It's the hashtag that I've seen everywhere supporting the decision of the US Supreme Court to redefine marriage. Love wins!
Does anyone else see the massive irony in this? Love does win. Love won on the cross. Love will win in the end. Because, oh what's that? God IS love!
I can't decide if this is sickening or hilarious. The redefining of love has been going on for ages, it seems. Love is lust. Love is attention. Love is affirmation. Love is never saying, "You're wrong." Right? That's what we hear all the time. It's not loving for someone to tell you, "no." We should all let our kids touch the stove - because it's more loving to just let them do what they want. It's more loving to let them touch it than to say, "no, no."
It's more loving to give them everything so that they don't have to work for anything. It's more loving to shower them with gifts than to teach them how to budget and save for the things that they really want. It's more loving to do everything for them than to teach them that they can do it themselves.
Oh, love..... The above is what makes me feel ill. The exchanging truth for a lie, the upside-down view that is sooooo easy to swallow. It makes me sick because it's eating my friends alive.
But it's also laughable. Did you see all those people posting that love wins? They have NO CLUE what they're saying. They're right! It's Psalm 2 - God sits in heaven and laughs; He has them in derision. They have no idea! Yes! Love wins! God has already won. Jesus paid is all, and It Is Finished!
And then my heart breaks. Because they have no idea.... They don't know love. They don't know God.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
The Sacrifice of Jesus
I've been thinking a lot recently of about Jesus' death on the cross and the sacrifice that was made there. I've always felt that I could understand His motives, His ability to do that, not exhaustively, but I've always felt that I can relate. Because I would give my life for those that I love. At least, I believe that I could and would if that situation were to arise.
But the part of it that goes beyond my comprehension is the role of the Father. He sent His Son to die, to become a man and live on earth for 33 years. To deny Jesus' request that there might be another way out because there was no other way. Can you imagine? I can.
I remember my cousin once got a fish hook stuck in her toe. All the way through her toe. And her dad kept saying they were going to have to cut it out and she kept pleading with him for there to be another way. He wanted to console her, to help her, but He had to get it fixed.
God killed His Son. In those three hours of Jesus' need, the Father cut Him off. And that, I cannot understand. A part of me feels that it is almost wrong - because we are not worth that. But it's not just about us. Jesus obeyed His Father to show the wonder and power of the Father's love. And the Father sent Jesus to show the amazing humility and indescribable patience of the Son.
The sacrifice of the cross was not only Jesus'. It was the entire Godhead, sacrificing to show the attributes of the others and to buy us back into their family.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
What Are We Worth?
I read this article from a friend's page on Facebook today. I went through a fair portion of reactions. I mean, can you call "progressive Christianity" Christianity? Really? I'm glad they took a stand somewhere, though taking a stand on the fact of sin is just about going as far as you can....
I read through the entire thing, and I just sat back kind of amazed. Because they got it. They had it down. They knew the answers; they just didn't like it. If you don't have sin, you have no need of a Savior. Without a Savior, what does Jesus matter? Without Jesus, there is no relationship with God. And they KNEW it! They knew exactly why the Christians (I hope they were really Christians) wouldn't give it up.
And then I suddenly realized, this belief that we are not basically messed up is the driving force for so much horror and death and strife. If my worth is not based on being made in the image of God, it must be based on what I can do, what I can contribute - morally, socially, intellectually, whatever. My abilities are the sum of my worth.
So children are worth little (abortion). Old people are worth little; invalids are worth little; sick people are worth little (euthanasia). But what happens when I am one of those? Depression. Stress. Anxiety. Fear. What do I do to keep from being one of those? I can go against others: steal, lie, cheat, hoard, abuse, kill. Or I can work myself to death in order to have enough money, stuff, people, power, fame. I do everything I can to be worth something. But what happens? Two possibilities: I come to the conclusion that I am worthy, and there are other people who aren't (enter murderers and rapists, genocides and holocausts); or I fall under the burden of never measuring up, never feeling that I am worth anything. I failed - because even if I succeeded in "making it" I still don't feel worth more, and what is the point of living?
The Christian faith has anything but low self-image. We, humans, are made in the image of God. We, humans, were worth enough that God Himself BECAME a man. We, humans, are God's TWICE over in Christ. He made us, and then He paid for us again!
What we don't have is a self-image that puts us in God's place. What we have is a view that puts God on the throne and us at His feet. To mind of the humanist that makes us small. But to be at the feet of God is not small or unimportant. My children are not worth less because they play on the floor at my feet. And I am not worth less because I bow at the feet of Jesus.
I read through the entire thing, and I just sat back kind of amazed. Because they got it. They had it down. They knew the answers; they just didn't like it. If you don't have sin, you have no need of a Savior. Without a Savior, what does Jesus matter? Without Jesus, there is no relationship with God. And they KNEW it! They knew exactly why the Christians (I hope they were really Christians) wouldn't give it up.
And then I suddenly realized, this belief that we are not basically messed up is the driving force for so much horror and death and strife. If my worth is not based on being made in the image of God, it must be based on what I can do, what I can contribute - morally, socially, intellectually, whatever. My abilities are the sum of my worth.
So children are worth little (abortion). Old people are worth little; invalids are worth little; sick people are worth little (euthanasia). But what happens when I am one of those? Depression. Stress. Anxiety. Fear. What do I do to keep from being one of those? I can go against others: steal, lie, cheat, hoard, abuse, kill. Or I can work myself to death in order to have enough money, stuff, people, power, fame. I do everything I can to be worth something. But what happens? Two possibilities: I come to the conclusion that I am worthy, and there are other people who aren't (enter murderers and rapists, genocides and holocausts); or I fall under the burden of never measuring up, never feeling that I am worth anything. I failed - because even if I succeeded in "making it" I still don't feel worth more, and what is the point of living?
