Serving

“We can only enter into sanctity in the eyes of God by returning into infamy in the eyes of men.”

Who do you seek to please as you serve? Well, most Christians would immediately answer, “God, of course!” But in reality think NOTHING about God as they serve. Think about Christ washing the disciples’ feet. Do you realize just how disgusting that was? The dirt and grime of the dusty roads mingled with sticky
sweat to make traces of mud on their feet. This job was relegated to the lowest servant.

Christ washed their feet.

Let that sink in.

Christ – the Son of God. The Creator of the universe. The Messiah.

Washed – used his hands, getting all the grime on them.

Their – the disciples. The overzealous Peter who would soon thrice deny him. The traitorous Judas, who
would betray him to the religious leaders.

Feet – sweaty, dirty feet.

THAT was ministering. THAT was serving.
Serving is working in the nursery changing diapers and wiping snotty noses.

Serving is doing someone’s dirty laundry so they don’t have to.

Serving is cleaning up messes after a sick family member.

Serving is doing the dishes after a church fellowship while other people are fellowshipping.

Serving is being like Christ.

Serving is doing the unwanted.

But serving isn’t only “doing” things.

Think about it… Jesus took time for people. He CARED about them.

Think about the people Jesus served. Blind men. Lepers. Lame men. Prostitutes. Children. Sick. Poor. Dead.

Serving is becoming part of someone’s life. Caring for them. Caring about them.

How many times do we as Christians care only what others look like or act like? We become so concerned with “issues” that we neglect to love them. To love what they ARE. Why? Because Christ loved us where we were. And, yes, we do have to see where they can go, but they should know that we CARE about them, not just about what they “do.”

Do we minister and serve those who are in need? Or do we “minister” and “serve” those we deem as “acceptable” for us to mingle with? While Christ dined with Zacchaeus, the publican, the religious leaders said “He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.”

But Christ said, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”

“We can only enter into sanctity in the eyes of God by returning into infamy in the eyes of men.”

Longing for Home...

Envision with me an extravagantly poor city. People sleeping in wet and damp cardboard boxes. Children starving, their thin frames covered in rags. No family group exists, each person alone in the world. The smell of death covers the rotting city. But, they take pleasure in their things… their rags… their cardboard houses…

You live here. But, you are different than most of the people. You have a ticket out of the city. You have a home in the Great City. There everyone has enough food, a mansion with heat and air-conditioning. The softest clothes that exist. All your family is there. You have all the riches you could ever want… in that city. You have a date that you go home… but what do you do until then?

Do you fight over the cardboard boxes? Do you compare your rags with other people’s rags?

No, you look expectantly look to the day you get to go home. You can't take your card-board boxes with you… nor would you want to.

The only thing that you can take from the poor city is people… you can tell others about the Great City… and about how they can gain a home there. Would you tell people?

Of course!!!! Why wouldn’t you?

And, when that day comes, would you say, “I don’t want to go. Let me stay here! I want to stay in my card-board house.”

No! You would run into the arms of the Mayor, thankful to be home.

Then why do you?
Why do Christians fight over the “cardboard houses” of this life when we have mansions in eternity? Why do we tear others apart when we should be uniting for survival? A quote I heard that hit me, “How can we see souls saved when we’re shooting our own wounded?” How pointless! We should be joining together to tell others about eternity. But instead we try to make ourselves look better than another rag-clad person.

Why do Christians cling to the things of this world? Why do we hoard our rags and cardboard boxes like
they are worth something? We can't take them where we’re going… nor would we want to!

Why? Because we don’t live for eternity. We see only the poor city, and after a while of ignoring the value of eternity, we cease to see that value. And we place our value on what we can see.

“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Many times this is used to refer to our finances and possessions. But look at the meaning of the last part of the verse… “there will your heart be also.” Our heart, desire, and longing should be eternity.

But, even I’ve thought… there is so much here on earth, and in heaven, all we’ll do is worship… that’s great… but after a while, it’s going to get kinda… well, you know where I’m going with this, because you’ve sometime thought it too.

Think about this: Have you ever either got something right with the Lord, whether it be an area of sin or just surrendered to Him, or had a truth come alive before you? When that has happened to me, I’ve just wanted to read my bible, pray, or fellowship with other believers. Then… life goes on. We can't just sit in our rooms and read our Bible for the rerst of our lives.

