I have really been digging this song lately. And it is such a great representation of the Gospel. Love it.
You won't need a dime to board in the master's house
You won't need a dime to board in the master's house
'Cause he'll sell you a thousand for a hundred
And tell you the rest is on loan
Until you try to build a house of your own
You owe every crossbeam and stone
You won't need a dime
You won't need a tool to work in the master's field
You won't need a tool to work in the master's field
'Cause he'll tell you that work is beneath you
'Till your shirt is hanging off like a sheet
'Till suddenly the work of your hands
Is just keeping out of well-laid plans
You won't need a tool
You won't need a sin to pray in the master's church
You won't need a sin to pray in the master's church
Every reason he gives you to fall at his feet and be saved
For wars that his grandfathers waged
How easily the heart of man is tamed
You won't need a sin
You won't need a guide to find the master's door
You won't need a guide to find the master's door
'Cause everyone who's gone before you
Has been pounding it down to the floor
While we were plotting his end
He bought all our land and moved in
You won't need a guide
'Cause the master rules where the master divides
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Rewind: Week Three
Wow. Three weeks? Really? That time has seriously flown by. This morning was the third Sunday service at Coram Deo that I have been able to attend since I have been here. Kendal was preaching on worship and what it should mean to us. His message was that we do not need to learn how to worship, but how to worship God. The biggest problem with our struggles in worshipping God is that we are placing something other than God as ultimate in our life. We all have a god. The problem is the object we worship. He said that for Christians, worship is the act of ascribing ultimate worth to God in such a way that engages our whole being. And we do this through a Gospel-centered life that comes through community and rhythmical living, intentionally pursuing and incorporating Truth in our lives. Worshipping God is the only thing that doesn't distort our lives because he reorients us and fulfills our joy to its most complete level. I really enjoyed his sermon.
There was a guest in the congregation this morning as well. JD Senkbile was one of the people who helped to start Coram Deo four years ago. Since then, he has gone on to move himself and his family to Capetown, South Africa where he now lives as a missionary for the Gospel. He updated us all on what has been happening over there since he arrived. It was really neat to hear his stories and learn about how God is moving over there right now. And it was nice to finally put a face to the name of the guy I've heard so much about. This next year, he and his wife will probably be embarking upon a journey of planting a new church there through the Acts 29 organization. So be in prayer for them in that.
I have been listening to a lot of sermons during my time here in Omaha, mostly from Matt Chandler and John Piper, and I have noticed that they love to underscore the fact that we are all completely hopeless and worthless sinners outside of a relationship with Jesus. Without Christ in our lives, we are all condemned to hell. But the beautiful avenue of hope that exists in our world is that we were created for a relationship with our Heavenly Father and to worship Christ for the sacrifice he made for us. What is interesting to me is how simple the Gospel really is in theory. We are to emulate the character of Jesus, worship the Lord our God with all our heart and soul, and love our neighbors as ourselves. However, these simple commands are so difficult in practice as we begin to stumble over the realization of our hopelessness in breaking the chains that have enslaved us to sin. The challenge is growing in our respect for the holiness of God while simultaneously deepening our understanding of the sins that plague our character. A healthy growth in Christ should not lead to us feeling better about ourselves. Rather, it should lead to a deepening sense of love and worship for God as he hollows out the rotten portions of our lives in order to fill them with his purpose. We should become less dependent on our own abilities in light of our sins and more dependent on God to cleanse us of them and use them for his glory. Paul understood this well and there is a verse in 1 Timothy in which he underscores this point plainly:
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."
1 Timothy 1:15-16
I find a lot of encouragement in these words. The fact that Christ Jesus has unlimited patience towards the sins of those who trust in him and receive a relationship with him gives me sincere hope. But what strikes me most about this passage is Paul's description of himself as "the worst of sinners." I mean, when it comes to the New Testament, this guy is THE man. In fact, when it comes to any influential ambassador of the Word of God, Paul has the gold medal. He was deeper in his faith, understanding, and love for the person of Jesus than most of us could ever hope to be. He could cast out demons with mere words and he had the power to heal those crippled by disease and physical ailments. And in response to all of this, he considers himself "the worst of sinners." This passage emulates a Gospel to me that is so often overlooked in our culture. People think that a relationship with Christ is supposed to make you feel better about yourself and that reading the Bible will be a self-esteem boost. But I would suggest that if you think the Bible is supposed to improve your perception of yourself, you have no idea what the Bible really says.
