Posted on

What is Always on the Other Side of the Cross

new life

An excerpt from F.J. Huegel’s Bone of His Bone:

In the first chapter of the Ephesian letter, Paul utters a marvelous prayer.  He says to the Ephesians:

I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of
your understanding be enlightened; that you may know… what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us
who believe.

And this power which is to us, for us, in us who believe – from where does it come?  What actually is it?  It is the “power which [God] worked in Christ when he raised Him from the dead.”

That is the matchless power which works in you – the power of Christ’s resurrection!  Paul longed to have the Ephesians realize that fact.

When we come to consider the requirements of the New Testament as they bear upon the Christian life, we realize that they all presuppose this very oneness of the believer with Christ in the power of His resurrection. No one but a Christ-centered person, one with Him in death and resurrection, could possibly measure up to the ideal of Christ in Christian life and service.  To love one’s enemies with that divine love (Greek agape, divine-type love) without a deep participation in the power of Christ’s endless life would no more be possible for the purely natural man than for a worm to play the role of a bird.  There is not a New Testament requirement that does not immediately bring you face to face with an overwhelming dilemma.  Either you must cease to move in the realm of the purely natural – find in the resurrected Christ a new life – or you must fail as a Christian.  To the new life – the life that flows from Christ – the Sermon on the Mount presents no problems; it is all natural, easy, a spontaneous expression of principles already inherent.  The ways, customs, language of jungle savages are no more unintelligible or impracticable to the average person today than is the Sermon on the Mount to one who has not been born again (i.e., died to the self-life to rise up with Christ in the power of a new life.)

A mere mechanical doing-as-Jesus-did will never bring you to the Christ-life.  For a dead frog can be made to kick as if it were alive by the touch of an electric current, but it remains dead.  Nor can my imitation of the ways of a Frenchman make me a Frenchman.  I am an American, and I would have to be reborn to be anything but what I am.

You had to be born anew.  That is why Christ took you with Himself down into the grave and brought you forth a new creation.  He terminated your old life when there upon the Cross as Representative man He died; and He imparted to you a new life when He arose from the grave.

Christ expects nothing from your flesh.  However religious its garments, however holy its appearance, however sanctified its undertakings, it still “profits nothing.”  It is still only flesh.  It is still only the realm of the natural.  It is still self.

It is not simply Christ dying for you – it is you dying in Christ!  It is not simply Christ being raised from the dead – it is you being raised along with your divine head!  It is not simply you reaching out after God – it is God taking the form of man, and then, as the Son of Man, changing life’s entire process – bringing you out from the tomb charged with the divine life, resurrection life!  This is the Christian faith – the faith of the apostles, the “faith of the Son of God.”

My old self has been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20 NLT)

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.  (Romans 6:6 NLT)

For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  (Colossians 3:3 NLT)

On the other side of the cross, there is always, new, divine, resurrected life in Christ Jesus.

Follow the Life!

*****

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.  I’d love to see your thoughts and interact with you.

Posted on

3 Powerful Resurrection (Easter) Sunday Songs

As Resurrection Sunday, otherwise known as Easter, approaches, I thought I would share three powerful songs that speak of Christ’s resurrection, His new life, and our new life in Him…

Don and Wendy Francisco: He’s Alive

http://youtu.be/HIndrry40Ks

Brad Paisley and Sara Evans: New Again

http://youtu.be/YNzub_ZNh8k

Journey Church: Brand New

http://youtu.be/Kjvrehno5AU

(I’m not sure why the youtube videos won’t embed into the post.)

*****

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.  I’d love to see your thoughts and interact with you.

 

Posted on

Rethinking Revelation Part 2: Discerning the Signs

Read Part 1 here: Rethinking The Book of Revelation (Read This If You Missed The Rapture)

In this short video, Greg Boyd shares his frustration with the obsession of discerning “signs” in world events and using them to predict where in the book of Revelation we currently are.  As an alternative, he points us towards putting all of trust in God and focusing on expressing His love in the present situations in our lives.

http://youtu.be/pju2kfU8unc

The danger of getting too caught up in figuring out signs is that everything can become a sign of something.  One can get trapped trying to figure out what God is saying if someone cuts them off in traffic, if you can’t sleep at night, if you find a dollar on the ground, and on and on.  You can end up living your life in fear of missing some sign from God or failing to properly interpret it.

