Monthly Archives: January 2010

A song by Leeland that’s been running though my head.  Very good.  Brings me to tears.

There are many prodigal sons
On our city streets they run
Searching for shelter
There are homes broken down
People’s hopes have fallen to the ground
From failures

This is an emergency!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

There are schools full of hatred
Even churches have forsaken
Love and mercy
May we see this generation
In its state of desperation
For Your glory

This is an emergency!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children, in Christ you stand!
Sinner, reach out your hands!
Children, in Christ you stand!

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all Your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home
Father, we will lead them home

(C)  Leeland

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

I have heard the gospel message hundreds of times.  I’ve heard it explained in a number of ways, the most common one being from the angle of Jesus taking our punishment.  I have thought to explore that angle a little further.  How can someone make the claim that He took our punishment?  Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin in Matthew 26:59-66, Mark 14:55-64,  and Luke 22:63-71.  False witnesses couldn’t get their story straight and only with two witnesses could anyone, even Jesus be put to death.  The High Priest took a more direct approach and asked Jesus “Are you the Son of God?” 

Jesus’s answer would either be a lie or blasphemy.  God in human form chose to claim that He was the Son of God.  In the eyes of the Sanhedrin, that was blasphemy, punishable by death, and there were plenty of witnesses.  In Isaiah, he is said to be “crushed for our sin and pierced for our transgressions, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him.”  This is where an explanation of my thought process gets hard.   Jesus was falsely accused and killed for blasphemy, claiming to be God. 

Several months ago, Jason preached a sermon on “Offerings of the Bible”, which if you want an audio copy of it, I know some sound techs who would be more than happy to burn you a CD.  Anyway, Jason talked about how God sets the standard of the sacrifice, that it must be perfect, spotless, and firstborn.  Part of the text was Malachi 1:7-14 where God through Malachi condemned the bringing of lame, blind, and sick animals to be sacrificed.  A quote that stood out to me was “The minute men determine what the offering should be is the minute they become god.”  God also is the One who determines what is right and what is wrong.

Therefore, when we determine what is right and what is wrong, we’re asserting that we are god.  Another way of saying that is that whenever we sin, we are claiming to be god, because we make the claim that what we’re doing is good and not evil.  Incidently, Malachi later talks about wearying God when we say ‘everyone who does evil is good in the sight of God’. (Mal 3:17)

Now to formally connect these statements, the assertion that we make when we call sin good is that we can decide what is right and what is wrong, God.  A blasphemous claim.  A claim punishable under the law by death.  Jesus claimed rightly that He was God and was falsely killed for it.  We deserved death for our claim, the death that Jesus received for His claim.  There, He literally took our punishment.  The death we deserved He Himself bore.  But thanks be to God, death had no power over the One who created life.  Truly, the punishment that brought us peace and reconciliation was upon Him.

JA Menter 3

“The moment we say ‘no’ to God is the moment we decide we don’t need a saviour.”  Jason Yost

Have you ever taken a handful of carrots and upon eating them, realized that they taste like dirt, a bitter earthy aftertaste?  Have you purposefully taken another handful in hopes that they would taste better, be more luscious and fresh?  In that circumstance, have you debated eating the last one because the carrot you just ate was one of those coveted luscious ones?  As I sat at my computer Tuesday eating baby carrots from the bag, I came upon that situation.  As I debated the merits of getting my daily recommendation of vitamin A and beta carotene, the thought came that this last carrot could actually be better, more luscious and watery fresh, than the last one I ate.  I was also rather hungry at the time, because thinking is quite hungering work, especially when the topic is food.  

How many times do I think about that sort of thing in a spiritual sense?  Suppose God has blessed me with a luscious carrot experience but He asks that I move on to the next chapter of life, the next carrot.  In the back on my mind, I always weigh the consequences and cost of what I do.  I ask myself “is this carrot going to taste delicious or like dirt?”  That apprehension causes me to be indecisive, even when I know that the new thing is something God wants me to do.

School this semester was just one of those situations that I was apprehensive about on a number of levels.  How would I get back into it?  Would I still have time to do all the other stuff I need to? …want to?  Would I be overwhelmed by the suddenness of constant activity, of having to apply myself to learn something after not using my brain quite in that capacity for eight months?  All of those questions were answered this week with the beginning of the semester.  Getting back into “it” will require me to make sacrifices, as with anything.  I still have time to do the things I need to, but the wants can and should be cut back a little bit, prioritized. As for applying myself to learn, that is like riding a bike it comes back to you.  Or maybe, it’s like my memory- triggered by being thrown into similar circumstances.  Or a combination of both. 

In any case, do you have carrots that you aren’t eating for fear that they will taste bad? I did, until I chose to go for it, and I have a feeling that this next  carrot is going to be more luscious, more watery, more fresh and delicious than the last one.

JA Menter 3

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.”  Psalm 34:8

Tomorrow, I start my eleventh semester of college.  I have mixed feelings about it, but in the grand scheme of things, how I feel doesn’t mean anything.  With the new semester comes many changes, both in schedule and discipline.  I can no longer stay up until the wee hours of the morning watching silly movies or late night sports games.  I won’t work 40 hours every week but I will have homework that eats just as much time.  I will be learning a language, which will require me to prepare in a different way than I usually do.  I might actually have to study extensively for the first time in my long college career.  A number of my classes have multiple books to read and, as you can imagine, that will strain the time I have.  Where before I could bum around after my eight hours of work, now I will have to place my attention on the busy work of school.  Will being away from it for so long make it fresh and new or will it just feel like going back to the grindstone?

I don’t want this new season to become a lifeless routine.  I want and need adventure, the unexpected.  Though establishing a routine may be key to doing all that needs to be done, I hope that rountine never becomes routine.  (the first “routine” being a noun and the second an adjective)  I hope the routine enables me to seek that adventure because it is an efficient use of time, not merely the easy way into something.  It must be discipline that allows me to emerge from the “school cocoon” just as I burrowed into the “work cocoon” this past year.  In essence, my routine these past seven months had become routine and I got lost in them, unable to truly experience any kind of adventure or unknown whatsoever.

JA Menter 3

“If life becomes routine, then a person becomes a robot, mindless and automated.”

I don’t usually do New Year’s resolutions, because then I’m setting myself up to be extraordinarily disappointed when I don’t live up to them.  It’s not like I have weight to lose and gaining weight is just as hard for me as losing it is for so many others (if not harder).  This year I decided to write down some of my goals for this year.  Now, since most of them are not a broad sweeping “gain 10 pounds” or the vague “work out more”, they will require more day to day decision making on my part.  I thought I would let my readership in on a few of them. (Note: this is not an exhaustive list, only a few among many)

1. Read my Bible throughout the year
2. Run 1000 miles this year (that’s right 1000 miles, it’s only about 3 a day with about a month off)
3. Workout a couple times a week
4. Blog on a weekly basis (Yes, that is a goal I have. It might not always happen depending on the time I have and what’s going on as per my pledge to my readership
5. Buy a car
6. Graduate from college

Again, this isn’t exhaustive but merely several of this year’s goals.  Now, to get busy on them…