My Button-Down Mind

LEARNING TO BE CONTENT IN OUR OWN PASTURES: Part 1

2006-06-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

One of my blogging friends, Mike Ratliff, has just completed a wonderful series of articles on the timely topic of "the pilgrim heart." One of the articles in particular has caused me to pause and ponder the idea of genuine contentedness in our pilgrimage to that Celestial City. And it got me wondering.....are we, at times, like the sheep in the above photo, peering through the fence at the patch of land on the other side, wistfully longing to be out of our current situation, thinking how wonderful it must surely be across the fence--how marvelous it would be to be over "there," and free from a current burden, trial, or time of suffering?

I'm going to begin with a few selected quotes from Mike's article, as he explores the "gift" of contentment in our Christian lives.

He writes: "We must follow Jesus instead of doing what we want. We must become content with who we are and what our circumstances are. He will teach us how to suffer and sorrow for His glory. We must see all suffering before our Lord as sweet pain. Those who learn to endure will emerge purified, humble, and selfless. With each patient victory, Christ-likeness grows. He will teach us how to be content through it all. When our hearts become circumcised and we become Spirit-led we take a huge step in becoming selfless. We must ask God to develop this wonderful gift of contentment in us. Ask God to show you how selfless you are. "

"What is the key to developing a selfless heart? The key is total submission to Christ’s Lordship. We must give it all up. We must not cling to any of that old worldly stuff. Our fulfillment must come from our relationship with our Lord and from NO WHERE else." (Let me type Mike's last line again, this time in bold text): "Our fulfillment must come from our relationship with our Lord and from NO WHERE else."

Oh, what a profound truth my brother Mike presents here. The last sentence could expand the topic to include not just our sufferings, but longings and desires, as well....but why is the concept so hard to grasp? Or on second thought, maybe it's not a failure to grasp, maybe it's an unwillingness to let go. (Oh my, I think I may be on to something, here). To hold on too tight to the things that we need to loosen our grips on......specifically.......desires or dreams, i.e.: I want this, I want that, and I want them now. (Or at least a glimpse of hope that I'll get them someday).

Are we prone, in our shallow humanness, to sometimes view discontentment in itself as a trial, or as a time of suffering? I think we can find ourselves guilty of that mentality. Do we find ouselves thinking, on occasion, "Is this it? Is this all there is? Have I reached the pinnacle? Have I 'peaked' in this life?"

As we explore this, let's consider the word "content," and all its variations (i.e., "contented," "contentment.") How would you define them? What do they mean to you? A nice house? A good job? Watching a beautiful sunset? Kids who never get in any sort of trouble? A good book & a warm, cozy fire on a cold winter night? A perfect spouse who constantly gives you their undivided attention? A great vacation? Enjoying an elegant meal at an expensive restaurant? Relaxing with relatives after a delicious Thanksgiving meal? A peaceful, starlit night? Drifting on a float in your own swimming pool? A tall glass of lemonade on a warm summer night? What does true "contentment" consist of? Paul told Timothy that he would be content with food for his stomach, and clothes for his back.....merely the very basic necessities of life would be sufficient for his contentment.
"6Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7for we brought nothing into the world, and[a] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content." (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

Let's say that you are experiencing a season of discontentment, and you are viewing it as a fiery trial or time of suffering. What do the scriptures have to say about it? Paul suggests in the book of Romans that we should view our sufferings as a time for rejoicing. "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." (Romans 5:3-4). He went on to say in the 8th chapter, that we should not dwell on our sufferings: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Romans 8:18) In James, we are implored to count trials as joy: "2Count it all joy, my brothers,[a] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4) So, rejoice in them, be content in them, count them a joy, and then move on. Don't wallow in your sorrow.

Mike closed his article with the following prayer, which I think is one we can all relate to:

"Please burn away all of us that is not of You. Give us the grace to submit and patiently endure the sweet pain. Do not take away the pain Lord, but give us the ability to endure it for your glory. In Jesus precious name Amen!"

In the next installment, I'll explore further the purposes of suffering, and factors that could contribute to our feelings of discontent, which we may interpret as "suffering," (as well as the dangers and pitfalls of such a mindset).

TOWARD A MORE AWED RESPECT FOR GOD

2006-06-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm............

RECENT RANDOM RAMBLINGS

2006-06-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

***My youngest is quite inquisitive theologically, at a very early age. I'm so proud of him, as I am my other son, and I always welcome his questions (and often marvel at the depths of them). This last weekend, he asked me, "Momma, if God always lived in heaven, why did he have to make heaven?" (Pretty introspective for a 4-1/2 year-old). I pray that he always maintains that desire to learn more of God and His ways.

***Word to the wise: The speed limit on I-65 in Kentucky is 65 mph. And, Memorial Day Weekend is not a good time to test the enforcement of said speed limit.

***Never allow a Westie near a pond with ducks and geese, ESPECIALLY, if you have any slack in her leash, you're talking on a cell phone, and you are out of state staying in someone else's home. Dogs REALLY smell badly when they're wet with pond water.

***Taylor Hicks became America's newest "American Idol" recently. (Finally, my "underdog pick" on that cheesy show came in first). I did see a disturbing trend begin to develop as the season went on, however. People began treating the contest as a kind of religion, as I encountered many individuals who were attempting to spread the "Taylor gospel," (for lack of a better term), in order to garner votes. Mentioning Taylor to cashiers in stores, calling in to radio shows to say how wonderful he was, loaning his CD's to co-workers in order to to convert them from supporting their favorite contestant to supporting Taylor.....it was getting pretty ridiculous, actually. This thought kept gnawing at me in the back of my mind: "If only we shared Christ's gospel as fervently and boldly as I saw people promoting Taylor." Hello......wake-up call!
(And, is it just me, or did the stylists seem to be attempting to morph young Taylor into a Benny Hinn clone as the show progressed?)

^BENNY ----------------=-------------- TAYLOR^

***"Prince" appeared on American Idol's finale....(hey, at ONE time, I seem to recall that this was being touted as a "family show!") Prince's appearance brought to mind a story I once heard Steve Camp relate, wherein he recounted an encounter he'd had with the pop star in an elevator. I won't repeat the story here; it would demand its own post, but suffice it to say that Prince HAS heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. ;-)

***Speaking of Steve Camp, he still finds himself, on occasion, in the role of "lightning rod." (That's symptomatic of what transpires when you boldly speak the truth, and then stand steadfastly by it).

That's all I have for now. Have a great weekend!

Under His Love,

THE (DA VINCI) DIET CODE

2006-06-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

***Apparently, author Stephen Lanzalotta has discovered a diet secret hidden within the pages of "The Da Vinci Code." He has written a book called, "The Diet Code," in which he reveals the "magic formula" he found to melt off pound after pound. Oh, please--enough, already!

I'm considering taking a ride on the Da Vinci cash cow myself by writing a book about a housekeeping secret I discovered in the Mona Lisa painting-how to keep socks from losing their mates through washing/drying cycles. I'm thinking of calling it, "The Laundry Code."

Anyway, if you're a glutton for punishment, here's a summary of this math whiz's "diet discovery," which he claims was embedded in Da Vinci's masterpieces (click on the graphic below to enlarge).

Da Vinci Claims vs. Historical Facts

2006-06-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

The good folks at NewsMax have come up with a handy-dandy comparison chart to aid in making the distinction between fact and fiction as it relates to The Da Vinci Code. Click on the chart to enlarge, wait for the "expand to regular size" icon to appear at the bottom,
and click on the icon.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES IV: "The Leonardo Code"

2006-05-31T14:22:00.000-07:00

Ah, yes, yet another opportunity to practice my Photoshopping skills!

First off, I'm sorry, but I refuse to take "The Da Vinci Code" seriously. I do, however, recognize that it could yield some wonderful opportunities for us to present the real Gospel that we maybe wouldn't have otherwise. For some serious discourse on "The Da Vinci Code" from a biblical perspective, visit:

http://www.spiritualdisciplines.org/dvcode.html,

http://www.albertmohler.com/commentary_read.php?cdate=2006-05-19,

and http://stevenjcamp.blogspot.com/2006/05/da-vinci-code-moviemy-review.html .

Meanwhile, here are my most recent thoughts on the movie:

I noticed that over the Memorial Day weekend, "The DaVinci Code" only took in $43 million at the box office, whereas, "X-Men: The Last Stand," (the action-hero flick), took in $120.1 million. So, I'm thinking, maybe "Opie" should have combined the two concepts, and created a flick to appeal to a larger audience. Here's what I came up with:
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES IV: "The 'Leonardo' Code." (Hey, it's more realistic than "The Da Vinci Code"). ;-)

So, here's the plot. The ninja turtles-Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo, are called to the scene of a brutal murder-a turtle has perished, and only his shell remains! Scattered about are used take-out pizza boxes, which hold clues that lead to a shocking discovery. A mystery, which has been protected by a secret society for hundreds of years-and it could shake the very foundations of what has been long considered a truth in society and all of the television-viewing public: Professional wrestling.......really is REAL. Not only is it real, but it was secretly brought to the small screen by none other than a bizarre, covert business relationship between Simon Cowell and Donald Trump. Professional wrestling was their joint venture, the "baby" they concocted together in a moment of heated brainstorming. And the networks will stop at nothing--including murder--to keep it a secret.

I think it could work.....

So, from this:

To this?:

Oh, Aunt Bee, where did we go wrong with "the boy? "

Gimme a Break.......Psychotherapy for Infants, Now?

2006-05-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

Now researchers have concluded that there could be long-term benefits of providing psychotherapy to patients in infancy. (Yeah, the long-term benefits could include a country club estate and a sports car in the psychiatrist's future.......wink, wink).

Here's a link to the entire article on MSN's website:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12037118/
Meanwhile, I'm including some "choice" quotes from the article.

"With a growing amount of research focusing on early brain development, more youngsters — even infants — are being targeted to receive the services of mental-health professionals."

"Psychological research on this age group is a hot topic at major universities, and last year the American Academy of Pediatrics launched a task force with at least part of its purpose to push more infant/toddler mental health intervention."

"This may cause some readers to roll their eyes — especially those who believe Americans have a tendency to pathologize and treat the slightest blip of a bad mood. " I confess....I'm one of those "eye-rolling American readers." You've got me pegged! I do give creedence to the scriptures, Isaiah 26:3, Romans 12:2, and Romans 8:6.

"With the right therapy and care, many conditions can be helped significantly and often swiftly. 'Sometimes one session or two sessions and a couple of phone consultations are all you need to take care of a problem,' Dr. Thomas Anders says." Phone consultations? With an infant? I can't even have a coherent phone conversation with my 6 year old! (By the way, Dr. Anders is an "infant psychiatrist" from the University of California).
Here you go, Dr. Anders:
Psalm 139:13-16 "13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."

Proverbs 20:24 A man's steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?

Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

ETA (6/7/06): I noticed that Carla over at "Reflections of the Times" has posted an article regarding the offspring of strict disciplinarians with low levels of sensitivity, and how they (the offspring) are more likely to be fatter children by age 6. I wonder if researchers will eventually determine that failure to provide psycotherapy for your infant and toddler contributes to childhood obesity as well? (Ooops, my eyes are rolling again).

MOMMY POST-DRAMATIC EXPRESS SYNDROME

2006-05-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

My wonderful friend Lisa, over on her Deo Volente blog, posted the following comment a few days ago, which pertained to dealing with short-term memory loss.

She writes: "Another thing I struggle with is memory. I can't seem to blame the MS on this. I have always struggled with it. Most of the time, I consider it a blessing. But the way I deal with it is that I am a "list" person. I make lists, write things I need to remember down on my calendar and cross things out so that I can remember I did them."

Well, I can totally relate! I call these "Mommy Moments." And I have a dented, screeching garage door; dented countertops; a scratch that runs the length of my minivan; and numerous other household imperfections to prove it. I thrive on lists, too. Do you ever forget to put something on your list, realize that it needs to be done, and then after you complete the task, add it to the list so that you can have the immediate gratification of crossing it off your list?

Many times, I find myself setting out for downstairs to do something, and forgetting what it was by the time I get there. So, I have to go back upstairs to the exact spot in the same room I was in when I originally thought of it, so that I can "jog my memory" (by returning to the scene, I guess). Do you ever do that?

I'll tie out our dog on the back deck, then forget to let her back in. Then, when I do finally remember to let her back in, five minutes later, I return to the back door once again to let her in (completely forgetting that she was already back in the house).

Someone emailed me a "textbook case" of a fictional disorder called, "Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder (A.A.A.D.D.), but I renamed it "Mommy Post-'Dramatic Express' Syndrome," (MPES), and re-wrote it to make it more of a personal account of one of my typical days.

This is how it goes: I decide to clean out the van; I start toward the garage and notice the mail on the kitchen counter. OK, I'm going to clean out the van.

But first I'd better go through the mail. I lay the car keys down on the kitchen counter, discard the junk mail and I notice the trash can is full. OK, I'll just put the bills on my desk and take the garbage out.

But since I'm going to be near the mailbox anyway, I'll pay these few bills first.
(Yes, it's a very brick mailbox that etched a huge scratch down the passenger side of the van because I pulled way too quickly out of the driveway when I was running late one afternoon). Now, where is my checkbook? I go upstairs to my computer to find my checkbook. Oops, there's only one check left. I'd better call the bank and order more. Oh, there's my coffee I was drinking.
I'm going to look up the phone number to the bank.
But first I need to put my coffee further away from the computer, oh maybe I'll warm it up in the microwave. . I head downstairs to the kitchen and the dog catches my eye, she needs to be fed. (Yes, she's one of those ->"adorable" West Highland White "Terrors)." I put my coffee mug in the microwave and notice my bottle of vitamins. I was looking for them all morning! I'd better put them away first.

I walk down the hall to the bathroom to put away my vitamins, and notice that the laundry hamper is full (again); I need to start a load of laundry. I load the washer and turn it on, and on the way back, I notice that my houseplants need water.

I fill a container with water and head for the flower pots. Someone left the TV remote in the kitchen. We'll never think to look in the kitchen tonight when we want to watch television.

So I'd better put it back upstairs in the family room where it belongs. I splash some water into the pots and onto the floor. I throw the remote onto a soft cushion on the sofa and I head back downstairs trying to figure out what it was I was going to do.