God's Word is Truth. And truth hurts. It serves to remind us that Christ came into this world to die on the cross for our sins so that we might enter into a relationship with him that would bring us into an eternal place of worship and glorifying him for loving us. We do not deserve it and we cannot earn it by any means of effort or perceived obedience because "our righteous acts are like filthy rags" before the feet of the Lord (Isaiah 64:6). It is not about religion. The Gospel is a relationship. And as we grow in that relationship, we realize more and more how wicked a people we are because we grow in our understanding of God's perfection and holiness. But I feel sorry for those who forget God's forgiveness for our sins. How easily we forget these Truths as believers. And I am saying this in light of a scripture I happened over in the last couple of days. I cannot tell you how many times I have read this without it sinking in to my heart. But it speaks directly to our relationship with our sins after we have begun our relationship with Christ. And that goes for any sin, cyclical or not.
"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sin against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."
2 Corinthians 5:16-19
How do we miss this? How have I glanced over this Truth without it ever speaking to my heart? Or more specifically, how have I read this without understanding how it translates directly to my sins? When we enter into a relationship with Christ, we are a "new creation." Therefore, whatever sin has haunted your life, it is part of the past. Whatever pain has defined the person you are has since come to pass. You are not your sin. You are not your pain. You are a child of God. Moreover, God sent his Son to die for us so that we might be reconciled to him. His primary objective was not even to punish us for our sins! For a humanity drowning in evil, how loving a demonstration is this by the God who created us? How gracious is he that we would be permitted to live in this life even in our wicked state of continual disobedience? Life is a journey through which we are given opportunities to experience the Gospel with every breath in every day. When we enter into a relationship with Christ, we are incorporated into his story and are given opportunities through which we can allow others to see and experience the Gospel with our lives. It is so important that we spend our energy to learn these Truths and receive them in such a way so as to share them with others. By receiving Christ's forgiveness of our sins and allowing him to change our hearts in such a way that we become a new creation in him and rest in the grace that our sins are not counted against us, we become living vessels of God's word in order that the lost might experience the hope found in Jesus' sacrifice. Because the purpose of the Gospel is not to make us feel better about ourselves. In fact, the purpose of the Gospel is simply to emphasize the fact that it is not about us at all.
For me, that is a comforting feeling. Because I know from previous times in my life that when I try to make my life about me and do things on my own, I always disappoint myself. It is comforting to let go. There is peace in giving up. And there is so much life to be found in discarding our own ideas of what will give us joy and worth. Truth should be our ambition. Know it. Pray for it. Share it. Because this is who we are.
His Story.
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will to suffer for doing good than evil."
1 Peter 3:15-17
There was a guest in the congregation this morning as well. JD Senkbile was one of the people who helped to start Coram Deo four years ago. Since then, he has gone on to move himself and his family to Capetown, South Africa where he now lives as a missionary for the Gospel. He updated us all on what has been happening over there since he arrived. It was really neat to hear his stories and learn about how God is moving over there right now. And it was nice to finally put a face to the name of the guy I've heard so much about. This next year, he and his wife will probably be embarking upon a journey of planting a new church there through the Acts 29 organization. So be in prayer for them in that.
I have been listening to a lot of sermons during my time here in Omaha, mostly from Matt Chandler and John Piper, and I have noticed that they love to underscore the fact that we are all completely hopeless and worthless sinners outside of a relationship with Jesus. Without Christ in our lives, we are all condemned to hell. But the beautiful avenue of hope that exists in our world is that we were created for a relationship with our Heavenly Father and to worship Christ for the sacrifice he made for us. What is interesting to me is how simple the Gospel really is in theory. We are to emulate the character of Jesus, worship the Lord our God with all our heart and soul, and love our neighbors as ourselves. However, these simple commands are so difficult in practice as we begin to stumble over the realization of our hopelessness in breaking the chains that have enslaved us to sin. The challenge is growing in our respect for the holiness of God while simultaneously deepening our understanding of the sins that plague our character. A healthy growth in Christ should not lead to us feeling better about ourselves. Rather, it should lead to a deepening sense of love and worship for God as he hollows out the rotten portions of our lives in order to fill them with his purpose. We should become less dependent on our own abilities in light of our sins and more dependent on God to cleanse us of them and use them for his glory. Paul understood this well and there is a verse in 1 Timothy in which he underscores this point plainly:
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."
