Good Friday

It is nights like this that I love. Our children - all four of them - are in their beds, quiet and happy for the moment. I walked next door to the church and the smell of clean restrooms and the sight of just vacuumed carpet greeted me. As I walked back to the house I noticed how beautiful the evening is. It is a clear night sky, so I took a moment to sit out on our patio swing - with its brand new cushions - and gaze at the numerous stars in the sky. The smell of our freshly cut lawn and a perfect 72 degrees reminds me that this is almost too perfect.

And I remember that it is Good Friday. Just an hour ago we sat down as a family and read the account from the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus laid down His life for us - bringing forgiveness and redemption for all of mankind.

As I sat out on our patio swing enjoying the perfection and peace that I am blessed with tonight I am reminded of the uncertainty and unrest that so many felt the night that Jesus was crucified. So many questions why..., what..., how... Good Friday was not such a good day for those that had watched Jesus willingly submit to the Roman authorities and religious leaders. Good Friday was not a day of peace for those that had watch Jesus hung on a cross in the midst of taunts and criticism. Good Friday was not a day to be remembered for those that had watched Jesus suffocate to death right before their eyes.

The only reason we can stomach the phrase "Good Friday" is because we know about Sunday!

Let us consider that this is indeed a good Friday. For this was the Friday in which Jesus removed our shackles of slavery to sin - this was the Friday in which Jesus opened the door for all of mankind to come in - this was the Friday in which Jesus bought and brought  us salvation. 

This is indeed a good Friday. For resurrection Sunday is three days away! 

Jesus In The Old Testament: He Will Crush Satan's Head

Genesis 3:15; And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring (seed) and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. 

These words from God - spoken to Satan in the garden of Eden - state that Jesus would crush Satan's head, Satan's power, Satan's curse, and Satan's work. These words from God - spoken during the first days of creation, moments after man first sinned against God - point to the cross. These words tell us that God would send a person - Jesus - to come and redeem us and to save from the sin of mankind. These words tell us that Jesus would come and break every bond of Satan.

Hebrews 2:14; Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.

1 John 3:8; The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

Live For Now

That is stupid!

We have been offered an eternal future  in Jesus Christ. We have provided an eternal home in heaven. We have been promised an eternal hope. Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life on earth to show us how we are to live. Jesus Christ died a gruesome death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus Christ has risen from the grave to bring us a new and everlasting life. Jesus Christ ascended into heaven to preparing a place for us.

"Live for Now"  

That is stupid!

I don’t want to live for now.   I want to live for eternity.

Jesus lived, died, and rose

Jesus lived to teach us how we are to live.

Jesus died to give us life.

Jesus rose to bring us a life with Him.

The Cross is an Embarrassment without...

Easter Sunday is the day when each if us have the honor of celebrating the greatest blessing given to us.

Christmas is wonderful and is to be celebrated, yet Christmas is of little meaning without the cross.

And the cross is an embarrassment without the empty tomb!

Having the Victory Over Myself

This morning I read a Tweet that John Piper made in which he wrote "No pastor lives up to what he preaches. If he does, he is preaching too low." I thought about this statement at various times throughout the day, I thought about how I pray prior to preparing and delivering the sermon and I thought about how I examine my life and actions before preparing and delivering the sermon. While I saw the truth in this statement from the very moment that I read it early this morning, I did not fully appreciate it until I did a final review of this Sunday morning's sermon.

Tomorrow (Sunday) morning's sermon topic is "Victory Over Self" based on the Scripture of Galatians 5:16-25. But the truth is this: for those of us who have committed our ways to Jesus Christ, our natural desires have been crucified, nailed to the cross, where it has no power to break loose, but is continually weaker and weaker (adapted from a phrase written by John Wesley).

If I am being totally transparent, which I believe is necessary for a successful pastor, I am desperately in need of recommitting my walk and my ways to Jesus Christ. I am desperately needing to commit to crucifying my sinful nature and natural desires and embrace the free life that Jesus promises and has designed for me once again.

My challenge then is to make this daily commitment, to daily crucify myself, my sinful nature, and my natural desires just as Jesus spoke of in Luke 9:23 or how Paul describes it in Galatians 2. If you are in the same boat as I am, I challenge you to do the same.