End of Day: The van isn't cleaned; the bills are unpaid ; my coffee mug is still in the microwave ; the flowers are half watered ; I still have only one check in the checkbook with no more on the way, there are clean, wet clothes sitting in the washing machine; the remote has fallen under the couch cushions, and I can't seem to find my car keys!

When I try to figure out how come nothing got done today, I'm baffled because I KNOW I WAS BUSY ALL DAY LONG! I realize this is a serious condition and I'll get help,
BUT FIRST I think l'll check my e-mail.

GOING THROUGH A TRIAL?

2006-05-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

Read the words of Keith Green, as he wrote about the ultimate result of our trials:

Trials Turned To Gold

He's brought me here, where things are clear, and trials turn to gold.

He shared with me, His victory, He won in days of old.

Oh Lord, I don't deserve, the riches of your word,

But You've changed my filthy rags to linen white as snow.

The view from here is nothing near to what it is for You.

I tried to see Your plan for me, but I only acted like I knew.

Oh Lord forgive the times, I tried to read your mind.

Cause you said if I'd be still, then I would hear your voice.

My Lord, my King, my urge to sing and praise the things above.

No words can say the glorious way you changed me with your love.

He's brought me low, so I could know the way to reach the heights.

To forsake my dreams, my self esteem and give up all my rights.

With each one that I lay down, a jewel's placed in my crown.

Cause His love, the things above, is all we'll ever need.

He's brought me here, where things are clear, and trials turn to gold.

SAYINGS OF BIBLICAL MOTHERS

2006-05-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

* "Samson! Get your hand out of that lion. You don't know where it's been!"

* "David! I told you not to play in the house with that sling! Go practice your harp. We pay good money for those lessons!"

* "Abraham! Stop wandering around the countryside and get home for supper!"

* "Cain! Get off your brother! You're going to kill him some day!"

* "Noah! No, you can't keep them! I told you, don't bring home any more strays!"

* "Peter! If I've told you once, I've told you 10 times--stop swimming in the ocean."

* "Gideon! Have you been hiding in that wine press again? Look at your clothes!"

* "James and John! No more burping contests at the dinner table, please. People are going to call you the sons of thunder!"

* "Judas! Have you been in my purse again?"

I WANNA LIFT MY HANDS......?

2006-04-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

COMING SOON TO A CHURCH NEAR YOU?

Tom Ascol, Executive Director of Founders Ministries, found a "doozy" of a church sign over the weekend, (as well as a corresponding article in the local newspaper), and posted it on his Director's Blog. Apparently, this past weekend, one of the local Lutheran churches joined in the current epidemic of implementing the music of The Beatles in their worship services. Click on over there to see for yourself and to read Tom Ascol's brilliant article; he cleverly inserts titles from Beatle tunes to make his point.

Now, I like the Beatles' music as much as the next person........actually, more than the next person, but, as I have stated before on this blog, (and on other blogs), I don't believe there is ANY PLACE for secular music in a worship setting.

So, (to borrow from Tom Ascol's technique), can't we "Get Back" to using true worship songs in our worship services? "I Don't Want to Spoil The Party," but come on.......isn't there "Something" wrong with this picture? Can someone "Tell Me Why" this type of thing is beginning to occur in churches "Here, There, and Everywhere?" I wish I could say "I'm Only Sleeping," and this is just a dream. I'm praying the seeker-friendly movement would "Slow Down," but "I've Got a Feeling" we'll be seeing more and more of this practice. Some seem to think "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" in some watered-down form of the gospel. Hopefully, the response this worship service received was feeble enough that they attempt it "Not A Second Time." Sure, "There's A Place" for the Beatles' tunes, but I just don't believe it's in the house of God. ____________________________________________________________

As a sidebar, it seems strange that churches are allowed by the copyright owners to present Beatle songs in a worship venue, but the Fox television show, "American Idol" was denied the rights to use them; therefore, they cannot feature a "Beatles theme night." Hmmmmmmm.........

CHRIST DIED FOR GOD

2006-04-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

To finish up my weekend series of Easter-themed entries, I wish to post the lyrics to the powerful song, "Christ Died for God," which was penned in 1994 by Steve Camp and Rob Frazier, (using Romans 3:25 as a scripture reference).

As our observance of the Easter season slips away for 2006, may we daily continue to cling to the message of the cross, and keep it in our hearts always.

CHRIST DIED FOR GOD

CHRIST DIED FOR GOD AND GOD WAS SATISFIED WITH CHRIST,

PURE, UNBLEMISHED SACRIFICE

OH, SON OF GRACE

FOR WHO ARE WE TO BOAST

NOT OF WORKS THAT WE HAVE DONE

BUT BY FAITH IN GOD'S OWN SON

WE ARE SAVED

AND WE CRY HOLY

WORTHY IS THE LAMB

GOD'S LOVE REVEALED TO MAN

IN THE EARTH

AND WE CRY, HOLY

GLORY TO THE KING

THROUGH WHOM SALVATION BRINGS

THE NEW BIRTH

CHRIST DIED FOR GOD AND GOD HAS MADE HIM LORD OF ALL

FOR HE DRANK THE BITTER GALL

THE CUP OF WRATH

BUT HE ROSE IN MAJESTY

THAT GRACE MIGHT REIGN

THROUGH RIGHTEOUSNESS

BLESSED OBEDIENCE

OUR SABBATH REST

AND WE CRY HOLY

WORTHY IS THE LAMB

SALVATION COME TO MAN

IN THE EARTH

AND WE CRY, HOLY

GLORY TO THE KING

THROUGH WHOM SALVATION BRINGS

THE NEW BIRTH

WE CRY HOLY

WORTHY IS THE LAMB

SALVATION COME TO MAN

IN THE EARTH

WE CRY, HOLY

GLORY TO THE KING

THROUGH WHOM SALVATION BRINGS

THE NEW BIRTH

OH, THROUGH WHOM SALVATION BRINGS

THE NEW BIRTH

Words and Music by Steve Camp and Rob Frazier

(Used by Permission)

C.H. Spurgeon: "THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD JESUS"

2006-04-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

To follow are excerpts from Charles Spurgeon's sermon entitled,
"The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus,"

which was delivered on April 9, 1882.

Click here to read the entire sermon.

“Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.”--

2 Timothy 2:8

Our present text is found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. The venerable minister is anxious about the young man who has preached with remarkable success, and whom he regards in some respects as his successor. The old man is about to put off his tabernacle, and he is concerned that his son in the gospel, should preach the same truth as his father has preached, and should by no means adulterate the gospel. A tendency showed itself in Timothy’s day, and the same tendency exists at this very hour, to try to get away from the simple matters of fact upon which our religion is built, to something more philosophical and hard to be understood. The word which the common people heard gladly is not fine enough for cultured sages, and so they must needs surround it with a mist of human thought and speculation.

This Jesus Christ was really and truly man; for Paul says he was “of the seed of David.” True he was divine, and his birth was not after the ordinary manner of men, but still he was in all respects partaker of our human nature, and came of the stock of David. This also we do believe. We are not among those who spiritualize the incarnation, and suppose that God was here as a phantom, or that the whole story is but an instructive legend. Nay, in very flesh and blood did the Son of God abide among men: bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh was he in the days of his sojourn here below. We know and believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. We love the incarnate God, and in him we fix our trust.

It is implied, too, in the text that Jesus died; for he could not be raised from the dead if he had not first gone down among the dead, and been one of them. Yes, Jesus died: the crucifixion was no delusion, the piercing of his side with a spear was most clear and evident proof that he was dead: his heart was pierced, and the blood and water flowed from there. As a dead man he was taken down from the cross and carried by gentle hands, and laid in Joseph’s virgin tomb. I think I see that pale corpse, white as a lily. Mark how it is distained with the blood of his five wounds, which make him red as the rose. See how the holy women tenderly wrap him in fine linen with sweet spices, and leave him to spend his Sabbath all alone in the rock hewn sepulcher. No man in this world was ever more surely dead than he. “He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death.” As dead they laid him in the place of the dead, with napkin and grave clothes, and habiliments fit for a grave then they rolled the great stone at the grave’s mouth and left him, knowing that he was dead.

Then comes the grand truth, that as soon as ever the third sun commenced his shining circuit Jesus rose again. His body had not decayed, for it was not possible for that holy thing to see corruption; but still it had been dead; and by the power of God by his own power, by the Father’s power, by the power of the Spirit for it is attributed to each of these in turn, before the sun had risen his dead body was quickened. The silent heart began again to beat, and through the stagnant canals of the veins the lifeblood began to circulate. The soul of the Redeemer again took possession of the body, and it lived once more. There he was within the sepulcher, as truly living as to all parts of him as he had ever been. He literally and truly, in a material body, came forth from the tomb to live among men till the hour of his ascension into heaven. This is the truth which is still to be taught, refine it who may, spiritualize it who dare. This is the historical fact which the apostles witnessed; this is the truth for which the confessors bled and died. This is the doctrine which is the keystone of the arch of Christianity, and they that hold it not have cast aside the essential truth of God. How can they hope for salvation for their souls if they do not believe that “the Lord is risen indeed”?

This morning I wish to do three things. First, let us consider the bearings of the resurrection of Christ upon other great truths; secondly, let us consider the bearings of this fact upon the gospel, for it has such bearings, according to the text--“Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel”; thirdly, let us consider its bearings on ourselves, which are all indicated in the word” Remember.”

I. First, then, beloved, as God shall help us, let us CONSIDER THE BEARINGS OF THE FACT THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD.

It is clear at the outset that the resurrection of our Lord was a tangible proof that there is another life.

His resurrection is also a pledge that the body will surely live again and rise to a superior condition; for the body of our blessed Master was no phantom after death any more than before.

Secondly, Christ’s rising from the dead was the seal to prove his claims.

Dear friends, the rising of Christ from the dead proved that this man was innocent of every sin. He could not be held by the bands of death, for there was no sin to make those bands fast. Corruption could not touch his pure body, for no original sin had defiled the Holy One. Death could not keep him a continual prisoner, because he had not actually come under sin; and though he took sin of ours, and bore it by imputation, and therefore died, yet he had no fault of his own, and must, therefore, be set free when his imputed load had been removed. Moreover, Christ’s rising from the dead proved his claim to Deity. We are told in another place that he was proved to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. He raised himself by his own power, and though the Father and the Holy Spirit were cooperative with him, and hence his resurrection is ascribed to them, yet it was because the Father had given him to have life in himself, that therefore he arose from the dead. Oh, risen Savior, thy rising is the seal of thy work! We can have no doubt about thee now that thou hast left the tomb. Prophet of Nazareth, thou art indeed the Christ of God, for God has loosed the bands of death for thee! Son of David, thou art indeed the elect and precious One, for thou ever lives! Thy resurrection life has set the sign manual of heaven to all that thou hast said and done, and for this we bless and magnify thy name.

A third bearing of his resurrection is this, and it is a very grand one,--The resurrection of our Lord, according to Scripture, was the acceptance of his sacrifice.

Bear with me while I notice, next, another bearing of this resurrection of Christ. It was a guarantee of his people’s resurrection.

There is a great truth that never is to be forgotten, namely, that Christ and his people are one just as Adam and all his seed are one. That which Adam did he did as a head for a body, and as our Lord Jesus and all believers are one, so that which Jesus did he did as a head for a body. We were crucified together with Christ, we were buried with Christ, and we are risen together with him; yea, he hath raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He says, “Because I live ye shall live also.” If Christ be not raised from the dead your faith is vain, and our preaching is vain, and ye are yet in your sins, and those that have fallen asleep in Christ have perished, and you will perish too; but if Christ has been raised from the dead then all his people must be raised also; it is a matter of gospel necessity. There is no logic more imperative than the argument drawn from union with Christ. God has made the saints one with Christ, and if Christ has risen all the saints must rise too. My soul takes firm hold on this and as she strengthens her grasp she loses all fear of death. Now we bear our dear ones to the cemetery and leave them each one in his narrow cell, calmly bidding him farewell and saying:

"So Jesus slept: God’s dying Son

Passed through the grave, and blest the bed

Rest here, dear saint, till from His throne

The morning breaks and pierce the shade.”

Once more, our Lord’s rising from the dead is a fair picture of the new life which all believers already enjoy.

Now, just as Jesus Christ led, after his resurrection, a life very different from that before his death, so you and I are called upon to live a high and noble spiritual and heavenly life, seeing that we have been raised from the dead to die no more.

Let us joy and rejoice in this. Let us behave as those who are alive from the dead, the happy children of the resurrection. Do not let us be money grubbers, or hunters after worldly fame. Let us not set our affections on the foul things of this dead and rotten world, but let our hearts fly upward, like young birds that have broken loose of their shells fly upward towards our Lord and the heavenly things upon which he would have us set our minds. Living truth, living work, living faith, these are the things for living men: let us cast off the grave clothes of our former lusts, and wear the garments of light and life. May the Spirit of God help us in further meditating upon these things at home.

II. Now, secondly, LET US CONSIDER THE BEARINGS OF THIS FACT OF THE RESURRECTION UPON THE GOSPEL; for Paul says, “Jesus Christ was raised from the dead according to my gospel.”

I always like to see what way any kind of statement bears on the gospel. I may not have many more opportunities of preaching, and I make up my mind to this one thing, that I will waste no time upon secondary themes, but when I do preach it shall be the gospel, or something very closely bearing upon it. I will endeavor each time to strike under the fifth rib, and never beat the air. Those who have a taste for the superfluities may take their fill of them, it is for me to keep to the great necessary truths by which men’s souls are saved. My work is to preach Christ crucified and the gospel, which gives men salvation through faith. I hear every now and then of very taking sermons about some bright new nothing or another. Some preachers remind me of the emperor who had a wonderful skill in carving men’s heads upon cherry stones. What a multitude of preachers we have who can make wonderfully fine discourses out of a mere passing thought, of no consequence to anyone. But we want the gospel. We have to live and die, and we must have the gospel. Certain of us may be cold in our graves before many weeks are over, and we cannot afford to toy and trifle: we want to see the bearings of all teachings upon our eternal destinies, and upon the gospel which sheds its light over our future.

The resurrection of Christ is vital, because first it tells us that the gospel is the gospel of a living Savior.

We have not to send poor penitents to the crucifix, the dead image of a dead man. We say not, “These be thy gods, O Israel!” We have not to send you to a little baby Christ nursed by a woman. Nothing of the sort. Behold the Lord that lives and was dead and is alive for evermore, and hath the keys of hell and of death! Behold in him a living and accessible Savior who out of the glory still cries with loving accents, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.” I say we have a living Savior, and is not this a glorious feature of the gospel?

