The Power of the Cross

This continues the discussion from the entry "The Person of the Cross". We talked about how Paul's life was forever changed by his encounter with Christ. Paul turned from being the chief persecutor of the early church, to being one of its leaders. How could this radical change take place in a person? Yet this is what we see in Paul. As Paul deals with the many theological issues and questions about life in general, he always comes back to Jesus on the cross. Paul knew the person of the cross and he knew the power of the cross. The cross in Paul's time was an object of shame. It was a place of weakness. No one would have worn a cross around their neck. If you were to have had a family members crucified, you would never mention it to anyone. Yet we see Paul boast in the cross, because for Paul it was a place of liberty. Paul saw the cross as the source of freedom, freedom from self, freedom from the flesh, freedom from the world around him.


In the cross Paul recognized the source of its power rested in the humility of Jesus. Jesus who was God, humbled himself to the point where being God wasn't something to be grasped. He humbled himself to the point of becoming human servant. As a servant he was obedient to death, death on a cross. Paul saw this and was greatly humbled. When we see Jesus on the cross we should hear him saying, "I am here because of you, it is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying!" In light of this, the cross is the ultimate source of humility. At the foot of the cross we all shrink. In doing so we are freed from the burden of self, flesh and the world. How can we live our lives selfishly knowing what Jesus did for us on the cross?


The power of the cross that changed Paul, it is also what drove Paul. In the letter to the Galatians he said this, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20 NIV) If we want to live the life God has called us to live, we must be crucified with Christ, and he must live through us. The way we allow that to happen is to understand what he did on the cross. Jesus loved you and gave himself for you, that is the power of the cross. In this we find the ability to live out our lives to the glory of the Father, which will bring us to the next point in this line of thought, "The Purpose of the Cross".




-ps

Lot Hesitated

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is found in Genesis 19. In it we find Lot and his family living in the wicked city. Angels appear to sleep in the square and Lot is concerned. He begs them to come in and sleep in his house. The Angels agree. Men both young and old start to assemble outside his door. They want the two visitors brought out so that they can have sexual relations with them. Lot begs them not to carry out this wicked deed and even offers his daughters to the mob!

The Angels see what is happening and rescues Lot and blind the crowd. They tell Lot to get his family out of the city imminently. He contacts his two future son-laws and they think he is joking. The Angeles start to insist on Lot to leave the city now, but Lot "hesitates".

Lot is in the middle of a terribly sinful place and yet he hesitates to leave. The Angeles have to take Lot and family by the hands to get them out of the city! Several thoughts go through my mind. First Lot had lived so long in the city that he was more like the people than a person of God. Secondly, Lot must have liked what he had in Sodom. He like his house his wealth, the people knew him. Lot was no longer shaping his environment, but was being shaped by it. Lot was no longer a witness of God!

Can you see where I am going? I think there is a lesson for us here in America. We have everything and we like what we have, so much so that we are willing to give up our witness to keep it. I see it all around us. We turn a blind eye to sin so that we don't 'rock' the boat. We keep quiet because someone might label us hateful or a bigot. So we hesitate, so we keep quiet, so we are silent.

There is only one problem with this and it's the Word of God. Jesus said, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38 NIV) We are not to be ashamed of our Lord. We are to live our lives in such a way that we shape our environment around us not vice versa. Lot was rescued despite his hesitation. God rescues us from the world around us. He has placed his Holy Spirit in us. Peter says, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3 NIV) God gives us the ability to stand up for his name sake. He helps us when we hesitate. We just need to let him lead us by the hand!



-ps

2009 Review

Here it is 2010.  As I look back over the last year, it was most likely the greatest year of spiritual growth I have ever had!  It all started with a phone call from a doctor in April and the word cancer.   Doctors had discovered growths on my neck and after a battery of test I got a call from Dr. Cushard himself.  I can still remember the conversation like it was yesterday.  He said I had tumors and they needed to come out immediately.  He then proceeded to tell me I was being refereed to a surgeon at the Sacramento Cancer Center.  Which prompted me to ask the question, "Do I have cancer?", to which he responded, "yes".  The weight of that moment was incredible, I paused and said, "ok, I'll do whatever I have to do".  At the end of the conversation I walked out back and sat down and opened my Bible, I was speechless.  Right about then I read this verse "He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return" (Psalms 78:39 NIV).

