at its base, a search for cause, or the asking of the question, “Why are things as we find them?”
There are several historical events that are related to the life of Jesus that require and answer. These events require of us to ask, “Why would that be?”
Absolutely none of what you’re about to read has anything to do with the Bible being inspired or infallible or any other trappings of religion. These are historical facts attested to by the vast majority of secular, atheist and Christian historical scholars.
The reason that I’m not using the documents that were later compiled into what we now know as the New Testament is of course, atheists have a double standard when it comes to judging ancient documents. Something that critics seem to forget is that the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life as well as Acts of the Apostles and the other letters that are included in the New Testament weren’t written FOR inclusion into the Bible. What are now part of the Bible were once independent documents circulating throughout the Christian and non Christian community. These guys weren’t journalists working for something like, “Bible Magazine.” The documents that were compiled into what we know today as the New Testament were separate ancient documents, written by people who were interested in the life of Jesus. Some had been followers of or students of Jesus. Others, like Dr. Luke were historians. These people had no idea that what they’d written would one day become part of the biggest and most important movement in the history of humanity.
While there will always be those on the lunatic fringe who attempt to deny historical facts (eg. holocaust), to deny that there is extra Biblical factually accurate information regarding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus requires that you be either profoundly ignorant or a determined liar and most importantly, you must lie to yourself about what is factually and historically true.
In a manner of historical forensics, this post asks, “Why would the following have occurred if the facts of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection weren’t as described?” I believe that there is no sustainable reason for the following historical events to have occurred (and they did occur) unless the essential facts of Jesus death and resurrection are true.
Rather than just skim over these questions or dismiss them as the ramblings of some no account Christian, I ask you to ask yourself in a genuine manner, the questions that follow. Even if you assume that an answer upholds your current beliefs, I encourage you to name the answer. Put it into coherent thought. Whether you agree or don’t agree with the conclusion at which I’ve arrived, for the sake of your ability to debate the issue, ask yourself in frank and honest manner:
If Jesus didn’t die on the cross:
Why would Matthew, Tacitus, Mark, Lucian of Samosata, Dr. Luke, Mara Bar-Serapion, John, The Babylonion Talmud, Josephus, and John Dominic Crossan, the Founder of the “Jesus Seminar” all attest that Jesus’ crucifixion is historical fact? And why would that be when all but Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are non Christians?
If Jesus didn’t die on the cross, why would these historians and scholars write that He did? Why would they simply invent these stories? There was/is absolutely nothing of earthly value to be gained by concocting this as a lie.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
. Why do we have multiple, independent, extra Biblical sources attesting to the risen Jesus?
. Why do we have virtually unanimous modern historical scholarship agreeing that the disciples truly believed they saw Jesus alive after His death on the cross.
. Why would atheist historian and New Testament critic Gerd Ludemann say, “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus’ death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.”
. Why would atheist historian Paula Fredriksen say, “I don’t know what they saw, but as a historian I know they believed they saw Jesus.”
. Why would highly critical New Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann agree that historical criticism can establish “the fact that the first disciples came to believe in the resurrection and that they thought they had seen the risen Jesus."
. Why would atheist and founder of the Jesus Seminar state, “That Jesus was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be” if Jesus wasn’t a historical figure?
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make sense. Why would the enemies of Christianity affirm the historical facts regarding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus if the evidence isn’t accurate and compelling?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
. Why would all the disciples, plus hundreds and hundreds of others believe that they saw Him alive?
. Why would they say that they spoke with Him?
. Why would they say that they ate with Him at various times and various places?
. If none of that is true, why would they be willing to die for making up the lie of seeing Jesus alive?
There was absolutely nothing of earthly value to be gained, and everything to lose by concocting the supposed lies about Jesus life, death and resurrection.
REMEMBER these people didn’t believe someone else’s lie.
Over the centuries many people have died for believing someone else’s lies. But if THESE people died for a lie, it was THEIR lie! They died for saying they saw Jesus alive again after His death. Liars simply do not make martyrs of themselves.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, their willingness to die for the “truth” doesn’t make any sense.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have Paul’s testimony about His encounter with Jesus and why do we have his radical transformation in character from a persecutor of the Church and a killer of Christians to the greatest missionary that the Christian Church has ever seen?
Remember, Paul:
. Was a rabid sceptic when Jesus appeared to him.
. Was an enemy of the Church when Jesus appeared to him.
This is not like most conversions whereby the person reads or hears something that persuades h/her to change. Paul’s evidence for the risen Jesus was first hand and so convincing that he endured years of hardship, persecution and rejection for proclaiming the risen Lord, before finally being beheaded by Nero in 64AD.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this change in Paul’s character doesn’t make any sense. He had absolutely nothing of earthly value to gain, and everything to lose by concocting a story of meeting Jesus while on His way to persecute the Church.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
. Why in the world would Jesus’ brothers James and Jude go to their deaths proclaiming that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead?
. Why would they claim that they had seen Him alive after His death?
. Why would they confess that Jesus is the Lord God, Messiah?
. Why would Jesus whole family become part of the Christian movement?
Think about it! This was their half-brother, someone that they’d previously mocked and ridiculed. James’ and Jude’s conversions were a drastic change from thinking their Brother was insane and an embarrassment to the family.
For a moment, put yourself in James' place. What would it take for you to make this kind of change? What would it take for you to die for that change? For me, it would take nothing LESS than a resurrection.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this change in the beliefs of Jesus’ siblings doesn’t make any sense. They had absolutely nothing of earthly value to gain and everything to lose if what they said about Jesus appearing to them after His death was not true.
Remember, Both Paul and James were sceptics at the time that Jesus appeared to them. Why would they become His followers if His resurrection wasn't historical fact?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why was His tomb empty?
. Jesus’ ENEMIES were the ones to CONFIRM that the body was missing by proposing that the disciples stole it.
. The disciples didn’t have the power nor the inclination to steal His body. They were hiding behind locked doors.
. Jesus’ enemies had no reason to steal the body and every reason to keep it right where it was. They posted an armed guard, and sealed the tomb with the Governor’s seal to make sure that nothing happened to the body.
. The first proclamations of the empty tomb were made right there in Jerusalem where Jesus was murdered and buried. The tomb could have been easily checked out.
If the resurrection isn’t historical fact, how is it that the tomb was empty with no sound explanation other than the resurrection?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do the ancient documents written by Jesus’ followers make the “mistake” of saying that women (who at the time were seen as lower than dogs and not capable of telling the truth) were the ones who discovered the empty tomb and encountered the risen Lord. If it wasn’t true, if the disciples were trying to convince others of a lie, if the resurrection wasn’t historical fact, why would the writers invent the testimony of women to say that it was true?
If the resurrection isn’t historical fact, it doesn’t make any sense that His followers would do that.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why did Josephus, Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria all non Christians and all historians write about Jesus’ brother James, his leadership in the Jerusalem Church and his martyrdom for proclaiming Jesus as risen Lord and Saviour?
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense. I think they would only write these things if the evidence convinced them that it was accurate.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have an early oral tradition or creed that dates from the first year after Jesus’ death attesting to the fact of Him rising from the dead.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense. There is no hint of legend or exaggeration in this oral tradition. And these people had their lives to lose by repeating it. Why would they do that if it wasn’t true?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have the written works of the early Church with hymns, poetry and creeds, stemming from the early oral history telling about Jesus rise from the dead?
Think about it! Without the resurrection being historical fact, we simply wouldn't have this.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have the Christian Church? Paul told early Christians, “If Jesus did not rise from the dead, your faith is worthless.”
