In order for Christ to be found
We must have lives that abound
Not power or status or things
But hearts that can soar as on wings
Tag Archives: life
Self-Pitiless
StandardWe need to learn
Compassion for our Self
Yet show it no
Pity
Death Benefit
StandardChrist died to kill sin
So that we could become
One
With Him
In Him
For Him
Precondition for Revival
StandardThe main prerequisite
to being Revived
is admitting
we are dead
As long as we think
we are victims to be rescued
or saints to be vindicated
or children to be protected
The Cross holds no answers
Redeeming Aphrodite: Meeting Jesus (Part 6)
StandardContinued from Part 5
Prologue
I stare at the desk.
As I have for days.
I know I must open it.
But I am terrified of what I might find.
Of what I could become.
I finally reach a trembling hand towards the first drawer.
Suddenly there is a knock on the door!
I nearly crap my pants.
I call out in a shaky voice.
More by reflex than curiosity.
I dare not even imagine who might be coming for me in this place.
The Office of Hades.
“Who is it?” I croak.
“It is I,” replies a voice.
Hauntingly familiar.
But, surely not here?
It must be a trap.
But I am already trapped.
And I never thought to lock the door.
What have I got to lose?
“Come… in?”
The Apple of His Eye
StandardI know how Adam must’ve felt
When Eve ate the Apple.
That’s why he ate.
Because he would rather
Die with her
Than live alone.
Satan head-faked him.
She wouldn’t have died.
Or God could have raised her
If he’d only managed to endure
Until God showed up
Eve was deceived by desire
Adam was deceived by despair
That is what kept them
From reaching for
The Tree of Life
Evangel, Part V: Living The Gospel
Standard“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” — Galatians 2:19-21
Evangel, Part II: The Story of God (and Me)
Standard“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared…” – I Corinthians 15:1-5a
Song: Gratitude
StandardPart 3 of the Guilt–Grace-Gratitude musical trilogy, from my 1996 meditations on The Grace Cycle.
Song: From Guilt to Grace
StandardThe following song is a lyrical version of “Graphical Theology: The Grace Cycle“, part of my burst of artistic exploration in 1996. It was the first element of a trilogy on the Reformation themes of Guilt-Grace–Gratitude, but unlike the other two I never was happy enough with it to put it to music.
LEAD! C.8 Submission and Service
StandardIn Which We Triumph By Surrendering
Submission is the key to understanding and exercising divine authority. Not merely submitting to God, but also to other humans — even those we might be tempted to count our inferiors — in order to serve them.
Crucially, our service must not spring from codependency or a need to be liked, but from a single-minded devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ, who made Himself a servant for our sake.
For only if we serve as Jesus served can we triumph as He triumphs.
Memory Verse: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.” — 2 Corinthians 4:5 (NKJV)
Assigned Reading
-
Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline
- 8. Submission
- 9. Service
-
Donald Whitney: Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
- 7. Serving
-
Eugene Peterson: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
- 5. Service: “Like Servants . . . We’re Watching & Waiting”
- 15. Community: “Like Costly Anointing Oil Flowing Down Head & Beard”
-
Ruth Haley Barton: Sacred Rhythms
- N/A
Radically Happy 