The B I B L E...

It's so easy for me having grown up in evangelicalism to only think of the Bible in religious or spiritual terms. Books are books, but when it comes to the Word of God it always seems to take on something entirely different in my head. The reality is that it IS a book, a very peculiar book that makes historical claims that have an affect on every aspect of life. Jesus - a man foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament, born of a virgin, killed by skilled Roman executioners, (no messing around, you didn't get crucified and live...) and raised from the dead, after which he appeared to many witnesses. It's history, and I recommend strongly that everyone put its claims to the test. If Jesus was raised from death as this collection of reports claims, it has implications for all men. Namely: Death is not the end, God is able to raise the dead, and the same God that raised Jesus Christ will raise every human being from the grave on the last day. And we will all stand before the living God of the universe and answer for what we have done. We are not able to stand before a perfect and just God without paying for the sins we have committed against his law. Ever lied? I have. Every stolen anything? I have. How bout coveting other peoples stuff? Guilty here, pretty sure you are too. How do I pay a perfect God back for all the times I've broken his law without any regard for the fact that I owe him the very breath that I breathe? I can't. Thanks be to God that he sent his Son to pay the penalty for those who would throw themselves on his mercy. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you WILL be saved. God has promised it, and the proof that he will fulfill his promises is the reality that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and raised from the dead. We owe everything to the one who created us, because without him we would have nothing. And we go through our days largely ignoring the fact and barely (if ever) thanking him for it all. Without someone stepping into the breach between us and the God that most of the time hardly crosses our minds we would have no hope. The wrath of God will be poured out on the ungodly. We are the ungodly. We must hide in Christ, cry out to God for mercy based on the sacrifice of his perfect Son.

Believe. Believe that Jesus Christ is who he says he is. Not because I tell you to, and not because you feel good about the whole thing, but because He is raised. The tomb is empty, and we have to deal with that.

Oh the precious word of God above,

That tells us of his matchless love.

I look to him 'till my last breath,

though him alone I'm free from death.

Read the Bible.

Haiti...

There were some present at that very time who told him (Jesus) about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:1-5 ESV)

All have sinned so all die. Death waits for every one of us, many Haitians have experienced it and are experiencing it in a devastating and saddening way. We will all die. We all deserve to die. We all deserve not only the physical death but spiritual death in hell. We can't escape the former, but there's a way to escape the latter. Repent and turn the Christ - the time is short.

My prayers go out to Haiti tonite...

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

I've been thinking a lot about the past tonight and I'm really astounded at how much God has done in my life and continues to do. I still know that without the loving discipline of the Holy Spirit I would forsake social morality out of my own insatiable desires. I walked in the passions of my flesh for so long with not a worry, and I don't for a second imagine that I'm not still capable. Without God, there is no one to serve but me. Even acknowledging God exists is not enough - we are all capable of deceiving ourselves and suppressing the truth just enough to remain comfortable in all the sinful stuff that we consider fun. I love God because first loved me. Not the other way around. It's not as if God was waiting around for me to go "OK i'm done with this scene, think I'll give God a try". Had God not wrought a work in me I would still be where I was. More than likely a whole lot worse. And if God where to abandon me tonight I have no doubts that I'd plunge myself headlong back into the slime of my former life without a hesitation. Thanks be to God that He's promised not to do that. Thanks be to God that he sent his Son to live a perfect life on this earth and then to be nailed to a wooden cross to pay for my filth. And then to raise him from death on that glorious Sunday as proof that he will raise those that are his. It's incredible.

My heart's desire is to know and love God. The God who's not defined by me or my wants. The God that IS. But not because I'm better than anyone. Not because I have some spark of good in me that seeks to know the truth. But because God out of his tremendous mercy has called me out of the darkness and into his glorious light. I'm a weak, feeble, cowardly sinner with nothing to offer. Not one thing. But I've been given everything.

You know what?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Pro 1:7 ESV)

If you don't know God, you don't know anything. Because nothing has purpose without the God who made it all for a reason. Doesn't matter how smart or intelligent or learned you are - if you don't know the reason for the stuff you know then you don't really know it.

Living without the knowledge of why you're here or why anything at all exists is purposeless. No matter what the goal of your life, if it's not in line with the goals of the Almighty you will fail. Be it true happiness, wealth, nirvana, or whatever it is you're chasing it will all come to naught. Why are we here? The only way to know that is to know what God had in mind when He put it all together, and why He continues to hold it all together.

If God does not exist and everything is just a random chance, a one in a million flash in the pan - then your life is pointless.

"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." (Psalm 2:12 ESV)