But in heaven, that “feeling” will be on steroids… and the pull of this world or duties of life will not get in the way of that. We will be with CHRIST! No sin to separate us from Him. No responsibilities to fulfill… we can glory in the PRESENT glory of Glory.

Can you imagine? Heaven’s sounding sweeter all the time.

Why live for this world? Take some time to think about eternity… and LONG for it!

Rejoice!

I was up early this morning. Sunday mornings are early for me. Why? Because we have only one bathroom. Sure, you're thinking, "big deal!" But, when you have to get seven people looking somewhat presentable... you have to start early. And, guess who was first this morning at 5:15? Yep!

But, as I looked out the window as the sun slowly came up, I rejoiced. Having written the first post about the crucifixion, it was easy for me to emotionally feel down, looking at the spiritual life from the suffering side. And, yes, there is suffering and sorrow in the Christian life. But that is not what Christ wanted for us.

"Rejoice evermore."
Christ paid the sin debt! I can have the same resurrection power in my every day life... the same that raised Christ from the dead! He is not a dead man we worship. He is the One!
Rejoice today!

"Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

(I hope I'm alright in saying this, if not, forgive me, you know who!)

But today I was talking with someone about my previous blog post, and she said, "I have often wondered about whether the Bible doesn't emphasize the physical part of the crucifuxion because the practice of crucifixion wasn't foreign to those living in Bible days or because the physical aspect wasn't the focus." (that is in summary, not EXACT words :) So, that encouraged me to do another blog post on the SPIRITUAL significance of the cross.

Think about the incarnation. God became Man. God became His creation. He became dust. Why?
Because the price for heaven was perfection. Man, from the Garden of Eden, had become imperfect. Every one of us is a sinner. And was a sinner. All men were marred with the stain of sin. Their sin. "Dead in trespasses and sins."

Thus, when Jesus came to earth, He was the ONLY perfect one. And, He was the only One who could pay the price for sin. OUR sin.

But the price was death for the sinless and perfect.

As he hung on that cross, Jesus took on Hell. He had been deserted by his family, friends, and, then by God. That day, Christ experienced what no living human will ever experience. God forsook him. God left Him. Why? Because Christ WAS every sin we ever committed. The agony of the physical didn't even compare with the spiritual separation. "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

The same separation that YOU will experience in Hell. If we dont accept the full atonement of Jesus, Hell will be horrible, not because of the fire, not because of the darkness, but because of the separation from God. Living death in a God-less eternity.

The sinless, perfect life that Christ lived on this earth seemed to end in defeat. But his last words foreshadowed what would three days later shake the world. IT. IS. FINISHED!

Behold, the Lamb of God

This excerpt I got from here. This puts it into perspective of what Christ really did for us.

As the sheep/cattle bone lacerated the skin and actually dug in under the surface of the skin, the skilled and trained legionnaire could whip his wrist and literally lift small shards of skeletal muscle out through the skin, leaving small ribbons of muscle, about two inches long, hanging through the skin.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ my God!

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood.

As best I could tell, and from some of the information I was able to gather from the Shroud of Turin exhibit, one lash with this whip - one thong - would make a cut about two inches long and about three quarters to an inch deep. To put that into medical terms, that's a cut that takes about twenty stitches to close. So with one lash, one swing of the whip, a total of nine lacerations could be inflicted on the victim, each laceration two inches long and three quarters to one inch deep.

With one blow, one Roman legionnaire could inflict enough wounds to take one hundred eighty stitches to close. If you multiply that times thirty-nine, those two Roman legionnaires inflicted enough lacerations to take about 2,000 stitches to close. I've seen people who've gone through the windshield of a car or wrecked a motorcycle into a barbed wire fence, and I've still never seen anyone that tattered up in any of my medical experience. This gives you an idea of the amount of the physical trauma that was inflicted upon Jesus just from the scourging.

