On Our Way Home

12/03/2010

Jesus Culture

A friend was telling me the other day about this amazing worship team - Jesus Culture - out of Redding, CA. So I checked 'em out on YouTube. He's right. Here's the the Jesus Culture website. (Thanks for the tip, Bo.)

Posted at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

12/02/2010

Some More 'Did You Know?'

[ Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace... (Hebrews 4:16a) ]

Struggling? Vulnerable? Weak? Desperate? Broken?

Jesus is waiting. He is interceding right now. Hearing from the Spirit the unexpressed, deep heart-cries of our hearts. Anticipating our prayers.

Longing to comfort us.

The struggle to believe this AND act on it can be great (for me, at least), but greater still is the truth that our Great High Priest sympathizes with our pain... He understands and feels completely all that this shattered world dumps on us (because He faced it all too).

And He says, Draw near. With confidence. To My throne of grace.

Here's what that means: speak freely and without reservation; be open and frank; don't try to hide anything; no ambiguities; be fearless; be bold; with assurance and certainty.

In our vernacular? Don't beat around the bush. Get to the point. Tell it like it is. Share your heart.

Boldly. With confidence.

A number of songs, old and new I suppose, are familiar to us as 'evangelistic', i.e., songs that are sung at revivals, for those who don't yet know Jesus. Songs like "Just As I Am" and "Come Just As You Are" (linked below) come to mind. Nicol's and my view of these kinds of songs changed this summer when a friend and pastor, Jeff Helton, asked Nicol to sing the former after a message. The point? "Just As I Am" is for everyone... yes, followers of Jesus too.

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Similarly, an oft' quoted verse has become synonymous with altar calls and evangelism-- Revelation 3:20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to him and eat with him, and he with Me. This is not an evangelistic message. It's a letter to a church. And it's for us.

Another example-- Matthew 11:28, Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come, Jesus says. Just come.

Take 4 minutes and listen to Come Just As You Are. (below)

Your Great High Priest is waiting, wanting to with understanding and comfort right now. Go. Right where you are. Just as you are.

Click to listen to "Come Just As You Are" (by Lenny Leblanc)

Posted at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

12/01/2010

More 'Did You Know?'

[ A question: Did you know "that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." And do you know that because of this we can "then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."? (Hebrews 4:15-16) ]

From Luke 4, Jesus, our High Priest, knows what it feels like...

to be in a desolate, barren place
to be led into life's "wilderness" by the Spirit
to be depleted, without reserve, running on empty, in desperate conditions
to face the enemy in dire circumstances
to have His heart tested, exposed (yet without sin)
to be tempted to meet His (physical) needs by taking matters into His own hands rather than waiting on and trusting the Father
to choose well between the empty promises of the devil (promises he cannot deliver on) and the faithful promises of the Father
to be tempted with something that appeals to human desire (the world's kingdoms, power, glory and honor) but is at the same time infinitely inferior to what He already possessed (incidentally, while I believe that Jesus was truly tempted, I don't believe that He lusted from the heart as we do or that He could have sinned)
to see through the devil's tactics and zero in on his real objective: to be worshipped as God
to reject the temptation to test God (i.e., to manipulate Him...as if that's possible)
to fight with the help of the Spirit
to battle temptation and refute lies with God's word
to see the devil depart after a season of testing
to carry on with life and mission in the power of the Spirit

Some commentators talk about chapters 3 and 4 of Luke's gospel as "legitimizing" or "validating" Jesus and His mission-- e.g., "You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased;" and the genealogy, in that it points to Jesus as humanity's only hope. If that is so, and with the thoughts above, not only can we believe Jesus (and His "legitimacy"), but He is the only real choice we have, the only one worthy of our belief and trust, the only one who can deliver on His promises.

Did you know?

Posted at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

11/30/2010

Did You Know?

One of the great temptations of sorrow is to allow ourselves to move from the 'Why, God?' question (which is completely normal; after all, Jesus himself said it-- 'Why have You forsaken me?!') into the world of 'God, this hurts too much, You have allowed much too deep a wound here, and I just can't trust You anymore. I'm done with You.' (and if this is the place you are in, I get it, really, I get it; I'm not there right now but I have had those thoughts and feelings; thankfully, God is kind and patient in those moments and seasons; and if someone you know has hit the eject button on God, it's ok; just love 'em, pray for them, encourage them, don't say anything, be their friend, and remember that God is a God of hesed--unconditional love and mercy--and He remains active throughout seasons of silence... whether it's ours or His).