This verse opened my eyes to reality, life is short and what are you doing with it?  From that moment on I gave everything to God.  It was the most freeing moment of my life.  Over the next few months life slowed way down and I had to learn to lean of God everyday.  I graduated from college on May 16th and the following week had surgery.  Everything went great, better than expected.  In the months afterward God had been strengthen me in ways I never knew.  He lifted me out of the pit and put a new song in my mouth and praise song to my Lord.  Is everything perfect not at all, but my out look is totally different.  I see every day as a gift and I can't wait to proclaim Christ in my life and to the world around me.

So as I look back 2009, it was challenging to me in ways I never imagined and Christ carried all the way.  As I look ahead to the coming year I can't wait to see what happens next, already things are happening.  I have seen Christ at work in our church, people's lives are being changed and it's all because of Him.


Thank you Lord!

~ps

The Person of the Cross

  As I study the Bible and especially the writings of Paul, I notice something. Paul's answer to any question is always Christ, especially Christ on the cross. In our lives we are always looking for answers. We want answers about our families, about life. Why is there such evil in the world? Why are people the way they are? Why am I the way I am? The list goes on and on and we are no different from people of the past. From the very beginning we have struggled to find these answers and more. In Paul's day it wasn't any different and Paul's answer was always the same, Christ. Christ is the answer to all of our questions. He is either answer or the solution. Evil and sin are in the world, there is no denying it. Christ is the answer! Relationships are broken, Christ is the answer. We are selfish and greedy with our time, money and everything else, Christ is the answer. We are out of touch with our Father in heaven, lost and astray, Christ is the answer!

  Paul also glorified the cross. The cross was the ultimate place of shame in Paul's time. No one would have ever worn a cross around their neck. The cross was a place of scorn and ridicule, yet Paul boasted in the cross, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14 NIV). The reason Paul could make such a claim is because Paul knew the person of the cross.

  Paul had spent his life dedicated to becoming a Pharisees. He went to the finniest schools, he was up and coming. He prided himself in being the most knowledgeable, the most loyal, and the most 'religious'. If anyone could boast in his own righteousness it was Paul, in which he said he was 'faultless'. But on the road to Damascus all of that changed. In meeting Christ Paul's whole life was changed forever. He was never the same again, in fact in Philippians he would say this, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:7-8 NIV). Paul looked back and considered everything he had learned, everything he had accomplished rubbish, trash, garbage! Compared to knowing Christ, nothing else mattered for Paul.

  In my own life the closer I draw to Christ the more my life changes. I start to see people the way Christ sees them. In the battle with sin, I see my sin more like Christ sees my sin and I am disgusted and humbled. The person of the cross changed my life forever. I have never been the same and I can't live without him. Paul knew this and thus boasted in the cross and preached the gospel with boldness. In your life remember the person of the cross, Christ and boast to the world in knowing him.


~ps

Next we'll look at the "Power of the Cross"

December Newsletter

Humility is an interesting word. The dictionary defines it as “the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance.” I look around me and there seems to be a lack of humility in our culture. Everyone seems to have an inflated view of their self importance. As we come into the Christmas season, you will experience long lines filled with people more important than you. As I look at the Christmas story there is one word that jumps out at me more than anything else, and that is humility.

Jesus was born, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. He is praised and worshiped by all the heavenly bodies and yet came to us as a defenseless child. He wasn’t born in large mansion, surrounded by the luxuries. He was born in a manger surrounded by livestock and straw. He should have been wrapped in the finniest linen, but he was wrapped in simple blanket. The Word became flesh in the humblest of ways. All of the world leaders should have been there and worshiped him, but it was the shepherds who were invited.

Not only was Jesus humble in his birth but he lived his short life in deep humility. Jesus, God in flesh emptied himself and made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, in the likeness of a human being. As a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death, the death of a common criminal, nailed to a cross!