During Jesus' trials and humiliation we also know that a crown of thorns was plaited and placed on his head. In Christ's case this was done to mock him as being King of the Jews. Some of you have been to Israel and have seen these thorns. They're about an inch and one half to two inches long, and they're as sharp as an ice pick. The custom was to take a small three or four foot long reed and slap the thorns on top of the head of the victim in order to drive the thorns into the skull. Those thorns laid upon someone's head and then tapped down with a reed were hard enough to penetrate the outer table or the outer bone of the skull. Imagine the bleeding from three or four hundred puncture wounds in the scalp and around the forehead from these thorns.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

The nail wounds....The Romans practised crucifixion for hundreds of years, and they perfected the art of pain and suffering. How could a man have spikes driven through his hands and feet and not bleed to death? The Romans figured out that if they drove the spike through a man's wrist right at the middle, they could avoid hitting any arteries or veins. If you go back and look at the Hebrew word for hand, it's inclusive from the fingertips to about where your wristwatch crosses your wrist. So the hand didn't necessarily mean the palm, and I can tell you, from having been a hand surgeon at one time and from dissecting cadavers to try to see if the muscle was strong enough to hold the body weight, it's not. You can not drive a spike through a man's palm and hang him by it without it pulling right out between his fingers. It is an accepted medical fact that the muscle in your palm is not strong enough to support your body weight.

In order to be able to drive spikes through the Lord's hands, they had to drive them through at the wrists. There, there's a very strong ligament, called the traverse carpal ligament, that's strong enough to support the body weight. The Romans figured out that if they came about where the crease in the wrist is and drove the spike through this area, they would miss the radial artery (the artery people cut when they try to kill themselves by cutting their wrist - right where the doctor takes your pulse), and they would also miss what we call the ulnar artery over on the little finger side. What they would do though, is drive the nail right through the biggest nerve in the hand, called the median nerve. If any of y'all have ever had carpal tunnel syndrome, you know how uncomfortable any inflammation or irritation to that median nerve can be.

When the median nerve is transected, it gives about the sensation of having an electric cattle prod stuck to your w rist and a constant electrical shock going through your hand, and causes the fingers to claw. In essence, the Romans devised a way they could drive a spike through a man's hand and not lose one drop of blood, while maximising the amount of pain and suffering that man would endure.

The Romans did the same thing with the feet. They calculated where they could drive a spike through both a man's feet and not cause blood loss that would cause the victim to bleed to death. The spike would have been placed between the first and second metatarsal bones, missing the dorals pedis artery. There again, they drove the spike through the feet with no blood loss. The spike misses the artery, but does hit the plantar nerves, thereby causing that same horrible shock sensation.

His dying crimson, like a robe,

Spreads o’er His body on the tree;

Then I am dead to all the globe,

And all the globe is dead to me.

Every time he took a breath, that tattered, lacerated and riddled back was drug and scraped across the splinters and the rough knobs and spikes protruding from the cross. Each time he breathed out, each time he uttered a word, he would have to pull up with his arms and push up with his legs. That's why I want to remind you just how precious Jesus' words from the cross were. That's why he couldn't say more than three or four words at a time. Because when you talk, you only talk as you breathe out, not as you breathe in. Every word Jesus spoke on the cross was spoken as he was pulling up against the nails and dragging his back across the cross.

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

Many times, I think Christians shy away from looking at the horrors of the Cross. It was horrendous. There was nothing to take pride in. There was nothing that was more humiliating and painful.

Why?

Because without the cross, we have no hope. Before the Cross, we were dead. We had no hope of life. But the One, the Only One who met the standards of perfection. The sinless Lamb of God. Was crucified. Was Beaten. Was Whipped. Was Punctured. Was SLAUGHTERED. For YOU. For ME.

Tears run down my face as I write this. What little, petty things that I take pride in, what do they matter? Who cares what small remarks people say to hurt me. Does it matter? People were shouting insults at Jesus WHILE He was suffering. For Me!


"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,"

 Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.



Thyself?

“What sayest thou of thyself?” In John 1, the priests and Levites, which were sent from the Pharisees, ask John this question.

What would your answer be?

“What sayest thou of thyself?” I’m a mother.
“What sayest thou of thyself?” I’m a teacher.
“What sayest thou of thyself?” I’m a student.
“What sayest thou of thyself?” I’m a photographer.

What did John reply? “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord…”

What do we say we are? Is our first response what John’s was? Do you say, “I’m a Christian, leading souls to the Savior.”? Or, do we immediately think of something that has no bearing on eternity?

“What sayest thou of thyself?”

Love: Christ's Way

And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

The utmost revelation of love. The ultimate sacrifice. The perfect Lamb of God took upon himself SIN. The Creator of the universe, the One who held and does hold all things together. With a thought could split the atom, sending our world into oblivion. This same One was the One who died the most painful death imaginable in that day. The most shameful demise. He hung on a cross of wood. Wood that HE created. He hung suspended from metal spikes that ripped through his wrists. He suffered the agony of being separated from His Father, because he WAS sin. He was OUR sin.

