The Holy Spirit, through His faithful servant Andrew Murray, reminded me this morning that Jesus laying down His life meant more than His crucifixion on Golgotha’s hill. That was the culmination of a lifetime of dying to Himself. And we, as those redeemed by His sacrifice, are called to the same moment-by-moment laying down of our [...]
Archive for December, 2007
The Old Testament is full of types of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And king David, several times, acts or speaks in a manner that is a precursor to his coming Lord. There is one account that I came across last night that I noticed before, but forgot about. It speaks so clearly [...]
Obedience is not something we do to win God’s favor. Obedience is a response to the favor we already have in God through Jesus Christ.
shower with love
Posted in Missional on Dec 26th, 2007
James Taylor told us, “Shower the people you love with love.” Jesus of Nazareth told us, “Shower with love those who hate you, who abuse you, who speak falsely of you, who scorn you. Shower them with love, with the love that’s been poured over you.”
you came to save
Posted in Faith, Missional, Poetry, Worship on Dec 25th, 2007
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) You came as a babe To seek and to save, The leper, the lame, the lost. You [...]
this weekend
Posted in Life on Dec 22nd, 2007
Michelle and I are about to leave for Lancaster. We will be at her mom’s all weekend. We hope to visit Grammy Metz (my mom’s mom) on Monday, since we will not be seeing her on Christmas. Monday night we will be at Mountain View Chapel’s Christmas Eve service. From there, we will be heading to Matt [...]
kinsman redeemer
Posted in Faith, Missional, Scripture, Theology on Dec 21st, 2007
In Deuteronomy 25:5-10, the law of a kinsman redeemer is spelled out this way: “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go into her and take her as his [...]
I read again the story of Samson this morning. I was struck by how the Word clearly states that the Spirit of God was with him. And yet he seemed to consistently use that anointing to further his own agendas and lusts. Wow…what a good admonition.
invisible no longer
Posted in Poetry on Dec 19th, 2007
Can anyone hear my anguished cries? Can anyone see past my disguise? I feel alone. I feel despised. I feel invisible. Does anyone detect my agony? Or sense the depth of my misery? Does anyone see the part of me That’s silently miserable? My own loneliness seems to taunt me, My past [...]
Your love poured out From hate-inflicted wounds New life burst forth From that borrowed tomb Your heart of love Birthed love as from a womb, Your songs of hope Drown out all other tunes. Your peace overtakes My turmoil like a flood, Your grace-opened gates Release sin-cleansing blood, Your joy opens hearts Like spring-time [...]