The Biggest Day in History

So it's Easter.  
             The tomb is empty.  
                         Hope has sprung.

My family and I talked about the Easter story today.  (In case you think I'm avoiding church, I'm not ... we went last night.)  My wife even posted a video on YouTube of our kids talking about their thoughts on Easter.

I read the account from the book of John, starting with the end of chapter 19 and read the first half of chapter 20.  The religious leaders prepared a story JUST IN CASE Jesus turned out to be Who He said He was.  They convinced the governor, Pilate, to have the tomb sealed and guarded so Jesus' disciples wouldn't steal His body.

Of course, their worst fears came true.  An angel rolled away the stone, Jesus appeared to several people, the body was gone, but the grave clothes were still there, and the soldiers had gone catatonic when it happened.

So, when Jesus arose on the third day, they (the religious leaders) bribed the soldiers who had been on duty to say that while they were sleeping on the job, somebody came and rolled away the stone and managed to remove His body without getting caught.  Major flaws in their story here ...

First, soldiers on guard duty who fell asleep would be charged with the equivalent of dereliction of duty--a capital offense.  Second, the stone was HUGE, and would have probably made a lot of noise and woken them up.  Third, the disciples were currently scared out of their wits, hiding in a locked room, avoiding the authorities--not planning some master scheme, but literally afraid for their lives.

Now it doesn't take a huge stretch of imagination to see why so many people over the course of time have found Jesus' resurrection somewhere on the spectrum of Total Bunk on one end and Incontrovertible Truth on the other.  It's pretty momentous, unique, and difficult to prove or disprove.

Total Bunk <--------------------------------->Incontrovertible Truth

I obviously am on the right (see, it's both correct and directional!) side of this spectrum.

I can't force anyone to believe what I believe, but the arguments that Jesus isn't Who He said He Is, or that He didn't do what He said He'd do, or that there is no God seem to take the same amount of faith to believe as my point of entrance into the argument ... Jesus is the Risen Son of God, Truth Incarnate, the Redeemer of Creation.  And if my argument is correct, Easter is the Proof.

Whether you believe in it or not, if you're totally honest and can be objective, Easter changed the course of human history forever.  Pretty big day, huh?

Lord, help me to remember and celebrate Your victory and redemption that happened on a Sunday morning about 2000 years ago every day for the rest of my life.  That day changed everything for everyone.  Help me continue to make the choice that makes it a positive change for me.  

The Day Before the Answer

              It's Saturday, the day between Good Friday, marking the crucifixion, and Easter, marking the resurrection.

I've always been intrigued by this short window of time, before the disciples believed.  We don't know exactly what they were doing, but I think we can surmise from John's account of the day of the Resurrection that this day was probably much like the day Jesus arose from the grave and conquered death.

John tells us that the disciples were hiding, afraid of the mobs, Romans, and religious leaders that had just killed their Master.


They hadn't yet been given hope.  




They were mired in despair and fear.  









And though I am sure I will talk about hope and more tomorrow, today I feel it is important to remember what Jesus saved us from.

Fear.

Pain.

Worry.

Sickness.

Death.

Damnation.

Hopelessness.

Purposelessness.

I know that I have encountered these horrors in my life.  I haven't died, or been lost forever in Hell, but I've lost loved ones, and I've known people who have passed away who I'm not sure made the decision to follow Jesus.  All the others are common to what people call the human condition.  It's not the Creator's desire for this to be the case, but like I've been blogging about, we--individuals, mankind as a whole, even creation--need redemption.

And, lest we take this gift for granted, sometimes we need to remember what life without a Messiah was like.  

Lord, help me to remember not only what You paid, but WHY You paid it.  You didn't just offer "fire insurance," you offered life in this time and place.  Thank You SO much for what You have done.  

Have a Good Friday

I jumped around a bit today ... and I apologize for the lack of graphics today, but I have to get to work soon.

It's Good Friday, and I wanted to read a little about Jesus' sacrifice, our atonement, and His position.  So, naturally, I found myself reading Hebrews.

I read through the first three chapters, thinking "this is important, this is good."  But--due to my upbringing--I'd seen it all, heard it all, even memorized most of it ...

And then, a verse I've read who knows how many times hit me.  At the risk of taking it out of context, Hebrews 4:2 says, "For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith."  (emphasis mine--I suddenly feel like a real author, typing that phrase!)

