the Way, the Truth, and the Life

In "Vintage Jesus" Mark Driscoll titles a chapter "Where is Jesus Today?" I almost skipped over it at the time, because I did not care to strap a GPS on Jesus. He's in heaven, right, end of story? Dr iscoll makes a statement in the chapter that pops up a couple times. He says: Sadly, when many people think of Jesus they only understand his past humble incarnation and neglect his current glorious exaltation. (pg. 149) I found this to be very refreshing and helpful. To walk away understanding the full portrait the Word speaks of itself is to find the classic story of the King amongst His peasants . This romanticized tale that is common helps me now to appreciate the power of Christ in the present. It has been said thousands of times in thousands of ways, but the fact that God humbled Himself and took on flesh is a wonderful expression of True Love. But where I find the story missing its fullness, and where it rightly comes up short, is when we leave out that t...

I just finished "Vintage Jesus" by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears today. I have to say that I was surprised by the content and the frankness of the book in general. For as little as I had known about Mark before the book, which was what I'm sure the average person knows (a hothead preacher who spits venom and is only awake at night in order to stay away from the sun), the book was solid. Questions were the titles of all chapters, and thus he set out to answer those questions. Very straight forward. As a great apologetic tool as well as Christology , Vintage surprised me with the explanations to almost all questions. The most important message to take home from the book is biblical supremacy. Mark and Gerry do not shy away from first saying what God tells us, and then from there drawing either contemporary or ancient ideas to compare with the Word of God. Mark uses examples from all around our culture without covering up who our culture thinks Jesus is. I enjoyed this...

I write about sin because I'm told I am sinful (Romans 3:23). Then, I come to realize that I'm not just being told this, but I find myself to be sinful (Romans 7:14). Then, I am reassured by the Lord, the comforter , the actual Saviour that it is He who grants the power and ability to break free from this sin I now realize that I struggle with (Romans 7:24-25; 1 John 2:1-2). Where I am often scared and rightfully fearful is afterward; when will this happen again? I should claim victory and rest in the sacrificial blood spilled by Christ. It is over, it is finished, the matter is so done with that when Christ speaks on my behalf to God, God ends up freeing me from any accusation ( Colossians 1:22). That is worth thanking enough. It is worth becoming my motivation, that He has completely forgiven me so that I can be at peace afterwards and continue living for Him. But my fear of repetition aches me. I understand grace, so if I have been given what I do not deserve, why...

Short and sweet, but here is a thought that has come to mind as I continue on through new Life. There is always talk about the religious of the religious, the saints if you will. These are the exemplary of the bunch of us sinners, supposedly models of Christ likeness demonstrated at the highest level we sinners can achieve. Perhaps more humbly, those of us who just fell in love better than others. There is also talk of those of us who are the religious of the religious in another sense, the legalistic approach. Those of us sinners who have truly despised sin so much that they take extra lengths of measure to separate themselves from sin while in the world (as if God had not distanced them far enough from sin when they excepted the blood of Christ). In both cases it is a matter of the true pew fillers over those who are simply warming the bench. The religious of the religious. Both have their immediate and visible impact on the church as they are the active or busy bees humming around a...

The hint I gave in my last posting in regards to De Roulet's book "Finding Your Plot in a Plotless World" was a lousy cover up. I mentioned that God wants me to look around myself and not at myself. By doing so, I look at others. I realize that after you look at God long enough, as I have my entire life being raised a churchgoer, eventually He starts nudging at you, with a body motion that snaps the head with raised eyebrows, and while standing, motions you towards something other than Him. That is why Christ gave us the second greatest commandment after the first, because some had been doing a rather good job at only focusing on God and not others. By the time he ends the book, De Roulet has fixated the reader from "what now do I do with God and myself" to "what now do I do with God and others?" Through some wonderful illustrations De Roulet makes clear that in the times of little to no hope, or not to even go that far but simply the mundane,...

I just finished an excellent book entitled "Finding Your Plot in a Plotless World" by Daniel de Roulet . The title is self explanatory , but my best insight would be it is a "Purpose Driven Life" for people who realized the intentions were well, but the practicality is somewhat hard to grasp in such a violent, tipsy world. I want to write about this book later, after it soaks in a lot more, but I mention it here just to set up where I am at in life. I understand fully that Christ is worth believing in, but at times I feel as though I am believing in something that I get warm and fuzzy with and that is it. I can be very sure that I am maturing in action as well, but it seems cloudy, as if I am cutting through fog before I can reach a better understanding of how to react to the situations I face in life. If it is a random conversation about music taste, to an actual personal encounter with someone in need, there is a right and wrong choice, supposedly , to make...

To go with the flow is ever so easy and to stay in the current is but no hard task, once caught, you try hard to jump out, only after your eyes have opened at last But for many the choice is not made, carelessly accepting where the current goes, for the current is so strong, it can't be wrong, at least this is what was thought to be so No attempt is made to understand, only excepting what they feed you through their hands, what if there were another? this hand outstretched with all the power from a Father Many have gone by Him down the river, many have simply gone under and drowned, their expressions of pleasure for the moment have failed to notice Him standing on the side, crowned What if the Truth was held out to help you, would you allow Him to have a chance? do all the questions seem so overwhelming, as if they were there to counter act this Son of Man? Since they are, you might as well forget them, for they have no purpose in His kingdom, because no matter how fast that curren...