1 Timothy 1:15-16
I find a lot of encouragement in these words. The fact that Christ Jesus has unlimited patience towards the sins of those who trust in him and receive a relationship with him gives me sincere hope. But what strikes me most about this passage is Paul's description of himself as "the worst of sinners." I mean, when it comes to the New Testament, this guy is THE man. In fact, when it comes to any influential ambassador of the Word of God, Paul has the gold medal. He was deeper in his faith, understanding, and love for the person of Jesus than most of us could ever hope to be. He could cast out demons with mere words and he had the power to heal those crippled by disease and physical ailments. And in response to all of this, he considers himself "the worst of sinners." This passage emulates a Gospel to me that is so often overlooked in our culture. People think that a relationship with Christ is supposed to make you feel better about yourself and that reading the Bible will be a self-esteem boost. But I would suggest that if you think the Bible is supposed to improve your perception of yourself, you have no idea what the Bible really says.
God's Word is Truth. And truth hurts. It serves to remind us that Christ came into this world to die on the cross for our sins so that we might enter into a relationship with him that would bring us into an eternal place of worship and glorifying him for loving us. We do not deserve it and we cannot earn it by any means of effort or perceived obedience because "our righteous acts are like filthy rags" before the feet of the Lord (Isaiah 64:6). It is not about religion. The Gospel is a relationship. And as we grow in that relationship, we realize more and more how wicked a people we are because we grow in our understanding of God's perfection and holiness. But I feel sorry for those who forget God's forgiveness for our sins. How easily we forget these Truths as believers. And I am saying this in light of a scripture I happened over in the last couple of days. I cannot tell you how many times I have read this without it sinking in to my heart. But it speaks directly to our relationship with our sins after we have begun our relationship with Christ. And that goes for any sin, cyclical or not.
"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sin against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."
2 Corinthians 5:16-19
How do we miss this? How have I glanced over this Truth without it ever speaking to my heart? Or more specifically, how have I read this without understanding how it translates directly to my sins? When we enter into a relationship with Christ, we are a "new creation." Therefore, whatever sin has haunted your life, it is part of the past. Whatever pain has defined the person you are has since come to pass. You are not your sin. You are not your pain. You are a child of God. Moreover, God sent his Son to die for us so that we might be reconciled to him. His primary objective was not even to punish us for our sins! For a humanity drowning in evil, how loving a demonstration is this by the God who created us? How gracious is he that we would be permitted to live in this life even in our wicked state of continual disobedience? Life is a journey through which we are given opportunities to experience the Gospel with every breath in every day. When we enter into a relationship with Christ, we are incorporated into his story and are given opportunities through which we can allow others to see and experience the Gospel with our lives. It is so important that we spend our energy to learn these Truths and receive them in such a way so as to share them with others. By receiving Christ's forgiveness of our sins and allowing him to change our hearts in such a way that we become a new creation in him and rest in the grace that our sins are not counted against us, we become living vessels of God's word in order that the lost might experience the hope found in Jesus' sacrifice. Because the purpose of the Gospel is not to make us feel better about ourselves. In fact, the purpose of the Gospel is simply to emphasize the fact that it is not about us at all.
For me, that is a comforting feeling. Because I know from previous times in my life that when I try to make my life about me and do things on my own, I always disappoint myself. It is comforting to let go. There is peace in giving up. And there is so much life to be found in discarding our own ideas of what will give us joy and worth. Truth should be our ambition. Know it. Pray for it. Share it. Because this is who we are.
His Story.
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will to suffer for doing good than evil."
1 Peter 3:15-17
Friday, June 26, 2009
You Like Reading Leviticus...?
I'm sorry to post a new entry so late, but this week has been very busy. Between landscaping, working at the office, going to World Series games, and trying to find time to sleep, I just have not had the opportunity to truly sit down and think through a new post. So I will do the best I can with my free moment.