Without the resurrection being historical fact there wouldn’t be any Christianity. Yet here it is today, over 2 billion strong.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
How did Paul know what He knew about Jesus prior to any contact with the apostles and why would they accept Paul as one of their own based on what he was teaching about Jesus? This was an “outsider” eager to kill the leaders of the early Jesus movement, now coming to them with a knowledge of Jesus’ teaching equal to those who had been insiders.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, and without Jesus appearing to Paul and teaching Paul about Himself, this doesn’t make any sense.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have the four ancient biographies of Jesus, one of them by historian and physician Luke who got his information from eyewitnesses all affirming the resurrection of Jesus? Why would they tell Luke that these things happened if they weren’t true? They paid for that "lie" with their lives.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have Clement of Rome, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Polycarp and others, all saying that they had been taught by the apostles that Jesus had risen from the dead. And THEN, all of these men were themselves martyred based on the believability of what the disciples had told them. These were not ignorant, gullible men. Yet the evidence made sense to them.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, how could that happen?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
What would account for the disciple’s radical transformation from fearful and cowardly men who denied Jesus and who ran away from Him during His trial, to bold individuals who were so confident of the truth of what they saw and heard regarding His resurrection, that they were willing to undergo years of persecution as well as torture and death rather than change their story.
Peter watched his own wife being crucified just prior to his own crucifixion. Surely, if the risen Jesus was a lie concocted by Peter himself, he wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.
Without the resurrection, this type of behaviour doesn’t make any sense.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
. Why was it that Polycarp wrote of the endurance under torture of Paul, Ignatius, Zosimus, and Rufus for their belief in the risen Christ?
. Why was it that Ignatius also wrote of the suffering and death of the apostles?
. Why was it that Polycarp and Ignatius were both martyred?. Why would they be willing to die in such a manner if the accounts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection weren’t accurate?
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
Why would we have confirming accounts of the disciples teaching and deaths in Roman public records called “Lives of the Caesars.”
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
Why would Origen write, “Jesus, who has both risen AND led His disciples to believe in His resurrection and so thoroughly persuaded them of its truth that they showed to all men by their suffering how they were able to laugh at life’s troubles beholding to life eternal and a resurrection clearly demonstrated to them in word and deed by this one Jesus.”
Without the resurrection being historical fact, it doesn’t make any sense that Origen would write that.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
Why do we have Eusebius, Dionysius of Corinth, Tertullian, Hegesibous, Josephus, Clement of Alexandria, all of these sources, Christian and non Christian alike affirming the historicity of Jesus and the disciples willingness to die for what they believed to be true.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, it doesn’t make any sense that these many and varied individuals would make this stuff up.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
. Why is it that Luke writes that Jesus spent about 40 days with the disciples after He rose from the dead, and
. Why can it be further calculated that about 50-55 days after His death, Jesus’ followers started proclaiming His resurrection, and - Pay attention now -
. Why did Tacitus, an ENEMY of Christianity, write “Jesus’ execution by Pontius Pilot checked, for the moment, the Christian movement but it then broke out with force not only in Judea but even in Rome.”
. Why would these accounts, one from a follower of Jesus and one from a secular historian and enemy of Christianity be so similar unless they’re true?
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense.
Absolutely none of what I’ve just written has anything to do with the Bible being inspired or infallible or any other trappings of religion. These are historical facts attested to by the vast majority of secular, atheist and Christian historical scholars. While there will always be those on the lunatic fringe who attempt to deny historical facts (eg. holocaust) to deny that there is extra Biblical factually accurate information regarding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus requires that you be either profoundly ignorant or a determined liar and most importantly, you must lie to yourself about what is factually and historically true. There is absolutely no sustainable reason for the above historical events to have occurred unless the essential facts of Jesus death and resurrection are true.
These questions, stemming from this evidence demand more than just a flippant, “People rising from the dead is impossible.” Something totally “other” happened back then and ignoring it is not a rational nor a logical thing to do.
If Jesus did in fact supernaturally rise from the dead, then what He taught about being the Son of God and about the existence of Creator God must also be true. The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus demands a verdict. With the evidence so overwhelmingly pointing to the fact of His resurrection, you can do one of three things:
. Submit to Jesus as Lord and Saviour - Or
. Lie to yourself that none of this proves anything - Or
. Say to yourself, “I don’t care if God is real, I’m going to live my life, my way.”
When a person misses an appointment without calling
When someone goes from being an atheist to a Christian
We all ask “Why?”
It's perfectly normal for us to ask "Why?" for the things we experience and observe. Science itself, is, at its base, a search for cause, or the asking of the question, “Why are things as we find them?”
There are several historical events that are related to the life of Jesus that require and answer. These events require of us to ask, “Why would that be?”
Absolutely none of what you’re about to read has anything to do with the Bible being inspired or infallible or any other trappings of religion. These are historical facts attested to by the vast majority of secular, atheist and Christian historical scholars.
The reason that I’m not using the documents that were later compiled into what we now know as the New Testament is of course, atheists have a double standard when it comes to judging ancient documents. Something that critics seem to forget is that the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life as well as Acts of the Apostles and the other letters that are included in the New Testament weren’t written FOR inclusion into the Bible. What are now part of the Bible were once independent documents circulating throughout the Christian and non Christian community. These guys weren’t journalists working for something like, “Bible Magazine.” The documents that were compiled into what we know today as the New Testament were separate ancient documents, written by people who were interested in the life of Jesus. Some had been followers of or students of Jesus. Others, like Dr. Luke were historians. These people had no idea that what they’d written would one day become part of the biggest and most important movement in the history of humanity.
While there will always be those on the lunatic fringe who attempt to deny historical facts (eg. holocaust), to deny that there is extra Biblical factually accurate information regarding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus requires that you be either profoundly ignorant or a determined liar and most importantly, you must lie to yourself about what is factually and historically true.
In a manner of historical forensics, this post asks, “Why would the following have occurred if the facts of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection weren’t as described?” I believe that there is no sustainable reason for the following historical events to have occurred (and they did occur) unless the essential facts of Jesus death and resurrection are true.
Rather than just skim over these questions or dismiss them as the ramblings of some no account Christian, I ask you to ask yourself in a genuine manner, the questions that follow. Even if you assume that an answer upholds your current beliefs, I encourage you to name the answer. Put it into coherent thought. Whether you agree or don’t agree with the conclusion at which I’ve arrived, for the sake of your ability to debate the issue, ask yourself in frank and honest manner:
If Jesus didn’t die on the cross:
Why would Matthew, Tacitus, Mark, Lucian of Samosata, Dr. Luke, Mara Bar-Serapion, John, The Babylonion Talmud, Josephus, and John Dominic Crossan, the Founder of the “Jesus Seminar” all attest that Jesus’ crucifixion is historical fact? And why would that be when all but Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are non Christians?
If Jesus didn’t die on the cross, why would these historians and scholars write that He did? Why would they simply invent these stories? There was/is absolutely nothing of earthly value to be gained by concocting this as a lie.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
. Why do we have multiple, independent, extra Biblical sources attesting to the risen Jesus?
. Why do we have virtually unanimous modern historical scholarship agreeing that the disciples truly believed they saw Jesus alive after His death on the cross.
. Why would atheist historian and New Testament critic Gerd Ludemann say, “It may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus’ death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ.”
. Why would atheist historian Paula Fredriksen say, “I don’t know what they saw, but as a historian I know they believed they saw Jesus.”
. Why would highly critical New Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann agree that historical criticism can establish “the fact that the first disciples came to believe in the resurrection and that they thought they had seen the risen Jesus."
. Why would atheist and founder of the Jesus Seminar state, “That Jesus was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be” if Jesus wasn’t a historical figure?
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make sense. Why would the enemies of Christianity affirm the historical facts regarding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus if the evidence isn’t accurate and compelling?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
. Why would all the disciples, plus hundreds and hundreds of others believe that they saw Him alive?
. Why would they say that they spoke with Him?
. Why would they say that they ate with Him at various times and various places?
. If none of that is true, why would they be willing to die for making up the lie of seeing Jesus alive?
There was absolutely nothing of earthly value to be gained, and everything to lose by concocting the supposed lies about Jesus life, death and resurrection.
REMEMBER these people didn’t believe someone else’s lie.