I believe that in this present day, God speaks to us internally through the Spirit of His Son dwelling in us.  Rather than learn to discern outward signs, one may be better served to learn to listen to the Spirit’s internal leading, which can then be confirmed through Scripture.

Ultimately, as Dr. Boyd says, let us put our trust in Christ alone.

Follow the Life!

*****

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.  I’d love to see your thoughts and interact with you.

Posted on

Rethinking The Book of Revelation (Read This If You Missed The Rapture)

Growing up, I was taught that the Book of Revelation was a cryptic and terrifying foretelling of the gruesome end that the world has coming before Jesus Christ sets up an eternal reign.  Since I was a kid and this was the only thing I was ever taught, I bought it hook, line, and sinker.  As I aged, though, I began to question this teaching and presentation of this letter from the Apostle John.

On top of that, most people I knew were literally scared to read the Book of Revelation, fearing that such horrible things, including God’s wrathful judgment, could be right around the corner.  Consequently, this was rarely even talked about at all.

I don’t intend to give an in depth study of the letter here.  I’m certainly not qualified for such a task.  But I have done some reading on this subject and would like to pass on some resources that may be helpful to you if you also have decided that the theology espoused in the Left Behind novels should be, well, left behind.  (The idea that all true Christians will be whisked away while those “left behind” will suffer as God unleashes wrath on the world has only been around for a little over 200 years.)

What I consider to be of chief importance is that the letter is a Revelation of Jesus Christ, and this should be the ultimate focus when reading it.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.   (Revelation 1:1-3)

John says right up front that the letter is about Jesus Christ.  Not only that, but twice in the first three verses John writes that the contents of the letter “must soon take place”, for “the time is near”.  These opening verses alone should give us pause to reflect on how this letter is interpreted and applied.

Another factor that caused me concern was the view that Jesus plans to come back and basically wipe everyone “left behind” out (except the few who are so scared that they believe in Him, because Jesus uses fear as a manipulator…).  This led me to want to understand how this extremely violent sounding letter could be understood to have a non-violent message.

If you have also struggled with any of these thoughts, I would recommend you work through the following resources.  I recommend going through the shorter blog posts and audio messages, then moving into the books as you feel led.

– Rethinking the Second Coming of Christ blog post by Frank Viola, which is an excerpt from his book Jesus: A Theography written with Len Sweet.

– Also on the rapture topic, and excellent treatment of this is found in N.T. Wright’s book Surprised by Hope.

– Audio message by scholar Jon Zens on an alternate view of the letter.  A humble and honest presentation that brings up some good points to consider and reflect on.

– An Evening in Ephesus book by Bob Emory expands on Jon’s audio message above.  The information is presented in a creative narrative where John visits the church in Ephesus and explains the meaning of the letter.  This is a great and fairly short book.  I only wish it had footnotes.

– Revelation and the “Pride Fighting” Jesus blog post by Greg Boyd.  This post delves into how to read the letter of Revelation as non-violent.

– Audio message by Greg Boyd expounding on the non-violent topic, and how Jesus overcame as the Lamb in Revelation 5.  (Very much worth your time.)

– For more on the non-violent reading of Revelation, see John Howard Yoder’s book The War of the Lamb.

– For a more academic treatment of the Book of Revelation as an apocalyptic letter that reveals Christ as the slain yet victorious Lamb, see Richard Bauckham’s book The Theology of The Book of Revelation.

When one begins to piece together the views found in these resources, what emerges is a loving God who conquers all by laying His own life down through His Son as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the earth, leading to a profound view of the depth of God’s love for you, and for the world.

The issue as I see it is that a lot of Christian theology, thinking, and practice is potentially derived from a wrong view of this letter.  While I don’t feel a particular burden to study the technicalities of this letter academically, I do feel compelled to pass on these alternate views that I have found in my own search.

Follow the Life!

Do you have any resources that you would recommend?  Leave a note in the comments…

 *****

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.  I’d love to see your thoughts and interact with you.

Disclaimer: Obviously, I don’t agree with everything that each one of these authors has ever written or said.  I simply feel that they bring valuable insight into this topic.  Your mileage may vary.

