This is Why You Came

Tonight I was reading through Katie Davis' blog (Kisses from Katie) and as I moved through post after post of hers about the absolute squalor and brokenness all around her and yet the amazing abundance of God's love and faithfulness and grace and provision I found myself overwhelmed by two things:
     1. We live in a horribly, horribly broken world, and
     2. Out of that very mess we have the origins of the gospel and the coming of a Savior.
And in the reflection on that came this...


This is why you came,
In a stable, a setting dirty, simple, lowly, and plain,
Heaven lost and seeming nothing to gain,
This is why you came.

This is why you came,
To bind the broken, love the unlovely, heal the lame,
Bringing sanity to a world gone insane,
This is why you came.

This is why you came,
Endured the beatings, the torture, and the shame,
Paid the price though you weren't to blame,
This is why you came.

This is why you came,
A perfect sacrifice as blood flowed from your veins,
Brining glory to the Father's name,
This is why you came.

This is why you came,
Though our sins were like scarlet - to cleanse the stains,
So that we might never be the same,
This is why you came.

This is why you came,
Placed your love in our hearts - a burning flame,
Holy, holy, holy we'll forever proclaim,
This is why you came.

This is why you came,
The width and breadth of the world is your domain,
All to increase the Father's fame,
This is why you came.

This is why you came,
From your throne up in heaven you will reign,
Lord of all through eternity you remain,
This is why you came.

May dispair, sorrow, grief, and sadness give way to thanksgiving and praise as we remember why he came and what he came to do...

Wrecked

A couple weeks ago I was on my way home and turning into my apartment complex when suddenly my car was rocked as another vehicle crashed into my right taillight (pictured).  Whatever I thought I was doing when I got home was disregarded as I had to then sort out stuff with the police, insurance, and figure out how I was getting to work the next day.  Beyond that was the matter of getting my car repaired and securing another vehicle to drive while mine was in the shop.  Needless to say, this is rather inconvenient.

But what if I were to suggest that getting in a wreck could be a good thing?  Crazy, right?  Not as much as you may think...

Saul, filled with Pharisaical zeal, is on his way to Damascus to round up these crazy heretics proclaiming something about a man who claims to be God being raised from the dead.  Such blasphemy and heresy should not be among the people of Israel and Saul is going to do something about it.  But there, on that road to Damascus, Saul meets Jesus and it wrecks his life.  Not like a minor inconvenience.  Not, "keep dinner warm in the oven, we're going to be late."  Not "well that wasn't quite according to plan."

Saul's life as he knows it is WRECKED.  Turned upside down, inside out, around and through.  When the encounter with Jesus is over Saul can't even see.  But yet he sees things more clearly than he had ever before in his life.  Two things are certain to him: Jesus is Lord and his life will never be the same.  He doesn't even keep his own name but instead goes by Paul after this.

And so instead of living out his days as a Pharisee and a teacher of the Law, Paul ends up spending the rest of his life learning every bit of what Jesus meant when he said he would "show him how much he would suffer for the sake of my (Jesus') name."  And suffer he would.  "Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.  Three times I was beaten by rods.  Once I was stoned.  Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure."

But yet this same man who endured all that also encouraged others to "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice," and observed that "this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."  Would Paul say that it was a good thing, no, the greatest thing that ever happened to him to be wrecked by Jesus?  ABSOLUTELY!

So what about us?  We're really no different in a lot of ways.  We all have areas of sin in our life that keep us from living the life God intends for us.  We even do things that we think are for God but really we're not on the right road.  We need an encounter with Jesus that will wreck us.  Wreck our pride.  Wreck our strongholds of sin.  Wreck our attitudes.  Wreck our views of the world.  Wreck the way we look at our neighbors or the homeless guy on the street corner.  Wreck our view of the child in a country far away.  Wreck how we approach our families.  Wreck how we conduct ourselves at work.  Wreck how we conduct ourselves when no one is looking.  Wreck how we carry ourselves when everyone is looking.  Wreck every part of us that is not His.

When Jesus wrecks he doesn't come in to tidy up, he comes in to clean house.  It isn't easy, it isn't painless, it isn't done in a day.  It certainly isn't fun.  Paul probably would suggest that "fun" just wasn't a word common in his day-to-day life.  But "joy" on the other hand...He understood that unlike my car, which they will work to restore back to the way it was, Jesus wrecks and then rebuilds to reflect his image, that we may have life and have it abundantly.  So who says being wrecked is a bad thing?

The Song Passion 2012 Missed Out On...or...An Anthem For the Church

Yesterday David Crowder*Band released their final album as a band, a massive two-disc, 34 track offering based on the format of a requiem mass and having an equally long title: "Give Us Rest (a requiem in the key of C [the happiest of all keys])."  Stylistically it is somewhat disjointed (like blind men describing an elephant, listening to one track does not give you an idea of what style of music the whole is) however together they present one giant work that extolls the greatness of God, his mercy, his grace, and his glory.

For me personally, after 24 hours with the album and a couple listen-throughs there is one track that jumps out and really resonates with me: "After All (Holy)."

Listening to it's driving rhythm and soaring choruses it got me thinking a little bit...At the Passion 2012 conference they had 45,000 college students gathered in the Georgia Dome for the purpose of lifting high the name of Jesus.  They had some gifted speakers and some incredibly talented musicians, including the David Crowder*Band, who played their last concert and last set together during one of the sessions.

To close out their last set DC*B played a new song that isn't off of Give Us Rest, but rather another great track that I look forward to hearing on the upcoming Passion 2012 album.  But instead of that song could you imagine hearing 45,000 college students singing "After All (Holy)," belting out "Ho------oh-oh-oh------oh-oh-oh-----oh-oh-ly" in unison?