A question: Do you know "that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." And do you know that because of this we can "then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."? (Hebrews 4:15-16)

A few thoughts:

Jesus feels (i.e., sympathizes) the angst of our sorrow and temptation to 'quit God' when trials come. He feels your pain. Literally feels it.
Jesus faced everything we face, including sorrow (He was a 'man of sorrows, acquainted with grief) and He passed the test. He was victorious. Not once did He fail.
Jesus invites us to His throne... a throne of grace. There are many descriptions associated with His throne in the NT, particularly in the book of Revelation: there are flashes of lightening and peels of thunder; there are martyrs; there's the Book of Life; there are golden bowls of incense, the prayers of the saints; the Lamb is there; the 24 elders, 10,000's of 10,000's of angels and the 4 living creatures worship there; the waters from the River of Life flow out from the throne; there is a crystal sea, like glass... but the writer of Hebrews calls it a throne of grace... a place we can "walk right up to...and get what [Jesus] is so ready to give. ... mercy [and] help." (Eugene Peterson, The Message) He's there for you. Always.

And if that's not enough, He gives the grace we need just to go to Him.

Did you know?

Posted at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

11/24/2010

Exhausted AND Encouraged

I'm tired.

Nicol, Summer and I were in Dallas last weekend, visiting two churches - Lake Ridge Bible and Crossroads Bible - and sharing our journey with them through music and message.

We are always grateful for the opportunity to invite people into our story. Two things always happen: we leave exhausted because it's so emotionally draining to talk about losing Luke, but we also leave encouraged because we discover yet again that we are not alone in our grief and loss.

This weekend was no different. Exhausted? Yes... mostly because it's the first time we've been at two churches in one day. Encouraged? Definitely... because we met a lot of people who are walking with hope in their shattered world.

One couple lost their son, JD, in Iraq. You can read about him here. He was a sniper and Airborne Ranger. He was just 20 years old. He and a fellow soldier were KIA during an ambush by Al Qaeda, but not before they took out nearly 30 enemy combatants. He died a hero to our country. (Incidentally, he died one week to the day after we lost Luke... and I still can't say that Luke "d--d"... too painful... too unbelievable... too much.)

Another couple was in Russia a few years ago to finalize their son's adoption. While there, the mom, who was seven months pregnant at the time with their first daughter, went into pre-term labor. Long story short, the adoption was completed and they did bring their son home, but their little Abby was stillborn. Can you imagine the conflicting emotions of that experience? Unfathomable.

And there are many other stories.

Stories of death, disappointment, devastation.

But also stories of hope, perseverance, and long-suffering faith.

Last week I came across some writings by G. Campbell Morgan, the old English pastor and D.L. Moody protege. In an essay titled "The Disciple in Sorrow," Morgan wrote,

"Sorrow is the common heritage of humanity. In all ages, in all lands, under all conditions, man feels pain and suffers anguish."

I don't know if sorrow is the only common bond that we as humans share, but I know it's one in a very short list. When I think about our story, those of the folks we met in Dallas, and the reality of pain and brokenness that we see in the world every single day, as sad and heavy as it all is, my heart is lifted by the fact that hope and time are on our side. Hope, because an eternal home awaits us and that home will be entirely free from the corruption of sin and death. No more pain, no more tears, but life... life as cannot possibly be comprehended or experienced in this world. And Time, because we are one day closer to that promise becoming our forever reality.

Isaiah 65:17 says, "Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind."

Our painful experiences and memories will not be remembered. Can you comprehend that promise? I can't. Honestly, I can't.

But I believe it. And so I keep going.

Believe it friends. And keep going.

Happy Thanksgiving...

Posted at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

11/02/2010

Inside the Middle East Crisis--Q&A with Conference Speakers

On October 1st & 2nd, 2010, Chosen People Ministries hosted the Inside the Middle East Conference at Moody Church in downtown Chicago. New York Times best-selling author, Joel Rosenberg, along with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, Dr. Charles Dyer, Dr. Michael Rydelnik, and Dr. Mitch Glaser shared a biblical perspective on the events that are unfolding in the Middle East and provided practical insights on how to love Israel and her neighbors.

Message #10--Q&A with Conference Speakers