Yesterday, I spent the day landscaping at Greenlife and I think it is safe to say that I sweat more during that time than any other day in my life. There was not a cloud in the sky and, if you ask me, the heat index was approaching somewhere near the 978 degree mark. Needless to say, it was a scorcher. And I am absolutely spent from the energy standpoint. On a lighter note, I had the exciting opportunity to attend two of the three finals games for the College Baseball World Series. Game 2 was fantastic because it was a Longhorn victory. But Wednesday was a dark, dark day for Longhorn baseball. So, in light of that, I have a great idea...we're not going to talk about the game and what happened. Okay? Good. But this video is for the Duhons if they are reading ;-)
This is a really bad transition, but I'm too tired to worry about it. So here we go. One of the lessons that have been impressed upon me lately is my realization of how careless I am in the way I approach God. In reading through the Old Testament, I see God's wrath consuming people after people for their carelessness with Him. I am reading Numbers right now and in chapter sixteen, God uses the earth to swallow up the lives of rebellious Israelites and He sets forth a plague that kills nearly 15,000 rebels before Aaron is able to make atonement for them. The underlying point? God is not to be followed/approached carelessly. But this is a perspective that causes reading the Old Testament to become difficult. As a society, we always focus on the negative. We cannot see past the blood, pain, and suffering. Skeptics love to take away the legitimacy behind the existence of a loving and caring God by pointing at tragedy and screaming, "Where is your God in that?" Because if God were loving, He would never let that happen.
The problem with this idea is that God is not simply loving. He is also just. The Bible makes it clear that we are naturally sinners (Ephesians 2). It is built into our DNA. And God, being just, created hell as a place of eternal separation and punishment for our sins. Because God is completely holy and sin does not belong with Him. But God, in his great and abounding love, has offered us forgiveness and death to our transgressions. Even though our sins are, in effect, murderous to His name, He offers us redemption from them. Moreover, He sent His only Son to die the most horrific and bloody death imaginable so that we might have life. And He did this "while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8) - while we were His enemies. Now I am not downplaying the pain felt in loss. It is sincere. And if I felt death in a close manner, I too would be prone to questioning God's methods. But the fact that we focus on the negatives of this world to conclude that God, who can function outside of the limits of our world, has not acted lovingly is completely unreasonable. The loss of a pet, resource, relationship, or even the tragedy of the Holocaust does not outweigh or take away the legitimacy of the love God extends (present tense) to us in offering us a relationship with Him that saves us from ETERNAL DAMNATION. September 11th was a terrible tragedy that shook me to the core. We saw death through a raw and uncensored lens and we struggle to find God in that. But how about the thousands of flights God lovingly kept from being hijacked in the years prior to that day? How gracious is He in protecting us? How merciful is He in blessing us? He gets no credit and every single bit of the blame.
I think this is how many people read the Old Testament, myself included. God pours out His wrath and kills many people, yes. But to how many does He extend His grace so they might live? In comparison, death in the Old Testament is a fraction to the life that thrives. But we cannot get past the blood, pain, and suffering. We cannot get past the fact that God punishes. He rescues the Israelites from slavery, delivers them from the hands of death, sets forth a ritualistic method for atonement of sins, provides for every need, and promises them a home in "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Numbers 14:8), and we discount the presence of God's love because He disciplines them for complaining and rebelling in spite of it all? I do not see the logic behind that. For the first time now, I get the other side. I am reading the Old Testament and seeing God's grace even in His wrath.
And that is a beautiful thing.
Peace - C.H.
Yesterday, I spent the day landscaping at Greenlife and I think it is safe to say that I sweat more during that time than any other day in my life. There was not a cloud in the sky and, if you ask me, the heat index was approaching somewhere near the 978 degree mark. Needless to say, it was a scorcher. And I am absolutely spent from the energy standpoint. On a lighter note, I had the exciting opportunity to attend two of the three finals games for the College Baseball World Series. Game 2 was fantastic because it was a Longhorn victory. But Wednesday was a dark, dark day for Longhorn baseball. So, in light of that, I have a great idea...we're not going to talk about the game and what happened. Okay? Good. But this video is for the Duhons if they are reading ;-)
This is a really bad transition, but I'm too tired to worry about it. So here we go. One of the lessons that have been impressed upon me lately is my realization of how careless I am in the way I approach God. In reading through the Old Testament, I see God's wrath consuming people after people for their carelessness with Him. I am reading Numbers right now and in chapter sixteen, God uses the earth to swallow up the lives of rebellious Israelites and He sets forth a plague that kills nearly 15,000 rebels before Aaron is able to make atonement for them. The underlying point? God is not to be followed/approached carelessly. But this is a perspective that causes reading the Old Testament to become difficult. As a society, we always focus on the negative. We cannot see past the blood, pain, and suffering. Skeptics love to take away the legitimacy behind the existence of a loving and caring God by pointing at tragedy and screaming, "Where is your God in that?" Because if God were loving, He would never let that happen.