Notice next that we have a powerful Savior in connection with the gospel that we preach; for he who had power to raise himself from the dead, has all power now that he is raised, he who in death vanquishes death, can much more conquer by his life.

And now notice, that we have the gospel of complete justification to preach to you.

We do not come and say, “Brethren, Jesus Christ by his death did something by which men may be saved if they have a mind to be, and diligently carry out their good resolves.” No, no; we say Jesus Christ took the sin of his people upon himself and bore the consequences of it in his own body on the tree, so that he died; and having died, and so paid the penalty, he lives again; and now all for whom he died, all his people whose sins he bore, are free from the guilt of sin. You ask me, “Who are they?” and I reply, as many as believe on him. Whosoever believeth in Jesus Christ is as free from the guilt of sin as Christ is. Our Lord Jesus took the sin of his people, and died in the sinner’s stead, and now being himself set free, all his people are set free in their Representative. This doctrine is worth preaching. One may well rise from his bed to talk about perfect justification through faith in Christ Jesus. One might as well keep asleep as rise to say that Jesus accomplished little or nothing by his passion and his rising. Some seem to dream that Jesus made some little opening by which we have a slight chance of reaching pardon and eternal life, if we are diligent for many years. This is not our gospel. Jesus has saved his people. He has performed the work entrusted to him. He has finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness, and whosoever believeth in him is not condemned, and never can be.

Once again, the connection of the resurrection and the gospel is this, it proves the safely of the saints, for if when Christ rose his people rose also, they rose to a life like that of their Lord, and therefore they can never die.

It is written,” Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death hath no more dominion over him,” and it is so with the believer: if you have been dead with Christ and are risen with Christ, death has no more dominion over you; you shall never go back to the beggarly elements of sin, you shall never become what you were before your regeneration. You shall never perish, neither shall any pluck you out of Jesus’ hand. He has put within you a living and incorruptible seed which lives and abides for ever. He says himself, “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of living water springing up unto everlasting life.” Wherefore hold ye fast to this, and let the resurrection of your Lord be the pledge of your own final perseverance.

III. And so I come to my last head, and to the practical conclusion: THE BEARING OF THIS RESURRECTION UPON OURSELVES.

Paul expressly bids us “Remember” it. “Why,” says one, “we don’t forget it.” Are you sure you do not? I find myself far too forgetful of divine truths. We ought not to forget, for this first day of the week is consecrated to constrain us to think of the resurrection. On the seventh day men celebrated a finished creation, on the first day we celebrate a finished redemption. Bear it, then, in mind. Now, if you will remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David rose from the dead, what will follow?

First, you will find that most of your trials will vanish.

Next remember Jesus, for then you will see how your present sufferings are as nothing compared with his sufferings, and you will learn to expect victory over your sufferings even as he obtained victory.

Kindly look at the chapter, and you will find the apostle there saying in the third verse, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” and further on in the eleventh verse, “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead in him, we shall also live in him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” Now, then, when you are called to suffer, think, “Jesus suffered, yet Jesus rose again from the dead; he came up out of his baptism of griefs the better and more glorious for it, and so shall I!” Wherefore go you into the furnace at the Lord’s bidding, and do not fear that the smell of fire shall pass upon you. Go you even down into the grave, and do not think that the worm shall make an end of you any more than it did of him. Behold in the risen One the type and model of what you are and are to be! Wherefore fear not, for he conquered! Stand not trembling, but march boldly on, for Jesus Christ of the seed of David rose from the dead, and you who are of the seed of the promise shall rise again from all your trials and afflictions, and live a glorious life.

Did you ever get, where Bunyan pictures Christian as getting, right under the old dragon’s foot? He is very heavy, and presses the very breath out of a fellow when he makes him his footstool. Poor Christian lay there with the dragon’s foot on his breast; but he was just able to stretch out his hand and lay hold on his sword, which, by a good providence, lay within his reach. Then he gave Apollyon a deadly thrust, which made him spread his dragon wings and fly away. The poor crushed and broken pilgrim, as he gave the stab to his foe, cried, “Rejoice not over me, O mine enemy; though I fall, yet shall I rise again. Brother, do you the same. You that are near despair, let this be the strength that nerves your arm and steels your heart. “Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to Paul’s gospel .”

Lastly, this proves the futility of all opposition to Christ.

The learned are going to destroy the Christian religion. Already, according to their boastings, it has pretty nearly come to an end. The pulpit is effete, it cannot command public attention. We stand up and preach to empty benches! As you see or do not see. Nothing remains for us but to die decently, so they insinuate. And what then? When our Lord was dead, when the clay-cold corpse lay, watched by the Roman soldiery, and with a seal upon the enclosing stone, was not the cause in mortal jeopardy? But how fared it? Did it die out? Every disciple that Jesus had made forsook him, and fled, was not Christianity then destroyed? Nay, that very day our Lord won a victory which shook the gates of hell, and caused the universe to stand astonished. Matters are not worse with him at this hour! His affairs are not in a sadder condition today than then. Nay, see him today and judge. On his head are many crowns, and at his feet the hosts of angels bow! Jesus is the master of legions today, while the Caesars have passed away! Here are his people needy, obscure, despised, I grant you, still, but assuredly somewhat more numerous than they were when they laid him in the tomb. His cause is not to be crushed, it is for ever rising. Year after year, century after century, bands of true and honest hearts are marching up to the assault of the citadel of Satan. The prince of this world has a stronghold here on earth, and we are to capture it; but as yet we see small progress, for rank after rank the warriors of the Lord have marched to the breach and disappeared beneath the terrible fire of death. All who have gone before seem to have been utterly cut off and destroyed, and still the enemy holds his ramparts against us. Has nothing been done, think you? Has death taken away those martyrs, and confessors, and preachers, and laborious saints, and has nothing been achieved? Truly if Christ were dead I would admit our defeat, for they that are fallen asleep in him would have perished: but as the Christ lives so the cause lives, and they that have fallen are not dead: they have vanished from our sight for a little, but if the curtain could be withdrawn every one of them would be seen to stand in his lot unharmed, crowned, victorious! “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and whence came they?” These are they that were defeated! Whence, then, their crowns? These are they that were dishonored! Whence then their white robes? These are they who clung to a cause which is overthrown. Whence then their long line of victors, for there is not a vanquished man among them all? Let the truth be spoken. Defeat is not the word for the cause of Jesus, the Prince of the house of David. We have always been victorious, brethren; we are victorious now. Follow your Master on your white horses, and be not afraid! I see him in the front with his bloodstained vesture around him, fresh from the winepress where he has trodden down his foes. You have not to present atoning blood, but only to conquer after your Lord. Put on your white raiment and follow him on your white horses, conquering and to conquer. He is nearer than we think, and the end of all things may be before the next jibe shall have come forth from the mouth of the last new skeptic. Have confidence in the risen One, and live in the power of his resurrection. Amen.

C.H. Spurgeon: THE CROSS-OUR GLORY

2006-04-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

To follow are excerpts from Charles Spurgeon's sermon entitled,

"The Cross--Our Glory," which was delivered on Sept. 13, 1855.

Click here to read the entire sermon.

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

— Galatians 6:14

O my hearers, hear ye the voice of wisdom, which crieth, “He that glorieth, let him glory only in the Lord.” To live for personal glory is to be dead while we live. Be not so foolish as to perish for a bubble. Many a man has thrown his soul away for a little honor, or for the transient satisfaction of success in trifles. O men, your tendency is to glory in somewhat; your wisdom will be to find a glory worthy of an immortal mind.

The Apostle Paul had a rich choice of things in which he could have gloried. If it had been his mind to have remained among his own people, he might have been one of their most honored rabbis. He saith in his Epistle to the Philippians, in the third chapter, “If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” He says that he profited in the Jews’ religion above many, his equals in his own nation; and he stood high in the esteem of his fellow-professors. But when he was converted to the faith of the Lord Jesus, he said, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” As soon as he was converted he forsook all glorying in his former religion and zeal, and cried, “God forbid that I should glory in my birth, my education, my proficiency in Scripture, or my regard to orthodox ritual. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Brethren, notice that Paul does not here say that he gloried in Christ, though he did so with all his heart; but he declares that he gloried most in “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” which in the eyes of men was the very lowest and most inglorious part of the history of the Lord Jesus. He could have gloried in the incarnation: angels sang of it, wise men came from the far East to behold it. Did not the new-born King awake the song from heaven of “Glory to God in the highest”? He might have gloried in the life of Christ: was there ever such another, so benevolent and blameless? He might have gloried in the resurrection of Christ: it is the world’s great hope concerning those that are asleep. He might have gloried in our Lord’s ascension; for he “led captivity captive,” and all his followers glory in his victory. He might have gloried in his Second Advent, and I doubt not that he did; for the Lord shall soon descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, to be admired in all them that believe.

Yet the apostle selected beyond all these that center of the Christian system, that point which is most assailed by its foes, that focus of the world’s derision — the cross, and, putting all else somewhat into the shade, he exclaims, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Learn, then, that the highest glory of our holy religion is the cross. The history of grace begins earlier and goes on later, but in its middle point stands the cross. Of two eternities this is the hinge: of past decrees and future glories this is the pivot. Let us come to the cross this morning, and think of it, till each one of us, in the power of the Spirit of God, shall say, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I. First, as the Lord shall help me (for who shall describe the: cross without the help of him that did hang upon it?) WHAT DID PAUL MEAN BY THE CROSS? Did he not include under this term, first, the fact of the cross: secondly, the doctrine of the cross: and thirdly, the cross of the doctrine?

I think he meant, first of all, the fact of the cross. Our Lord Jesus Christ did really die upon a gibbet, the death of a felon. He was literally put to death upon a tree, accursed in the esteem of men. I beg you to notice how the apostle puts it — “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In his epistles he sometimes saith “Christ,” at another time “Jesus,” frequently “Lord,” oftentimes “our Lord”; but here he saith “our Lord Jesus Christ.” There is a sort of pomp of words in this full description, as if in contrast to the shame of the cross. The terms are intended in some small measure to express the dignity of him who was put to so ignominious a death. He is Christ the anointed, and Jesus the Savior; he is the Lord, the Lord of all, and he is “our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is not a Lord without subjects, for he is “our Lord”; nor is he a Savior without saved ones, for he is “our Lord Jesus”; nor has he the anointing for himself alone, for all of us have a share in him as “our Christ”: in all he is ours, and was so upon the cross.

The doctrine is that of a full atonement made, and the utmost ransom paid. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” In Christ upon the cross we see the Just dying for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, the innocent bearing the crimes of the guilty, that they might be forgiven and accepted. That is the doctrine of the cross, of which Paul was never ashamed.
This also is a necessary part of the doctrine: that whosoever believeth in him is justified from all sin; that whosoever trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ is in that moment forgiven, justified, and accepted in the Beloved. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Paul’s doctrine was, “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy”; and it was his constant teaching that salvation is not of doings, nor of ceremonies, but simply and alone by believing in Jesus. We are to accept by an act of trust that righteousness which is already finished and completed by the death of our blessed Lord upon the cross. He who does not preach atonement by the blood of Jesus does not preach the cross; and he who does not declare justification by faith in Christ Jesus has missed the mark altogether. This is the very bowels of the Christian system. If our ministry shall be without blood it is without life, for “the blood is the life thereof.” He that preacheth not justification by faith knows not the doctrine of grace; for the Scripture saith, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed.” Paul gloried both in the fact of the cross and in the doctrine of the cross.

But the apostle also gloried in the cross of the doctrine, for the death of the Son of God upon the cross is the crux of Christianity. Paul did not blench before the sharp and practical reply of the conquerors of the world. He trembled not before Nero in his palace. Whether to Greek or Jew, Roman or barbarian, bond or free, he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, but gloried in the cross. Though the testimony that the one all-sufficient atonement was provided on the cross stirs the enmity of man, and provokes opposition, yet Paul was so far from attempting to mitigate that opposition, that he determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and him crucified. His motto was “We preach Christ crucified.” He had the cross for his philosophy, the cross for his tradition, the cross for his gospel, the cross for his glory, and nothing else.

Why did Paul thus glory in the cross? You may well desire to know, for there are many nowadays who do not glory in it, but forsake it. Alas that it should be so! but there are ministers who ignore the atonement; they conceal the cross, or say but little about it. You may go through service after service, and scarce hear a mention of the atoning blood; but Paul was always bringing forward the expiation for sin: Paul never tried to explain it away. Oh the number of books that have been written to prove that the cross means an example of self-sacrifice, as if every martyrdom did not mean that. They cannot endure a real substitutionary sacrifice for human guilt, and an effectual purgation of sin by the death of the great substitute. Yet the cross means that or nothing. Paul was very bold: although he knew this would make him many enemies, you never find him refining and spiritualizing: the cross and the atonement for sin is a plain matter of fact to him. Neither does he attempt to decorate it by adding philosophical theories. He pronounces an anathema on all who propose a rival theme — “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

But we glory because on the cross we have an unexampled display of God’s love. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Oh to think of it, that he who was offended takes the nature of the offender, and then bears the penalty due for wanton transgression. He who is infinite, thrice holy, all glorious, for ever to be worshipped, yet stoopeth to be numbered with the transgressors, and to bear the sin of many. The mythology of the gods of high Olympus contains nothing worthy to be mentioned in the same day with this wondrous deed of supreme condescension and infinite love. The ancient Shasters and Vedas have nothing of the kind. The death of Jesus Christ upon the cross cannot be an invention of men; none of the ages have produced aught like it in the poetic dreams of any nation. If we did not hear of it so often, and think of it so little, we should be charmed with it beyond expression. If we now heard of it for the first time, and seriously believed it, I know not what we should not do in our glad surprise; certainly we should fall down and worship the Lord Jesus, and continue to worship him for ever and ever.

I believe again, thirdly, that Paul delighted to preach the cross of Christ as the removal of all guilt. He believed that the Lord Jesus on the cross finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness. He that believeth in Jesus is justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. Since sin was laid on Jesus, God’s justice cannot lay it upon the believing sinner. The Lord will never punish twice the same offense. If he accepts a substitute for me, how can he call me to his bar and punish me for that transgression, for which my substitute endured the chastisement? Many a troubled conscience has caught at this and found deliverance from despair. Wonder not that Paul gloried in Christ, since it is written, “In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.” This is the method of salvation which completely and eternally absolves the sinner, and makes the blackest offender white as snow. Transgression visited upon Christ has ceased to be, so far as the believer is concerned. Doth not faith cry, “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea”? O sirs, there is something to glory in in this, and those who know the sin-removing power of the cross will not be hindered in this glorying by all the powers of earth or hell.