Posted on

Experiencing Christ as Our Life Source

Below is part of a letter of encouragement that I sent to a friend a few months ago.  The letter is based on John 15:1-17.  I thought I would share it here in hopes that it also encourages you to rest in Christ and allow Him to be your life source.

It was originally written to one person, but I have updated it to be written to the Bride of Christ since it is now going out to a larger audience.

My Bride, I want you to know that I am the real and living grapevine, and my Father is the caretaker who watches over everything and puts everything into the perfect place at the perfect time. You are a branch in Me. You are part of Me. You live inside of Me. You are nourished by Me. I carry the living water to you and all the other branches in Me. All you have to do is rest in me. The living water is already flowing to you and through you.

Drink deeply my dear Bride. Don’t get too caught up in this world around you, how good you are living, or whether or not you are pleasing Me. My Father is always at work cutting out the branches in you that aren’t producing fruit to make room for the new branches that I am sprouting. Let go of the old and cling to the new!  Focus on Me and these other concerns will be dealt with through My Life in you.

The new branches that are of Me will produce more fruit than you could ever imagine. In fact, the Father has always been pruning you as you learn of Me. This is how you experience more and more of Me, by letting my Father prune. The more you depend on Me for everything, the more I will grow in you. Only divine life produces real, living, eternal fruit. As long as you continue in Me, I will bear fruit in You.

Yes, I am the authentic, eternal vine; you each are a very special branch in Me. Everyone who draws life from Me will produce abundant fruit. Realize, though, that you cannot draw life from yourself, nor can you produce any fruit on your own. You are only branches; I am the vine, the source. The life comes from Me and flows out to everyone and everything. Those that will not drink from My living water will eventually wither and die because they have no true life in themselves.

When you are consumed with My living water, you will see things just as I see and hear them because we will truly be one vine together. It will be easy for Me to give whatever you ask because you are asking from My perspective! My branches are the ones who partake of Me and manifest and express my own nature. And this is my nature: to love you exactly like My Father has loved Me. When My nature is flowing through and out of you, you will always be doing what I desire, just as I always do what My Father desires.

Don’t get down on yourself! I’m telling you all of this because it is truly joyful to those who abide in Me. My desires for you are filled with joy and are not burdensome. I simply want you to love each other the same way I have shown you love by laying My life down for you. There really is nothing greater in the universe than this! This is the most powerful thing of all! This is like a nuclear bomb in the heavenly realms, and it shames all those that stand against Me in the natural and the spiritual world! And you will do this completely naturally when you are abiding in Me and drawing from My living waters.

People will say, “Look, there is a friend of God!” As my dear Bride, I have opened up to you all of my secrets. You used to be slaves to this world, but now you know what will conquer this world: My life and My love, which is completely different from what passes for love in the world. Maybe you think that you chose Me. Actually, I chose You long, long, ago, and have hungered and thirsted to know you fully as a cherished branch in Me, and to see the fruit grow that you have already been chosen to produce. Remember, when you are one with Me, you will long for and fulfill My desires and the desires of My Father, which is that you love each other.

Follow the Life!

*****

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.  I’d love to see your thoughts and interact with you.

Posted on

His Desire Is For Me: Drawing Close to Christ

his desire book coverBob Emory’s book, His Desire Is For Me, tells the story of the greatest love song every written: The Song of Songs.  Emory tells the story in narrative form, weaving an intricate story of a monarch, King Solomon, and the maiden of his desire.  The book is also written in devotional form, with about five pages per day for thirty days.  At the end of each day’s narrative, there is a Points to Consider section and a Thoughts/Prayers section that relate the story to the Christian’s daily walk in Christ.  The author often portrays King Solomon as a shadow or picture of Christ.  The book is broken into three parts: Initial Love, Increasing Love, and Mature Love.

I really enjoyed going through the intimate Song of Songs daily and seeing Christ in new ways through the story and reflections.  Emory reveals the character of Jesus and the depth of His love for us – each one just as we are.

Here are some quotes from the book:

Finally, one day, simple but powerful words began to form within me. Like a flood, a prayer rose from somewhere deep in my being and poured out from my lips: “May he kiss me again and again with the kisses of his mouth!”