Over the centuries many people have died for believing someone else’s lies. But if THESE people died for a lie, it was THEIR lie! They died for saying they saw Jesus alive again after His death. Liars simply do not make martyrs of themselves.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, their willingness to die for the “truth” doesn’t make any sense.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have Paul’s testimony about His encounter with Jesus and why do we have his radical transformation in character from a persecutor of the Church and a killer of Christians to the greatest missionary that the Christian Church has ever seen?
Remember, Paul:
. Was a rabid sceptic when Jesus appeared to him.
. Was an enemy of the Church when Jesus appeared to him.
This is not like most conversions whereby the person reads or hears something that persuades h/her to change. Paul’s evidence for the risen Jesus was first hand and so convincing that he endured years of hardship, persecution and rejection for proclaiming the risen Lord, before finally being beheaded by Nero in 64AD.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this change in Paul’s character doesn’t make any sense. He had absolutely nothing of earthly value to gain, and everything to lose by concocting a story of meeting Jesus while on His way to persecute the Church.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
. Why in the world would Jesus’ brothers James and Jude go to their deaths proclaiming that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead?
. Why would they claim that they had seen Him alive after His death?
. Why would they confess that Jesus is the Lord God, Messiah?
. Why would Jesus whole family become part of the Christian movement?
Think about it! This was their half-brother, someone that they’d previously mocked and ridiculed. James’ and Jude’s conversions were a drastic change from thinking their Brother was insane and an embarrassment to the family.
For a moment, put yourself in James' place. What would it take for you to make this kind of change? What would it take for you to die for that change? For me, it would take nothing LESS than a resurrection.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this change in the beliefs of Jesus’ siblings doesn’t make any sense. They had absolutely nothing of earthly value to gain and everything to lose if what they said about Jesus appearing to them after His death was not true.
Remember, Both Paul and James were sceptics at the time that Jesus appeared to them. Why would they become His followers if His resurrection wasn't historical fact?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why was His tomb empty?
. Jesus’ ENEMIES were the ones to CONFIRM that the body was missing by proposing that the disciples stole it.
. The disciples didn’t have the power nor the inclination to steal His body. They were hiding behind locked doors.
. Jesus’ enemies had no reason to steal the body and every reason to keep it right where it was. They posted an armed guard, and sealed the tomb with the Governor’s seal to make sure that nothing happened to the body.
. The first proclamations of the empty tomb were made right there in Jerusalem where Jesus was murdered and buried. The tomb could have been easily checked out.
If the resurrection isn’t historical fact, how is it that the tomb was empty with no sound explanation other than the resurrection?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do the ancient documents written by Jesus’ followers make the “mistake” of saying that women (who at the time were seen as lower than dogs and not capable of telling the truth) were the ones who discovered the empty tomb and encountered the risen Lord. If it wasn’t true, if the disciples were trying to convince others of a lie, if the resurrection wasn’t historical fact, why would the writers invent the testimony of women to say that it was true?
If the resurrection isn’t historical fact, it doesn’t make any sense that His followers would do that.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why did Josephus, Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria all non Christians and all historians write about Jesus’ brother James, his leadership in the Jerusalem Church and his martyrdom for proclaiming Jesus as risen Lord and Saviour?
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense. I think they would only write these things if the evidence convinced them that it was accurate.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have an early oral tradition or creed that dates from the first year after Jesus’ death attesting to the fact of Him rising from the dead.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense. There is no hint of legend or exaggeration in this oral tradition. And these people had their lives to lose by repeating it. Why would they do that if it wasn’t true?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have the written works of the early Church with hymns, poetry and creeds, stemming from the early oral history telling about Jesus rise from the dead?
Think about it! Without the resurrection being historical fact, we simply wouldn't have this.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have the Christian Church? Paul told early Christians, “If Jesus did not rise from the dead, your faith is worthless.”
Without the resurrection being historical fact there wouldn’t be any Christianity. Yet here it is today, over 2 billion strong.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
How did Paul know what He knew about Jesus prior to any contact with the apostles and why would they accept Paul as one of their own based on what he was teaching about Jesus? This was an “outsider” eager to kill the leaders of the early Jesus movement, now coming to them with a knowledge of Jesus’ teaching equal to those who had been insiders.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, and without Jesus appearing to Paul and teaching Paul about Himself, this doesn’t make any sense.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have the four ancient biographies of Jesus, one of them by historian and physician Luke who got his information from eyewitnesses all affirming the resurrection of Jesus? Why would they tell Luke that these things happened if they weren’t true? They paid for that "lie" with their lives.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense.
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
Why do we have Clement of Rome, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Polycarp and others, all saying that they had been taught by the apostles that Jesus had risen from the dead. And THEN, all of these men were themselves martyred based on the believability of what the disciples had told them. These were not ignorant, gullible men. Yet the evidence made sense to them.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, how could that happen?
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead:
What would account for the disciple’s radical transformation from fearful and cowardly men who denied Jesus and who ran away from Him during His trial, to bold individuals who were so confident of the truth of what they saw and heard regarding His resurrection, that they were willing to undergo years of persecution as well as torture and death rather than change their story.
Peter watched his own wife being crucified just prior to his own crucifixion. Surely, if the risen Jesus was a lie concocted by Peter himself, he wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.
Without the resurrection, this type of behaviour doesn’t make any sense.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
. Why was it that Polycarp wrote of the endurance under torture of Paul, Ignatius, Zosimus, and Rufus for their belief in the risen Christ?
. Why was it that Ignatius also wrote of the suffering and death of the apostles?
. Why was it that Polycarp and Ignatius were both martyred?. Why would they be willing to die in such a manner if the accounts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection weren’t accurate?
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
Why would we have confirming accounts of the disciples teaching and deaths in Roman public records called “Lives of the Caesars.”
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
Why would Origen write, “Jesus, who has both risen AND led His disciples to believe in His resurrection and so thoroughly persuaded them of its truth that they showed to all men by their suffering how they were able to laugh at life’s troubles beholding to life eternal and a resurrection clearly demonstrated to them in word and deed by this one Jesus.”
Without the resurrection being historical fact, it doesn’t make any sense that Origen would write that.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
Why do we have Eusebius, Dionysius of Corinth, Tertullian, Hegesibous, Josephus, Clement of Alexandria, all of these sources, Christian and non Christian alike affirming the historicity of Jesus and the disciples willingness to die for what they believed to be true.
Without the resurrection being historical fact, it doesn’t make any sense that these many and varied individuals would make this stuff up.
If the accounts of what the disciples taught weren’t true:
. Why is it that Luke writes that Jesus spent about 40 days with the disciples after He rose from the dead, and
. Why can it be further calculated that about 50-55 days after His death, Jesus’ followers started proclaiming His resurrection, and - Pay attention now -
. Why did Tacitus, an ENEMY of Christianity, write “Jesus’ execution by Pontius Pilot checked, for the moment, the Christian movement but it then broke out with force not only in Judea but even in Rome.”
. Why would these accounts, one from a follower of Jesus and one from a secular historian and enemy of Christianity be so similar unless they’re true?
Without the resurrection being historical fact, this doesn’t make any sense.
Absolutely none of what I’ve just written has anything to do with the Bible being inspired or infallible or any other trappings of religion. These are historical facts attested to by the vast majority of secular, atheist and Christian historical scholars. While there will always be those on the lunatic fringe who attempt to deny historical facts (eg. holocaust) to deny that there is extra Biblical factually accurate information regarding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus requires that you be either profoundly ignorant or a determined liar and most importantly, you must lie to yourself about what is factually and historically true. There is absolutely no sustainable reason for the above historical events to have occurred unless the essential facts of Jesus death and resurrection are true.
These questions, stemming from this evidence demand more than just a flippant, “People rising from the dead is impossible.” Something totally “other” happened back then and ignoring it is not a rational nor a logical thing to do.