He glories in it, again, as a marvel of wisdom. It seemed to him the sum of perfect wisdom and skill. He cried, “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” The plan of salvation by vicarious suffering is simple, but sublime. It would have been impossible for human or angelic wisdom to have invented it. Men already so hate it and fight against it that they never would have devised it. God alone out of the treasury of His infinite wisdom brought forth this matchless project of salvation for the guilty through the substitution of the innocent. The more we study it, the more we shall perceive that it is full of teaching.

Again, Paul, I believe, gloried in the cross, as I often do, because it was the source of rest to him and to his brethren. I make this confession, and I make it very boldly, that I never knew what rest of heart truly meant till I understood the doctrine of the substitution of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when I see my Lord bearing away my sins as my scapegoat, or dying for them as my sin-offering, I feel a profound peace of heart and satisfaction of spirit. The cross is all I ever want for security and joy. Truly, this bed is long enough for a man to stretch himself on it. The cross is a chariot of salvation, wherein we traverse the high road of life without fear. The pillow of atonement heals the head that aches with anguish. Beneath the shadow of the cross I sit down with great delight, and its fruit is sweet unto my taste. I have no impatience even to haste to heaven while resting, beneath the cross, for our hymn truly says:
“Here it is I find my heaven,While upon the cross gaze.”

I am sure Paul gloried in the cross yet again because he saw it to be the creator of enthusiasm. Christianity finds its chief force in the enthusiasm which the Holy Ghost produces; and this comes from the cross. The preaching of the cross is the great, weapon of the crusade against evil. In the old times vast crowds came together in desert places, among the hills, or on the moors, at peril of their lives, to hear preaching. Did they come together to hear philosophy? Did they meet at dead of night when the harriers of persecution were hunting them, to listen to pretty moral essays? I trow not. They came to hear of the grace of God manifest in the sacrifice of Jesus to believing hearts. Would your modern gospel create the spirit of the martyrs? Is there anything in it for which a man might go to prison and to death? The modern speculations are not worth a cat’s dying for them much less a man. A something lies within the truth of the cross which sets the soul aglow; it touches the preacher’s lips as with a live coal, and fires the hearer’s hearts as with flame from the alter of God. We can on this gospel live, and for this gospel die. Atonement by blood, full deliverance from sin, perfect safety in Christ given to the believer, call a man to joy, to gratitude, to consecration, to decision, to patience, to holy living, to all-consuming zeal. Therefore in the doctrine of the cross we glory, neither will we be slow to speak it out with all our might.

III. My time has gone, or else I had intended to have enlarged upon the third head, of which I must now give you the mere outline. One of Paul’s great reasons for glorying in the cross was its action upon himself. WHAT WAS ITS EFFECT UPON HIM?

The cross is never without influence. Come where it may, it worketh for life or for death. Wherever there is Christ’s cross there are also two other crosses. On either side there is one, and Jesus is in the midst. Two thieves are crucified with Christ; and Paul tells us their names in his case: “the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.” Self and the world are both crucified when Christ’s cross appears and is believed in. Beloved, what does Paul mean? Does he not mean just this — that ever since he had seen Christ he looked upon the world as a crucified, hanged up, gibbeted thing, which had no more power over Paul than a criminal hanged upon a cross. What power has a corpse on a gibbet? Such power had the world over Paul. The world despised him, and he could not go after the world if he would, and would not go after it if he could. He was dead to it, and it was dead to him; thus there was a double separation.

How does the cross do this? To be under the dominion of this present evil world is horrible; how does the cross help us to escape? Why, brethren, he that has ever seen the cross looks upon the world’s pomp and glory as a vain show. The pride of heraldry and the glitter of honor fade into meanness before the Crucified One. O ye great ones, what are your silks, and your furs, and your jewellery, and your gold, your stars and your garters, to one who has learned to glory in Christ crucified! The old clothes which belong to the hangman are quite as precious. The world’s light is darkness when the Sun of Righteousness shines from the tree. What care we for all the kingdoms of the world and the glory thereof when once we see the thorn-crowned Lord? There is more glory about one nail of the cross than about all the scepters of all kings. Let the knights of the Golden Fleece meet in chapter, and all the Knights of the Garter stand in their stalls, and what is all their splendor? Their glories wither before the inevitable hour of doom, while the glory of the cross is eternal Everything of earth grows dull and dim when seen by cross light. So was it with the world’s approval. Paul would not ask the world to be pleased with him, since it knew not his Lord, or only knew him to crucify him. Can a Christian be ambitious to be written down as one of the world’s foremost men when that world cast out his Lord? They crucified our Master; shall his servants court their love? Such approval would be all distained with blood. They crucified my Master, the Lord of glory; do I want them to smile on me, and say to me, “Reverend Sir” and “Learned Doctor”? No, the friendship of the world is enmity with God, and therefore to be dreaded. Mouths that spit on Jesus shall give me no kisses. Those who hate the doctrine of the atonement hate my life and soul, and I desire not their esteem.

And so it was with the world’s pursuits. Some ran after honor, some toiled after learning, others labored for riches; but to Paul these were all trifles since he had seen Christ on the cross. He that has seen Jesus die will never go into the toy business; he puts away childish things. A child, a pipe, a little soap, and many pretty bubbles: such is the world. The cross alone can wean us from such play.

And so it was with the world’s pleasures and with the world’s power. The world, and everything that belonged to the world, had become as a corpse to Paul, and he was as a corpse to it. See where the corpse swings in chains on the gibbet. What a foul, rotten thing! We cannot endure it! Do not let it hang longer above ground to fill the air with pestilence. Let the dead be buried out of sight. The Christ that died upon the cross now lives in our hearts. The Christ that took human guilt has taken possession of our souls, and henceforth we live only in him, for him, by him. He has engrossed our affections. All our ardours burn for him. God make it to be so with us, that we may glorify God and bless our age.

Paul concludes this epistle by saying, “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” He was a slave, branded with his Master’s name. That stamp could never be got out, for it was burned into his heart. Even thus, I trust, the doctrine of the atonement is our settled belief, and faith in it is part of our life. We are rooted and grounded in the unchanging verities. Do not try to convert me to your new views; I am past it. Give me over. You waste your breath. It is done: on this point the wax takes no farther impress. I have taken up my standing, and will never quit it. A crucified Christ has taken such possession of my entire nature, spirit, soul, and body, that I am henceforth beyond the reach of opposing arguments.

Brethren, sisters, will you enlist under the conquering banner of the cross? Once rolled in the dust and stained in blood, it now leads on the armies of the Lord to victory! Oh that all ministers would preach the true doctrine of the cross! Oh that all Christian people would live under the influence of it, and we should then see brighter days than these! Unto the Crucified be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Next: Spurgeon's "The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus."

C.H. Spurgeon: "THE TOMB OF JESUS"

2006-04-15T09:59:00.000-07:00

To follow are excerpts from Charles Spurgeon's sermon entitled, "The Tomb of Jesus," which was delivered on April 8, 1855, from Exeter Hall, Strand.
(Click here to read the entire sermon).

"THE TOMB OF JESUS"

"Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

—Matthew 28:6.

I. AN INVITATION GIVEN. I shall commence my remarks this morning by inviting all Christians to come with me to the tomb of Jesus. "Come, see the place where the Lord lay." We will labor to render the place attractive, we will gently take your hand to guide you to it; and may it please our Master to make our hearts burn within us while we talk by the way.Away, ye profane—ye souls whose life is laughter, folly, and mirth! Away, ye sordid and carnal minds who have no taste for the spiritual, no delight in the celestial. We ask not your company; we speak to God's beloved, to the heirs of heaven, to the sanctified, the redeemed, the pure in heart—and we say to them, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Surely ye need no argument to move your feet in the direction of the holy sepulchre; but still we will use the utmost power to draw your spirit thither. Come, then, for 'tis the shrine of greatness, 'tis the resting-place of the man, the Restorer of our race, the Conqueror of death and hell. Men will travel hundreds of miles to behold the place where a poet first breathed the air of earth; they will journey to the ancient tombs of mighty heroes, or the graves of men renowned by fame; but whither shall the Christian go to find the grave of one so famous as was Jesus? Ask me the greatest man who ever lived—I tell you the man Christ Jesus was "anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellow." If ye seek a chamber honored as the resting-place of genius, turn in hither; if ye would worship at the grave of holiness, come ye here; if ye would see the hallowed spot where the choicest bones that e'er were fashioned lay for awhile, come with me, Christian, to that quiet garden, hard by the walls of Jerusalem.

Come with me, moreover, because it is the tomb of your best friend. The Jews said of Mary, "she goeth unto his grave to weep there." Ye have lost your friends, some of you, ye have planted flowers upon their tombs, ye go and sit at eventide upon the green sward, bedewing the grass with your tears, for there your mother lies, and there your father or your wife. Oh! in pensive sorrow come with me to this dark garden of our Saviour's burial; come to the grave of your best friend—your brother, yea, one who "sticketh closer than a brother." Come thou to the grave of thy dearest relative, O Christian, for Jesus is thy husband, "Thy maker is thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name." Doth not affection draw you? Do not the sweet lips of love woo you? Is not the place sanctified where one so well-beloved slept, although but for a moment ? Surely ye need no eloquence; if it were needed I have none. I have but the power, in simple, but earnest accents, to repeat the words, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay." On this Easter morning pay a visit to his grave, for it is the grave of your best friend.

There is yet one reason more why I would have thee visit this royal sepulchre—because it is a quiet spot. Oh! I have longed for rest, for I have heard this world's rumors in my ears so long, that I have begged for where I might hide myself forever. I am sick of this tiring and trying life; my frame is weary, my soul is mad to repose herself awhile. I would I could lay myself down a little by the edge of some pebbly brook, with no companion save the fair flowers or the nodding willows. I would I could recline in stillness, where the air brings balm to the tormented brain, where there is no murmur save the hum of the summer bee, no whisper save that of the zephyrs, and no song except the caroling of the lark. I wish I could be at ease for a moment. I have become a man of the world; my brain is racked, my soul is tired. Oh! wouldst thou be quiet, Christian? Merchant, wouldst thou rest from thy toils? wouldst thou be calm for once? Then come hither. It is in a pleasant garden, far from the hum of Jerusalem; the noise and din of business will not reach thee there; "Come, see the place where the Lord lay." It is a sweet resting spot, a withdrawing room for thy soul, where thou mayest brush from thy garments the dust of earth and muse awhile in peace.

II. ATTENTION REQUESTED. Thus I have pressed the invitation; now we will enter the tomb. Let us examine it with deep attention, noticing every circumstance connected with it.And, first, mark that it is a costly tomb. It is no common grave; it is not an excavation dug out by the spade for a pauper, in which to hide the last remains of his miserable and overwearied bones. It is a princely tomb; it was made of marble, cut in the side of a hill. Stand here, believer, and ask why Jesus had such a costly sepulchre. He had no elegant garments; he wore a coat without seam, woven from the top throughout, without an atom of embroidery. He owned no sumptuous palace, for he had not where to lay his head. His sandals were not rich with gold, or studded with brilliants. He was poor. Why, then does he lie in a noble grave? We answer, for this reason: Christ was unhonored till he had finished his sufferings; Christ's body suffered contumely, shame, spitting, buffeting, and reproach, until he had completed his great work; he was trampled under foot, he was "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;" but the moment he had finished his undertaking, God said, "No more shall that body be disgraced; if it is to sleep, let it slumber in an honorable grave; if it is to rest, let nobles bury it; let Joseph, the councillor, and Nicodemus, the man of Sanhedrim, be present at the funeral; let the body be embalmed with precious spices, let it have honor; it has had enough of contumely, and shame, and reproach, and buffeting; let it now be treated with respect."

Christian, dost thou discern the meaning? Jesus, after he had finished his work, slept in a costly grave; for now his Father loved and honored him, since his work was done.

Let us not weary in this pious investigation, but with fixed attention observe everything connected with this holy spot. The grave, we observe, was cut in a rock. Why was this? the rock of Ages was buried in a rock—a Rock within a rock. But why? Most persons suggest that it was so ordained, that it might be clear that there was no covert way by which the disciples or others could enter and steal the body away. Very possibly it was the reason; but O! my soul, canst thou find a spiritual reason? Christ's sepulchre was cut in a rock. It was not cut in mould that might be worn away by the water, or might crumble and fall into decay. The sepulchre stands, I believe, entire to this day; if it does not naturally, it does spiritually. The same sepulchre which took the sins of Paul, shall take my iniquities into his bosom, for if I ever lose my guilt, it must roll off my shoulders into the sepulchre. It was cut in a rock, so that if a sinner were saved a thousand years ago, I too can be delivered, for it is a rocky sepulchre where sin was buried—it was a rocky sepulchre of marble where my crimes were laid forever—buried never to have a resurrection.

III. Emotion excited. We have thus surveyed the grave with deep attention, and, I hope, with some profit to ourselves. But that is not all. I love a religion which consists, in a great measure, of emotion. Now, if I had power, like a master, I would touch the strings of your hearts, and fetch a glorious tune of solemn music from them, for this is a deeply solemn place into which I have conducted you.First, I would bid you stand and see the place where the Lord lay with emotions of deep sorrow. Oh cone, my beloved brother, thy Jesus once lay there. He was a murdered man, my soul, and thou the murderer.

First, I would bid you stand and see the place where the Lord lay with emotions of deep sorrow. Oh cone, my beloved brother, thy Jesus once lay there. He was a murdered man, my soul, and thou the murderer.