So this Christmas season as you start to get caught up in the season, remember the humility of Christ. Reflect on Him and what He means to your life. It is through Him Christmas has its meaning and purpose. It is through Him we have the greatest gift of all and that is forgiveness of sin and promise of everlasting life. With Him we receive in abundance all the joy, peace, love we all long for. The greatest gift given at Christmas isn’t something bought in a store, it is Jesus. So as you gather with friends and family, take time to share the Christmas story. Tell them of our great King who was born in manger and how he gave his life for you and I. Share the greatest gift ever given, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Amen.

-ps

Sermon: Glimpse of Heaven Mark 12:18-27

Have you ever had anything that was heavenly? I think of things I might consider heavenly. Smoking a brisket or a rack of ribs, in my smoker is heavenly. The smell of coffee brewing early on a chilly morning is heavenly. Sinking into my bed at the end of a long day can also be heavenly. But really those things are nice, I really enjoy them. What about the ‘heaven’ moments in life? Where you catch a glimpse of something magical, supernatural, something so special you cannot express it in words. Like the birth of a child and the first time you look down at them, lying there and they grab your finger…the moment you connect. The first time you fell in love, when you looked at her and you knew she was the one. Stepping out on a mountain top and seeing beauty overwhelming. Seeing someone you love and have prayed for truly given their lives to Christ.

But these moments are only fleeting, they are like a mist on a summers day. You always remember the feeling, the moment. In the Bible I think we also see ‘glimpses’ of heaven. Jesus is again confronted by another group of teachers called the Sadducees. In answering their question Jesus gives us a glimpse of heaven. Mark 12:18-27:

Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?" Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" (Mar 12:18-27 NIV)

Here the teachers who don’t believe in the resurrection asking a question about the resurrection! In the Old Testament, if a brother died another brother would merry the widow and to produce children to care for her and keep the family line alive. The Sadducees only followed the first five books of the Bible and nothing else. So they didn’t believe in the resurrection or any life after death. So Jesus answers their question, he rebukes them for not knowing Scripture and for underestimating God.

Don’t we still underestimate God? We place him in boxes; we think he is like us. But nothing is impossible for God, nothing. He is all powerful! That is important because in the next line he says, “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven”. First we have to recognize God has the power to raise the dead. He defeated death through Jesus Christ, the Bible says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1Co 15:26 NIV), Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1Co 15:54-57 NIV).

The second part I have given a lot of thought too. “neither marry nor be given in marriage” Firstly marriage is the strongest bond of love we can experience here on earth. All through the Bible marriage is used as an illustration of the relationship between God and man. But here the bond is marred by sin, it is not perfect, it is broken because we are broken. In heaven we will recognize our spouses but the bond will be overshadowed by a new order. We will no longer be broken; we will be made whole again. We will be in the presence of God, we will live with God. There is nothing that can compare to that. It is this thought that should give us hope, it should drive us to live for Christ and to make him known to others. Let me further illustrate this thought.
Yellow is not my favorite color. But Vincent van Gogh saw yellow differently. This famous Dutch painter, sadly, abandoned his faith he had grown up with in a Christian home and sank into depression and destruction. By the grace of God, as he later began to embrace his faith again, his life took on hope, and he gave that hope color.

The best-kept secret of van Gogh's life is that the truth he was discovering is seen in the gradual increase of the presence of the color yellow in his paintings. Yellow evoked (for him) the hope and warmth of the truth of God's love. In one of his depressive periods, seen in his famous The Starry Night, you finds a yellow sun and yellow swirling stars, because van Gogh thought truth was present only in nature. Tragically, the church, which stands tall in this painting and should be the house of truth, is about the only item in the painting showing no traces of yellow.


But by the time he painted The Raising of Lazarus, his life was on the mend as he began to face the truth about himself. The entire picture is blindingly bathed in yellow. In fact, van Gogh put his own face on Lazarus to express his own hope in the Resurrection. It was this glimpse of heaven that changed van Gogh, it gave him hope. That no matter what happens here, there is going to be a day when everything will be made right. It is this thought that we can start painting yellow into our own lives, knowing we have a fresh hope and the hope of new beginnings.