If Jesus did in fact supernaturally rise from the dead, then what He taught about being the Son of God and about the existence of Creator God must also be true. The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus demands a verdict. With the evidence so overwhelmingly pointing to the fact of His resurrection, you can do one of three things:
. Submit to Jesus as Lord and Saviour - Or
. Lie to yourself that none of this proves anything - Or
. Say to yourself, “I don’t care if God is real, I’m going to live my life, my way.”
If you’ve heard one atheist . . .
Ginx said: “There's no reason for him [Jesus] to have been dead after such a short time,”
He was saying that, because they didn’t break Jesus legs while He hung on the cross, He probably didn’t die; that in fact He was nursed back to health.
The verse which Ginx partially quotes is John 19:33. Ginx partially quotes that verse because if he used the whole verse it would be obvious that the REASON the guards didn’t break Jesus legs is because Jesus was already dead. He'd been run through with a spear and serum and red blood cells gushed out from the chest cavity. No one need doubt the death of Jesus - I mean, other than atheist and Islamic fundamentalists whose very belief system depends on Jesus NOT dying on the cross and NOT rising from the dead
The historical facts of Jesus life, death and resurrection, facts that require an answer are:
. The tomb was empty - why?
. The dramatic change in the character of the disciples - why?
. The conversions of the sceptic James (Jesus’ own brother) - why?
. The conversion of the sceptic Paul (a persecutor of Christians)- why?
. The dramatic rise of the Christian Church - why?
All of these CAN be answered with one point - The death and physical resurrection of Jesus.
I find it hard to believe that anyone can be so ignorant as to believe that Jesus came down from the cross alive. However, yet another atheist has made this claim in His defense of the proposition that the reason the tomb was empty is because, well, Jesus really wasn’t dead. Have you ever noticed how often atheists and Muslims agree on things? It’s a little unnerving. Anyhow, when I say Jesus most certainly was dead, atheists say, “Where the evidence?” When I give them evidence, do you know what happens? The evidence is so overwhelmingly in favour of Jesus dying that atheists change the subject to some song and dance about how gruesome the evidence is and "Why revel in "bloody porn"." Atheists, if you've heard one you've heard them all.
Drawing from eyewitness accounts, and from what we know of Roman execution, and the Jewish / Roman interaction, Physician Truman Davis writes the following about Jesus’ death:
The whip the Roman soldiers use on Jesus has small iron balls and sharp pieces of sheep bones tied to it. Jesus is stripped of his clothing, and his hands are tied to an upright post. His back, buttocks, and legs are whipped either by one soldier or by two who alternate positions. The soldiers taunt their victim. As they repeatedly strike Jesus’ back with full force, the iron balls cause deep contusions, and the sheep bones cut into the skin and tissues. As the whipping continues, the lacerations tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Most often the victim's bowels were laid bare. Pain and blood loss set the stage for circulatory shock.
When it is determined by the centurion in charge that Jesus is near death, the beating is finally stopped. The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with his own blood. The Roman soldiers see a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They throw a robe across his shoulders and place a stick in his hand for a scepter. They still need a crown to make their travesty complete. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns are plaited into the shape of a crown, and this is pressed into his scalp. Again there is copious bleeding (the scalp being one of the most vascular areas of the body). After mocking him and striking him across the face until he is unrecognisable to those who know him, the soldiers take the stick from his hand and strike him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into his scalp.
Finally, when they tire of their sadistic sport, the robe is torn from his back. The robe had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, and its removal - just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage - causes excruciating pain, is almost as though he were being whipped again. The wounds again begin to bleed. In deference to Jewish custom, the Romans return his garments. The heavy horizontal beam of the cross is tied across his shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves, and the execution party walk along the Via Dolorosa. In spite of his efforts to walk erect, the weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious blood loss, is too much. He stumbles and falls. The rough wood of the beam gouges into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tries to rise, but human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance. The centurion, anxious to get on with the crucifixion, select a stalwart North African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. Jesus follows, still bleeding and sweating the cold, clammy sweat of shock.
The 650 yard journey from the fortress Antonia to Golgotha is finally complete. Jesus is again stripped of his clothes. The crucifixion begins. Jesus is offered wine mixed with myrrh, a mild pain-killing mixture. He refuses to drink. Simon is ordered to place the cross beam on the ground, and Jesus is quickly thrown backward with his shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, the soldier moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tight, but to allow some flexibility and movement. The beam is then lifted, and the title reading “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” is nailed in place.
The victim Jesus is now crucified. As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain - the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. The severing of the median nerve by the nails would produce the degree of pain as if someone grabbed, with pliers, the same nerve embedded in your elbow joint and squeezed it and twisted it for hours on end. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places his full weight on the nail through his feet. Again, there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet. At this point, another phenomenon occurs. As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. It was not uncommon for the shoulders to be pulled out of their sockets by the weight of the person’s body. The muscles would then be stretched two to three inches from their normal length. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward. Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralysed, and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs but it cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the bloodstream, and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.
Now begin hours of this limitless pain, cycles of cramping and twisting partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins. A deep, crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is now almost over - the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level; the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, sluggish blood into the tissues; the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. His mission of atonement has been complete. Finally he can allow his body to die. With one last surge of strength, he once again presses his torn feet against the nail, straightens his legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters his final words.
When the chief executioner comes to ensure death has taken place, the spear's thrust releases the blood that is now separated into serum and platelets - Jesus was dead. This appears to the eyewitness who wrote this account as water and blood. Jesus was in fact, dead when they laid Him in the tomb.
I happen to believe that Jesus gave up His life. "No one takes My life from Me. I lay it down and I take it back up again." Yes, Jesus suffered and died. Yes, He endured agony beyond anything most of us will ever experience. What Jesus dead? Without a doubt. Did He die exclusively from crucifixion? I don't think so. I think that the Creator of life gave up His life on a voluntary basis. Three days later (as Jews of the time counted time) Jesus took back His life.
Ginx is just the latest in a long, long line of atheists making the ridiculous claim that when Jesus was taken from the cross, He was still alive. Well, if you’ve heard one atheist, you’ve heard them all.
He was saying that, because they didn’t break Jesus legs while He hung on the cross, He probably didn’t die; that in fact He was nursed back to health.
The verse which Ginx partially quotes is John 19:33. Ginx partially quotes that verse because if he used the whole verse it would be obvious that the REASON the guards didn’t break Jesus legs is because Jesus was already dead. He'd been run through with a spear and serum and red blood cells gushed out from the chest cavity. No one need doubt the death of Jesus - I mean, other than atheist and Islamic fundamentalists whose very belief system depends on Jesus NOT dying on the cross and NOT rising from the dead
The historical facts of Jesus life, death and resurrection, facts that require an answer are:
. The tomb was empty - why?
. The dramatic change in the character of the disciples - why?
. The conversions of the sceptic James (Jesus’ own brother) - why?
. The conversion of the sceptic Paul (a persecutor of Christians)- why?
. The dramatic rise of the Christian Church - why?
All of these CAN be answered with one point - The death and physical resurrection of Jesus.
I find it hard to believe that anyone can be so ignorant as to believe that Jesus came down from the cross alive. However, yet another atheist has made this claim in His defense of the proposition that the reason the tomb was empty is because, well, Jesus really wasn’t dead. Have you ever noticed how often atheists and Muslims agree on things? It’s a little unnerving. Anyhow, when I say Jesus most certainly was dead, atheists say, “Where the evidence?” When I give them evidence, do you know what happens? The evidence is so overwhelmingly in favour of Jesus dying that atheists change the subject to some song and dance about how gruesome the evidence is and "Why revel in "bloody porn"." Atheists, if you've heard one you've heard them all.
Drawing from eyewitness accounts, and from what we know of Roman execution, and the Jewish / Roman interaction, Physician Truman Davis writes the following about Jesus’ death:
The whip the Roman soldiers use on Jesus has small iron balls and sharp pieces of sheep bones tied to it. Jesus is stripped of his clothing, and his hands are tied to an upright post. His back, buttocks, and legs are whipped either by one soldier or by two who alternate positions. The soldiers taunt their victim. As they repeatedly strike Jesus’ back with full force, the iron balls cause deep contusions, and the sheep bones cut into the skin and tissues. As the whipping continues, the lacerations tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Most often the victim's bowels were laid bare. Pain and blood loss set the stage for circulatory shock.