I slew him—this right hand struck the dagger to his heart. My deeds slew Christ. Alas! I slew my best beloved; I killed him who loved me with an everlasting love. Ye eyes, why do you refuse to weep when ye see Jesus' body mangled and torn? Oh! give vent to your sorrow, Christians, for ye have good reason to do so. I believe in what Hart says, that there was a time in his experience when he could so sympathize with Christ, that he felt more grief at the death of Christ than he did joy. It seemed so sad a thing that Christ should have to die; and to me it often appears too great a price for Jesus Christ to purchase worms with his own blood. Methinks I love him so much, that if I had seen him about to suffer, I should have been as bad as Peter, and have said, "That be far from thee, Lord;" but then he would have said to me, "Get thee behind me, Satan", for he does not approve of that love which would stop him from dying. "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" But I think, had I seen him going up to his cross, I could fain have pressed him back and said "Oh! Jesus, thou shalt not die; I cannot have it. Wilt thou purchase my life with a price so dear?" It seems too costly for him who is the Prince of Life and Glory to let his fair limbs be tortured in agony; that the hands which carried mercies should be pierced with accursed nails; that the temples that were always clothed with love should have cruel thorns driven through them. It appears too much. Oh! weep, Christian, and let your sorrow rise. Is not the price all but too great, that your beloved should for you resign himself? Oh! I should think, if a person were saved from death by another, he would always feel deep grief if his deliverer lost his life in the attempt. I had a friend, who, standing by the side of a piece of frozen water, saw a young lad in it, and sprang upon the ice in order to save him. After clutching the boy, he held him in his hands and cried out, "Here he is! Here he is! I have saved him." But, just as they caught hold of the boy, he sank himself, and his body was not found for some time afterwards, when he was quite dead. Oh! it is so with Jesus. My soul was drowning. From heaven's high portals he saw me sinking in the depths of hell; he plunged in:

Ah! we may indeed regret our sin, since it slew Jesus.Now, Christian, change thy note a moment. "Come, see the place where the Lord lay," with joy and gladness. He does not lie there now. Weep, when ye see the tomb of Christ, but rejoice because it is empty. Thy sin slew him, but his divinity raised him up. Thy guilt hath murdered him, but his righteousness hath restored him. Oh! he hath burst the bonds of death, he hath ungirt the cerements of the tomb, and hath come out more than conqueror, crushing death beneath his feet. Rejoice, O Christian, for he is not there—he is risen."Come, see the place where the Lord lay."One more thought, and then I will speak a little concerning the doctrines we may learn from this grave. "Come, see the place where the Lord lay." with solemn awe for you and I will have to lie there too.

We know not when he is dying. One gentle sigh, and the spirit breaks away. We can scarcely say, "he is gone," before the ransomed spirit takes its mansion near the throne. Come to Christ's tomb, then, for the silent vault must soon be your habitation. Come to Christ's grave, for ye must slumber there. And even you, ye sinners, for one moment I will ask you to come also, because ye must die as well as the rest of us. Your sins cannot keep you from the jaws of death. I say, sinner, I want thee to look at Christ's sepulchre too, for when thou diest it may have done thee great good to think of it. You have heard of Queen Elizabeth, crying out that she would give an empire for a single hour. Or have you heard the despairing cry of the gentleman on board the "Arctic," when it was going down, who shouted to the boat, "Come back! I will give you £30,000 if you will come and take me in." Ah! poor man, it were but little if he had thirty thousand worlds, if he could thereby prolong his life: "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he give for his life." Some of you who can laugh this morning, who came to spend a merry hour in this hall, will be dying, and then ye will pray and crave for life, and shriek for another Sabbath-day. Oh! how the Sabbaths ye have wasted will walk like ghosts before you! Oh! how they will shake their snaky hair in your eyes! How will ye be made to sorrow and weep, because ye wasted precious hours, which, when they are gone, are gone too far to be recalled. May God save you from the pangs of remorse.

Come, view the place then, with all hallowed meditation, where the Lord lay. Spend this afternoon, my beloved brethren, in meditating upon it, and very often go to Christ's grave, both to weep and to rejoice. Ye timid ones, do not be afraid to approach, for 'tis no vain thing to remember that timidity buried Christ. Faith would not have given him a funeral at all; faith would have kept him above ground, and would never have let him be buried; for it would have said, it would be useless to bury Christ if he were to rise. Fear buried him. Nicodemus, the night disciple, and Joseph of Arimathea, secretly, for fear of the Jews, went and buried him. Therefore, ye timid ones, ye may go too. Ready-to-halt, poor Fearing, and thou, Mrs. Despondency, and Much-afraid, go often there; let it be your favorite haunt, there build a tabernacle, there abide. And often say to your heart, when you are in distress and sorrow, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

Tomorrow:

Excerpts from Charles Spurgeon's sermons, "The Cross-our Glory," and "The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus."

C.H. Spurgeon: "LAMA SABACHTHANI?" (My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?)

2006-04-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

To follow are excerpts from Charles Spurgeon's sermon entitled, "Lama Sabachthani," which was delivered on March 2, 1890, from the Metropolitan Tabernacle pulpit.

(Click here to read the entire sermon).

"LAMA SABACHTHANI?"

"'And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?'

—Matthew 27:46.

Our Lord was then in the darkest part of His way. He had trodden the winepress now for hours, and the work was almost finished. He had reached the culminating point of His anguish. This is His dolorous lament from the lowest pit of misery—"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" I do not think that the records of time or even of eternity, contain a sentence more full of anguish. Here the wormwood and the gall, and all the other bitternesses, are outdone. Here you may look as into a vast abyss; and though you strain your eyes, and gaze till sight fails you, yet you perceive no bottom; it is measureless, unfathomable, inconceivable. This anguish of the Saviour on your behalf and mine is no more to be measured and weighed than the sin which needed it, or the love which endured it. We will adore where we cannot comprehend.

I have chosen this subject that it may help the children of God to understand a little of their infinite obligations to their redeeming Lord. You shall measure the height of His love, if it be ever measured, by the depth of His grief, if that can ever be known. See with what a price He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law! As you see this, say to yourselves: What manner of people ought we to be! What measure of love ought we to return to One who bore the utmost penalty, that we might be delivered from the wrath to come? I do not profess that I can dive into this deep: I will only venture to the edge of the precipice, and bid you look down, and pray the Spirit of God to concentrate your mind upon this lamentation of our dying Lord, as it rises up through the thick darkness—"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

I. By the help of the Holy Spirit, let us first dwell upon THE FACT; or, what our Lord suffered. God had forsaken Him. Grief of mind is harder to bear than pain of body. You can pluck up courage and endure the pang of sickness and pain, so long as the spirit is hale and brave; but if the soul itself be touched, and the mind becomes diseased with anguish, then every pain is increased in severity, and there is nothing with which to sustain it. Spiritual sorrows are the worst of mental miseries. A man may bear great depression of spirit about worldly matters, if he feels that he has his God to go to. He is cast down, but not in despair. Like David, he dialogues with himself, and he enquires, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him." But if the Lord be once withdrawn, if the comfortable light of his presence be shadowed even for an hour, there is a torment within the breast, which I can only liken to the prelude of hell. This is the greatest of all weights that can press upon the heart. This made the Psalmist plead, "Hide not thy face from me; put not thy servant away in anger." We can bear a bleeding body, and even a wounded spirit; but a soul conscious of desertion by God it beyond conception unendurable. When He holdeth back the face of His throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it, who can endure the darkness?

This voice out of "the belly of hell" marks the lowest depth of the Saviour's grief. The desertion was real. Though under some aspects our Lord could say, "The Father is with me"; yet was it solemnly true that God did forsake Him. It was not a failure of faith on His part which led Him to imagine what was not actual fact. Our faith fails us, and then we think that God has forsaken us; but our Lord's faith did not for a moment falter, for He says twice, "My God, my God." Oh, the mighty double grip of his unhesitating faith! He seems to say, "Even if thou hast forsaken me, I have not forsaken thee." Faith triumphs, and there is no sign of any faintness of heart towards the living God. Yet, strong as is His faith, He feels that God has withdraw his comfortable fellowship, and He shivers under the terrible deprivation.

This forsaking was very terrible. Who can fully tell what it is to be forsaken of God? We can only form a guess by what we have our-selves felt under temporary and partial desertion. God has never left us, altogether; for He has expressly said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"; yet we have sometimes felt as if He had cast us off. We have cried, "Oh, that I know where I might find him!" The clear shinings of His love have been withdrawn. Thus we are able to form some little idea of how the Saviour felt when His God had for-saken Him. The mind of Jesus was left to dwell upon one dark subject, and no cheering theme consoled Him. It was the hour in which He was made to stand before God as consciously the sin-bearer, according to that ancient prophecy, "He shall bear their iniquities." Then was it true, "He hath made Him to be sin for us." Peter puts it, "He His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree." Sin, sin, sin was every where around and about Christ. He had no sin of His own; but the Lord had "laid on Him the iniquity of us all." He had no strength given Him from on high, no secret oil and wine poured into His wounds; but He was made to appear in the lone character of the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world; and therefore He must feel the weight of sin, and the turning away of that sacred face which cannot look thereon.

To be forsaken of God was much more a source of anguish to Jesus than it would be to us. "Oh," say you, "how is that?" I answer, because He was perfectly holy. A rupture between a perfectly holy being and the thrice holy God must be in the highest degree strange, abnormal, perplexing, and painful. If any man here, who is not at peace with God, could only know His true condition, he would swoon with fright. If you unforgiven ones only knew where you are, and what you are at this moment in the sight of God, you would never smile again till you were reconciled to him. Alas! we are insensible, hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, and therefore we do not feel our true condition. His perfect holiness made it to our Lord a dreadful calamity to be forsaken of the thrice holy God.

II. This brings us to consider THE ENQUIRY or, why he suffered.

Note carefully this cry—"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" It is pure anguish, undiluted agony, which crieth like this; but it is the agony of a godly soul; for only a man of that order would have used such an expression. Let us learn from it useful lessons. This cry is taken from "the Book." Does it not show our Lord's love of the sacred volume, that when He felt His sharpest grief, He turned to the Scripture to find a fit utterance for it? Here we have the opening sentence of the twenty-second Psalm. Oh, that we may so love the inspired Word that we may not only sing to its score, but even weep to its music!

Note, again, that our Lord's lament is an address to God. The godly, in their anguish, turn to the hand which smites them. The Saviour's outcry is not against God, but to God. "My God, my God": He makes a double effort to draw near. True Sonship is here. The child in the dark is crying after His Father—"My God, my God." Both the Bible and prayer were dear to Jesus in His agony. Still, observe, it is a faith-cry; for though it asks, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" yet it first says, twice over, "My God, my God." The grip of appropriation is in the word "My"; but the reverence of humility is in the word "God." It is "'My God, my God,' thou art ever God to Me, and I a poor creature. I do not quarrel with thee. Thy rights are unquestioned, for thou art My God. Thou canst do as Thou wilt, and I yield to Thy sacred sovereignty. I kiss the hand that smites Me, and with all My heart I cry, 'My God, my God.'" When you are delirious with pain, think of your Bible still: when your mind wanders, let it roam towards the mercy seat; and when your heart and your flesh fail, still live by faith, and still cry, "My God, my God."

Do you not think that the amazement of our Lord, when He was "made sin for us" (2 Cor. 5:21), led Him thus to cry out? For such a sacred and pure being to be made a sin-offering was an amazing experience. Sin was laid on Him, and He was treated as if He had been guilty, though He had personally never sinned; and now the infinite horror of rebellion against the most holy God fills His holy soul, the unrighteousness of sin breaks His heart, and He starts back from it, crying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Why must I bear the dread result of contact I so much abhor?

Do you not see, moreover, there was here a glance at His eternal purpose, and at His secret source of joy? That "why" is the silver lining of the dark cloud, and our Lord looked wishfully at it. He knew that the desertion was needful it order that He might save the guilty, and He had an eye to that salvation as His comfort. He is not forsaken needlessly, nor without a worthy design. The design is in itself so dear to His heart that He yields to the passing evil, even though that evil be like death to Him. He looks at that "why," and through that narrow window the light of heaven comes streaming into His darkened life.

III. Hoping to be guided by the Holy Spirit, I am coming to THE ANSWER, concerning which I can only use the few minutes which remain to me. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" What is the outcome of this suffering? What was the reason for it? Our Saviour could answer His own question. If for a moment His manhood was perplexed, yet His mind soon came to clear apprehension; for He said, "It is finished"; and, as I have already said, He then referred to the work which in His lonely agony He had been performing. Why, then, did God forsake His Son? I cannot conceive any other answer than this—He stood in our stead. There was no reason in Christ why the Father should forsake Him: He was perfect, and His life was without spot. God never acts without reason; and since there were no reasons in the character and person of the Lord Jesus why His Father should forsake Him, we must look elsewhere. I do not know how others answer the question. I can only answer it in this one way.

He bore the sinner's sin, and He had to be treated, therefore, as though He were a sinner, though sinner He could never be. With His own full consent He suffered as though He had committed the transgressions which were laid on Him. Our sin, and His taking it upon Himself, is the answer to the question, "Why hast thou forsaken me?"

Our Lord's suffering in this particular form was appropriate and necessary. It would not have sufficed for our Lord merely to have been pained in body, nor even to have been grieved in mind in other ways: He must suffer in this particular way. He must feel forsaken of God, because this is the necessary consequence of sin. For a man to be forsaken of God is the penalty which naturally and inevitably follows upon His breaking His relation with God. What is death? What was the death that was threatened to Adam? "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Is death annihilation? Was Adam annihilated that day? Assuredly not: he lived many a year afterwards. But in the day in which he ate of the forbidden fruit he died, by being separated from God. The separation of the soul from God is spiritual death; just as the separation of the soul from the body is natural death. The sacrifice for sin must be put in the place of separation, and must bow to the penalty of death. By this placing of the Great Sacrifice under forsaking and death, it would be seen by all creatures throughout the universe that God could not have fellowship with sin. If even the Holy One, who stood the Just for the unjust, found God forsaking him, what must the doom of the actual sinner be! Sin is evidently always, in every case, a dividing influence, putting even the Christ Himself, as a sin-bearer, in the place of distance.

This was necessary for another reason: there could have been no laying on of suffering for sin without the forsaking of the vicarious Sacrifice by the Lord God. So long as the smile of God rests on the man the law is not afflicting him. The approving look of the great Judge cannot fall upon a man who is viewed as standing in the place of the guilty. Christ not only suffered from sin, but for sin. If God will cheer and sustain him, he is not suffering for sin. The Judge is not inflicting suffering for sin if he is manifestly succouring the smitten one. There could have been no vicarious suffering on the part of Christ for human guilt, if he had continued consciously to enjoy the fall sunshine of the Father's presence. It was essential to being a victim in our place that He should cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Once more, when enquiring, Why did Jesus suffer to be forsaken of the Father? we see the fact that the Captain of our salvation was thus made perfect through suffering. Every part of the road has been traversed by our Lord's own feet. Suppose, beloved, the Lord Jesus had never been thus forsaken, then one of His disciples might have been called to that sharp endurance, and the Lord Jesus could not have sympathized with him in it. He would turn to his Leader and Captain, and say to Him, "Didst thou, my Lord, ever feel this darkness?" Then the Lord Jesus would answer, "No. This is a descent such as I never made." What a dreadful lack would the tried one have felt! For the servant to bear a grief his Master never knew would be sad indeed.

