Here are some snippets from my notes [mixed with thoughts] on a sermon I listened to recently. I thought this concept was really interesting. Really I'm trying to gnaw on this a little...
Ok, so, God is great and we are horrible. We know that...duh, He's God!
We always hear people say love the sinner, hate the sin. Ok...I sin, therefore: sinner. If I am a sinner the implication is that sin is a part of me. That's like saying I hate sand, but I love the beach. Or for someone to hate lettuce, but love salad. I'm going to go ahead and say you can't separate the sinner and the sin.
Does God really differentiate us from our sins? Does God really love the sinner and hate the sin? How can a God who says to "hate evil and love good" [Amos 5:15 ESV] compromise His own righteousness by associating with us, sinners.
[Romans 3:10-12 ESV]
"As it is written: none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
Hate evil, love good...no one is good. Hm...
Mark Driscoll said: "To understand the totality of God we must realize that God loves us, but at the same time He hates us." Woah.
God hates me? God hates you?
If we are sinners, and I have already concluded for our purposes that sin and a person are inseparable, then let's see if this makes any sense. God hates sin. We are inseparable from our sin, we are tainted by sin, and God hates sin, then does God hate us? If if we cannot be distinguished apart from our sin, and God hates sin, doesn't God have to hate us?
Isaiah 53:6 [NLT] says "All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all." when Jesus, who is God, was dying on the cross he said "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" [Mark 15:34 ESV] God abandoned Christ because He could not even look at all of the sin. His own Son! Why in the world do we presume to think that God would for some reason spare us from the same fate?
Sin is the problem. Adam and Eve substituted themselves for God [Genesis 3:4-5], and Jesus [God] came and substituted himself for them [us]. That was God pouring out His wrath out on Himself so that love could be given and justice be maintained.
[Isaiah 53:11-12 NLT]
"When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners."
So many people think they can overcome sin alone. Take a trip to Mecca, spend a few years in Purgatory, take two years of your life and serve overseas, or you just die and then whatever.
God IS loving, merciful, patient and kind! BUT we do not hold the right to demand that aspect of his character. Demons go to Hell and no one petitioned for their second chance, but we come again and again demanding a do over. We need to realize how crappy we are so that we can see that God's love for us is shocking and unexpected.
Here is proof of God's love for us: Jesus.
Love does something. Love died for your sin. Love saves us by diverting the wrath so that His justice, holiness, and grace can be met. He made us lovely.
[John 1:7 ESV]
"but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."
[Romans 10:1-11]
"1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 or Who will descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."
How awesome is that?!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
how good it is
i'm so glad that i am a girl. here is an excerpt from an article that reminded me of how great it truly is.
"some of you men are thinking at this point, "wait a minute. are you saying that all the risk is mine?" yes i am. "doesn't that mean that she can just tell me no and leave me twisting in the wind?" yes is does. welcome to leadership. welcome to trusting God. welcome to being a man. your cards belong on the table. your intentions and your feelings, to the extent that you can discern them and it is appropriate for you to share them, should be clear. part of your role even at this early stage is to protect the woman of your interest from unnecessary risk and vulnerability by providing a safe context in which she can respond."
if someone said that to me i would probably be single for the rest of my life...seriously.
here is the full article:
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001443.cfm
"some of you men are thinking at this point, "wait a minute. are you saying that all the risk is mine?" yes i am. "doesn't that mean that she can just tell me no and leave me twisting in the wind?" yes is does. welcome to leadership. welcome to trusting God. welcome to being a man. your cards belong on the table. your intentions and your feelings, to the extent that you can discern them and it is appropriate for you to share them, should be clear. part of your role even at this early stage is to protect the woman of your interest from unnecessary risk and vulnerability by providing a safe context in which she can respond."
if someone said that to me i would probably be single for the rest of my life...seriously.
here is the full article:
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001443.cfm
Monday, December 3, 2007
exult Him in monotony
here are some quotes a friend gave me...what a thing to think about. what a challenge to actually do.
"we often want the mystical while God often insists on the practical. we may want a constant dose of dramatics, but God enjoys seeing the perseverance and proven faithfulness of simple daily devotion. sometimes the greatest proof of God's miraculous power is when an attention-deficit seeker of instant-gratification denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows Christ . . . for the long haul."
-beth moore
"a child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. they always say, "do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. for grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. but perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. it is possible that God says every morning, "do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."