The Christian faith has anything but low self-image. We, humans, are made in the image of God. We, humans, were worth enough that God Himself BECAME a man. We, humans, are God's TWICE over in Christ. He made us, and then He paid for us again!
What we don't have is a self-image that puts us in God's place. What we have is a view that puts God on the throne and us at His feet. To mind of the humanist that makes us small. But to be at the feet of God is not small or unimportant. My children are not worth less because they play on the floor at my feet. And I am not worth less because I bow at the feet of Jesus.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Happy Is the Man
For a little while now, I've been thinking about the verses from Psalm 127 about children. It came up in a discussion with my brother about how many kids we were wanting/planning to have in our families. And I can't help but think of the many, MANY times I've heard of this verse being used, not as a principle, but as some kind of legalistic measuring stick requiring that people have such-and-such amount of children. How many arrows used to fit in an old-fashioned quiver? Is that how many kids we're supposed to have? What is too few? Is there such a thing as too many? What about the people who can't have that many kids?
Before going on, here is the entire Psalm:
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Things that are VERY clear from this small amount of text:
Without God's blessing, our actions are worthless - fruitless.
God gives good things to those He loves.
Children are one of those blessings.
As Pastor Alistair Begg often says, "The main things are the plain things." The emphasis of the chapter is NOT on how many kids you have. It just says that if God gives you lots, you've been blessed lots. If someone gets eight hours of sleep every night, they are blessed - God gives sleep to those He loves. That doesn't mean that the person who has trouble sleeping for three hours a night is NOT blessed of God, or sub-par or a bad Christian. It just means that God hasn't blessed them as much in that particular way. How many hours of sleep I get is not a reflection of my status before God. Which is good, because the people who are having all the kids are generally not getting much sleep. So you're basically trading one blessing of God for another. Does that mean that you aren't blessed? Does it mean that you aren't following God? No... What lunacy!
To be honest, I'm so sick of Christians passing judgment on other Christians about stuff like this. Saying that such a person should or should not be having more kids.... I'm so tired of it. And I've heard both. I've heard people who have been judged to death that they don't have enough kids. And on the other side, that family has too many because their kids don't act the way I think they should.
It's such a lack of grace. There's no grace in that. There's no bearing each other's burdens. There's no coming alongside, no gentleness, no offering of sympathy, no kindness.
When did Christians lose gentleness? It's gone. Of all the fruits of the Spirit that people talk about, gentleness just isn't there. Of all the things that are lacking in our churches, gentleness is the one that I just don't see often. I think that's why I gravitate to older crowds. Old people tend to be very gentle; it's grandparent syndrome. But that's a topic for a different day - gentleness, the missing fruit.
Anyway, I think that poor fifth verse has been so abused. It's not about a number. It's about the blessing. It's not about judging each other because of what God has blessed them with (or not), but about rejoicing in whatever blessing He's given because He has blessed us all. So one person has sleep and one person has kids - let's all be grateful to our God together. It's like Christmas - you don't get mad cause you got a bike and your sibling got a pogo stick. Just be grateful to your parents for what they gave you and rejoice with your sibling in that you have kind, loving parents. O, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together!
Before going on, here is the entire Psalm:
127Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Things that are VERY clear from this small amount of text:
Without God's blessing, our actions are worthless - fruitless.
God gives good things to those He loves.
Children are one of those blessings.
As Pastor Alistair Begg often says, "The main things are the plain things." The emphasis of the chapter is NOT on how many kids you have. It just says that if God gives you lots, you've been blessed lots. If someone gets eight hours of sleep every night, they are blessed - God gives sleep to those He loves. That doesn't mean that the person who has trouble sleeping for three hours a night is NOT blessed of God, or sub-par or a bad Christian. It just means that God hasn't blessed them as much in that particular way. How many hours of sleep I get is not a reflection of my status before God. Which is good, because the people who are having all the kids are generally not getting much sleep. So you're basically trading one blessing of God for another. Does that mean that you aren't blessed? Does it mean that you aren't following God? No... What lunacy!
To be honest, I'm so sick of Christians passing judgment on other Christians about stuff like this. Saying that such a person should or should not be having more kids.... I'm so tired of it. And I've heard both. I've heard people who have been judged to death that they don't have enough kids. And on the other side, that family has too many because their kids don't act the way I think they should.
It's such a lack of grace. There's no grace in that. There's no bearing each other's burdens. There's no coming alongside, no gentleness, no offering of sympathy, no kindness.
When did Christians lose gentleness? It's gone. Of all the fruits of the Spirit that people talk about, gentleness just isn't there. Of all the things that are lacking in our churches, gentleness is the one that I just don't see often. I think that's why I gravitate to older crowds. Old people tend to be very gentle; it's grandparent syndrome. But that's a topic for a different day - gentleness, the missing fruit.
Anyway, I think that poor fifth verse has been so abused. It's not about a number. It's about the blessing. It's not about judging each other because of what God has blessed them with (or not), but about rejoicing in whatever blessing He's given because He has blessed us all. So one person has sleep and one person has kids - let's all be grateful to our God together. It's like Christmas - you don't get mad cause you got a bike and your sibling got a pogo stick. Just be grateful to your parents for what they gave you and rejoice with your sibling in that you have kind, loving parents. O, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together!
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