THOUGHTS/PRAYERS Precious Lord, I humbly acknowledge that you are robed in light and that you are holy and without peer. You are one of a kind: the best and beyond compare.

The temptation for the maiden was to try to make herself more beautiful for Solomon so that she would be acceptable to him, as we will subsequently see. But she was altogether beautiful to him just the way she was. His love would draw her and purify her, making her into what she could only hope, at this time, to be.

When God sees us, he sees us as having been washed by the blood of Christ, which has made us perfectly righteous and holy in his sight. He sees us “in Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:30). He looks at us and loves us in exactly the same way as he does his precious Son. We are part of the divine family.

The Lord is passionately in love with us just the way we are. He formed each one of us in our mother’s womb. We were fearfully and wonderfully made. We were endowed with unique personalities, gift, and talents, all designed to uniquely magnify him. In Psalm 3:3, the psalmist said, “You are my glory and the One who lifts my head!” The Lord Jesus does not want us wallowing in the dust, nor looking down in shame. He wants to put his finger under our chin, lift it up, and cause us to look into his face, where we will hear the words, “You are beautiful, my darling, and there is no blemish in you.”

You [Christ] are the one I feed upon. Refresh me. Wash the dirt that I have accumulated from walking through this world off my feet, and fill me. Thank you that, even in those times when I struggle to find you, I am still, and always, your beautiful one.

Service should come as a response to spending time with the Lord and then responding to what he is doing within you.

This is the third of Bob Emory’s books I’ve read.  His book, An Evening in Ephesus, has the Apostle John visiting the church in Ephesus and explaining the meaning of his letter, The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

I am currently reading The New Covenant, in which Paul and Titus visit Jerusalem and Titus spends the day with John, where they discuss the New Covenant in Christ, and many of the shadows and pictures of Christ seen in the city of Jerusalem and in Jewish culture.

All three of these books express and reveal Christ in a deep and profound way, using narrative to put the revelation in a format that is easy and enjoyable to read.

See the interview at the link below to hear the author share about a comment that changed his view of the Song of Songs.

Links for His Desire is for me…

His Desire is for Me — Amazon

His Desire is for Me — Book Trailer

His Desire is for Me — Interview with Bob Emery

His Desire is for Me — Facebook

His Desire is for Me — Goodreads

*****

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.

 

Posted on

My Hopes For this Blog, And Why I’m Not Going to Share Posts In Facebook Groups

I recently moved this blog over to a new, dedicated website and installed a professional blog theme. I’m still tweaking some things, but I like the look and feel of it so far.

As the name of the blog implies, my focus here is on what it means to “experience Christ”. I want to focus on knowing Christ in a deep and profound way that informs my life here day to day, and conforms me the nature and character of Christ. Essentially, this is about learning who Jesus is as a Person and what it means to live by His indwelling Life/Spirit in the world today. On top of that, I also want to focus on what it means to know and experience Christ together as a community.

So the posts that I write and the resources I share will be aimed to that end. I want to do my small part to fill up the blogosphere with Christ.

I hope that you find the articles here helpful and valuable. If you read something you like, I’d like to ask that you click on one of the sharing options at the end of each post. There are options for Facebook, Twitter, Email, and others.

Facebook seems to generate the most traffic. Posting on Facebook is like the ripple effect of throwing a rock in a pond. When you share something on Facebook, chances are that your friends’, friends’, friends’ will see the link. Consequently, the reach can be quite far.

Also, if you want to get notified of new posts, you can add your email address near the top right of the screen and you will receive new posts by email. If a new post is released, you’ll get an email with a link at 8:00 in the morning.

What I’ve been doing to share these posts is to go on Facebook and share links in various related “groups”. While this does generate traffic to the blog and gets people reading, I really don’t like filling up those groups with blog links. The groups are generally created for discussions, and not a bunch of “hey, read my blog” links. I’d rather you share something that connects with you in whatever group you frequent. So going forward, I’m not planning to share the posts in Facebook groups myself. Again, if you happen to find something of value, I’d love it if you shared it instead of me. (I’ll still post on my own wall and in a couple of groups that are made up of people I know personally.)

