Sunday, 27 March 2011

Imagine Jesus said this to you.


Feel the weight in what Jesus says to Peter in this passage. Imagine Jesus saying this to you over breakfast. What would you think? What would you say? Would you finish your breakfast?

John 21:15-19

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16 He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." 17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."

John 21:15-19

"Before the Throne of God Above"

A song that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it and draws me before my spotless righteousness. Today we sang this beautiful reminder in church. I was once again deeply captivated, by its majestic portrayal of the hopelessness I once knew and now, no longer do. Jesus Christ has graven my name into the book of life, that lies written beneath the bones of his hands. Alleluia, "Before the throne of God above, I have a strong, a perfect plea, A great High Priest, whose name is Love."

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/shane_and_shane/before_the_throne_of_god_above.html ]
Because a sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the One,
Risen Son of God!

Behold him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I am,
The King of glory and of grace!

One in himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by his blood
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God

Monday, 21 March 2011

Untampered Sex

Untampered Sex
Why should I not have sex? 
Sex outside of marriage is destructive and irreversible. Sex is God given and intended for intimacy and holiness. What makes it irrational is that it robs us of intimacy and restricts us to temporary pleasure. This is an extremely brief explanation, though nonetheless essential for pursuing the most in our relationships and whole devotion to one person, in one covenant, for one lifetime. But moreover, the consequences are innumerable and the devastation is unfathomable. 
Sex outside of marriage doesn’t equip you for marriage, it builds up walls and fences to keep you out of the gardens of imperishable sexual fruit and intimacy with your spouse. Frequent sex does not increase itself linearly on a scale destined for unimaginably pleasurable fleets. It kills our idea of true love and it flees the true meaning of love. This unequivocal love, that we chase with the best intentions, eventually fades into ash in the palms of our hands. We have fought for so long to have and to hold and when we do, its gone. Then a gust of sorrow blows this remanent from our vary self and instead of choosing to love again we die and never see the mornings dawn again. Hope was something you chased, but never held. You hoped not in love, but in death. I truly do want the best for you, dear friend, but when is it enough? My friend your dying, turn from this debauchery, I plead with you and run to Christ. It is your only hope.
Sex becomes more passionate, more intimate, more free when it is patterned after God. The consequences are far and few in number. Frankly, they don’t hold a torch to the immeasurable affects of arrogance. 
Sex outside of marriage is not conscientious, but debased. Folly leads people down streams of false hope. Pervasiveness ruins lives at the cost of “uncontrollable urges and desires.” With little thought, if any at all, people believe a “cultural” lie. Its merely “a biological urge” and without thinking about the purposes of those urges, we exchange the truth for a lie and sin springs up again like a weed, the very next minute. People committing shameless acts with one another with little thought of the cost to themselves and others. The results of these consequences are paramount. Among them are pregnancy (when children are not the end goal), the AIDS epidemic, which has lead to the death of millions and continues to show itself as a result of sin (that which is outside of God). On a less physical level, sexual choices can transform one’s self image and create, alter, or destroy our most significant relationships. The inevitable is negative.
     
Dear friend, just consider for a moment, a couple committed to each other for a lifetime like this. The two mutually know the other’s failures, insecurities and fears. Though, their faults are many, they love one another. The exude a complimentary relationship that is continuously working and being sanctified into a more holistic projection of the union of the Trinity, the most perfect relationship. The two are always and continually growing in intimacy and increasing in the overflow of the most deepest affection for one another. And this spills over again and again into sexual intimacy as well. Its the most beautiful thing about God that we get to explore with someone else in marriage. Sex inside and protected from within the marriage covenant reaches it’s climax in intimacy, a place where it cannot be found anywhere else.
  
I heard a story about a man’s wife who committed adultery. In their bedroom she told her husband she had been sleeping with another man. Feeling dirty and defiled she wept bitterly as she told him. He got up and walked out of the room and within a few minutes, walked back into the room. He walked up to her and held up her beautifully white, unstained wedding gown and said, “I choose to see you as Christ sees you.”

Where is there wisdom in having sex before marriage or outside of the spoken order of Scripture? I ask because I do not know and because I do not see it. If it were better, would  you not see the prosperity of unencumbered sexual activity all around you? Would you not see provocative evidence of fertility? Would it not be prolific, plentiful and far reaching? I believe we have composed a lie and it will inevitably destroy what we hoped to never loose. 
Why is sex outside of marriage sinful? It robs, steals and cheats. God beautifully bestows sexual intimacy in creation to express inner emotion and affection towards a particular other. Sex is also trinitarian. It exhibits a dimension of intimacy that mirrors the intimacy also shared in the Trinity. Sex, therefore, is designed to reflect the nature of God to us. When sex is perverted it no longer amplifies God, it amplifies sin. Furthermore, it cheats us out of knowing the affection that the Trinity emits, which makes it difficult for the Trinity to be comprehended for so many individuals. This level of intimacy is foreign to our understanding, but it is the deepest and the most earth shattering display of affection we can ever hope to experience with someone in marriage for a lifetime.

To: My Dear Friend

Heretic?



Heretic?

CNN’s Eric Marrapodi stumbles upon news circulating in the Christian world about a pastor who is being called a heretic. The pastor of the book Love Wins is being accused for teaching “false doctrine,” said Justin Taylor. Bloggers call him a Universalist. Bell’s promotional video for his book  rolled out the red carpet for theological controversy. Taylor’s post quickly racked up a quarter million hits. He mentioned that many things have separated and created distance between Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians, but “this isn’t one of them. We’ve historically agreed on many things, the person of Christ, heaven and hell. This isn’t a peripheral academic debate. What Rob Bell is talking about gets to the heart of Christianity.” 

The debate has ignited pulpits, blogs, news stations, Facebook, Tweeter, and much outside discussion. Is Bell a heretic? If he is, is he still a Christian? In his promotional video Rob Bell refers to the peaceful indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, and asks, “Ganhi’s in hell? He is? And someone knows this for sure?” Those lines raised eyebrows for Taylor and others. Taylor says, “It is not preaching the gospel as found in the New Testament. The New Testament is pretty clear if someone preaches a false gospel... that we are to reject that and have nothing to do with them.” If what Taylor revealed about Bell is true, then it necessarily follows that Rob Bell is no Christian. Though it necessarily follows, it is inductively strong that he, Rob Bell is a heretic.

It is always sad to see someone fall, especially one who has influence over so many lives. It does not create too much of a shock though. Rob Bell has always asked tough questions and there is nothing wrong with asking tough questions. However, his questions have resulted in some beliefs that are central to the Christian faith. Aspects of Christianity that all denominations corporately agree on, as Taylor expressed earlier. These things are nonnegotiable! They are among the very screwed definable aspects of each and every Christian. It goes without saying, that Bell’s beliefs do not parallel with Scripture. Unfortunately, Rob Bell’s most grievous mistake is that he is conditioning the Bible around his beliefs and not the other way around.