–g. k. chesterton, orthodoxy
"we often want the mystical while God often insists on the practical. we may want a constant dose of dramatics, but God enjoys seeing the perseverance and proven faithfulness of simple daily devotion. sometimes the greatest proof of God's miraculous power is when an attention-deficit seeker of instant-gratification denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows Christ . . . for the long haul."
-beth moore
"a child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. they always say, "do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. for grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. but perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. it is possible that God says every morning, "do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."
–g. k. chesterton, orthodoxy
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
republicans>>youtube
politics are ridiculous...there are all of these debates and arguments, but the majority of the time nobody says anything. none of the candidates [for any office] seem to answer any questions. how am i supposed to make an informed decision about a candidate when everyone is just trying to win. it seems to me like no one is looking out for what is best for the nation...they are only looking to get ahead.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
i'm old
today at work i was arranging dvd's and cd's in the kid's section. good times. anyway, i came across one cd that seemed familiar, when i looked a little more closely at the title of the previously mentioned album i realized why it was familiar. because i had the VINYL recording when was a little kid.
growing churches without hearts for doctrine
i totally stole this from my friend's blog, who stole it from john piper. but it eloquently expresses something that i've been seeing in the church for the last few years.
"the older I get, the less impressed I am with flashy successes and enthusiasms that are not truth-based. Everybody knows that with the right personality, the right music, the right location, and the right schedule you can grow a church without anybody really knowing what doctrinal commitments sustain it, if any. Church planting specialists generally downplay biblical doctrine in the core values of what makes a church "successful." The long-term effect of this ethos is a weakening of the church that is concealed as long as the crowds are large, the band is loud, the tragedies are few, and the persecution is still at the level of preferences.
"But more and more this doctrinally-diluted brew of music, drama, life-tips, and marketing seems out of touch with real life in this world - not to mention the next. It tastes like watered-down gruel, not a nourishing meal. It simply isn't serious enough. It's too playful and chatty and casual. Its joy just doesn't feel deep enough or heartbroken or well-rooted. The injustice and persecution and suffering and hellish realities in the world today are so many and so large and so close that I can't help but think that, deep inside, people are longing for something weighty and massive and rooted and stable and eternal. So it seems to me that the trifling with silly little sketches and breezy welcome-to-the-den styles on Sunday morning and just out of touch with what matters in life.
"Of course, it works. Sort of. Because, in the name of felt needs, it resonates with people's impulse to run from what is most serious and weighty and what makes them most human and what might open the depths of God to their souls. The design is noble. Silliness is a stepping-stone to substance. But it's an odd path. And evidence is not ample that many are willing to move beyond fun and simplicity. So the price of minimizing truth-based joy and maximizing atmosphere-based comfort is high. More and more, it seems to me, the end might be in view. I doubt that a religious ethos with such a feel of entertainment can really survive as Christian for too many more decades..."
[John Piper--Counted Righteous In Christ]
"the older I get, the less impressed I am with flashy successes and enthusiasms that are not truth-based. Everybody knows that with the right personality, the right music, the right location, and the right schedule you can grow a church without anybody really knowing what doctrinal commitments sustain it, if any. Church planting specialists generally downplay biblical doctrine in the core values of what makes a church "successful." The long-term effect of this ethos is a weakening of the church that is concealed as long as the crowds are large, the band is loud, the tragedies are few, and the persecution is still at the level of preferences.
"But more and more this doctrinally-diluted brew of music, drama, life-tips, and marketing seems out of touch with real life in this world - not to mention the next. It tastes like watered-down gruel, not a nourishing meal. It simply isn't serious enough. It's too playful and chatty and casual. Its joy just doesn't feel deep enough or heartbroken or well-rooted. The injustice and persecution and suffering and hellish realities in the world today are so many and so large and so close that I can't help but think that, deep inside, people are longing for something weighty and massive and rooted and stable and eternal. So it seems to me that the trifling with silly little sketches and breezy welcome-to-the-den styles on Sunday morning and just out of touch with what matters in life.
"Of course, it works. Sort of. Because, in the name of felt needs, it resonates with people's impulse to run from what is most serious and weighty and what makes them most human and what might open the depths of God to their souls. The design is noble. Silliness is a stepping-stone to substance. But it's an odd path. And evidence is not ample that many are willing to move beyond fun and simplicity. So the price of minimizing truth-based joy and maximizing atmosphere-based comfort is high. More and more, it seems to me, the end might be in view. I doubt that a religious ethos with such a feel of entertainment can really survive as Christian for too many more decades..."
[John Piper--Counted Righteous In Christ]
Sunday, October 21, 2007
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