Why?

Because He Loved us. He gave the ultimate sacrifice that WE might live.

"Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friend."
If Christ's death on the cross was the picture of what love really should be, can we evalute our own relationships and see where our selfish nature has belittled the immensity that God created for our interactions with those we love.

When those we love hurt, we hurt. Have you ever experienced this personally? I have. You watch as the pain, grief, or sorrow tears to the heart of your friend or family member. And, as you watch, you begin to feel the same pain. Why? Because when we love someone, they take a place in our soul. And, when they hurt, we feel that same pain because they are part of us. We become so in tune with them that in some instances, we know what they are thinking or feeling, even if they are doing all they can do to hide it. We also are aware of anything that could hurt them, whether in what we do, or what others may do. Why? Because we love them.

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

But, the joy of friendship is rejoicing when they rejoice. Christ showed us the ULTIMATE example of Love. Christ is love. When we love, we show Christ. The risen Christ. The Christ who LOVED us!

Viewing God

Perspective does not change essence; rather it changes the depth of the perspective.

Humans will have problems with this phrase. How do I know they will have problems? There are two reasons: either they will attribute wrong definitions to the words, or they will achieve the right definitions and disagree with the truth encapsulated in the statement. To save from the first, I will endeavor to define the statement into understandable references.

What do I mean by perspective? I mean outlook. How one looks at something. If someone said, “You just have wrong perspective,” you would take offence, not from the fact that he called you wrong, but the fact that he doesn’t view your perspective in the way you do. He doesn’t look at it the way you would, did, or could.

What do I mean by essence? I’ll degrade for the benefit of arriving at the same conclusion in the end. I, along with many readers, have washed my hair with a shampoo that claims to be made up entirely of herbs. Herbal Essence. You are hopefully not cringing in disgust, wondering how I could clean my scalp with herbs, are you? Nor are you thanking your lucky stars that I’m not sitting next to you, smelling of stomach-turning herbs. No. All essence means in the shampoo is that the fundamental nature of the liquid is one of healthy, benefiting herbs. Essence: the fundamental nature.

What do I mean by depth? Think of a swimming pool (this is NOT going to be a discussion on benefits versus hindrances of swimming. Just follow my logic here, please!) Imagine with me the largest pool in the world, consisting of extensive areas of play for all ages. Olympic size lap swim for the proficient swimmers. Tens of hundreds of slides of all shapes and sizes. Water toys that all children would drool over. And imagine on top of this, mothers, that it was pre-supervised, a free – babysitting service, prepared with references from extensively important insurance companies, guarantying the safety of your children. What would you say if as you were walking through the facilities you saw that the “kiddy pool” had a depth measurement of ten, not feet, but yards? You would say, “I don’t care what references there are, it cannot POSSIBLY be safe for my two year old to be playing in that large amount of water.” Why? Because you didn’t learn your conversion factors in elementary school and have a personal grudge against the unit of measurement? No! Because the amount of water compared to your two year old is entirely un-proportional. You knew it was TOO deep. That’s what I mean by depth.

Now, although I am sure I have lost some of you, I wish to move on. Let me rephrase the previous phrase in different, but equal terms.

How a human views the fundamental nature of something does not change that fundamental nature, but rather changes the amount that is allotted to be understood from that perspective.

I have probably succeeded in confusing you, because, as I write this, I agree that the first statement is less confusing than the latter; but, don’t get lost. Follow me with this one.

In Israel, there are some roofs that are flat. Like flat. (Must I define this too?) With no angles of inclination or declination. Flat. Picture yourself lying flat (the SAME definition) on the roof. Those of the readers who value their dignity, they might want to imagine someone else lying flat on the flat roof in Jerusalem. Anyway… here’s where the dignity goes out the window. Now, consider that you stick your neck off the balcony while lying flat on the flat roof in Israel, creating a ninety degree angle with the wall that extends to the ground. This is important, so stay with me.
Moving on… as you stare down toward the ground with embarrassment reddening your cheeks, you notice something right beneath you. As an American, you KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW what you are looking at. The greatest comfort food: a Hershey chocolate bar.

