escape
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belongs escape from death. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; sing praises to the Lord, O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens; listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel; and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God in his sanctuary, the God of Israel; he gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God! (Psalm 68:19-20, 32-35, NRSV)
And to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death…
What an interesting line. Because as Iron Maiden said in one of their songs, “as soon as you’re born you’re dying…”
It is inevitable we will all die a physical death.
Yet we do not have to die. We can continue in life with God beyond our physical deaths.
So while physical death is a step, we can thank God for solving the mystery of death for us and being the one to whom death does not hold any power.
Journey
instruments of righteousness
We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:6-14, NRSV)
Have you ever heard a musical instrument played by a master of that instrument?
Like Yo Yo Ma playing the cello. The instrument just sings! It is a wonderful sound that anyone would listen to.
That is what I saw in this text, when we present our members as instruments of righteousness to God, He just makes them sing with the most beautiful melody and harmonies we can’t even imagine!
When we give our lives over to the master, He makes the most beautiful music!
So look after not your own passions, but hand your members to God as instruments of righteousness and let Him make beautiful music!
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What You Really Told Me When You Said Retard
Another Great read
Language is powerful. What we say and how we say it has impact. I love someone with a disability. I know how language can be respectful and uplifting and how it can degrade and demean. I have done my research and made evidence-based arguments. I should be able to discuss this calmly with you. I shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. I know I’m right. But I also know this conversation can be a wedge. It can make people feel embarrassed and uncomfortable – defensive even. I don’t want to make people feel ashamed and I don’t want an apology. I know you mean well and have probably never thought about it before. I’m not judging you, but I want you to understand how the words you choose matter to me and to Evelyn and other families like ours.
When you say, “I felt like a retard!” or “That…
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Confessions of a High Church Millennial – Is Liturgy a Fad?
A wonderful read!
A few days ago a news story came out that McDonald’s is slumping because of upstart restaurants like Chipotle or Freshii or Shake Shack are appealing to the desire of millennials to customize, rather than standardize their food.
The church can probably learn something from this, but if anything the message is millennials are not opting for the things the world expects.
So imagine my surprise this past week when I read two articles about the movement of evangelical millennials leaving their mega-church roots for boring old traditions and liturgy found in Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran varieties.
Actually, this is not new, but has been an underground trend for a while.
Popular writer and blogger, Rachel Held Evans is about to come out with a book on her journey from Evangelicalism to the Anglican/Episcopalian fold. Nadia Bolz-Weber embodies millennial culture and is succeeding at navigating the cultural commute from…
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dies
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. (John 12:20-33, NRSV)
I always thought Jesus answer to the Greeks looking for Him was an interesting one.
What does the glory of the Son of Man have to do with Greeks seeking to see Jesus?
Everything!
You see Jesus came as the Jewish Messiah, who was to save God’s chosen people. But the Greeks, the heathens, were getting it also. They were seeking after Jesus. And because of the nations coming to Him, it was time for Him to fulfill the plan.
You see He is the grain of wheat. As if we didn’t already know that, but we need the reminder sometimes. And because He was lifted up and died, many will live. If He had not died, many would not have lived. Just as the wheat falling into the earth, that one piece of wheat becomes many!
So see His glory! And know that His death, gave you life!
New
gain the whole world
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (Matthew 16:21-26, NRSV)
We want things the way we want them. Because we know that the way we have worked out the events of the world in our own heads is the best way for them to happen!
Have you ever had an event go the way you imagined it?
Usually things don’t work out the way we imagine them. Sometimes they are way more cooler and wonderful than we could have possibly imagined them!
But here we have Jesus, predicting His death, Peter not seeing it the way it has to be, and Jesus warning all of us.
Don’t focus on yourself or your plans for this world.
Did you create it?
Did you set the planets in motion?
Can you actually make things happen the way you imagined them?
No we can’t and we will not only lose our mind by trying to make it happen, we will lose our soul. We can’t gain the world, but if we turn from His plan, we could lose the life He has for us.
So follow after Him, even when His plan doesn’t fit your imagination, because His plan will be better than your could ever imagine!
aSacredRebel 