I plan to set up a Facebook page for the blog in the near future when I have time and I’ll share posts there as well.

I also hope that the posts here can develop some dialog, so always feel free to leave a comment and expand on or question what I’ve written. The comments are moderated to avoid uncivil arguments or personal attacks, so this should be a safe place to share your thoughts.

As far as scheduling goes, I want to try and post my main content on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with smaller posts, notifications, or resources on Tuesday and Thursday.

I’m also working on a “Recommended Reading” page that will list some of the best books I’ve read on certain topics, which I’ll update as I read new books.

Since I’m employed full time and a husband and father of three kids, my time is limited and it takes a lot of effort to fit in time to write. But I love the process and I want to make it a priority. Due to my personal time constraints, my posts for now are shorter in nature. However, I’m working on some more in-depth articles that I will share in time.

If you’re reading this blog, I want to sincerely thank you. By reading what I’ve written, you are blessing me with the gift of your time, and there’s really no greater gift we give to each other. (Rick Warren has said that love is spelled t-i-m-e.)

I would appreciate it tremendously if you would consider the following:

– Sign up for the email list.

– Share posts you like on Facebook, Twitter, or other sites.

– Leave a comment on posts you like. I’d love to read your thoughts and interact with you.

Follow the Life!

*****

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.

Posted on

Who is Really in Control of the Church?

gathering_medThat’s one question that needs to be answered in Milt and Mary Rodriguez’s novel, The Gathering.

The new President of the United States has instituted a new organization, the United Christian Movement, which has placed an agent in every Christian church in America to make sure that everything stays in line with the government’s rules.  This new administration has forced Christian unity and is seeking to return America to a highly moral country by enforcing strict laws.  Meanwhile, the UCM is also trying to eradicate “New Agers” who actually believe that Jesus Christ lives within them and has a desire for believers to live life together and express Him to others.  Of course, any mention of an indwelling Lord is cause for swift retribution from the UCM.

But what about those who feel that God has something different in mind for His church?  What about those who feel called to something deeper?  God works mysteriously through dreams and visions to bring those believers together in secret, underground gatherings that express God’s eternal purpose while living a simple life together with Christ Himself as Head of the church.

The Gathering is very fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat with anticipation.  There are lots of characters and pieces to this story that all come together nicely in the end.  The novel reads like a thriller, but with a stunning revelation of God’s eternal purpose woven throughout.

If you are interested in simple, organic church gatherings, or want to know more about God’s eternal purpose, this novel is a great way to learn more about it.

Follow the Life!

*****

Order  The Gathering on Amazon.

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.

Posted on

Resurrected with Christ

I wrote previously about the church being “born crucified“, but that’s only part of the story… we were also raised with Christ to new life!  The following is a paraphrase of Romans 6:1-11, written as though Jesus Himself is speaking to the believers in Rome:

In Jesus’ Voice

What are you saying to Me?  Are you going to keep on sinning knowing the richness of the gift of grace that I have given to you?  Please, never say this to me!

I want you to be confident that you are completely dead to sin and death!  Those are the old ways of life.  I have given you a new life that flows from my very being.  I have made you part of Me.  This is why you are baptized into My name.  When you are submerged in water all of your sin that was crucified by Me on the cross is buried forever; when you rise from the water you enter a new creation that is sustained by My life, including your new life!  Certainly, if you are buried with me unto death, I will not leave you in the grave to suffer and ruin the plans that were made before the foundation of the world.  My greatest desire is to fulfill My Father’s dream to bring you through that death into real life… divine fellowship with us.

Dear child of mine, please understand that My life is the only antidote for sin.  The cross was the only way for me to save you from that incurable disease.  Sin is so powerful that your cursed body had to be completely destroyed and made new for My life to take root in you.  Those of you who accept the antidote, a blood transfusion with Me, will be set free from the disease of sin.

Do not fear death!  It is good news for you because it is the gateway to living a new life with Me.  I conquered death itself.  It has no part in My new creation, and it has no power over me or you.  I want you to know through your entire being that you are surely dead to sin, and thereby are alive inside of Me!

Follow the Life!

*****

If you liked this, please consider sharing it using the links below.

You can subscribe at top right to receive future posts by email.

You can leave a comment below.