Here is something I wrote a few months ago, thinking of what happened to Jesus on the way to the hill of calvary where he was put to death for our sins. It wasn't just a whack on the head and "Oh, he's dead!" No, in the process of taking our punishment, Jesus was tortured and mocked and beaten beyond human endurance. But aside from the horror of the event, I was struck by the truth that at any moment he could have called armies of angels to change the situation and rise victorious over his persecutors: he willingly suffered the full measure of agony for us. It was a tremendous act of love and sacrifice. He willingly submitted to it because he loves us. I guess that's why they call it "Good Friday." Though this was a terrible occurrence, God intended it for the good of all. You, me, all of us. Kinda comes back to John 3:16...enjoy the poem. Perhaps later I will set it to music.
The Way Of The Cross
Brian Lahti
How steep was that hill, how heavy the load?
And yet you said nill against our sins' goad.
How we washed our hands, spat upon your face,
You carried our bands and took up our place.
A speck of your love is all that we need;
For mountains to shove, it just takes small seeds.
Crushed beneath our Cross, with pierced bloody brow,
You sure knew the cost of paying our debt now.
We hear your silence, see the path you trod.
Know of what you spent, believe that you are God.
Though at times we tire, weary beyond strength:
You went further still, treading full length.
Nothing that we've done compares to your work,
Despite how we've come, your love we'll not shirk.
You were mocked and killed, how'd it go this far?
Now my mouth is stilled, yet your hands are scarred.
This is a bloody note of love for us all,
that to us your wrote, by taking our fall.
Your blood washes clean, not just head to toe--
But inside us e'en: heart, mind, body, soul.
With death you're note done, the grave not your end.
The victory won, new life you did send.
By paying our price, by ending our strife,
By being the Christ, you give us new life!
If you have been struck by your need to know the God who has gone to the ultimate extreme for you, whether by this poem or because God has placed events and people in your life that have brought you awareness of your true need for him, please talk to God about it! Pray to him and confess your sins and your need and ask him into your life. Commit yourself to him. Then do two things: 1) Tell someone you trust about your decision. 2) Find a church (if you want you are more than welcome at ours!) because we all need people to love and support us, and we will always be stronger surrounded by others who love God just like you do!
If you need help doing this, or need someone to talk to, or have any questions at all, feel free to email me using the contact form on our website! http://tllcf.org/contactus.aspx
Go with God!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Tired of big overdraft fees?
So I Twitter. Or is it "tweet?" In any case, one of the Twitter-ers that follow is my bank ING Direct. Personally I think they have the right idea for the emerging generation. I am tired of banks that make you feel like you are intruding when you do business with them. Also, what is the deal with late fees! At one time or another most of us have bounced at least one check. Then you enter the myriad of "oops guess you suck with your money, but you agreed to let us charge you whatever we want when you messed up..." options for overdrawing your account. Why would a bank need to charge me almost $40 to get things straightened out? A simple piece of computer code could take care of that. I even loved that a friend of mine had a successful large bank who I won't defame here charge him an additional fee for each day he remained overdrawn! Well you can read the story about ING here (http://adage.com/article?article_id=142331) and its not really what I wanted to blog today, though close. But I just wanted to say that it is great when we find those people that really get what we need.
Kinda like Jesus.
You know, often we talk about our sin as a debt and use financial language to help us understand it. Perhaps because we understand financial debt. Perhaps because the Bible talks a ton about money. Perhaps because big JC himself used examples pulled from the financial world. Like Matthew 18:23-35 where Jesus tells a story about a man who is forgiven an astronomical debt. Some of us have just have a little trouble handling our money, and then there are some of us who shouldn't be allowed to see our own pay stubs. But the man in this story must have been one of the worst. He owed 10,000 talents of gold to his master (If you don't care what a talent of gold is worth, skip this part: 1 talent of gold = about 56lbs of gold. Today gold was worth $1116 per ounce or about $18k per pound. One talent of gold is worth about $1,000,000 and he owed about 10,000 times that!!! Thats like $10 billion in today's market!) This man owed a phenomenal, unpayable debt!
Yet his master forgives him of his debt! Before we leave this thought, think what would happen in our world today if someone just forgave that kind of debt. The money to make it up has to come from somewhere! We can't just think that the master in this story just said, "Ah well." This money had to be made up by someone...perhaps the master himself?
Well, this story and blog aren't really about financial debt. If you are struggling with financial debt please take care of it! I personally recommend the sound advice available at either http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/ or as I think both are stellar resources for getting out of debt. I personally have experienced the heartache and struggle with getting into debt and know the weight it lays on our shoulders. Get 'er done, and do what it takes.