When it is determined by the centurion in charge that Jesus is near death, the beating is finally stopped. The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with his own blood. The Roman soldiers see a great joke in this provincial Jew claiming to be a king. They throw a robe across his shoulders and place a stick in his hand for a scepter. They still need a crown to make their travesty complete. A small bundle of flexible branches covered with long thorns are plaited into the shape of a crown, and this is pressed into his scalp. Again there is copious bleeding (the scalp being one of the most vascular areas of the body). After mocking him and striking him across the face until he is unrecognisable to those who know him, the soldiers take the stick from his hand and strike him across the head, driving the thorns deeper into his scalp.
Finally, when they tire of their sadistic sport, the robe is torn from his back. The robe had already become adherent to the clots of blood and serum in the wounds, and its removal - just as in the careless removal of a surgical bandage - causes excruciating pain, is almost as though he were being whipped again. The wounds again begin to bleed. In deference to Jewish custom, the Romans return his garments. The heavy horizontal beam of the cross is tied across his shoulders, and the procession of the condemned Christ, two thieves, and the execution party walk along the Via Dolorosa. In spite of his efforts to walk erect, the weight of the heavy wooden beam, together with the shock produced by copious blood loss, is too much. He stumbles and falls. The rough wood of the beam gouges into the lacerated skin and muscles of the shoulders. He tries to rise, but human muscles have been pushed beyond their endurance. The centurion, anxious to get on with the crucifixion, select a stalwart North African onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the cross. Jesus follows, still bleeding and sweating the cold, clammy sweat of shock.
The 650 yard journey from the fortress Antonia to Golgotha is finally complete. Jesus is again stripped of his clothes. The crucifixion begins. Jesus is offered wine mixed with myrrh, a mild pain-killing mixture. He refuses to drink. Simon is ordered to place the cross beam on the ground, and Jesus is quickly thrown backward with his shoulders against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. Quickly, the soldier moves to the other side and repeats the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tight, but to allow some flexibility and movement. The beam is then lifted, and the title reading “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” is nailed in place.
The victim Jesus is now crucified. As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain - the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. The severing of the median nerve by the nails would produce the degree of pain as if someone grabbed, with pliers, the same nerve embedded in your elbow joint and squeezed it and twisted it for hours on end. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places his full weight on the nail through his feet. Again, there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet. At this point, another phenomenon occurs. As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. It was not uncommon for the shoulders to be pulled out of their sockets by the weight of the person’s body. The muscles would then be stretched two to three inches from their normal length. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward. Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralysed, and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs but it cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the bloodstream, and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.
Now begin hours of this limitless pain, cycles of cramping and twisting partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins. A deep, crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is now almost over - the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level; the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, sluggish blood into the tissues; the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. His mission of atonement has been complete. Finally he can allow his body to die. With one last surge of strength, he once again presses his torn feet against the nail, straightens his legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters his final words.
When the chief executioner comes to ensure death has taken place, the spear's thrust releases the blood that is now separated into serum and platelets - Jesus was dead. This appears to the eyewitness who wrote this account as water and blood. Jesus was in fact, dead when they laid Him in the tomb.
I happen to believe that Jesus gave up His life. "No one takes My life from Me. I lay it down and I take it back up again." Yes, Jesus suffered and died. Yes, He endured agony beyond anything most of us will ever experience. What Jesus dead? Without a doubt. Did He die exclusively from crucifixion? I don't think so. I think that the Creator of life gave up His life on a voluntary basis. Three days later (as Jews of the time counted time) Jesus took back His life.
Ginx is just the latest in a long, long line of atheists making the ridiculous claim that when Jesus was taken from the cross, He was still alive. Well, if you’ve heard one atheist, you’ve heard them all.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
So, there’s this guy -
My favorite group is Over the Rhine and my favorite song of theirs is “The Last Time I Saw Jesus” The first line of the song goes: The last time I saw Jesus, I was drinking Bloody Marys in the south. In a bar-room in New Orleans, rinsing out a bad taste in my mouth.”
There’s this guy in our congregation. Part of his story is, he remembers standing in the snow with a bottle of beer in his hand, “So drunk I could hardly stand.” And as he stood there in the cold, he was staring at a Church sign across the street that said, “Unless you be born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.”
“I could not make sense of that verse so the next time I was sober I went to ask the Pastor what it meant.” And the rest, as they say, is history.
This guy is as precious as people come. Some think he’s mentally retarded. I think he just never had a proper education. He can read but didn't learn until in his late twenties. His childhood emotionally deprived.
. This guy takes steps daily to become spiritually, mentally, and emotionally clean.
. This guy meets with a small group, an accountability group on a regular basis with other guys who challenge each other toward truth and purity.
. This guy, regardless of victory or defeat is oriented toward his Lord and Saviour.
. This guy freely and openly admits his shortcomings and takes them to Jesus.
. This guy takes risks like asking - in Church - for prayer for a new job because he couldn’t support his family with the job he had - Two weeks later he had a new job with almost double the pay and benefits.
. This guy came to Jesus with nothing - absolutely nothing - no pretense - no education - no riches of any kind and today he gives away love and mercy and grace.
He is light and salt to the world. I want to be like this guy.
The last time I saw Jesus, I looked over my shoulder to the left and there he sat, with his wife and two children, dressed in t-shirt and jeans and so very in love with life. No pretending. Nothing fancy. Just humility and holiness and a longing to grow in love and purity.
There’s this guy in our congregation. Part of his story is, he remembers standing in the snow with a bottle of beer in his hand, “So drunk I could hardly stand.” And as he stood there in the cold, he was staring at a Church sign across the street that said, “Unless you be born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.”
“I could not make sense of that verse so the next time I was sober I went to ask the Pastor what it meant.” And the rest, as they say, is history.
This guy is as precious as people come. Some think he’s mentally retarded. I think he just never had a proper education. He can read but didn't learn until in his late twenties. His childhood emotionally deprived.
. This guy takes steps daily to become spiritually, mentally, and emotionally clean.
. This guy meets with a small group, an accountability group on a regular basis with other guys who challenge each other toward truth and purity.
. This guy, regardless of victory or defeat is oriented toward his Lord and Saviour.
. This guy freely and openly admits his shortcomings and takes them to Jesus.
. This guy takes risks like asking - in Church - for prayer for a new job because he couldn’t support his family with the job he had - Two weeks later he had a new job with almost double the pay and benefits.
. This guy came to Jesus with nothing - absolutely nothing - no pretense - no education - no riches of any kind and today he gives away love and mercy and grace.
He is light and salt to the world. I want to be like this guy.
The last time I saw Jesus, I looked over my shoulder to the left and there he sat, with his wife and two children, dressed in t-shirt and jeans and so very in love with life. No pretending. Nothing fancy. Just humility and holiness and a longing to grow in love and purity.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Peace!
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9
“And God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” I love that verse. Peacemakers go out of their way to heal the situation. It doesn’t matter that it isn’t fair. It doesn’t matter that the other person did wrong or even continues to do wrong. Reconciliation requires that someone do the hard thing and give peace to the other.
Of course, some might point out that we cannot give away what we do not ourselves possess. Hmm, good point. To make peace we must have peace, own peace, live peace, know peace.
“You don’t give a fuck about anybody, do you?” That line will stick with me till the day I die. Another lifetime ago, a co worker said that to me - with a tone of admiration if you can imagine.
Ah me, the pain of who I was, of who I am.
I’ve known violence. I’ve lived violence. I’ve loved violence.
While I’m a long, long way from who I want to be, need to be, this I know - Peace is not something manufactured. Nor, as the drug addicted wife abusing John Lennon once believed, is peace something that can be brought about by staying in bed for a long time.