Listen to how Jesus finishes this question: Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" Jesus is telling us the key to all of this, it is what van Gogh grasped, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living…he is the living God, he is about life! We will raise again with him in heaven.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev 21:3-4 NIV)

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Rev 21:23 NIV)

It is the glimpse of heaven in our lives that are there to remind us of things to come. They are there to give us hope in a dark world. In answering the question of the Sadducees, Jesus gives us a glimpse of heaven. He gives us a peek of things to come. But we will only see it if we are in relationship with Him, if we know Jesus.

DISCLAIMER……

I’m a bit on the angry side today, so everything that I say is purely of my own free will. My comments and feelings do not represent the Dethroned by Grace web site.

Preparing for church today I was excited, excited to teach people about Christ, excited about seeing fellow believers, excited to worship a loving God who has saved me, but all that quickly dissipated shortly after I walked into the door and was confronted with the human element of THE church.

People, all of us sinful, are so selfish. When did it become ok in the church to say, “It’s all about me? What are you going to do for me?”

A church is not a fast food restaurant where you walk up to the counter and say, “I want a cheeseburger, please hold the tomato and mustard.” In church we do not reserve the right to say, “I want a class for my 8 year old and make sure he’s saved before he’s 9 years old.”

What is wrong with saying, “I have an 8 year old, how can I help in getting him saved before he is 9?” How can I be involved? How can I SERVE!?

And when did Jesus say, “Hey, its ok, go ahead and quit! When things get tough, when people make you mad or when you get your feelings hurt, go ahead and turn your back on your family, (the church….the bride) and walk away.” ??

You know…… I don’t like church politics, I don’t like money issues and I don’t like when Christians don’t act like Christians…….if you confess to love Christ, then you must strive to ACT like Christ, LOVE like Christ, and ultimately LIVE like Christ.

Ok, my rant is over…..sorry about being so blunt! In the end of it, I love Christ and I know that he loves me. I won’t quit! I expect others to stick with me……like the bible say’s…..

Hebrews 12:1

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Yes, we each have a race marked out for US, if we quit we won’t finish OUR race and we will fail for Christ!

I have some wonderful people in my church, people that I love and would walk on broken glass for, people that want what I want, to save souls for Christ, but we must always keep our eyes on the prize…………..TO BE LIKE CHRIST!

Be humble, be loving, be giving, be like Christ!

May God bless you! Please don’t let my words offend you, but inspire you to be more like Christ, view your brothers and sisters in Christ as family and in that thought, work it out………don’t quit!

"But, I thought better of it......."

From the Message Bible

Ezekiel 20: 13-17 "'But Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They didn't follow my statutes. They despised my laws for living well and obediently in the ways I had set out. And they totally desecrated my holy Sabbaths. I seriously considered unleashing my anger on them right there in the desert. But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out. But I did lift my hand in a solemn oath there in the desert and promise them that I would not bring them into the country flowing with milk and honey that I had chosen for them, that jewel among all lands. I canceled my promise because they despised my laws for living obediently, wouldn't follow my statutes, and went ahead and desecrated my holy Sabbaths. They preferred living by their no-god idols. But I didn't go all the way: I didn't wipe them out, didn't finish them off in the desert.

When I read this passage the other day I had to read it again, then again, then again! God actually said, "But, I thought better of it..." HUH??? I understood that God wanted to squash Israel for their rebellion. He wanted to wipe them out, finish them off in the desert! They were bowing down to false Gods and showing some serious disrespect for God who had given them everything, but He thought better of it....WHY? Two reasons that really smacked me in the head.

Firstly, because he "acted out of who I was, not by what I felt". Who HE was, not what HE felt!! Holy Cow! You mean we shouldn't act on our emotions? We should stay in touch with who we are as Christians and stick to our Christian principles? Well, that sounds practically impossible, but in Christ anything is possible right? Right!

Secondly, God also didn't want HIS NAME to be tarnished. He wanted to be honored and not blasphemed by other nations.This is a great piece of advice! It occurred to me that when a brother or a sister in Christ turns their back on me, hurts me or my family and I want to wipe them out or I want to 'unleash my anger on them' just as God wanted to do, I should think better of it. Not for their good, but for my own and all the other people that are watching....and believe me they are watching!!