The passage around this verse is about the differences between Moses and Jesus, the people of ancient Israel during the Exodus and the early Church.  Moses delivered the message, but the people missed it because they didn't believe.  They were afraid to enter the Promised Land.  They weren't sure they would survive, they weren't sure it was worth it.  They didn't really BELIEVE that God had their best interest at heart.

The early Church, on the other hand, BELIEVED that this message was for them.  They embraced the atonement, the sacrifice, the propitiation of their sins.  They didn't UNDERSTAND it all (and neither do I), but that didn't stop their BELIEF.

It really does come down to FAITH.  It's a choice.  I know this may sound silly, but I believe in gravity.  I can't see it, I can't touch it, but I trust that it will keep me from randomly drifting off the ground.  No one has ever seen gravity.  Everyone has seen its effect.  Not everyone has recognized it for what it is, but it has always been here.  See a parallel?

I BELIEVE in God.  I haven't seen Him, but I've seen what He has done.  Not everyone recognizes His actions for what they are like I do, but I don't believe that changes the substance of what He has done.

For having blind faith, I sure can see a lot ...

          Lord, help me to believe better.  I don't want Your message for my life to be missed because I don't have the faith to see it or hear it for what it is.

On Redemption and Apocalypticism

On to the the book of Joel today ... and this book is in a much different vein of delivery from Hosea.

One major premise of this book is consistent with Hosea:  God allows, even sends, suffering on His people in order to draw them back to Him.  We read about war, famine, locusts plagues, and despair.

Even the land groans for relief.  And in the midst of it, is a charge--a challenge--for corporate repentance and worship.  God WANTS to bring abundance to His people.

There's also an apocalyptic bent to the book.  I'm no expert on interpreting apocalyptic segments of scripture and transposing it into historical/future significance.  But it does seem clear that Joel, like many of the Old Testament prophets (and religious leaders throughout history) expects final justice against Israel's antagonists.
The litany of offenses against Israel's God by her nation-enemies will be repaid.  He has used them to bring judgment to His people, but they went overboard.  And He plans to bring them down.  He will lead them into a confrontation where it seems none of them will will be the victor, and Judah and Jerusalem will be exonerated and freed from their influence.

It is not my intent to say, "look around at the world right now, and see God destroying these countries."  I don't know if this judgment on these nations has already come and gone, or if it is yet to be seen.  I think, for me, today, the more important point is this:

God plans to redeem His people.  

And I, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, have been included in that redemption.  His end-game scenario displays plenty and ease of life.  Struggles to make ends meet cease.  There is peace, there is justice, and He enfolds His people into His love and security.  Sounds heavenly.

I guess what I get out of my reading today is not really that different from what I read yesterday.  God longs to redeem and protect and provide for His people, and He will do what He must to bring them to the point where they realize their need for Him.  I'm not saying all discomfort is from God, by any means.  People have free will, and we do enough harm to ourselves and each other on our own.  But I do believe God is willing to use everything He can to bring us to the point where we reach out to Him.

Lord, let me see Your hand in everything I experience, and let me seek every opportunity to reach out to You.  Thank You for Your plan of redemption--not for the sorrow caused to others, but for the joy You bring to all who accept Your plan.  Help me to be a conduit of Your blessing to other people in every circumstance.

Morning 1

           Having grown up in churches and having (almost) finished a biblical studies degree at a Christian university, I'm already pretty familiar with most of the Bible.  So, rather than just "start at the beginning" and either begin my daily self-feeding regimen with Genesis or Matthew (or even John), I started with Hosea.  For anyone who's not familiar with the story, Hosea is a prophet who is told by God to marry a prostitute, and through his experiences (including the births of his children), Hosea is shown the adulterous way the kingdoms of Israel and Judah have treated God.

Honestly, it's pretty scathing.  There is a lot of condemnation and fault-finding.

So why did Israel and Judah fall away?  They chased after idols ... things they could see and feel and venerate.  They gave in to the trap of taking the easy path.  What is easier to worship, an idol or an Invisible God?  For them, they chose the idols.










What have my idols been?  Makes me think ...

I spend more time reading for fun than for self-improvement or -feeding.
I spend more energy trying to make myself comfortable than to make myself better.
I concentrate more passion on temporal, trivial concerns (like sports) than eternal, fundamental concerns (like my and my family's spiritual well-being).
I eat more than I pray.
And the list could continue, but I think that's a pretty good--or bad--start.



Pretty depressing!

And if the story ended there, it would be, but the final segment of Hosea's account is about redemption.  God says that He is going to send judgment, not to crush the wayward children, but to cause them to call out to Him so He can bring them back into the fold.