. I now have peace because I received peace from the Author of peace.
. I now have peace because I am able to lean back into the warm and loving and protective arms of my Creator and Saviour.
. I now have peace because I know beyond all doubt that I can trust God in every area of my life.
. I now have peace because though I reside on earth, I am a citizen of heaven.
. I now have peace because I know that God will and does work in all circumstances for my good; the good of making me, little by little, more like Jesus.
What’s been broken, He restores. What’s been wounded, He heals.
. I now have peace NOT because I have it all figured out. I now have peace because I allowed my Lord and my Saviour Jesus the Christ to fill me with His peace.
“I lie down and sleep in peace, because you alone O Lord provide for my safety." Pslams
“And God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” I love that verse. Peacemakers go out of their way to heal the situation. It doesn’t matter that it isn’t fair. It doesn’t matter that the other person did wrong or even continues to do wrong. Reconciliation requires that someone do the hard thing and give peace to the other.
Of course, some might point out that we cannot give away what we do not ourselves possess. Hmm, good point. To make peace we must have peace, own peace, live peace, know peace.
“You don’t give a fuck about anybody, do you?” That line will stick with me till the day I die. Another lifetime ago, a co worker said that to me - with a tone of admiration if you can imagine.
Ah me, the pain of who I was, of who I am.
I’ve known violence. I’ve lived violence. I’ve loved violence.
While I’m a long, long way from who I want to be, need to be, this I know - Peace is not something manufactured. Nor, as the drug addicted wife abusing John Lennon once believed, is peace something that can be brought about by staying in bed for a long time.
. I now have peace because I received peace from the Author of peace.
. I now have peace because I am able to lean back into the warm and loving and protective arms of my Creator and Saviour.
. I now have peace because I know beyond all doubt that I can trust God in every area of my life.
. I now have peace because though I reside on earth, I am a citizen of heaven.
. I now have peace because I know that God will and does work in all circumstances for my good; the good of making me, little by little, more like Jesus.
What’s been broken, He restores. What’s been wounded, He heals.
. I now have peace NOT because I have it all figured out. I now have peace because I allowed my Lord and my Saviour Jesus the Christ to fill me with His peace.
“I lie down and sleep in peace, because you alone O Lord provide for my safety." Pslams
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Not In Spite Of But Because
As we enter the time of year when we celebrate the most important event in the history of the universe; the coming of God through Jesus to reconcile the world to Himself, it stuck me again, how many people still think that God would not want to have anything to do with them.
Many people think that they can’t come to God because they aren’t good enough - yet. So they try and try and try some more to become acceptable. And here, all along they could have simply relaxed for God does not love us in spite of our brokenness but because of our broken souls.
When we bring our brokenness to our Creator, when we cast our anxieties and failures onto Him, Jesus sees it as an offering. In return, Jesus freely gives to us forgiveness, grace, mercy, healing, restoration and love - God’s love, the best love in the whole universe.
Everything that we need to survive this life and cannot get on our own, God gives to us not in spite of but because of His loving desire to step into the messy and broken places of our live, so that He can heal us and bring us safely home.
Happy Holy Days - and may the comfort of His presence allow for you to experience a Merry and Joyous Christmas.
Many people think that they can’t come to God because they aren’t good enough - yet. So they try and try and try some more to become acceptable. And here, all along they could have simply relaxed for God does not love us in spite of our brokenness but because of our broken souls.
When we bring our brokenness to our Creator, when we cast our anxieties and failures onto Him, Jesus sees it as an offering. In return, Jesus freely gives to us forgiveness, grace, mercy, healing, restoration and love - God’s love, the best love in the whole universe.
Everything that we need to survive this life and cannot get on our own, God gives to us not in spite of but because of His loving desire to step into the messy and broken places of our live, so that He can heal us and bring us safely home.
Happy Holy Days - and may the comfort of His presence allow for you to experience a Merry and Joyous Christmas.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Do You Know About the Thin Places?
When Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” did you know that blessed, as it was used then meant happy, fortunate, favoured?
That’s a very confusing concept for those who believe that happiness is dependent on circumstance.
“Favoured are those who are poor in spirit because that is when the kingdom of Heaven is very, very close to them.”
Some of you will know what I’m talking about when I mention the Thin Places - The places in our day, our life when we can almost touch the other side. The thin places are those times when God’s presence is so palpable, so thick that you know beyond all doubt that there is more to life than what meets the eye. I first experienced this when one of our children died. The air was so thick with the presence of God, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a depression in the couch cushion where His presence rested. The grief and the comfort were so intertwined that they really couldn’t have been separated.
Fortunate are the broken hearted for they will see God.
Because of His time on earth in the person of Jesus, God gets it. He knows our loneliness, our emptiness and fear, our desperation and rage. From His understanding comes His compassion and blessing.
Happy are those who are desperate for God is near to them.
Atheists rage like petulant children at the sorrows of life. While the entrance of sorrow into human life was our decision, sorrow and evil do not have the last word. God draws us to Himself through life’s pain and sorrow.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy Holy Days - and may the comfort of His presence allow for you to experience a Merry and Joyous Christmas
That’s a very confusing concept for those who believe that happiness is dependent on circumstance.
“Favoured are those who are poor in spirit because that is when the kingdom of Heaven is very, very close to them.”
Some of you will know what I’m talking about when I mention the Thin Places - The places in our day, our life when we can almost touch the other side. The thin places are those times when God’s presence is so palpable, so thick that you know beyond all doubt that there is more to life than what meets the eye. I first experienced this when one of our children died. The air was so thick with the presence of God, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a depression in the couch cushion where His presence rested. The grief and the comfort were so intertwined that they really couldn’t have been separated.
Fortunate are the broken hearted for they will see God.
Because of His time on earth in the person of Jesus, God gets it. He knows our loneliness, our emptiness and fear, our desperation and rage. From His understanding comes His compassion and blessing.
Happy are those who are desperate for God is near to them.
Atheists rage like petulant children at the sorrows of life. While the entrance of sorrow into human life was our decision, sorrow and evil do not have the last word. God draws us to Himself through life’s pain and sorrow.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy Holy Days - and may the comfort of His presence allow for you to experience a Merry and Joyous Christmas
Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
I think it was C. S. Lewis who said, “It’s better to limp along the right road than to race along the wrong road.”
Jesus said, “Blessed (happy, favoured, fortunate) are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4.
I remind any and all of the people with whom I work that there is not a single pew in our congregation that is not filled with those who are struggling. A marriage has or is ending. A child is making self-destructive choices. A loved one has died. An addiction is reaching the point where it can’t be hidden any more. There are many, many reasons to mourn. Life is filled to the brim with opportunities to grieve, to mourn and to be comforted.
When our child died, for two weeks we were hardly ever alone. From about an hour after breakfast to about an hour before we turned in for the night, we were in the presence of friends. To this day, I don’t know if it was organised. It must have been, for as one friend got up to leave, another would appear. It wasn’t intrusive. Many times we went on with what needed to be done while they were simply there; talking to the other kids or reading a magazine at the kitchen table. On a couple occasions we’d say good bye to a friend and as I walked past the kitchen window, another friend was sitting down on the deck with a book. If I hadn’t greeted them, I suspect that not a word would have been said. They were just - there. For two weeks, comforters were present. It brings tears to my eyes right now just remembering the goodness and the mercy.
It is terribly difficult for those who have been led to believe that if only they would commit their lives to Jesus the Christ, all would go well in their lives.
Now, to be fair, much of the suffering that we experience comes from our own crappy choices. On the other hand, through no fault of our own, we get abandoned and ambushed by people and by life itself. Dreams turn to nightmares. What once seemed like answers now seem completely inadequate. Our pride turns to shame and embarrassment. Confidence turns to confusion and despair. Friendships have turned to hurtful gossip. Smiles have turned to tears. Numb or angry, the God we trusted is using a means of changing us that seems entirely wrong. Afraid to try again. Afraid to trust. Afraid that there’s much more hardship to come. Afraid to hope and afraid to love.
