“Christ’s blood is heaven’s key.” – Thomas Brooks
‘Grace’ Category
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Journey to the Cross: Reflection 7
March 8, 2008 by admin
Category Cross, Grace, Sin | Tags: | No Comments
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Journey to the Cross: Reflection 6
March 7, 2008 by admin
“The cross is God’s truth about us, and therefore it is the only power which can make us truthful. When we know the cross we are no longer afraid of the truth.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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Journey to the Cross: Reflection 4
March 5, 2008 by admin
“The cross means this: Jesus taking our place to satisfy the demands of God’s justice and turning aside God’s wrath.” – James Montgomery Boice
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Journey to the Cross: Reflection 3
March 4, 2008 by admin
“Man of sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!”
- Phillip Paul BlissCategory Cross, Grace, Sin | Tags: | No Comments
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Journey to the Cross: Reflection 2
March 3, 2008 by admin
“What shall I say to the commendation of Christ and His Cross? I bless the Lord He has made my prison a palace to me. And what am I that He should have delt thus with me? I have looked greedy-like to such a lot as this, but I still thought it was too high for me when I saw how vile I was.” – Isabel Alison (excecuted for her faith on January 26th, 1681)
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Journey to the Cross: Reflection 1
March 2, 2008 by admin
“I wish that our ministry – that mine especially – might be tied and tethered to the cross. I would have no other object to set before you than Jesus only.”- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
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Journey to the Cross: Introduction
March 1, 2008 by admin
The heart of Christianity is Jesus Christ. He is God who became flesh, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross. Jesus was very mission guided. His mission was to come and die. Jesus came to be the mediator between a righteous and holy God and a sinful people. His mediation, however, was not a mediation handled with words, but rather it was a mediation in which Jesus bore the sins of the people and took upon Himself the wrath of God on behalf of the people. This is the story of undeserved and unfathomable grace given to people who did not deserve it. This is the gospel. Leading up to Good Friday, we will reflect on this amazing truth through some statements from Christians throughout the centuries. May you be lead worship and adore Jesus and to seek a deeper relationship with Him as we journey to the cross.
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Culture and the Church: Thought Shapers- Part 5: Erwin McManus (Reaching Out to Artists)
February 13, 2008 by admin
Erwin McManus is the pastor of Mosaic in Los Angeles, California. He has written several books including his newest release Soul Cravingswhich paints a picture of how each of our desires as human beings (such as our desires for love, purpose, and meaning) can be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Erwin considers himself to be a “futurist, activist, artist, and spiritual and cultural leader” according to his website. God has led Erwin to form a very interesting an unusual ministry in Mosaic. It is a church, or as Erwin would call it a “spiritual community,” which meets in schools and bars for its weekly gathering. This is a church that is very different than what you would expect in that it is intended to reach out to people who are artists, musicians, and others who have a desire to be creative. Mosaic has grown to become a place where creativity and spirituality have become wed together. Erwin encourages his people to seek after God and to express the beauty and creativeness of God through their different forms of creative expression. Mosaic has formed a Christian community seeking to glorify God in the midst of an area of the world with a tremendous cultural influence. God is using Erwin and Mosaic to draw many creative people to Him. One thing that I really respect about Erwin is that he lives his life looking for tangible ways to show the love of Christ to others. This is seen through the many personal stories that he tells in his messages from the opportunities that God has given him to touch someone tangibly with His love. The love of Christ and practical expressions of His grace through the lives of people seeking Him is a powerful way for people to be drawn to Jesus in the midst of a world that thinks that they want nothing to do with Christianity.
Category Church, Culture, Grace | Tags: | No Comments
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Full Hands
January 25, 2008 by admin
We so often get consumed with holding onto stuff that we should surrender to Jesus. It is so easy to get caught up in holding onto our past failures and sins. Satan finds it fun to bring these back up again and again in our minds. He reminds us that we have done ___________ and therefore who are we to serve God and minister to people. He brings up not only the sends of the long ago past but the failures of yesterday. He focuses our minds on our walk with Christ as being a time of continual failure and sin. He then plants thoughts into our minds and hearts that Jesus is looking down on us with a frown and that we will never measure up. This is true in one sense that we will never measure up to the holy standard of God. This is why Jesus came to be adequate on our behalf. This is one thing that we so frequently hold. Another think that we hold is our successes. We look back on our resumes and accomplishments and decided that we can do it on our own. We think that we are smart enough, good enough, and strong enough and that we do not need God. In both of these times you have full hands which inhibit you in two ways. The first way is that they keep you from letting the Holy Spirit hold your hand and walk you along this journey of faith. Your hands are either so full of your failures that you do not think His hand is there or so full of your successes to think that you do not need the hand that is offered. The second thing that they do is they keep you from reaching out to others. Your hands are so full of your own failures or successes that you do not have a hand to reach out to others around you in love and be the hands and feet of Jesus. So it is really important where you have your hands and what they are full of. This was inspired by the following video. I hope that this is both a challenge and encouragement to you.
Category Christian Living, Faith, Grace, Sin | Tags: | No Comments
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Return of the King
January 21, 2008 by admin
Earlier this week, I was listening to Francis Chan, a pastor who I first heard at Passion who has become one of my favorite people to hear speak. He was talking about Jesus coming back and how we should be excited about that like a bride would be excited for her wedding day. That really hit me because I do not even think about Christ coming back much at all. He then went on to share about comforting people with the return of Christ. This I think is something that we often miss. When we see the world falling apart around us and feel like there is no hope, we can always rest in the fact that Jesus Christ is coming back to make all things new. So when you hear about someone dying from cancer, when you hear the stories of the horrible genocide that is going on in the Darfur region of Sudan, when you hear about the children that were killed by a terrorist bomb, when your world falls apart, or when you have lost all hope, never forget that the King is coming back to make all things new!
Category Faith, Grace | Tags: | No Comments