My favorite part of this book is how He says, "I say to those who are named "not mine," you are Mine!"

They chose to separate from Him, but He brings them back ... just like I want to get drawn back in close again.

Lord, ignite in me a fire that burns away the things that keep me from having a faithful relationship with You, so I can be safe and secure and blessed in Your arms.

The Journey Begins

           I need to go on a journey, and I am willing to have anyone who wants to join me come along.  It will not be easy.  It will be full of pain, sorrow, successes, failures, ups, downs, joy, laughter, and tears ... but what good story isn't?  My hope, though, is to permanently and irrevocably change my life at its core.  Not just because I want to, but because I need to.

I was driving a friend home to borrow a vehicle (long story, I won't get into that here), and we were "co-captives" in the van for about half an hour.  My friend is a self-proclaimed atheist who grew up in church, but--due to a lot of legitimate doubts based on interactions with professed Christians--she does not believe in God or any higher power.  So, being friends who are fairly open and non-judgmental with each other, the topics of church, religion, faith, and hypocrisy came up.

I invited her and her family to come check out our church's services this weekend (I attend North Point Church in Springfield, MO), letting her know that there will be 7 services this weekend with great stuff for the kids, prizes to be won, true multi-media presentation, the whole shebang.  While she didn't outright refuse, she was obviously hesitant.  She did say that her husband (who is a "spiritual" person, as opposed to claiming to be a Christian) and some of her kids (she has 4) may come.  I promised to send him an invite via Facebook with a reminder of the time that my family is planning to attend.

After a lengthy discussion that ranged from why she doesn't believe to why I do believe and back again, we arrived at her house, I hopped out of one vehicle and into another, and I began my trek back home.

And here is where my journey begins, and hopefully where your interest will percolate:  I realized that, while I intellectually agree with the tenets of my faith, I don't know if I Believe like I should.  Let me explain, and please understand that this is not meant to be an exercise in semantics.

Understanding the principles of the doctrine I profess is not the same as Following those principles.

Agreeing that Jesus was born from a virgin's womb, lived a perfect and holy life, was (and is) the Son of God, died to cover my faults and mistakes and errors and--yes--sins, was buried in a tomb and rose through His and His Heavenly Father's power from death and the grave, and ascended from this earth to reign and return some day DOES NOT automatically mean that I believe this.  Belief means that I adhere to, follow, and devote myself and my actions to something.

My problem is I realized that, in large part, my daily life is not fundamentally different from that of my atheist friend.  

Some may call this a "crisis of faith."  Some may call it a "come to Jesus moment."  Some of you may even use this as proof that Christianity is a sham.
And perhaps in my recent life, it has been.


I'm not a criminal.  I don't steal, I've never killed anyone, I don't cheat on my wife, I care for my children, I take decent care of our animals ...

But ethics and morality do not equate with righteousness.  Righteousness is defined as being in good standing with God.  And all my good works (or lack of really bad ones) can not measure up to the standard--perfection.  Thus the need for grace.

  

There is also no such thing as "relative righteousness."  Being "better" than someone else doesn't give me a pass with God.  This attitude actually is a function of pride, which we are told God hates.

Ok, a lot of you have probably heard all this before, and you're thinking "yeah, so what?" or "get to the point, Josh."  

So, here's the point.  I realized that my main problem is not a lack of understanding, but a lack of discipline and passion.  I'm not a cold fish ... I love my wife, and I'm committed to her.  I've been a fan of the same football team for practically my whole life.  But when it comes to the most important things, I have no inner drive right now.  I need to find, or reclaim, or reignite the passion I used to have.  The tears that come when I see my sin, or ponder the pain of others, or try to grasp the depravities that humanity can visit on its constituents (ie.  poverty, illiteracy, disease, emptiness, etc.) need not to stop at my eyes, but flow down my cheeks.  My desperation for meaning and purpose--and GOD--needs to last for more than five minutes at a time at the end of a message at a weekly service.  If not, I will continue to feel dead and disconnected, more and more each day, until finally I feel nothing at all.

And that is not what LIFE is meant to be.  

My journey begins today with a few small steps:  this initial blog, my commitment to begin to "self-feed" (read the Bible and pray) daily, and a request for the willing to join me.  I need some support.  I can't do this on my own.  You probably can't either.  So if you are willing to help me up when I slip and fall, or if you just want to follow along to watch my progress, tune in.  I plan to regularly check in to update my progress.  And I promise, my future entries will be much shorter.

Thank you for reading my rant, such as it is, and thank you for whatever comments any of you offer.