Food for thought

Here's another quote from John Piper that really got me thinking:

"If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, COULD YOU BE SATISFIED WITH HEAVEN IF CHRIST WAS NOT THERE?”

Is our salvation based on what God can do for us... well yes, we can't save ourselves or make ourselves right before him. But sometimes, as a result of that, we make the gospel about us when it was never meant to be that way. The beauty of the gospel is God rescuing us from darkness (Col. 1:13) and giving us the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

The point is, it's not about us and it never was. It is a story of God's grace and mercy to his enemies (yes that's us see-Romans 5). And the best part... the absolutely BEST part about it, is being able to have fellowship with God. Yes, we do receive some pretty amazing promises from God because we are his children (i.e. no longer slaves to sin - Rom. 6, eternal life - John 3:16, etc.). But more amazing than that is that we have the unbelievable privelege to be intimate with the almighty God. And I can promise you, there is NOTHING in heaven or on earth that is better than being with HIM!

So what does this mean for our lives? Well, thanks for asking. It means that we no longer live moral lives to avoid guilt. it means we no longer live in a way to make ourselves look good. It takes our discipleship to a whole different level. We live in such a way that gives God the most glory. Hey, maybe it even means we share our faith even when it's uncomfortable. The point is: Our soul reason for living is to give honor and glory to the one who has called us out of darkness and who has saved us from His wrath.

I hope this makes sense... because God has really been working in my heart and challenging me with some of this! Hopefully he'll do the same for you!

The real meaning of the Cross

I know it's been quite a long time since my last post... and I feel like I've started off the last few posts this way. I'm finding it hard to work up the motivation to write new posts along with a lack of creativity in my writing.

I came across this article this week and think you guys should check it out:

A. W. Tozer in "The Old Cross and the New".

"From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life; and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique -- a new type of meeting and new type of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as of the old, but its content is not the same, and the emphasis not as before.

"The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into the public view the same thing the world does, only a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

"The new cross does not slay the sinner; it re-directs him. It gears him to a cleaner and jollier way of living, and saves his self-respect...The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

"The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere, but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross. The old cross is a symbol of DEATH. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took the cross and started down the road has already said goodbye to his friends. He was not coming back. He was not going out to have his life re-directed; he was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise; modified nothing; spared nothing. It slew all of the man completely, and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with the victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

"The race of Adam is under the death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear, or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him, and then raising him again to newness of life.

"That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world; it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life to a higher plane; we leave it at the cross....

"We, who preach the gospel, must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, or the world of sports, or modern entertainment. We are not diplomats, but prophets; and our message is not a compromise, but an ultimatum."




I believe this is probably one of the best explanations of the true meaning of the cross, that I have ever read!!!