The problem with this idea is that God is not simply loving. He is also just. The Bible makes it clear that we are naturally sinners (Ephesians 2). It is built into our DNA. And God, being just, created hell as a place of eternal separation and punishment for our sins. Because God is completely holy and sin does not belong with Him. But God, in his great and abounding love, has offered us forgiveness and death to our transgressions. Even though our sins are, in effect, murderous to His name, He offers us redemption from them. Moreover, He sent His only Son to die the most horrific and bloody death imaginable so that we might have life. And He did this "while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8) - while we were His enemies. Now I am not downplaying the pain felt in loss. It is sincere. And if I felt death in a close manner, I too would be prone to questioning God's methods. But the fact that we focus on the negatives of this world to conclude that God, who can function outside of the limits of our world, has not acted lovingly is completely unreasonable. The loss of a pet, resource, relationship, or even the tragedy of the Holocaust does not outweigh or take away the legitimacy of the love God extends (present tense) to us in offering us a relationship with Him that saves us from ETERNAL DAMNATION. September 11th was a terrible tragedy that shook me to the core. We saw death through a raw and uncensored lens and we struggle to find God in that. But how about the thousands of flights God lovingly kept from being hijacked in the years prior to that day? How gracious is He in protecting us? How merciful is He in blessing us? He gets no credit and every single bit of the blame.
I think this is how many people read the Old Testament, myself included. God pours out His wrath and kills many people, yes. But to how many does He extend His grace so they might live? In comparison, death in the Old Testament is a fraction to the life that thrives. But we cannot get past the blood, pain, and suffering. We cannot get past the fact that God punishes. He rescues the Israelites from slavery, delivers them from the hands of death, sets forth a ritualistic method for atonement of sins, provides for every need, and promises them a home in "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Numbers 14:8), and we discount the presence of God's love because He disciplines them for complaining and rebelling in spite of it all? I do not see the logic behind that. For the first time now, I get the other side. I am reading the Old Testament and seeing God's grace even in His wrath.
And that is a beautiful thing.
Peace - C.H.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Rewind: Week Two
As of today, I am two weeks into my time spent in Omaha. I have kept you all up to date pretty well this last week so I don't have too much additional information to write about. Although I am very excited that my Longhorns are playing for the national championship this coming week. I am doing my very best to get tickets. I don't see it as coincidence that they are set to win the world series the one summer I decide to come to Omaha. Rather, I see it as God revealing his glory to me by making it clear which team he favors ;-)
I am now writing this at the Bliss's home after a busy day with church and Harambe. My missional community here was responsible for providing the rides for the Burundians to and from the church and for providing the meal at the Mosaic. Instead of playing with the kids today, I stayed inside with the adults and participated in the English lessons. Today, we were practicing memorizing all the books of the Bible and reciting them to one another. It was a good exercise for the more advanced learners to pick up on some intricately constructed English from the Bible. During the church service this morning, I was given the responsibility of making the call to worship to begin the service. Basically, I was asked to introduce myself and explain why I am here followed by quickly explaining what covenant renewal worship is and then finishing by reading Jeremiah 31:31-34. I am not a huge fan of getting up and speaking in front of people, but I think it went pretty well. And I have video for all of you to critique my work.
The sermon was on hospitality and how the Biblical emphasis is placed on including those the world wants to exclude. Will used the story of Jesus calling Levi to follow him in Luke 5:27-32 in order to underscore this point. He also highlighted Ephesians 2 which explains how we were all "dead in" our "transgressions and sins" as well as "by nature objects of wrath." Will finished up the sermon by unpacking the story of the prostitute who wept at Jesus' feet in Luke 7. This story reveals the fact that Jesus does require repentance from us before we can be with him.The Biblical perspective is the opposite of our moralistic and self-righteous perspectives that convince us if someone is socially awkward or strange, we have the right to turn away from them. However, when Jesus met the prostitute, she knew she was broken, needed forgiveness, and experienced Jesus deeply. But the Pharisees did not.