I should protect my witness by not letting go of angry words or by being mean spirited and in doing so I will be protecting my name as.......Christian! In doing so, the name Christian will be something to uphold and hopefully be respected, not mocked or laughed at.

Finally, God is awesome and this is yet another passage that has helped me deal with my feelings about people who have kicked me to the curb! Praise God that he is so loving with his wisdom and that he has given us the Holy Spirit to help us make it when we don't have the strength to make it on our own.

In Christ,
The Wife of A Pastor

The Urge to Follow Jesus

As I have stated I am reading through Bill Hull’s “The Complete Book of Discipleship”. He challenged my thinking in this section and I’m interested in what you think.

“First, if you don’t feel the urge to follow and become like Jesus, God isn’t at work in you. And if God isn’t at work in you, he’s not in you. You’ll know he’s at work and in you when he moves your will, and a moved person will always act. You can respond to God’s call only when he gives you the will to do so. When you hear the words of Jesus, “Follow me,” and the urge to obey rises up within you, then you can be assured that God is at work.

A practical point should be noted here. As a leader, when you call people to follow Jesus, don’t fret over those who say no. Far too many professing Christian have decided not to follow Jesus. They make this choice either because they never repented and turned to Christ in the first place or because they’ve been misled and think of discipleship as optional.”

Several statements really jump out at me, “a moved person will always act” and at the end when he is talking about Christians being mislead to think discipleship is “optional”.

Discipleship has been on my heart for some time now and I think in the church we have greatly missed this boat. I especially have been burdened since becoming a pastor, because I see evidence of it. In our services it seem the focus is on us and not on Christ. In our lives we are falling further away from the call to holiness, to be Christ like, to live our faith. This is all falls back on discipleship.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ” Bonhoeffer also said “Believing in Christ starts with self-denial, then answering his calling. That’s what it means to take up our cross. This journey of following Christ as his disciple is a lifelong one. Anything less is a Christless Christianity. Without the reality of following Jesus, Christianity is just a religious philosophy.”


-ps

Independence Day

Today is Independence Day. The Fourth of July in America has been and still is a very special day for us as a nation. It is the day we celebrate our Independence from Britain, we were no longer a 'colony', but a free nation. We choose to govern ourselves and we fought a long and bloody war to gain that freedom. Freedom came at a great price then and it still carries the same price tag, blood. Through the centuries our nation has had to defend our right to be free. We have fought for the freedom of others and we have even fought ourselves. Even today our young troops are fighting for freedom in a far away land. Someone always wants to take freedom away. Islamic forces want us to live and worship the way they believe to be best. Environmentalists want us to live and eat the way they believe is right. The list goes on and one.

Everywhere I turn it seems someone is after the freedom we posses. In my faith there are forces that also want to take away my freedom and enslave us. Satan the age old enemy of God wants me to live as a slave to my sin. He would love nothing more than for me to give up and just give in. In Romans 6 says I am dead to sin and alive in Christ. Paul also tells me the life I live I am to live by the spirit and not by the law. I am to live empowered by the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. I died with Christ and I will rise with Him in life. I have freedom, freedom from the bonds of sin, if I offer myself up to God, if I surrender control to the spirit. At first glance this too would seem to be a form of slavery, but in reality it is the ultimate freedom. Sin so dominates our lives we don't even realize it at times. Everything I see, think, feel is off the mark, just enough. I have an antenna on my roof that works by line of sight and the receiver is a mile away. If my antenna is off just an eighth of an inch, it would miss the receiver by a hundred feet. Even if we are off by a little in our lives, we miss God by a lot. So we need someone to line us up, to point the way. Jesus does just that, he lines us up and keeps us straight, if I let him. Once we are connected he changes us, he transforms us from the way we were to the way we will be, but we need to be connected. Freedom is in the change, God frees us from our former selves. He gives a new freedom from the burden of sin.

Freedom has a price and Christ paid the price for us. He shed his own blood so that we might have freedom from the bondage of sin. So this Fourth of July think about the freedom we have and give thanks to our Lord.

-ps