I have done when I have said three things. The first is, you and I that are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and are resting in Him alone for salvation, let us lean hard, let us bear with all our weight on our Lord. He will bear the full weight of all our sin and care. As to my sin, I hear its harsh accusings no more when I hear Jesus cry, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" I know that I deserve the deepest hell at the hand of God's vengeance; but I am not afraid. He will never forsake me, for He forsook His Son on my behalf. I shall not suffer for my sin, for Jesus has suffered to the full in my stead; yea, suffered so far as to cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Behind this brazen wall of substitution a sinner is safe. These "munitions of rock" guard all believers, and they may rest secure. The rock is cleft for me; I hide in its rifts, and no harm can reach me. You have a full atonement, a great sacrifice, a glorious vindication of the law; wherefore rest at peace, all you that put your trust in Jesus.

The last of the three points is this, let us abhor the sin which brought such agony upon our beloved Lord. What an accursed thing is sin, which crucified the Lord Jesus! Do you laugh at it? Will you go and spend an evening to see a mimic performance of it? Do you roll sin under your tongue as a sweet morsel, and then come to God's house, on the Lord's-day morning, and think to worship Him? Worship Him! Worship Him, with sin indulged in your breast! Worship Him, with sin loved and pampered in your life! O sirs, if I had a dear brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I valued the knife which had been crimsoned with his blood? —if I made a friend of the murderer, and daily consorted with the assassin, who drove the dagger into my brother's heart? Surely I, too, must be an accomplice in the crime! Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it? Oh, that there was an abyss as deep as Christ's misery, that I might at once hurl this dagger of sin into its depths, whence it might never be brought to light again! Begone, 0 sin! Thou art banished from the heart where Jesus reigns! Begone, for thou hast crucified my Lord, and made Him cry, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" O my hearers, if you did but know yourselves, and know the love of Christ, you would each one vow that you would harbour sin no longer. You would be indignant at sin, and cry,

"The dearest idol I have known,

Whate'er that idol be,

Lord, I will tear it from its throne,

And worship only thee,"

May that be the issue of my morning's discourse, and then I shall be well content. The Lord bless you! May the Christ who suffered for you, bless you, and out of His darkness may your light arise! Amen. "

(Tomorrow, I will be posting excerpts from Charles Spurgeon's sermon,

"The Tomb of Jesus.")

The Tornados Revisited Tennessee Today

2006-04-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

This time, striking Middle Tennessee.......

Thankfully, this is the only picture I have to show of what occured at my house. A deck covered with quarter-sized hail, a doormat askew, the dog's leash blown about, and no damage, save a few shingles that blew loose. I'm so thankful for God's hand of protection.
Three counties surrounding Robertson County (where I reside) were the ones hardest hit (with actual tornado touchdowns). Quite a few homes in Hendersonville, in Sumner County, were severely damaged. The city of Gallatin, Sumner County's seat, suffered the majority of the fatalities. Please keep the families of those who perished in your prayers. Ashland City in Cheatham county suffered damage, including damage to Cheatham County Hospital. The city of of Goodlettsville (which actually straddles Davidson and Sumner Counties), suffered severe damage, an example of which is shown below:

This AP photo by John Russell shows the damage to Metro Baptist Church in Goodlettsville, located 12 miles from my home. I'm acquainted with several of the families in this congregation; please keep this body of believers in your prayers, as well. I believe this building is only four years old.

SAY IT AIN'T SO!

2006-04-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

Sigh......I was afraid this day would come. Tonight's theme for American Idol is: "Country Music." Every song has to be from the country music genre.......oh, why are they torturing me thus? Uhmm..........You know, American Idol producers, there already exists a country music talent search; it's called "Nashville Star?"

(Oh well, I guess I always have the option of turning off the television).

MICHAEL SCHIAVO "Misspeaks" ON TODAY SHOW

2006-03-27T13:45:00.000-08:00

This morning, after getting my son to school, I flipped on the television to catch up on the news (I'd been out of town for several days). The TV happened to be tuned to the local NBC affiliate here in Nashville. The Today Show was on, and as they went into the commercial break, they announced that Michael Schiavo would be on when they returned. So, I settled in to hear what he had to say.

The first thing that really caught my ear was at the very beginning of his interview with Matt Lauer. He commented that "the President, the governor of Florida, and the Pope were knocking at my book.....I'm sorry.....my door........"

I wondered if he was nervous and simply misspoke, or was that a sort of "Freudian slip"......as in, was this appearance really to set the record straight about Terri, (as he stated at the outset), or was it simply to promote the sale of his new book, "Terri: The Truth"?

I dunno--I just thought it made for kind of an "interesting" mistake......

FINALLY!!

2006-03-08T11:30:00.000-08:00

Finally, authorities have made three arrests in the Alabama church fires.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11726024/

If these three prove to be the true perpetrators, may they receive swift and just punishment.

GRATEFUL FOR THE LAUGHTER OVER THE YEARS........

2006-02-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

........AND THAT HE SHARED HIS GIFT WITH US

DON KNOTTS

1924-2006

"I loved him very much. We had a long and wonderful life together."

(Andy Griffith, Feb.25, 2006)

Guess I'll be staging my own personal Mayberry Mini-Marathon this afternoon. (TV-Land has a marathon scheduled for Tuesday February 28th).

MY MUSICAL PREFERENCES

2006-02-21T13:15:00.000-08:00

"Christians should NEVER listen to secular music." Oh, if I had a dollar for every time I've heard that argument, I'd be wealthy enough to split my time between a beachhouse in Waikiki, a condo in Panama City, and a cottage on the coast of New England.

No, I don't believe secular music has any place in a church worship service-lyrically or melodically (even if the lyrics have been re-written with "Christian lyrics" to appear or to seem suddenly God-glorifying). But I don't believe we are required to completely omit secular music from our lives. When I listen to secular music, it is purely for the enjoyment I get out of listening to good music--much like the enjoyment I would get from a good novel, a good theatrical production, or a good movie. (Emphasis on "good" music, and what I mean by "good" is the sound, the songwriting technique, the mix, etc.) However, I don't listen to it expecting (or desiring) any kind of spiritual edification. For example, if I'm listening to U-2, I'm not expecting some great spiritual insight from Bono, but rather, some great technical quality in the music, vocals, or production of the recording. As I stated in my preceeding post, music has been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Fellow blogger and brother in Christ, Nathan White, (whom I agree with on many topics), presents a different slant with his take on the topic, and has posted an interesting article on Christians listening to secular music over on his blog, "Preach the Word; Be Ready in Season and Out of Season." The title of his article is: "Secular Music: Harmless Entertainment, or Dangerous for the Redeemed?"
Now, I don't necessarily listen to secular music on a daily basis--and admittedly, that's not by choice--but rather, simply by virtue of the fact that frankly, there just isn't enough time in the day. For my daily prayer time, devotional time, and worship time, I always have GENUINE Christian worship music playing in the background. It's conducive to getting the most out of that time.

On the rare occasion that I get the opportunity to listen to secular "ear candy," there are some choice artists that wind up in the CD changer or on the Ipod. A lot of the music that earns playing time are boxed sets. Artist anthologies are my first choice; greatest hits compilations are a close second.

You'll notice that my list of Christian music is about half the size of my list of secular music. You may take that as an indication that I listen to more secular music than Christian music, but nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, I'm just very particular about the "Christian" music I listen to, and/or trust to be scripturally sound (which is a topic for another day in my little "buttoned-down" corner of blogland).

You also may notice that there are only six female vocalists on my lists. I simply prefer male vocals. And noticably missing are albums in the country music genre.......don't get me started.......as mentioned in my profile, I consider it the musical equivalent to bamboo under my fingernails (or fingernails on a chalkboard). And in a city famous for its country music artists, it becomes rather comical when you see the irony of my residing here. (Alright, the country music rant is tongue-in-cheek........I don't completely despise all country music; I can force myself to tolerate a few country music artists. At times).

By the way, my children are still at an impressionable age. They have never heard of most of the secular artists, with the exception of Bach, Beethoven, The Dillards, Taylor Hicks, and Bob Dylan, and music is one of many areas I strive to shade them in until they are old enough to discern what types of music can be listened to in order to fulfill different purposes in a believer's life. And who knows, by the time they reach that point, perhaps some of the secular artists may have come to the knowledge of Christ and professed Him as Lord.

And so, without further adieu,.......my personal musical playlist, not necessarily in order of preference.......the secular is a rather eclectic assortment, no less.

CHRISTIAN/WORSHIP

Keith Green-The Ministry Years 1977-1979, Volume 1
Keith Green-The Ministry Years 1977-1979, Volume 2
Keith Green-The Ministry Years 1980-1982, Volume 1
Keith Green-The Ministry Years 1980-1982, Volume 2
(It's Keith Green....what else needs to be said?)
(Discovery House Music) When I Survey the Wondrous Cross: Great Hymns of Isaac Watts
Steve Camp-Desiring God
Steve Camp-Mercy in the Wilderness
Steve Camp-Abandoned to God
Steve Camp-Consider the Cost
Steve Camp-Taking Heaven By Storm
Steve Camp-Justice
Steve Camp-After God's Own Heart
Steve Camp-Shake Me to Wake Me
Steve Camp-One on One
Steve Camp-It's A Dying World
Steve Camp-Fire and Ice
(It's Steve Camp....what else needs to be said?)
2nd Chapter of Acts-Hymns
2nd Chapter of Acts-Hymns 2
2nd Chapter of Acts-Hymns Collection (Instrumental)
Indelible Grace-Indelible Grace
Indelible Grace-Pilgrim Days
Indelible Grace-For All the Saints
Indelible Grace-Beams of Heaven
(All the above music dominates my listening time, for the most part)

SECULAR
Norah Jones-Come Away with Me
Billy Joel-Greatest Hits Volume 1 & 2
Billy Joel-Greatest Hits Volume 3
Elton John-Greatest Hits 1970-2002
James P. Johnson-The Original James P. Johnson 1942-1945
(1940's Harlem stride)
Stevie Wonder-The Definitive Collection
Dianne Reeves-A Little Moonlight
Ray Charles-Anthology
(Has Ray's version of "America the Beautiful")
Bob Dylan-Slow Train Comin'
Benny Goodman-The Very Best of Benny Goodman
Sam Cooke-The Man Who Invented Soul
The Beatles-With the Beatles
The Beatles-1962-1966
The Beatles-1967-1970
The Beatles-Let it Be
The Beatles-Live at the Hollywood Bowl
(cassette version-not yet released on CD)
Otis Redding-The Very Best of Otis Redding, Volume 1
Joe Cocker-The Anthology
Nat King Cole-The Greatest Hits
CCR-Chronicle, Vol. 1: The 20 Greatest Hits"
Little River Band-Definitive Collection
Billie Holiday-Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday
REO Speedwagon-The Essential REO Speedwagon
Frank Sinatra-The Very Best of Frank Sinatra
Aretha Franklin-Aretha'a Best
Bob Seger-Greatest Hits
Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski- Walt Disney's Fantasia: Original Soundtrack
(Selections from Bach, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Beethoven, and Schubert)
Ella Fitzgerald-Pure Ella: The Very Best of Ella Fitzgerald
Bruce Springsteen-The Essential Bruce Springsteen
Jill Scott-Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds, Vol. 2
Jackson Browne-The Very Best of Jackson Brown
Jools Holland-Jools Holland's Big Band Rythym & Blues
(features remakes of R&B classics in duet form-duets with George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Dr. John, Steve Winwood, Mark Knopfler, and others....interesting results)
Supertramp-The Very Best of Supertramp
Doobie Brothers-Greatest Hits
(Multiple orchestras)-Masters of Classical Music
(This is a "greatest hits" of sorts, a comprehensive 10-disc set featuring the works of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Chopin, Schubert, and Verdi)
Steely Dan-Greatest Hits
Stanley Clark-The Bass-ic Collection
The Four Tops-50th Anniversary Anthology
Rod Stewart-The Very Best of Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart-Encore: The Very Best Of, Vol. 2
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles-Greatest Hits
Gino Vanelli-Ultimate Collection
Pablo Cruise-The Milennium Collection: The Best of Pablo Cruise
The Dillards-There is a Time (1963-1970) (the bluegrass group who portrayed "The Darlings" on The Andy Griffith Show. Nice acapella harmony on their "Yesterday" cover).
The Police-Every Breath You Take: The Classics
Phil Collins-Hits
Kansas-Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection 1974-2004
Etta James-The Essential Etta James

Player-Baby Come Back: the Best of Player
The Temptations-Anthology: Best of
John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band-Eddie & the Cruisers Soundtrack
Kenny Wayne-Let It Loose (awesome contemporary blues pianist)
Jamie Cullum-Twentysomething
Stanley Jordan-The Best of Stanley Jordan
Taylor Hicks-Under the Radar (this is the rising star of the current season of American Idol, and the 7-song album is a local release in Birmingham, Alabama) .

So, there you have it; there are a few more I'll be adding, but for now that's pretty much the spectrum.

In the words of Denver Pyle's character, "Briscoe Darling," (from "The Andy Griffith Show,") "If you got time for breathin,' you got time for music."

DON'T DISMISS ME JUST BECAUSE I ADMIT TO WATCHING "THAT SHOW"

2006-02-19T20:02:00.000-08:00

WHY DO I TUNE IN TO AMERICAN IDOL?

Quite simply, because I enjoy music. Strike that......I LOVE music. Growing up, I peacefully drifted off to sleep every night with music playing at my bedside. I've played piano for 33 years, clarinet for 29, and bass guitar for 24 years.....(although none of them well) ;-). And vocally, I can harmonize adequately for all intents and purposes (in the tenor range, actually). Of course, if "American Idol" had existed when I was in MY twenties, (the age of most of the contestants) there's NO WAY anyone could have gotten me up in front of those judges. (Remember, I said "harmonize"--as in: DEFINITELY not "lead").