On a theological note, I am still on my Matt Chandler binge. In many of his sermons, he finds a way to talk about how sin is something that is an intrinsic piece humanity and that it is not something that is learned. He often uses the example that when his son refuses to share something with him because "it's mine!" it is not something that his son has learned from him, but rather from his intrinsic selfish nature. He turns to Ephesians 2 in order to underscore this point as well, which is why I underlined the portion he uses above. But one of the big points that he always drills home is that no matter what you believe, you know something has gone terribly wrong with our world. Whether you are Billy Graham, Oprah, or Marilyn Manson, it is obvious that our world has been fractured. The difference is that their definitions for and solutions to the problem varies according to what they believe. But nonetheless, they know something is wrong. According to Scripture, and our Christian faith, we know that sin is the problem. We are born as slaves to sin. Psalm 51:5 says, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." One thing that has always drawn me to Chandler though is how he explains the Gospel in light of the secular in order to shed light on the fallacies of our world. In a sermon that I was listening to recently, he built the foundation of sin on the Gospel and then proceeded into one of the most compelling arguments against the logic of evolution that I have ever heard. And it is so simple. Here is a quote from that sermon:
"If natural evolution is really what's going on here and that's the real story, why are we trying to cure anyone of anything? Because wouldn't it be that nature has decided "you gotta die so we can evolve"? So why are we spending trillions and trillions of dollars on trying to heal diseases when nature, for some reason, is trying to off some of us? I mean we're going, "we can't let this...we've gotta cure cancer. We've gotta cure AIDS. We've gotta cure..." Well how do you reconcile that if there is no God, there is no imago de? If something hasn't gone wrong, why are you trying to fix it? Why are we in Darfur? Why are we digging water wells? Why are we taking food over there? "Well, because there's oppression." Well, wait a minute...if it's just natural selection then that belief system says in order for us to be all that God would have us be the weak have to die! They have to be oppressed and killed by the strong. So you know it. I'm not talking "Christianly." Everybody knows something is wrong here. Every time a kid gets sick. Something is wrong. Every time we get something that should make us really happy and it runs out of steam very quick. Something is wrong."
Lastly, I know that sometimes it seems like I am out to prove everyone wrong about their judgments of rock music in the Christian genre, and I confess that I generally am, but I love to point out to people the hearts behind the music. There is depth, hope, and life behind the music that I listen to. But more importantly, it is our God around whom the music is constructed. And I just love to remind people of that because far too often they get caught up in the fact that this band screams or that band's guitar player has dreadlocks and tattoos. Who cares? So they look different from you and they don't sound like Celine Dion. That is not what music is about. When it comes to my favorite bands like RED, Skillet, Demon Hunter, and Project 86, it is about a relationship that they have been given the opportunity to share with others through the avenue of music. In one of my previous posts, I wrote about the Red Letter Rock Festival which I attended before driving to Omaha. And one of the most moving moments for me was when Skillet slowed down their set and played a rendition of "How Deep The Father's Love For Us." Yes, I defended the music. Yes, I defended the faith behind the music. And yes, I defended the fact that God uses this type of music in a profound way to speak to the hopeless, the angry, and the heartbroken. But if you have doubts, I would challenge you to watch this video that I found of Skillet playing this worship song. Watch it and then decide whether or not I am wrong. Also, I have now uploaded on Youtube all of the videos that I took at Red Letter. You can have a look if you are interested.
Love you all!
Disciple - Game On
Family Force 5 - Kountry Gentleman
Family Force 5 - Love Addict
RED - Shadows
RED - Overtake You
Skillet - Intro & Whispers In The Dark <---- This was the first time they had ever played this intro live anywhere...and it was AWESOME. If you watch any of these, make sure this is one of them!
I am now writing this at the Bliss's home after a busy day with church and Harambe. My missional community here was responsible for providing the rides for the Burundians to and from the church and for providing the meal at the Mosaic. Instead of playing with the kids today, I stayed inside with the adults and participated in the English lessons. Today, we were practicing memorizing all the books of the Bible and reciting them to one another. It was a good exercise for the more advanced learners to pick up on some intricately constructed English from the Bible. During the church service this morning, I was given the responsibility of making the call to worship to begin the service. Basically, I was asked to introduce myself and explain why I am here followed by quickly explaining what covenant renewal worship is and then finishing by reading Jeremiah 31:31-34. I am not a huge fan of getting up and speaking in front of people, but I think it went pretty well. And I have video for all of you to critique my work.