However, there is a greater debt that each of us faces, that no website or financial guru can help us solve. In fact, can you imagine being under a debt that you know you will never ever be able to solve? Knowing that in fact, there is nothing that you can do to make amends? Ever? The Bible tells us that when we sin, we incur a debt that requires a great and final penalty. You could even say that the late fees are killer... *groan*. And thats for one sin! What about if we sin multiple times? I don't know about you, but I think I am only able to die once! And I don't even want to do that once! The truth is that each of us has racked up debt that is beyond belief. And our Master in heaven, the Creator of everything, the Lord of Lords, has seen our debt pile up and up over our heads. Then one day, he decided to do something about it.
He paid our debt for us.
You may think that Jesus came to give us better morals, or even to live a good example for us. And yes, it is true that he corrects religious thinking and provides us with a perfect example of what real true life should look like. Yet another purpose, perhaps almost the most vital purpose of his coming to live on earth over 2000 years ago, was to pay our debt for us. The eternal and all powerful God came to suffer and die the death that we deserved so that instead of condemning us, he could tell us, "I paid off your debt, you are free to be free now!"
So I entreat you today, believe that God came to earth after seeing your debt and seeing that you would be unable to pay it off. And loving you so much he desired that you be free from that debt, and even more free to live in his presence for the rest of eternity (which I hear is a pretty long time)! Think of it, not just no debt but a good long vacation in paradise to boot! Not even ING can offer that! So the sooner you believe, the sooner you will find total freedom!
Kinda like Jesus.
You know, often we talk about our sin as a debt and use financial language to help us understand it. Perhaps because we understand financial debt. Perhaps because the Bible talks a ton about money. Perhaps because big JC himself used examples pulled from the financial world. Like Matthew 18:23-35 where Jesus tells a story about a man who is forgiven an astronomical debt. Some of us have just have a little trouble handling our money, and then there are some of us who shouldn't be allowed to see our own pay stubs. But the man in this story must have been one of the worst. He owed 10,000 talents of gold to his master (If you don't care what a talent of gold is worth, skip this part: 1 talent of gold = about 56lbs of gold. Today gold was worth $1116 per ounce or about $18k per pound. One talent of gold is worth about $1,000,000 and he owed about 10,000 times that!!! Thats like $10 billion in today's market!) This man owed a phenomenal, unpayable debt!
Yet his master forgives him of his debt! Before we leave this thought, think what would happen in our world today if someone just forgave that kind of debt. The money to make it up has to come from somewhere! We can't just think that the master in this story just said, "Ah well." This money had to be made up by someone...perhaps the master himself?
Well, this story and blog aren't really about financial debt. If you are struggling with financial debt please take care of it! I personally recommend the sound advice available at either http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/ or as I think both are stellar resources for getting out of debt. I personally have experienced the heartache and struggle with getting into debt and know the weight it lays on our shoulders. Get 'er done, and do what it takes.
However, there is a greater debt that each of us faces, that no website or financial guru can help us solve. In fact, can you imagine being under a debt that you know you will never ever be able to solve? Knowing that in fact, there is nothing that you can do to make amends? Ever? The Bible tells us that when we sin, we incur a debt that requires a great and final penalty. You could even say that the late fees are killer... *groan*. And thats for one sin! What about if we sin multiple times? I don't know about you, but I think I am only able to die once! And I don't even want to do that once! The truth is that each of us has racked up debt that is beyond belief. And our Master in heaven, the Creator of everything, the Lord of Lords, has seen our debt pile up and up over our heads. Then one day, he decided to do something about it.
He paid our debt for us.
You may think that Jesus came to give us better morals, or even to live a good example for us. And yes, it is true that he corrects religious thinking and provides us with a perfect example of what real true life should look like. Yet another purpose, perhaps almost the most vital purpose of his coming to live on earth over 2000 years ago, was to pay our debt for us. The eternal and all powerful God came to suffer and die the death that we deserved so that instead of condemning us, he could tell us, "I paid off your debt, you are free to be free now!"
So I entreat you today, believe that God came to earth after seeing your debt and seeing that you would be unable to pay it off. And loving you so much he desired that you be free from that debt, and even more free to live in his presence for the rest of eternity (which I hear is a pretty long time)! Think of it, not just no debt but a good long vacation in paradise to boot! Not even ING can offer that! So the sooner you believe, the sooner you will find total freedom!
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