Fortunate? Favoured? Happy? Mmm, not so much. And yet it IS good. God does - something - something. And the something that He does for those willing to observe leads to thoughts like this one from the apostle Paul, “Therefore I rejoice in my suffering, in my infirmities, in weakness and insults.”
This is one of the aspects of walking through life with our Creator that is most confusing. Richard Dawkins said that he is “bewildered” by Christians because suffering seems to make them stronger. The comfort of God in the midst of our mourning is a strange and wonderful thing. No matter the loss that you’ve experienced, the hurt that you encounter, the confusion and despair that seems to come in wave after wave, the love and mercy of our Lord and Saviour is greater than it all. My prayer is that you'll let Him love you this Christmas season and forever.
Happy Holy Days - and may the comfort of His presence allow for you to experience a Merry and Joyous Christmas.
Jesus said, “Blessed (happy, favoured, fortunate) are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4.
I remind any and all of the people with whom I work that there is not a single pew in our congregation that is not filled with those who are struggling. A marriage has or is ending. A child is making self-destructive choices. A loved one has died. An addiction is reaching the point where it can’t be hidden any more. There are many, many reasons to mourn. Life is filled to the brim with opportunities to grieve, to mourn and to be comforted.
When our child died, for two weeks we were hardly ever alone. From about an hour after breakfast to about an hour before we turned in for the night, we were in the presence of friends. To this day, I don’t know if it was organised. It must have been, for as one friend got up to leave, another would appear. It wasn’t intrusive. Many times we went on with what needed to be done while they were simply there; talking to the other kids or reading a magazine at the kitchen table. On a couple occasions we’d say good bye to a friend and as I walked past the kitchen window, another friend was sitting down on the deck with a book. If I hadn’t greeted them, I suspect that not a word would have been said. They were just - there. For two weeks, comforters were present. It brings tears to my eyes right now just remembering the goodness and the mercy.
It is terribly difficult for those who have been led to believe that if only they would commit their lives to Jesus the Christ, all would go well in their lives.
Now, to be fair, much of the suffering that we experience comes from our own crappy choices. On the other hand, through no fault of our own, we get abandoned and ambushed by people and by life itself. Dreams turn to nightmares. What once seemed like answers now seem completely inadequate. Our pride turns to shame and embarrassment. Confidence turns to confusion and despair. Friendships have turned to hurtful gossip. Smiles have turned to tears. Numb or angry, the God we trusted is using a means of changing us that seems entirely wrong. Afraid to try again. Afraid to trust. Afraid that there’s much more hardship to come. Afraid to hope and afraid to love.
Fortunate? Favoured? Happy? Mmm, not so much. And yet it IS good. God does - something - something. And the something that He does for those willing to observe leads to thoughts like this one from the apostle Paul, “Therefore I rejoice in my suffering, in my infirmities, in weakness and insults.”
This is one of the aspects of walking through life with our Creator that is most confusing. Richard Dawkins said that he is “bewildered” by Christians because suffering seems to make them stronger. The comfort of God in the midst of our mourning is a strange and wonderful thing. No matter the loss that you’ve experienced, the hurt that you encounter, the confusion and despair that seems to come in wave after wave, the love and mercy of our Lord and Saviour is greater than it all. My prayer is that you'll let Him love you this Christmas season and forever.
Happy Holy Days - and may the comfort of His presence allow for you to experience a Merry and Joyous Christmas.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Losing My Religion
Many a person was raised in a home where s/he was told, “It is sufficient to know that God is supreme, a Being who issues His orders without the remotest regard to moral right; and if you question God’s authority you are in danger of blaspheming."
There is always a tendency in humans to produce an absolute authority. We then accept the authority of the Church (this is particularly true of Catholics), or of the Bible, or of a creed or statement of faith. And often we refuse to do any more thinking on the matter. In so doing we ignore the essential nature of Christianity which is based on a personal relationship with Jesus the Christ. Without this relationship we feel forced to perform “good works” based on responsibility or obligation.
Based on my faith in the redeeming work of Jesus I am saved. When God puts His Holy Spirit into me, He expects me to react on the basis of that relationship. I can evade it by dumping my responsibility on to a church or a book or a creed, forgetting what Jesus said, “Search the scriptures which testify of Me; and you will come to Me, that you might have life.”
The most effective way to understand the Scripture is not to accept them blindly, but to read then in the light of a personal, intimate and forgiven relationship with Jesus.
Happy Holy Days - and may the comfort of His presence allow for you to experience a Merry and Joyous Christmas.
There is always a tendency in humans to produce an absolute authority. We then accept the authority of the Church (this is particularly true of Catholics), or of the Bible, or of a creed or statement of faith. And often we refuse to do any more thinking on the matter. In so doing we ignore the essential nature of Christianity which is based on a personal relationship with Jesus the Christ. Without this relationship we feel forced to perform “good works” based on responsibility or obligation.
Based on my faith in the redeeming work of Jesus I am saved. When God puts His Holy Spirit into me, He expects me to react on the basis of that relationship. I can evade it by dumping my responsibility on to a church or a book or a creed, forgetting what Jesus said, “Search the scriptures which testify of Me; and you will come to Me, that you might have life.”
The most effective way to understand the Scripture is not to accept them blindly, but to read then in the light of a personal, intimate and forgiven relationship with Jesus.
Happy Holy Days - and may the comfort of His presence allow for you to experience a Merry and Joyous Christmas.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Blind Faith or Willing Submission?
Fatalism means, “MY number is up; I have to bow to the Power whether I like it or not; I do not know the character of the Power, but it is greater than I am and I must submit.”
Atheists, as I have said before, rightly or at least understandably rebel at this concept.
The submission of faith on the other hand, is that I DO know the character of the Power and it leads me to say with confidence, “Though He slay me, yet will I serve Him. I submit to the One whose character I know even thought His ways are obscured in mystery for now.”
If we are Christians, then we DO know the character of God because it has been revealed to us in the person of Jesus the Christ. “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)
Atheists, as I have said before, rightly or at least understandably rebel at this concept.
The submission of faith on the other hand, is that I DO know the character of the Power and it leads me to say with confidence, “Though He slay me, yet will I serve Him. I submit to the One whose character I know even thought His ways are obscured in mystery for now.”
If we are Christians, then we DO know the character of God because it has been revealed to us in the person of Jesus the Christ. “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Jacob the Liar
In John 1:47, Jesus of Nazareth is recorded as meeting Nathanael. Nazareth was an obscure and dirty Roman outpost full of corruption and prostitution. Upon hearing that Jesus was from Nazareth, Nathanael commented, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Poor Nathanael, unbeknownst to him, it was like saying something about your boss while she’s standing right behind you.
In a few moments Jesus “saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.” Do you get it? Israel? Nothing false?
No? Another name for Israel was Jacob and Jacob was full of falsehood. Jacob’s life was a fraud. Deceptive, deceitful, treacherous, Jacob seemed to thrive on intrigue and double-dealing. Jacob even tried to run deals with God. That means that like us, he wanted to do things his way with the sheen of God’s approval. Yet God went along with it all.
That’s what always gets me about my Creator. His endless patience. His willingness to let us bumble along and screw up what He is accomplishing through us. God takes liars and freaks and misfits of various stripes and uses us to bring good into the world. God steps into the messy places of our lives, places that we’d rather no one know about and He cleans us, and heals us and loves us like no one else in the universe.
In a few moments Jesus “saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.” Do you get it? Israel? Nothing false?
No? Another name for Israel was Jacob and Jacob was full of falsehood. Jacob’s life was a fraud. Deceptive, deceitful, treacherous, Jacob seemed to thrive on intrigue and double-dealing. Jacob even tried to run deals with God. That means that like us, he wanted to do things his way with the sheen of God’s approval. Yet God went along with it all.
