In a Dry and Weary Land

As I reading my devotions this morning i came upon the 63rd Psalm. My heart swells and rejoices the Lord whenever I read this passage and at the same time, it brings a sense of gulit. WHEN can i EVER say that I yearn for God as a dying man in a dessert thirsts for a drink of water? PROBLY NEVER! But YES! YES! YES! and again I say YES! HIS steadfast love IS better than the very life I live! Oh, why don't I treat it so!?! A challenge for the day and the rest of my life....to live as though my very breath is as important as the Word of God...because in reality...it is!

63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

The Power of the Cross

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

This, the pow'r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev'ry bitter thought,
Ev'ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the vict'ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

WOW! My dearest fiance` Michael Dewalt had me go through all his blogs that he has on his blog to determine the ones that were no longer available or not updated in a great while...and whose did i stumble upon but MY OWN! For such a neat blog name, I dont do my poor blog justice! So this is my belated new year's resolution- to keep my blog updated so I do not fall prey to Dewalt's list of unfit blogs!!!!
I shall start my newly found blog by putting a song that is playing right now that is speaking to my heart.... its by shane and shane and its called "Embracing Accusation". Great song, great lyrics, shows a Great Savior!

The father of lies
Coming to steal
Kill and destroy
All my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying cursed are the ones
Who can’t abide
He’s right
Alleluia he’s right!

The devil is preaching
The song of the redeemed
That I am cursed and gone astray
I cannot gain salvation
Embracing accusation

Could the father of lies
Be telling the truth
Of God to me tonight?
If the penalty of sin is death
Then death is mine
I hear him saying cursed are the ones
Who can’t abide
He’s right
Alleluia he’s right!

Oh the devil’s singing over me
An age old song
That I am cursed and gone astray
Singing the first verse so conveniently He’s forgotten the refrain Jesus saves!

Vintage Jesus - Chapter 8-9

Chapter 8- Where is Jesus today?

I SAW JESUS AT THE HEMPFEST!!! Well sure you did man, about every male there looks like that stereotypical picture of hippie Jesus! Mark starts this chapter explaining differant viewpoints on who Jesus was and where is now concepts, including Jefferson, and the Da Vinci code conspiracy. But as the author shows so elequantly the Scriptures have ALOT to say about where Jesus is now and what in the world he is doing! Driscoll says this, "As the second member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ ruled from eternity past as God exalted in glory. He then humbly entered into history as a man to identify with us. Throughout his life on the earth, Jesus repeatedly said that following his death, burial, and resurrection he would ascend back into heaven where he had come from. As the counterpart to the humble incarnation of Jesus, this is the glorious exaltation of Jesus."

One of my favorite images that Mark paints of the future Jesus is this, the Ultimate Fighter warrior king with a tattoo down his leg who rides into battle against, satan,sin,and death on a trusty horse just like every decent western hero.(but i think Jesus shows them up on a WHOLE new level). Mark continues to explain that after Jesus' ascention he is not sitting at the right hand of the Father and rules and reigns as sovereign king and Lord.

Chapter 9- Why should we worship Jesus?

Well first what is worship? Or better yet what is worship not? Well if worship is living our lives out as continuous sacrifices to the glory and honor or a person or thing....I think that as Americans we need to do some soul searching! The chapter then hits the heart of American idol worship....SPORTS! In reality anything that takes up the place of our God and Savior is an idol and is worshiped uncontiously! The book explains that ONLY through Jesus can we be made worshipers instead of idolaters and glorify God- "JESUS SAVES US FROM THE WORSHIP OF SELF TO THE WORSHIP OF GOD"- Driscoll

The sad thing is, we worship "things" everyday! In a society where enough is never enough, we fall prey to the worlds inticements whether is sexuality, glutony, entertainmentally (yes i made that up) or WHATEVER suites your fancy...God cannot be replaced and deserves the throne and priority of your worship!

Vintage Jesus - Chapter 6-7

Chapter 6- Why did Jesus have to die?

Jesus, although he was the God-man and while on earth he fed the hungry, took care of widow and orphans, healed the sick, brought to life the dead and forgave sins His primary role on earth was to suffer and die. - Mark starts out simularly in this chapter and then carries the chapter in a extremey graphic, detailed yet completely MOVING section on the events leading up to, during and after Jesus' torture and death on the cross. We MUST remember this quote by Puritan John Owen, "There is no death of sin without the death of Christ.". In order for Christ to please the Father and appease His wrath towards sinful mankind,He HAD to die! Although he pled with the Father to "take this cup from me", Jesus knew it had to be done, to fulfill the profesies of Old, and save mankind. Driscoll then moves to explain 7 truths that are essential to rightly understand the cross of Jesus:

1. God is holy and withouth sin.


2. God made us holy and without any sin (originally)


3. Sin results in death


4. Jesus is sinless


5. We are sinful


6. Jesus became ou sin


7. Jesus died for us
   

"But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed." (Isa. 53:5)

Chapter 7- Did Jesus Rise from Death?