Now, speaking entirely from what you see, all you see is the chocolate bar. It looks great. But, you begin to wonder, what size is this WONDERFUL treat? All you can see is the fact that it IS a chocolate bar. You know the dimensions of it – it is so long by so wide. Yet, as your stomach begins to growl, you wonder what the volume is? Or, how THICK is it? From this perspective, thickness cannot be measured. Does that mean it really IS as flat as it looks to be?

Your curiosity is screaming. It is then that you notice a ladder extending down the wall. You climb down the first two rungs, look down, and… what? You see that the candy bar isn't flat, but has a thickness to it

It has changed with your perspective. Right? Think about it. Did it CHANGE its thickness because your perspective moved? Get real! No! Did the fact that it is a chocolate bar change because your view changed? No! Your perception of the depth of the chocolate bar changed, not the fundamental nature of the chocolate bar.

Right now, one or both of two things are happening. Your stomach is GROWLING yearning for that chocolate bar. Or, you are scratching your head and asking, “Thanks for the geometry lesson, but what on earth does this have to do with LIFE?” Well….

The mind of finite man as he views God from the roof takes into account all he can see. But, when we climb down the ladder and see that there is more than what we originally saw, has God changed? No. Perspective does not change essence, but rather changes the depth. At salvation, we were looking down from the roof so to speak. God, from our point of view, was. He existed, and interacted with us to the extent that we realized our need for salvation. But, as we begin to build a relationship with Him, we realize that there is more to God than just the aerial view. He is God. But there is SO much we didn’t understand. Does that mean he is MORE than He was in the past? Perspective does not change the essence. He is still the same he was before, but now we are beginning to see THE EXTENT that He is.

Taking it a step further. Did the chocolate bar CHANGE as we stepped down the ladder? Our perspective, or the place from where we viewed the chocolate bar, changed, but the chocolate bar didn’t grow thicker as we gradually walked down the ladder. It was as it was. God doesn’t change as our relationship with Him expands. He was as He was. He is as He is. Our perspective did the changing, not God.

Further. Did the ingredients of the chocolate bar change as we walked down the ladder? Do the attributes of God change as we grow in our relationship with Him? Is this making sense to you?

I can hear screaming! “Compare God to a chocolate bar? How sacrilegious! Shame on you.” I want to make one thing QUITE clear. I am not COMPARING GOD to a chocolate bar, but rather using it as a metaphor (and my English teacher would supplement the RIGHT literary term here ) God supplied human beings with finite minds, with the ability to only think in what WE can understand or what has been revealed to us. Our finite minds cannot wrap itself around the fact that God is not encapsulated in a body like ours, nor is He just a ghost that walks through walls like a white sheet. But yet God says we, man, are made in “the image of God.” God compares HIMSELF in terms of His creation, so that we might be able to grasp just a sliver of the concept.

Here is something interesting. Suppose someone, thinking that God wanted him to go to a particular college, enrolled, packed up, moved many miles from home, and settled into college life. After a short time, he realized that he had mistaken what God had wanted for him, and spent the rest of the semester with this knowledge. God subjected His perfect will to the imperfect thinking of His creation. Doesn’t this fact limit God’s working in our lives? God limited himself to this imperfect thing He created. But God can't be limited, right? But He limited. Thus contradicting the very NATURE of God. Right? Stepping away from this “problem,” I would like to take another step in our illustration. Straining from your perch on the third or fourth rung down, your fingernails are able to pick up a sliver of chocolate, which you immediately drop onto your tongue. Picked up by your taste buds, the bitter taste of dark chocolate invades your senses. With this, you make the ASSUMPTION that the chocolate bar is, in its entirety, dark chocolate. But, un-known to your “finite” mind, the bar is filled with syrup, white-chocolate, and milk chocolate throughout its entirety. Does your assumption that it is dark chocolate all the way through change the fact that it’s not? Your THOUGHT matters nothing in the COMPOSITION of the chocolate bar. Just as our THOUGHTS about God CHANGE nothing in the very Being that God is. We make mistakes – he misread the will of God – does that mean that God’s will for that semester of college was WRONG? Absolutely NOT!

In conclusion, I’ll restate the facts.
1. As we grow closer to God, He doesn’t change, our PERSPECTIVE does.
2. As we grow closer to God, He is still the same He as He was before – we just begin to see more of the picture.
3. The character of God remains the same, no matter how we view Him.