Monday, November 19, 2012

the Gospels

Since Christmas advertising seems to start earlier each and every year, I thought I would get in on some of the fun. (Actually I need a quick reading/paper-writing break.)

Below is a summary from one of my larger readings regarding the Gospels.

The story in the Synoptics, then, emphasizes that from the outset Jesus' purpose in coming to earth was to go to the cross. The Synoptics truly are passion narratives with extended introductions. The cross is viewed neither as a terrible accident nor as a deranged attempt by Jesus to bring in the kingdom of God. Jesus' suffering and death were the very means by which the promises of salvation in the OT were obtained, and his resurrection from the dead indicates the securing of the promise. The resurrection, after all, signified the arrival of the age to come-the promised age of salvation and new creation that God had pledged. The new exodus and the new creation have arrived through the suffering and resurrection of Jesus. He has taken upon himself the guilt and sin of his people so that they can enjoy freedom and joy as human beings made in God's image. ~Thomas R. Schreiner, New Testament Theology, 275-276

There is more than enough "meat" in that summary to satisfy me throughout the celebration of Christ's First Advent. And in the context of this week, that summary is a cornucopia overflowing with items worthy of thanksgiving.

Monday, November 5, 2012

the only thing

Pandora (Shane and Shane radio station) has flooded my speakers on multiple occasions with the song I've posted below. I do not know anything about Ronnie Freeman, but I like this song. I need to hear it every day. And it fits nicely with a sermon I am crafting for class on 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.



I heard someone say the other day
They'd seen in me true love displayed
Blessed by something I had done for them
No sooner had they said these words
I found myself somehow disturbed
Uneasy as I took their compliment
Cause I know the heart inside this man
I know the truth of who I am...

The only thing that's good in me is Jesus
The only thing that's good in me is Jesus
I know me well enough to know
No matter what this life may show
The only thing that's good in me is Jesus

If you could walk the hallways of my heart
And see things as they really are
I wonder if you might be surprised
Seeing faded walls of pride and fear
Rooms I've filled with faithless tears
And corners where I've stood in compromise
But you'd see the work His grace has done
You'd know just how far I've come

In a thousand years
When the dust of this world clears
And I look back on my life
And see in perfect light

The only thing that's good in me is Jesus
The only thing that's good in me is Jesus
I know me well enough to know
No matter what this life may show
The only thing that's good in me is Jesus

Thursday, November 1, 2012

restless

You are great, Lord, and highly to be praised: great is your power and your wisdom is immeasurable. Man, a little piece of your creation, desires to praise you, a human being 'bearing his mortality with him,' carrying with him the witness of his sin and the witness that you 'resist the proud.' Nevertheless, to praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. 
~St. Augustine, Confessions, pp.3

The more I read the "old guys" the more I wish I could write like them.

But since I cannot, I will simply soak in what they have to offer.

I have tasted the pleasure found in praising God. I have experienced God stirring the affections of my heart. I have relished in my standing before Him as creature. I have known rest.

And yet more often than not my heart is restless. It seeks something to praise. It longs for something pleasurable. It looks for meaning.

In those moments I fail to remember why I have been made. I fail to remember where the restlessness of my heart is pointing.

It all points back to my position as creator and God as Creator. It all points back to my being created for the purpose of praising Him. It all points back to finding rest only in Him.