Frankly, as a Christian, I've always thought that they could have come up with a better name than "American Idol," but then, no one ever asked my opinion. A teenager commented the other day that there should be a "Christian Idol"........I responded, "Christian Idol? Now wouldn't that be an oxymoron?" We already have enough Christian artists being idolized, anyway, don't we?

I don't vote for the contestants on "Idol," nor do I idolize them or the show. I don't skip church services on Wednesday nights to stay home and watch. (I TiVo it. :-)) I really just like to watch and listen. Sometimes, I'll look away from the television, or close my eyes, and really LISTEN to the vocals. I'm always pulling for the underdog--the one that maybe lacks the "look," but still possesses a great voice. I like to choose one gifted artist who's neither vain or jaded, and pull for them to advance in the competition. My picks have come in second place for three years running. Apparently, there are two blocs of voters--the teeny-bopping crowd who mostly support the bubble gum, potentially commercial contestants, and the older segment who mainly vote soley based upon vocal ability. However, the teenage voting public seems to consistently cast more votes, season after season.

"American Idol" takes the American spirit of friendly competition, and gives it human form. I do prefer the episodes that air after the auditions are over. At that point, the drama, and the auditioners' stunts and escapades are but a distant memory. The competitors become more sincere in their craft, and the show really gets intriguing. To be sure, "American Idol" is one of a handful of shows that I watch on a consistent basis. The others are "Family Ties," "Bonanza," "The Andy Griffith Show," and "Little House on the Prairie," all which air on TV-Land. (As a young girl, I dreamed of growing up to be like Caroline Ingalls, and of some day marrying a man like Charles :-)). I also tune in to "Hannity and Colmes," which airs on the Fox News Channel. And occasionally, I check out some of the prime time news shows on the major networks--20/20, Primetime Live, etc., and major sporting events (such as the Olympics). But I'm very selective about the shows I deem worthy of my time, and American Idol falls into that category for me, even it's merely for the simple reason that I enjoy the show.

And by the way, my pick this season? Taylor Hicks, fellow southerner. A nostalgic, R & B guy. You'll love his voice.
(He's slated to sing a portion of Elton John's "Levon," on February 22nd's show). (See my previous post for more on young Taylor).

In my next post, I'll expound on my musical preferences....(that should be a real "doozy"). :-)

Southern "Soul Man" Makes American Idol's Final 24

2006-02-16T22:08:00.000-08:00

This guy's voice just won't quit. Taylor Hicks is his name, and he's a "blue-eyed soul" singer/songwriter from Birmingham, AL. A throwback to old-style R&B, his vocals just might blow you away. With more licks than a Tootsie Roll pop, comparisons have been made to Ray Charles and Joe Cocker; their influences quite evident in Taylor's performance style. Great set of chops on this 29 year old vocalist. (Wait until you hear him belt out Ray Charles' "Georgia [On My Mind"]. Keep an ear out for him, and if you get the chance or are so inclined, check him out on Fox's American Idol. (The dude plays a pretty mean mouth organ, as well).

AMAZING CHALK ARTIST

2006-01-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

Nope, it's not a giant bottle of Coke, it's a very realistic 3-D chalk drawing of one!

Julian Beever is an amazing artist who takes advantage of the way the brain perceives things visually to create some astounding artwork. He calls them "Anamorphic illusions"........ drawn in a special distortion in order to create an impression of 3 dimensions when seen from one particular viewpoint, and he's been doing this type of artwork for about 10 years. (He renders such realistic and remarkable work, it's tempting to lay down my own art materials in surrender).
The human brain works out our 3D peceptions of the world from the two dimensional light patterns that fall onto our retina at the back of the eye.
We assume that textures will fade as they go farther away, parallel lines will converge in the distance somewhat, and that the closer an object is, the larger it seems to appear. Julian Beever's art takes advantage of a knowledge of these processes, so when photographed or viewed from a particular angle, the visual system's built-in processes are fooled, producing a false sense of depth.
When viewed from an alternate angle, the illusion is brokem-down, and you can see how the illusion was created. More examples of Beever's very impressive eye candy!

FLORIDA FINALLY GETS "FED UP"

2005-12-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

"The Chronicles of Narnia-Part 1: Technical/Visual Aspects

2005-12-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

With an estimated budget of $150 million, "The Chronicles of Narnia-The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" is opening in theaters tomorrow--Disney's film adaptation of the C.S. Lewis' classic literary work. (As a point of reference, $30 million was spent on the production of Mel Gibson's "The Passion." So, what will 5 times the production budget yield in terms of special effects?)

Brother Steve Camp has posted an excellent article on his blog which gives us a pretty good insight into the faith of C.S. L ewis, as well as an article giving great recommendations on the proper expectations evangelicals should hold as they venture into the theater this weekend to view the movie. Hint: evangelicals should expect the same thing other moviegoers do......an evening of great entertainment. As an artist, in addition to entertainment value, I'm also interested in the composition and special effects of the film--the overall asthetics of what critics are claiming is destined to be the blockbuster of this Christmas season.

Without my viewing the film, to follow is the information I've been able to put together in regards to some of the special-effects aspects of the piece. (By the way, tomorrow I hope to post on the unique marketing aspect of the film).

Very impressive visually-from what I've seen in the movie trailers-is Aslan, the character of the lion, which is 100% computer-generated, and took 2 years to complete. The battle scene contains 5,000 computer-generated characters within the Narnian army alone, and 15,000 CG characters within the witch's army.The computer program "Massive" was employed to create the battle, a program created by Stephen Regelous. (The "Massive" program was used to create the mass legion of robots in "I, Robot," the battle scenes in "Lord of the Rings," the crowd scenes in the new theatrical release, "Kong," and the crowd in the gallery on that cute little "Kid Tiger Woods" commercial spot for Nike).

From an article written by Courtney Macavinta, and published on the wire.com website: "The computer-generated characters used in these scenes, called 'agents,' have minds of their own. 'Every agent has its own choices and a complete brain,' Regelous said. 'The most important thing about making realistic crowds is making realistic individuals.'In Massive, agents' brains -- which look like intricate flow charts -- define how they see and hear, how fast they run and how slowly they die.

Like real people, agents' body types, clothing and the weather influence their capabilities. Agents aren't robots, though. Each makes subtle responses to its surroundings with fuzzy logic rather than yes-no, on-off decisions. And every agent has thousands of brain nodes, such as their combat node, which has rules for their level of aggression.

When an animator places agents into a simulation, they're released to do what they will. It's not crowd control but anarchy. That's because each agent makes decisions from its (own) point of view." (Hmmm......now from what theological viewpoint is that statement coming? Just kidding.........not gonna go that route).

Sorry. Continuing with Regelous' comments from the Macavinta article: "Still, when properly genetically engineered, the right character will always win the fight. 'It's possible to rig fights, but it hasn't been done," Regelous said. "In the first test fight (for Lord of the Rings) we had 1,000 silver guys and 1,000 golden guys. We set off the simulation, and in the distance you could see several guys running for the hills.'" (That I would have loved to have been on hand to see).

Regelous went on to say, "I can't tell what's Massive and what's not anymore." (Okay, now that comment is just plain scary!)

Incidentally, if you would like to put this incredible software to work for you, Massive 2.0 is available for a mere $18,000 USD per permanent interactive license, plus $4,000 per year for updates and support. Pocketchange, right?

Larry Flynt Moving to the Right?

2005-12-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

(From NewsMax current issue)

Larry Flynt: Hillary Turning Me Republican

Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt is so miffed at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton that he's thinking of becoming a Republican. In August, the infamous pornographer donated $1,000 to Clinton, according to documents filed by the fonner first lady's Senate campaign committee. But less than a month later, the New York Democrat returned the check.

"It's unbelievable," Flynt told Newsday. "But I'm used to this kind of hypocrisy." "'I've been a lifelong Democrat," the famous smut peddler said. "But I guess I'm going to have to find a third party, or maybe some Republicans."

During then-President Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment battle, Flynt aided the first couple with some third-party financial support: He offered $1 million to any witness who could provide sexual dirt on Republicans. Flynt's cash-for-trash investigation resulted in the resignation of House Speaker Robert Livingston on the eve of the president's impeachment by the House.

Flynt said President Clinton expressed his gratitude two years later, after the 2000 Democratic National Convention. "The president sent word to me, you know -ahh, he was thankful for my effort," he told the New York Observer.

Can you hear me screaming into my pillow??

MY THANKSGIVING ROLLERCOASTER

2005-11-28T21:45:00.000-08:00

Whew! What an emotional, bittersweet Thanksgiving weekend. Fortunately, Thanksgiving Day itself was a wonderful time spent with my parents, my brother, and his family, at his home in Lawrenceville, GA. The rest of the weekend.......well........

I thought I could access the internet on my brother's computer; turns out, he doesn't have a computer at the present time! So, with the exception of brief internet access through a cell phone, my internet time was all but non-existent over the weekend. (I couldn't sign on to blogger, because I couldn't figure out how to enter the underline that I use in my screen name into the mobile phone's keypad!)

After the turkey and dressing was digested Thanksgiving evening, my brother insisted on showing me the new building and facilities at the church in which he is serving as youth pastor. I could elaborate on this further, but that probably would be better off as its own post. Suffice it to say that it is a very seeker-driven church, heavily influenced by Willow Creek, and complete with a coffee bistro in the foyer prior to Sunday morning worship services. (And I'm not exaggerating about the coffee shop!)

Saturday morning, the entire family drove to my elderly parents' home in Rome, Georgia, to help them complete their move from Rome to their new residence in Cleveland, TN. My 73-year-old mother's health is steadily deteriorating, and the move will put her near her two brothers, where she can visit and spend time with them. The house my parents are moving from happens to be the house I grew up in. We moved in that house when I was three years old, back in 1969, and I moved out of it when I was 27. Twenty-four years lived in one house can produce quite a few memories! My parents are selling the "homeplace."

(Rome was a great little town in which to spend your childhood. Lots of history and a rich heritage in a beautiful area of North Georgia).
So Saturday afternoon, after everyone was out of the house, and I lingered in the room that had served as my bedroom for so many years--that's when the emotions kicked in. I fought back tears as I confronted the fact that I'd most likely never see the inside of that room again. Late night phone calls with friends and suitors, artwork that I had worked on into the wee hours of the morning, sleepless nights as a young single spent hoping, wishing, praying for the "right one" to come along, all-nighters I pulled getting ready for major exams in college--so many memories came flooding back.

I remember as a child, the many nights spent reading about the Bobbsey Twins or Nancy Drew mysteries by the light of my old clock radio........long after my parents had sent me to bed and announced, "lights out." (You know, the old flip-digit style--like the one that woke Bill Murray's character every morning in "Groundhog Day).

Nights as a teenager, listening to Rex Smith croon me to sleep via his 8-track tape entitled, "Sooner or Later."

Anyway, my parents are moving back to the town that THEY grew up in--the town of their childhood. Guess I can't blame them for that.

I would appreciate your prayers for my mother and the health problems she is experiencing.

And, I hope your Thanksgiving was a special one.

Thanksgiving wishes

2005-11-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a wonderful day of introspective reflection and thankfulness for the Lord's blessings and graciousness in our lives.

--Stephanie

(littlegal)

Click on "Thanksgiving Wishes" in the title above to enjoy a light-hearted, animated Thanksgiving greeting.

Wow-it's been a month since I posted?

2005-10-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I have my new crown. What they can do in the area of dentistry these days is amazing!

Today's post is a version of "Computer Proverbs" I found while surfing (with a few of my own edits and additions). Enjoy!

COMPUTER PROVERBS

(A few choice proverbs from that PC philosopher, "Compucious")

* Home is where you hang your "@."

* The "E-mail" of the species is more dangerous than the "mail."

* A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.

* C:\ is the root of all directories.

*The modem is the message.

* Too many clicks spoil the browse.

* A "chat" has nine lives.

*Don't byte off more than you can view.

* What boots up must shut down.

* Know what to expect before you connect.

* Oh, what a tangled "website" we weave when first we practice.

*A user and his leisure time are soon parted.

* Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to use the internet and he won't stop to eat for weeks.

I SHALL WEAR A PORCELAIN CROWN

2005-09-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, I made a mistake. I bit down on a piece of hard candy--you know, the kind that you're supposed to allow to dissolve in your mouth--Jolly Rancher, starlight mints, that kind of thing? Ever since I was a child, I've never been able to eat hard candy without biting it and chewing it up instead of simply sucking on it. I'm not exactly sure why, but let's just say I don't think I'll ever know how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop! I guess I'm just too impatient. Well, after 39+ years of biting down on hard candy, I finally cracked a molar about a year ago. Ever since, the crack has gotten larger and larger, and the pain stronger and stronger. Finally, it got to be too much to bear, and I broke down and went to visit my dentist this morning (who, I learned today, was featured on one of the Nashville episodes of "The Simple Life"--now I understand why this crown is costing over a thousand buckeroos--my dentist has become a celebrity!)

When I arrived, at 10 a.m., they put me in the dental chair, and told me that I would be able to watch a movie during the procedure. I chose, "Return to Me," which is, as they say, a "chick flick." The dentist came in and gave me four shots in my gum around the molar with one of these,

which was attached to one of these.

This is called a "harpoon-type" syringe..........fitting description, huh? (I believe the needle should be called a knitting needle)! These can be quite intimidating if you are not expecting to see them.