That’s what always gets me about my Creator. His endless patience. His willingness to let us bumble along and screw up what He is accomplishing through us. God takes liars and freaks and misfits of various stripes and uses us to bring good into the world. God steps into the messy places of our lives, places that we’d rather no one know about and He cleans us, and heals us and loves us like no one else in the universe.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Not here, Not there, Not anywhere
And certainly not in Jerusalem. Not for one day. Not even for one hour was the body of Jesus claimed to remain in the tomb after the resurrection had taken place. Right from the beginning, enemies of Christianity insisted that the tomb was empty because, they said, the disciples had stolen the body. If they had known where the body was, they most certainly would have produced it.
The resurrection was denied but never, not once did anyone try to deny that the body of Jesus remained where He was buried.
In beautiful irony atheists howl in protest that Jesus’ biographies weren’t written the day after He was crucified. Because of that atheists say we can trust the documents. Yet, from a position of thousands of years later, atheists proffer explanations for the empty tomb and they fully expect people to believe those theories. No one at the time of Jesus’ resurrection would have dared to propose such ridiculous scenarios for these simple reasons:
a) Jesus’ followers had no opportunity, nor power, nor inclination to move the body
b) Jesus’ enemies had no reason to move the body.
c) The execution and burial took place right there in Jerusalem. Any deception would have been found out immediately.
d) That Man was as dead and any person can be. He did not walk away.
The resurrection was denied but never, not once did anyone try to deny that the body of Jesus remained where He was buried.
In beautiful irony atheists howl in protest that Jesus’ biographies weren’t written the day after He was crucified. Because of that atheists say we can trust the documents. Yet, from a position of thousands of years later, atheists proffer explanations for the empty tomb and they fully expect people to believe those theories. No one at the time of Jesus’ resurrection would have dared to propose such ridiculous scenarios for these simple reasons:
a) Jesus’ followers had no opportunity, nor power, nor inclination to move the body
b) Jesus’ enemies had no reason to move the body.
c) The execution and burial took place right there in Jerusalem. Any deception would have been found out immediately.
d) That Man was as dead and any person can be. He did not walk away.
Monday, November 2, 2009
You will be killed . . .
In Luke chapter 21 Jesus is talking about how His followers will be hated and put in prison and even killed, “but not a hair on your head will be harmed.”
Jesus says that if we follow Him we:
Will experience an abundant life
Will have joy
Will not have to worry about having our basic needs met.
Hmm, jail and death on this hand and an abundant life on that hand. Since Jesus’ followers both then and down through the ages have suffered persecution and martyrdom and all the hardships of a normal life on earth, just what kind of abundant life was He talking about?
Or, is the abundant life a natural outflow of experiencing persecution? Well, ask an atheist and s/he’d probably say that life is LESS abundant because of persecution. So would most other people. In their ignorance, atheists would call this a Biblical contradiction. Only ignorance could make such a statement. So what gives?
The abundant life about which Jesus speaks is so other-worldly, so counterintuitive that the secular world cannot possibly understand. Dawkins in particular finds it “incomprehensible” that Christians who suffer often wind up more dedicated to God than less.
The fact is, the abundant life is a gift from above. We do not get it by striving or following ritual. Just as a child who is being born has played no role in h/his conception, growth and birth, so too being “born from above,” is beyond our effort. Being “born again” brings us into a very different existence. It gives us a literal connection with another dimension whereby the things that harm “those who live on the earth” do not have the power to destroy those who belong to the kingdom of God.
Those who live on the earth believe that life can be discovered only by examining physical evidence and combining that with reason. Gaining an intimate, healed and forgiven relationship with Jesus ushers us into a different kingdom, one that exists just beyond our senses. It is received, not attained. It is supernatural, not material.
The abundance that Jesus offers is a spiritual abundance that transcends life’s circumstances. It is not dependent on wealth or health or beauty or power or relationships. The abundant life is eternal and spiritual. Because my life is in Jesus, “You can kill me but I will not die”
Jesus says that if we follow Him we:
Will experience an abundant life
Will have joy
Will not have to worry about having our basic needs met.
Hmm, jail and death on this hand and an abundant life on that hand. Since Jesus’ followers both then and down through the ages have suffered persecution and martyrdom and all the hardships of a normal life on earth, just what kind of abundant life was He talking about?
Or, is the abundant life a natural outflow of experiencing persecution? Well, ask an atheist and s/he’d probably say that life is LESS abundant because of persecution. So would most other people. In their ignorance, atheists would call this a Biblical contradiction. Only ignorance could make such a statement. So what gives?
The abundant life about which Jesus speaks is so other-worldly, so counterintuitive that the secular world cannot possibly understand. Dawkins in particular finds it “incomprehensible” that Christians who suffer often wind up more dedicated to God than less.
The fact is, the abundant life is a gift from above. We do not get it by striving or following ritual. Just as a child who is being born has played no role in h/his conception, growth and birth, so too being “born from above,” is beyond our effort. Being “born again” brings us into a very different existence. It gives us a literal connection with another dimension whereby the things that harm “those who live on the earth” do not have the power to destroy those who belong to the kingdom of God.
Those who live on the earth believe that life can be discovered only by examining physical evidence and combining that with reason. Gaining an intimate, healed and forgiven relationship with Jesus ushers us into a different kingdom, one that exists just beyond our senses. It is received, not attained. It is supernatural, not material.
The abundance that Jesus offers is a spiritual abundance that transcends life’s circumstances. It is not dependent on wealth or health or beauty or power or relationships. The abundant life is eternal and spiritual. Because my life is in Jesus, “You can kill me but I will not die”
Sunday, November 1, 2009
No Greater Love
Most people know the line. Jesus said, “No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for a friend.”
Most people think that what Jesus meant was, there is no greater love than to be willing to die for a friend. He even demonstrated this by dying on the cross, for us. Well, that’s love all right. But it isn’t the most difficult love for humans to give. The greatest and most difficult love falls under the category of dying to self; putting other people’s needs above and before your needs.
Jesus demonstrated this love when He took the role of a gentile servant, pretty much the lowest position in the land and washed the feet of his followers.
Jesus demonstrated this love when He stepped down from His throne in heaven and took upon Himself the life of a human being.
We demonstrate this love when we apologise for a wrong that we have done.
We demonstrate this love when we do a task that our partner normally does
We demonstrate this love when we take on the role of parents
We demonstrate this love when we give money to those in need instead of spending it on ourselves
We demonstrate this love when we turn off the tv or put down the book and listen to a family member
We demonstrate this love when we don’t retaliate
We demonstrate this love when a line of gossip stops with us
We demonstrate this love when we give of our selves, our time and our money.
We demonstrate this love when we shut down a sexual fantasy, do good to our enemy, pray for those who seek to harm us, when we love the Lord our God with all of our hearth, soul, mind and strength.
Most people think that what Jesus meant was, there is no greater love than to be willing to die for a friend. He even demonstrated this by dying on the cross, for us. Well, that’s love all right. But it isn’t the most difficult love for humans to give. The greatest and most difficult love falls under the category of dying to self; putting other people’s needs above and before your needs.
Jesus demonstrated this love when He took the role of a gentile servant, pretty much the lowest position in the land and washed the feet of his followers.
Jesus demonstrated this love when He stepped down from His throne in heaven and took upon Himself the life of a human being.
We demonstrate this love when we apologise for a wrong that we have done.
We demonstrate this love when we do a task that our partner normally does
We demonstrate this love when we take on the role of parents
We demonstrate this love when we give money to those in need instead of spending it on ourselves
We demonstrate this love when we turn off the tv or put down the book and listen to a family member
We demonstrate this love when we don’t retaliate
We demonstrate this love when a line of gossip stops with us
We demonstrate this love when we give of our selves, our time and our money.
We demonstrate this love when we shut down a sexual fantasy, do good to our enemy, pray for those who seek to harm us, when we love the Lord our God with all of our hearth, soul, mind and strength.
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