Archives For November 30, 1999

Barbs

March 1, 2011 — Leave a comment

I wear contact lenses.

If you wear them, you know what it’s like to get a speck in your eye.  Annoying.

It bugs to no end: eyes water, nose runs, constant eye rubbing, continual blinking, mumbling to yourself, people asking “are you OK?”, life is miserable for a bit, …the list goes on.

In fact, a while back I had something in my eye and tried to simply deal with it – to get by without addressing it.  Needless to say, it was a long day.  Everyone noticed I was “bugged” and yet I pretended like everything was OK.

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Susan B., Sardis, & Me

February 15, 2011 — Leave a comment

“Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation or social standards never can bring about reform.”

– Susan B. Anthony

In Sunday School this quarter, we’ve been studying the letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation.  This past week, we looked at the letter to Sardis – a church that seemed OK on the outside; but was, for the most part, different on the inside.  A church that was asleep, possibly complacent, just seeking “to fit in and not offend”, or, as a John MacArthur article I read put it, “[Sardis] had disintegrated and was now dead. It was suffering from dry rot while going through the motions of worship and activity.”

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BOOM!

November 9, 2010 — Leave a comment

He has cheated
Hell and seated
Us above the fall
In desperate places
He paid our wages
One time once and for all

I always get chills when I hear this song…and am filled with immense gratitude.

“Mats”

August 5, 2010 — 2 Comments

I was reading John chapter five yesterday and verse ten jumped out at me:

…the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”

In this passage, Jesus had healed a man who had been lame for 38 years and told him to, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” – and so he did.

The fact is, the “mat-carrying” offense that the Jewish Leaders accused the man of wasn’t really violating a command from God.  From the ESV Study Bible,

Nothing in the OT specifically prohibited such an innocent activity as carrying one’s bedroll on the Sabbath day (cf. Ex. 20:8–11), but the man was violating later Jewish traditions that had developed hundreds of minutely detailed and burdensome rules about what kind of “work” was prohibited, including a code that forbade carrying an object “from one domain into another” (Mishnah, Shabbat 7.2). [my emphasis and link added]

As I read this passage, the thing that got me was the traditions and rules that the church (i.e., me, you, us together) has often set up – even canonized – as though they were commands from God Himself.  We apply or append our “criteria” for appropriate or proper Christian or God “honoring” or “obeying” behavior to that which is from God’s Word – which really puts us in God’s position as Law and Grace-Giver (John 1:16-17) and Righteous Judge (Romans 2:1-3).  […which by the way is a “non-mat” offense.]

Certainly, I’m not excusing sin or behavior that is contrary to what God’s Word calls us to as those who would honor and worship Him.  My point is that we (the Church) too often worry about “mat-carrying” things – which are not even of concern to God, according to or in light of His Word.

I confess guilt here.  I need to do better.

I read this yesterday and it’s been ruminating ever since:

Because he [Jesus] himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 2:18

The thing that hit me was how I (and maybe you) often under appreciate the fact that Jesus was tempted while on earth.

After I read that verse, I jumped to Matthew 4:1-11 and re-read the passage where Jesus was led in to the desert to be tempted by Satan.

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The Gravity of Sin

March 30, 2010 — Leave a comment

This week, I’m re-reading / listening to John Piper’s “Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die“.

This hit hard:

“Sin is dishonoring God by preferring other things over Him.  Sin is not small, because it is not against a small Sovereign.  The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted.  The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty.  Therefore, failure to love Him is not trivial—it is treason.  Since God is just, He does not sweep these crimes under the rug of the universe.

‘[God] loved us and sent his Son to be the [wrath-absorbing] propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)'”

-John Piper

Washed

January 26, 2010 — Leave a comment

Yesterday, Karen and I were looking out our hotel window and she pointed out that all the footprints that littered the beach were gone – washed away by the surf.

It reminded me of how our sin is washed away as we live out 1 John 1:9 – initially as we receive salvation and then in relationship with God and with one another:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

It also brought to mind lyrics from Brooke Fraser’s Hosanna:

I see His Love and Mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

Hosanna hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

x

Father,

Thank you for the tangible reminders of your undeserved mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  Thank you for the promise of a clean slate – for second chances – all at no great price paid by me other than acknowledging my sin to You.  Your Son graciously paid the price for me on the cross – may I appreciate His sacrifice all the more as I confess my sin.  Quicken my mind to keep short accounts with you – confessing that which You already know and are so ready to forgive and forget.

amen.

Last Monday, I wrote a post called “Two Visuals: One Cool, One Scary.”  The scary visual was a bible verse where we see a visual of what sin looks like to God:

Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against You and cast Your law behind their back. Nehemiah 9:26 [ESV]

In this verse, we see that when we sin, we effectively take God’s Word in our hands…and toss it…with disregard…over our shoulder…behind our back (just as the Israelites did).  Truly scary.  Having this image of sin won’t keep us from sinning (it’s our nature), but it may help us make a decision when faced with a choice.

If this image were the end of the story, well...

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bblvizJust thought I would share two visuals from last week…

The Cool!

I am always looking for cool backgrounds for church and was looking through my “finds” last week and saw the one to the right.  A while ago, I StumbledUpon this site that had a “visual” of the Bible and its linkages.  Visually, it is pretty cool – seeing the rainbows of colors and their interconnectedness.  But…if it ended there, it would be just another interesting image.  The truth of the “coolness” is that this picture represents God’s Awesome Word!

As faithfacts.org puts it:

“…the Bible contains 66 books, written by approximately 40 different writers, over 1600 years, on 3 different continents, in 3 different languages, on thousands of different subjects, yet with one central theme-God’s redemption of mankind from sin won for the whole world by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

The story behind the image is interesting (and sure, you could do this to many other books, including other works related to world religions); but, it is so much more than just a neat image with and cool back-story about how it was made.  WOW!!!!

BTW, there are some other cool visualizations on this person’s site…check them out!

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sinThere is a laboratory where I work that does research on “extreme deformation and failure of materials and structures.” That’s basically a scientific way of saying that they blow stuff up to see its limits and recommend solutions.  I know, pretty cool! I’ve been to the test range, but they weren’t testing at the time – maybe someday.  The scientists and staff there do some pretty cool research that saves lives of people in a number of situations.

So that is the Explosions part – now on to Tori…

I was surfing iTunes last night and saw that Tori Amos‘ new CD is called Abnormally Attracted to Sin.  Intrigued by the CD title, I did a Google search and found an interview where she talked about her new CD (whose title is a line from Guys and Dolls) and the impetus behind it.  Interesting article – here are some excerpts:

I’m drawn to questioning what traditional authorities have defined sin to be. As a minister’s daughter, I’ve been exposed to the traditional belief system. [Sin] has been used to shame and control people. If you’re controlled by a religious structure, then you’re going to have a very different outlook on life and what you’re open to than if you’re not controlled by these old, crumbling concepts.

I guess I was never a Bible-thumping Christian; I was always trying to question because I had so much religion in my upbringing. I was drawn to those people and those ideas that weren’t accepted necessarily, and it’s not because these ideas in reality are “evil” — that’s just the perception that’s being given. The reality I was brought up in was, “Anything that doesn’t work within the Christian doctrine is sinful.” And that’s a lot of stuff.”

My thoughts – combining both (I write this directed toward Christ followers…me most of all!  I will not pass judgment on Tori or others who ascribe to her line of thinking.):

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