Then, the dentist left and said he'd be back after the injections took effect. Less than three minutes later, I'm feeling like I'm going to pass out. I assumed it was due to the fact that I hadn't eaten this morning (dumb move). The dental assistant told me it was the epinephrine in the anesthestic, which causes some patients' hearts to pound. Epinephrine is commonly known as adrenaline. That's right, the hormone "adrenaline" is one of the ingredients in novacaine. (No wonder some folks totally freak out in the dental chair and opt for nitrous oxide!) As you may be aware, adrenaline is the "fight or flight" hormone, and when it gets into the blood stream, it forces the heart to beat hard and fast. (Since I had just finished off a 20 ounce bottle of Coca Cola, I just knew the combination of caffeine and novacaine was going to be a deadly one for me). Well, the feeling quickly subsided, so I positioned my headphones, and I settled in to watch my theatrical selection. So, here comes the theme song, Dean Martin's romantic and relaxing, "Return to Me":

"Return to me
Oh my dear I am so lonely
Hurry back, hurry back
Oh my love hurry back
I am yours

Return to me
For my heart wants you only
Hurry home, hurry home
Won't you please hurry home
To my heart"

This has almost lulled me to sleep, when the dentist comes back in. "Well, are you starting to feel numb?" I'm thinking, "What'd you say? I can't hear you--you put me in headphones, remember?" So, I remove the headphones, and he takes out a dental scaler (pick):

"I'm going to poke your gum with this-you tell me if you can feel it, okay?" Gotcha. Any feeling-I'll let you know. He pricks it, and I can feel the tiniest little twinge of pain. "I felt it," I announced. "Okay, I'm going to give you a little more and see if we can get you a little bit more numb." So, he gives me another injection with his "harpoon." After a few minutes, I can't feel my throat, and I feel like I can't swallow. "Great," I'm thinking, "what if my nose gets stopped up, and then I can't breathe?" My entire bottom set of teeth is numb, my tongue is numb, and my throat is numb. Okay, now I'm paralyzed." About 10 minutes later, he returns to try again with the dental pick. I still feel his poking and prodding. I explain to him that when I had my wisdom teeth extracted, the dentist had to give me two doses of anesthesia. I'm very resistant to letting go of control of a situation, (which is an area of my life that I am still growing in). So he says he's going to give me some "juice" because that will take care of numbing in about 2 or three minutes. (One more time with the "whale impaler"). Six injections for one tooth, friends!

This finally does the trick, and for 30 minutes as he drills, tiny pieces of enamel and a silver filling I had are flying all over the place-landing in my eye, bouncing off his protective glasses--(I thought I was in a high school woodshop class)! Finally, they got it to the point they wanted, and applied the temporary crown. So, for three weeks, while the lab is making my permanent porcelain crown,

I get to wear a silver crown on my molar similar to this . (I suddenly feel inspired to write a rap tune).

By the way, the injections didn't bother me, and the procedure was virtually pain-free. But when the anesthetic began to wear off, I felt as though someone had sucker-punched me right in the jaw. Believe me, I no longer bite hard candy. I've learned my lesson well. Take it from me--just let your candy melt in your mouth (or only indulge in chocolate--which is my favorite, anyway!)

YUM!

ON ADOPTION

2005-08-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

GIVEN UP, GIVEN A CHANCE

As an adoptee, one thought that I really want to convey on the topic of adoption is this: I believe adoptive parents should try and maintain a balance between being too protective of their adoptive child, and accepting the reality that an adoptive child feels differently about themselves than do children of natural parents. It is a delicate balance to maintain, to be sure, and not an easy balance to achieve.

No matter how much love is shown to the adoptive child, or how much the parents try to show their adoptees that they belong in their family, the reality is, there is no getting around this feeling, (however slight), in the back of the adoptee's mind that that they just don't quite fit in. (By the way, not all adoptive parents choose to let their adoptive children know they were adopted, but I've known I was adopted for as long as I can remember).

Because of this feeling of not quite fitting in, some adoptive parents try to overcompensate for the fact that they didn't actually give birth to the child by holding on too tight to them. For example, my mother always told me how special I was because she "chose" me. She was always very overprotective of me. I rarely was permitted to sleepover at friends' houses, until I was a teenager, and then it was rare. Once I began dating or going out with friends, my curfew was 10 p.m. As I became older, it was moved up to 11 p.m., but it remained 11 p.m. until I left home. She worried about us all of the time. I was never allowed to attend a church camp, and my brother only went once. She was very reluctant to let either of us grow up and give us wings.

My thinking is that she felt that it had been so hard for her to be able to have two children to raise, that she didn't want to risk losing us, so she kept us on a short leash, so to speak. So, adoptive parents should realize that it is natural for an adoptee to occasionally experience feelings of inadequacies, a sense of not belonging, or moments of wondering, "what if (I hadn't been adopted by this couple)," but parents should not foster the feelings by babying the child or smothering them with affection.

Just one example of an instance where feelings of not fitting in could occur is in the area of Science classes at school. I recall several school years in which we would have a unit of study on "Hereditary traits." The study of these units can be very uncomfortable, and even a nightmare for some adopted children. Imagine a homework assignment in which you are to research the history of brown eyes within your family tree. The next morning, when you're called upon to share your findings, you either report no findings, or you just share the history of your adoptive parents, and pretend like you are just like every other student, while deep down, you feel as though you're keeping a secret from rest of the class.

Parents should just accept that these feelings are present, and do their best to help the child assimilate into their environment without feeling as though they have to convince the child that they are somehow "better" (for lack of a better term) than their peers, simply because they were chosen by their adoptive parents. What I'm trying to say is, resist the urge to treat them differently, even though, in reality, the child may feel as though they are somehow different. When the child is treated differently by the parents, it serves only to reinforce these feelings.

Family gatherings are also potential occasions for feelings of not belonging, especially if there are a lot of cousins in the mix. When I was a child, we would all gather at my grandparents' house for Christmas. My adoptive father has four brothers, and two sisters. From those families, I have (9) cousins, none of which were adopted. They all knew that my brother and I were adopted, and although the other children very rarely treated us any differently, there were times when I would question, "Are they thinking, 'You're not REALLY my cousin,'" or "Are they whispering about me behind my back?" (or other such nonsense). When you get older, these feelings seem to subside, but during childhood, they can seem like mountains. Perhaps if I had felt comfortable enough to talk these feelings over with my parents, they wouldn't have seemed so insurmountable. But I never discussed them, for fear that my parents wouldn't understand. I was afraid that they would feel as though they were failing, somehow.

This is why adoptive parenting is NOT for the faint-hearted. It should be entered into after much prayer, fasting, and seeking God. I feel it is far better for Christians to adopt than non-believers, because Christians better understand the dynamics of the relationship between our Heavenly Father and us, his "adoptees." (Ephesians 1:5)

2005-08-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES, MATIES..............
.................she's here!
The effects of Katrina are expected to be far-reaching.

Even here, in Middle Tennessee, schools have been cancelled for tomorrow, (due to "inclement weather") and Wednesday is being played by ear!

Let's keep everyone in the path of this storm in our prayers, as well as the families who have already lost loved ones due to the storm.

2005-08-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

A PSALM OF TELEVISION

Now, I love television as much as the next person--maybe even more. But I have to admit that there is such a thing as watching too much television. Am I guilty? Most likely!!

The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want,
it makes me lie down on the sofa.
It leads me away from the scriptures,
it destroys my soul!
It leads me in the paths of sex and violence for the sponsors' sake.
Yea, though I walk in the shadow of my Christian responsibilities,
There will be no interruptions--
For the TV is with me.
Its satellite and remote control, they comfort me.
It prepares a commercial before me in the presence of my carnality;
It anoints my head with humanism, my coveting runneth over.
Surely laziness and ignorance shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house watching TV to the end.

2005-08-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

A COMPARISON OF RELIGIOUS THEORIES
(it's tongue-in-cheek, folks)

Krishna - He who plays with the most toys wins.

Catholicism - He who denies himself the most toys wins.

Anglican - They were our toys first.

Greek Orthodox - No, they were OURS first.

Polytheism - There are many toy makers.

Evolutionism - The toys made themselves.

Baptist - We have played with this toy this way for years, and we are not going to change.

Church of Christ Scientist - We are the toys.

ECB'ers (this one is for the "Camponthis" blog readers)-If you don't repeal this tax on all toys, we will stage a boycott of the toys, and see that you are not re-elected.

Amish - Toys with batteries are surely a sin.

Taoism - The doll is as important as the dump truck.

Paganism - Forget the rulebook. Let's play!

Hinduism - He who plays with bags of plastic farm animals loses.

7th Day Adventist - He who plays with his toys on Saturday loses.

Church of Christ - He whose toys make music loses.

Jehovah's Witnesses - He who sells the most toys door-to-door wins.

Pentecostalism - He whose toys can talk wins.

Existentialism - Toys are a figment of your imagination.

Non-denominationalism - We don't care where the toys came from, let's just play with them.

Atheism - There is no toy maker.

Agnosticism - It is not possible to know whether toys make a bit of difference.

Mormonism - Every boy can have as many toys as he wants.

Church of Scientology - ToysRUs

Presbyterian- These toys were chosen for you to play with and these were chosen for me to play with.

Apostolic Faith/UPC (Oneness Movement) - There is only one toy, and it is in our church.

Crystal Cathedral - There are no bad toys, and no bad toy players.

Methodist - Toys are toys are toys.

Assembly of God -It doesn't matter how you play with the toys as long as more people join in with you.

Name-it-Claim-it - I have toys. I have toys. I have toys. I have toys. I have toys. I have toys. I have toys.

Word of Faith - Send me $100 and I will tell you "How you TOO can have more toys."

2005-08-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

MODERN DAY PRAYERS

Lord help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow at precisely 7:41:23 am CST.

God help me to consider people's feelings, even if most of them ARE hypersensitive.

God help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they're usually NOT my fault.

God, help me to not try to RUN everything. But, if You need some help, please feel free to ASK me!

Lord, help me to be more laid back, and help me to do it EXACTLY right.

God help me to take things more seriously, especially laughter, parties, and dancing.

God give me patience, and I mean right NOW!

Lord help me not be a perfectionist. (Did I spell that correctly?)

God, help me to finish everything I sta

God, help me to keep my mind on one th -- Look, a bird -- ing at a time.

God help me to do only what I can, and trust you for the rest. And would you mind putting that in writing?

Lord keep me open to others' ideas, WRONG though they may be.

Lord help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

Lord help me follow established procedures today. On second thought, I'll settle for a few minutes.

Lord, help me slow down andnotrushthroughwhatIdo.

Amen.

2005-08-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

(Some of) What I Did on Vacation

Lookout Mountain United Methodist Church at dusk.

Vacation: July 26 - July 29, 2005. First off, I have a question: When did vacations become such hard work? Was it when I became an adult? I don't remember having to work so hard to have a good time when I was on vacation as a child. I don't remember even noticing or caring how hot the temperature is, or what the humidity and perspiration was doing to my hair, etc. Oh well, I suppose that's part of the magic of childhood. Since this was an abbreviated vacation, I ended up spending a large portion of the time exploring the Lookout Mountain/Chattanooga area of East Tennessee. (See photos I took below). The area is rich in Civil War history. The defeat of the Confederate army in this area allowed Sherman to continue his march into North Georgia, through Atlanta, and eventually to the sea in Savannah, GA. In 1890, Arthur MacArthur, (yes, that was really his name), father of General Douglas MacArthur, received the Medal of Honor for his Civil War service at Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga.

I picked up two really interesting souvenirs while visiting the battlefield park on Lookout Mountain--authentic reproductions of the Confederate Soldier's Prayer Book, (scanned image above) and the Union Soldier's Prayer Book, both from 1861, in the same form as the booklets the Civil War soldiers carried with them during the war. Inside both pocket-sized booklets are prayers, scriptures to meditate upon, and beautiful hymns like "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name." It is encouraging for me to know that these songs were being sung by American troops while in battle on the very soil that we as Christians do spiritual battle every day.

Sky Bridge-Rock City

View of Lookout Mountain from downtown Chattanooga.

A trio of goslings cool off during a swim across the lake.

PCA's Convenant College--atop Lookout Mountain, GA

Young "Austin." A virtuoso in the making.......pacifier included.
(Opie Taylor?)

Is this duck impersonating Don King?

"Castle in the Clouds"--Georgia's Covenant College

My obligatory photo of infamous Rock City.

2005-07-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

OF SOILED CLOTHES AND SOILED HEARTS

Flashback: It's Summer, 1977, and I'm about 11 years old. I'm playing in my grandparents' yard in east Tennessee with three of my younger cousins: Stephen, Cheri, and Paul. We've all grown bored with "hide-and-seek" and are looking to do something a little more adventurous. Spotting a 4-foot high mound of dirt, which my grandfather uses for landscaping, I shout, "Let's take turns sliding down the dirt!" The four of us scramble to form a line on the back side of the mound. I bring up the rear, because I don't want to soil my clothes, unless the adventure seems to be worth it.

My cousins slide down, one at a time, and seem to be having a jolly good time. Just as I climb to the top of the mound to take my turn, my grandmother's voice comes shrieking from the 2nd-story bedroom window overlooking our "slide": "Hey! You kids stop that right now! You march right upstairs and wait for me outside the bathroom!" Uh-oh.........the "bathroom..........." At this point, the four of us know that the jig is up, and we are doomed. We slowly trudge up the flight of stairs from the basement, sensing our impending punishment. I'm thinking, "But I didn't even get to slide!" My grandmother appears at the top of the stairs, and promptly begins her lecture: "You should be ashamed of yourselves--playing in the dirt, ruining your clothes! Now your poor mothers will have to wash those filthy clothes. Line up right here..........you're going to be punished."

So, one at a time, we bravely take our turns getting spanked--with a switch, so I guess we were actually thrashed. (Unfortunately, I do get to take my turn at this activity). Obstinate creatures we were, we tried to pretend that it didn't hurt us, so she lined us up a second time, and repeated her correction.

Fast forward: It's 2005--28 years after the "dirt mound" incident. My grandmother is no longer with us; I'm certain that she's in heaven, maybe even helping the angels keep their robes clean and white. Though I never got to experience the "fun" of sliding down that old mound of dirt, my grandmother knew my motives. She knew my intent, and she knew my heart--just like our Heavenly Father does. If we hadn't gotten caught, I would have slid and gotten dirty myself.

We so easily fall into the seasonal folly of sin, and come out with our spiritual clothes dirty and in need of a Holy laundering, don't we? Sure, it's fun at the time, but look how soiled and dirty we become. And, how often we find ourselves doing yet another load of spiritual dirty laundry on our knees in repentance.

With fondness, I now remember the lesson I learned that day. Oh, the second spanking hurt, but the pain has long been forgotten, although the lesson lingers. Beware the folly that taints your heart. By the way, never again have I even considered sliding down a mound of dirt. (I'm a grown-up now, and would look pretty silly participating in such activities. [Besides, these days, my 70+year old mother would most likely tell me to go wash my own playclothes!])

2005-07-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

I signed up for blogger.com just to post a comment on someone else's blog. But now that I think about it, perhaps I will, on occasion, have some wisdom to impart to the masses. At the very least, I could probably provide some humor to help lighten your load on at least a weekly basis. Perhaps I'll even share some of my poetry/lyrics once in a while. Stay tuned......