But as mightily awesome as that praise would be, imagine if this became an anthem for the heart of the Church, praising God along with the angels in his throne room who day and night cry out "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord almighty!  The whole earth is filled with his glory!"  What if the Church saw a renewed sense of awe in, an awakening toward, and a longing for the greatness and glory and holiness of God that ignites a fire in our hearts, puts a song (like this one) on our tongues, and puts movement to our hands and feet to reach out so that others could also be brought into the knowledge of the glory of God?

Because while the words are short and simple, the implications for a people who wholeheartedly believe and proclaim them are not...


Lyrics:
I can't comprehend
Your infinitely beautiful and perfect love
Oh I've dreamed dreams
Of majesty as brilliant as a billion stars
But they're never bright enough
After all, You are...

Holy
Oh Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy

I will sing a song for you
My God with everything I have in me
But it's never loud enough
After all, You are...

Holy
Oh Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy

Heaven and earth are full, full of your glory, glory
My soul it overflows, full of your glory, glory
Oh blessed is he who reigns, full of your glory, your glory
My cup, it can't contain all of your glory, your glory
Hosanna we are found,
After all, you are...


Holy
Oh Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy

I can't comprehend
You're infinitely beautiful

Don't Fail to Plan

                                                   Picture from NY Daily News (www.nydailynews.com)


Today I was wrapping up my lesson for my Adult Bible Fellowship (Sunday School) class tomorrow on the importance of men taking action to do the things God calls them to do.  I think one of the reasons that men don't act when they need to is simply because they aren't prepared.  We'll get presented with something and we'll freeze up like a deer in the headlights.  Which got me thinking...

How funny would it be to have a video of a "Deer Headlight Training Camp?"  There's some sort of seasoned buck explaining to young deer about the hazards of automobiles, complete with practice sessions where the students have to move across a road and bolt the rest of the way instead of freezing when a spotlight is turned on them.  It would be quite humorous...or not...(okay, no more funnies for me for the week...)

But at the same time, I have participated in exercises of a similar nature during my time in the Navy.  One of my favorite lines describing a common goal when underway is that we want to "keep the water out of the people tank and the people out of the water tank."  The first refers to a damage control environment and the latter refers to having a Sailor fall overboard, both of which I have personally been involved with (no, I wasn't the one who fell overboard).  Both of these scenarios are also ones that I have rehearsed from a variety of angles, both in discussion and in walkthroughs, more times than I can count.  But then again, that is fitting because if you fail to plan you are planning to fail...and if we don't act promptly or correctly someone literally could get killed.

And so we run drill after drill after drill and we discuss what was done correctly and what needs to be improved next time.  Some parts are so critical that they are reviewed and rehearsed until they are automatic.  And when something was actually on fire or we had flooding in a space or one of our Sailors fell overboard we did exactly what we needed to do.

Why don't Christians do the same thing?  Despite efforts to avoid situations for which we might not be fully ready, the day comes when challenges will arise that require our action.  Our integrity may be challenged.  Our children (someday for some of us) may challenge our authority.  We may inadvertently find ourselves in a potentially compromising position with someone of the opposite gender.  We might be face with having to defend our faith.  While we may never encounter some of these situations, or we may be dealing with them on a regular basis, the day will come when the unexpected comes up.  And while we may not know the specifics of what to expect, there is still some room for general preparations that will equip us to act promptly and appropriately.

The apostle Peter knew that this was a reality that the early Christians faced and so he gave this guidance:

"Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed.  Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame." (1 Peter 3:13-16)

In this case Peter is addressing those that would suffer for their faith and he gives them practical advice for how to be prepared before that day may come.  Specifically:

1. Recognizing the truth surrounding the situation.  In the context of eternity, who could harm the one who walks a path of righteousness?  And even if they try, it will be to the saint's credit.  So what is there to fear or be troubled about?  When faced with a challenge, it is easy for it to appear bigger, more daunting, harder, or more unpleasant than it really is.  Not to mention that any time the "father of lies" is involved there is by default going to be an effort to distort the perception of what is going on.  Anticipating and having a solid grounding in the truth allows a proper perspective to be maintained.  In this situation - "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

2. Maintaining a right heart.  In particular one that is focused on and in tune with Christ.  As a Christian grows in the knowledge and image of Christ, their actions will follow.  When that happens there is no need to ask "What Would Jesus Do?" because the answer is already known.

3. Prepare for likely possible outcomes.  It is impossible to plan and be prepared for every possible contingency that may be encountered, but there are times when a simple exercise in walking scenarios out to potential conclusions can give an idea about what has a probability of occurring.  Based on that, general preparations can be made.  Here Peter anticipates that the Christian that takes a right initial approach to wrongful sufferings will be a curiosity to others who will then ask where the Christian gains the hope they display.

Now in reality there is no way to ever be prepared for every possible contingency that life will bring our way.  But leaning on the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us, to train us in righteousness, and lead us as we grow to be more like Christ we can be ready to rise to the challenges of life.  Yet in it all we must remain mindful of our hearts, lest we inadvertently allow efforts toward preparedness to result in pride and a lack of dependence on the faithfulness of God to lead and guide his children in the hour of their challenge.

"When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.  For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." (Matthew 10:19-20)

Let's Give This a Try

I'm going back to school so I reckon that I need to practice my critical thinking, analytical, and writing skills - what better way than to start a blog and share what I'm thinking and open up for constructive criticism?  And if along the way others read something they like so much the better.

Okay, so that's pretty pitiful so far.  Hopefully things will get better from here.  We'll see. :-)