Mark starts out this chapter with a tear jerking (no surprise there, I'm a sap) story about 2 young godly people in love and on their way to a pure and wonderful life together for Christ. When the young man learns he has leukemia the story turns for the worst, they decide since they have no time left to marry as soon as possible and as a result of the cancer the young man dies very shortly there after the hospital room wedding ceremony. What is the point of this story Mark starts off with? The funeral. Yes, the funeral, he remarked that the ceremony remained virtually TEARLESS! This incredible young man throughout his life had devoted his time to sharing his faith with unbelievers and believers! It was a celebration ceremony, for the resurrection of his life someday! This story transfers to the actual and physical resurrection of Jeus Christ ater those 3 days in the tomb. It is said that the resurrection is the most known adn celebrated miracle in the history of the world! But NOT all are convinced of this amazingly unbelievable feat by Jesus Christ, so Driscoll explains some Biblical evidences of his resurrection, here a few:

• the resurrection was prophesied in advance


• Jesus predicted his resurrection


• Jesus died on the cross


• Jesus appeared physically alive three days after his death


• the resurrection was recorded in Scriptures shortly thereafter

Driscoll also puts some circumstancial evidences of his resurrection, some being:

• the change in the disciples lives


• teh day of worship was changed


• theological changes made in the church


• growth of the church

The author to make his point even clearer puts non-Christian historical evidence in this chapter!

• Josephus the Jewish historian records it


• Suetonius the roman historian

So when it comes down to it we must remember this: Forgiveness and eternal life are made possible only through Jesus' own death and resurrection for us.

I am updating my Vintage Jesus- book overview with a combonation of chapters, for although i have been the most faithful of readers, as a newby blogger...i have failed to keep up! So here are the thoughts from chapters 3-5. And later 6-9!

Chapter 3-The Old Testement Jesus.

As i read an amazing account of the Od Testementsts promise and fulfillment on the Lord Jesus Christ, I was astonished at Mark's strong study and thought into the relevance and importance of OT and Christ. This statement sums up the view of Mark in this chapter perfectly:

"Jesus Himself repeatedly said he is the thread that wove together the entire O.T. Practically, this means Scripture is NOT RIGHTLY understood or taught unless the person and work of Jesus are the central truth being revealed. " As this chapter went through just some of the many promises and fulfillments of Christ through the Old and New testements it reminded me that "by comparing each OT promise to its coresponding NT fulfillment, we can see that the NT is built upont he OT."

Chapter 4- Why did Jesus come to earth?

A seemingly simple question an maybe a some what equally simple answer but not all would agree so. Why did He? To please the Father by fulfilling ALL that was anticipated of Him in Scriptures...including His death suplying atonement of sin! Mark then goes into a description of the roles that Christ fulfilled and is still fulfilling today: Prophet, Priest and King.

PROPHET--- Jesus confronts us and calls us to repent of sin.

PREIST--- Jesus comforts us and comes to us to save us from sin and enable new life.

KING--- Jesus commands us to relinguish authority of our life so that every facet of our life is under constant sanctifying transformation.

Chapter 5- Why did Jesus' mom need to be a virgin?

The chapter starts out with a discussion on one of the most contraversial, mocked, and celebrated stories of all time...the birth of Jesus, in that mangy, lowly stable. Mark starts out by quoting many celebrities thoughts and comments on this amazing story and quite frankly, some of these comments were lude, blasphemous and enraging against the Christ. HOW depraved is the world? well these just tip the iceburg i know, but it was a good wake up call to how imortant the virgin-birth of Jesus really is to Christianity. The chapter goes over the Scriptures that include the virgin birth, and falacies that Scripture does not support and that, religion and culture have put upon Jesus, God and Mary. These subtitles include : Sin is not passed down only to male human beings, and the ever so blasphemous, Mary did NOT knock boots with God. We must have a virgin birth, for without it, we would have no perfect sinless sacrifice.

More to come later on the rest of the chapters in this cool read...i have to go home now!

Chapter 2 of Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll.

As I worked my way through the second chapter, “How human was Jesus?”, I found myself experiencing a déjà Vu, moment for Mark Driscoll’s sermons are very similar. He has a series that I have listened to that his book makes reference too. Although this is true I am enjoying reading this book. It does a fantastic job of balancing the deity of Christ and the manhood of Christ.

Mark, very wittingly discusses the world’s “de-manifying” (taking away the manhood) of Christ. He describes the way that writers, religious leaders and Hollywood has portrayed Jesus as a young Caucasian good-looking perfect complexion, feminine looking man that doesn’t experience any “unpleasant” human bodily functions and all that go along with them. But the very opposite is true. He was a man, a perfect God-man that felt and experienced as we do, so that he could sympathize with us. Christ didn’t learn because he didn’t know, he learned through experiences to connect with us on a intimate level.

Mark then explains the different aspects of the humanity of Christ with catchy subtitles like, “Jesus was Funny, Jesus was Passionate and Jesus was Bummed”. My favorite part about this chapter is his description of Christ’s life according to the book of Mark, here is a portion of that section just to give you a taste of his creative depiction,

“Jesus starts off by yelling at complete strangers to repent of their sin, like the wing-nuts with billboards who occasionally show up at shopping centers. Shortly thereafter, Jesus orders some guys to quit their jobs and follow him, and before long Jesus is telling a demon to shut up and healing a leper only to tell him to shut up too.”

This chapter is all about the Incarnate Christ and ends with some very poignant questions like, Did Jesus have a sin nature? Even though I have spent 4 /2 years at a bible college, I found this chapter to be very enjoyable and a great reminder of who Jesus Christ really is.