The sermon was on hospitality and how the Biblical emphasis is placed on including those the world wants to exclude. Will used the story of Jesus calling Levi to follow him in Luke 5:27-32 in order to underscore this point. He also highlighted Ephesians 2 which explains how we were all "dead in" our "transgressions and sins" as well as "by nature objects of wrath." Will finished up the sermon by unpacking the story of the prostitute who wept at Jesus' feet in Luke 7. This story reveals the fact that Jesus does require repentance from us before we can be with him.The Biblical perspective is the opposite of our moralistic and self-righteous perspectives that convince us if someone is socially awkward or strange, we have the right to turn away from them. However, when Jesus met the prostitute, she knew she was broken, needed forgiveness, and experienced Jesus deeply. But the Pharisees did not.
On a theological note, I am still on my Matt Chandler binge. In many of his sermons, he finds a way to talk about how sin is something that is an intrinsic piece humanity and that it is not something that is learned. He often uses the example that when his son refuses to share something with him because "it's mine!" it is not something that his son has learned from him, but rather from his intrinsic selfish nature. He turns to Ephesians 2 in order to underscore this point as well, which is why I underlined the portion he uses above. But one of the big points that he always drills home is that no matter what you believe, you know something has gone terribly wrong with our world. Whether you are Billy Graham, Oprah, or Marilyn Manson, it is obvious that our world has been fractured. The difference is that their definitions for and solutions to the problem varies according to what they believe. But nonetheless, they know something is wrong. According to Scripture, and our Christian faith, we know that sin is the problem. We are born as slaves to sin. Psalm 51:5 says, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." One thing that has always drawn me to Chandler though is how he explains the Gospel in light of the secular in order to shed light on the fallacies of our world. In a sermon that I was listening to recently, he built the foundation of sin on the Gospel and then proceeded into one of the most compelling arguments against the logic of evolution that I have ever heard. And it is so simple. Here is a quote from that sermon:
"If natural evolution is really what's going on here and that's the real story, why are we trying to cure anyone of anything? Because wouldn't it be that nature has decided "you gotta die so we can evolve"? So why are we spending trillions and trillions of dollars on trying to heal diseases when nature, for some reason, is trying to off some of us? I mean we're going, "we can't let this...we've gotta cure cancer. We've gotta cure AIDS. We've gotta cure..." Well how do you reconcile that if there is no God, there is no imago de? If something hasn't gone wrong, why are you trying to fix it? Why are we in Darfur? Why are we digging water wells? Why are we taking food over there? "Well, because there's oppression." Well, wait a minute...if it's just natural selection then that belief system says in order for us to be all that God would have us be the weak have to die! They have to be oppressed and killed by the strong. So you know it. I'm not talking "Christianly." Everybody knows something is wrong here. Every time a kid gets sick. Something is wrong. Every time we get something that should make us really happy and it runs out of steam very quick. Something is wrong."
Lastly, I know that sometimes it seems like I am out to prove everyone wrong about their judgments of rock music in the Christian genre, and I confess that I generally am, but I love to point out to people the hearts behind the music. There is depth, hope, and life behind the music that I listen to. But more importantly, it is our God around whom the music is constructed. And I just love to remind people of that because far too often they get caught up in the fact that this band screams or that band's guitar player has dreadlocks and tattoos. Who cares? So they look different from you and they don't sound like Celine Dion. That is not what music is about. When it comes to my favorite bands like RED, Skillet, Demon Hunter, and Project 86, it is about a relationship that they have been given the opportunity to share with others through the avenue of music. In one of my previous posts, I wrote about the Red Letter Rock Festival which I attended before driving to Omaha. And one of the most moving moments for me was when Skillet slowed down their set and played a rendition of "How Deep The Father's Love For Us." Yes, I defended the music. Yes, I defended the faith behind the music. And yes, I defended the fact that God uses this type of music in a profound way to speak to the hopeless, the angry, and the heartbroken. But if you have doubts, I would challenge you to watch this video that I found of Skillet playing this worship song. Watch it and then decide whether or not I am wrong. Also, I have now uploaded on Youtube all of the videos that I took at Red Letter. You can have a look if you are interested.
Love you all!
Disciple - Game On
Family Force 5 - Kountry Gentleman
Family Force 5 - Love Addict
RED - Shadows
RED - Overtake You
Skillet - Intro & Whispers In The Dark <---- This was the first time they had ever played this intro live anywhere...and it was AWESOME. If you watch any of these, make sure this is one of them!
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