how He loves

How He Loves

By John Mark McMillan

He is jealous for me

Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realize just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

Oh, how he loves us so

Oh, how he loves us,

How he loves us so.

Yeah he loves us, oh how he loves us

Oh, how he loves us

Oh how he loves

So he is our portion and we are his prize

Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes,

If grace is an ocean we're all sinking.

So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest.

I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way...

Yeah he loves us, oh how he loves us

Oh, how he loves us

Oh how he loves

i'm not going to go into a lot of detail on this one, because the words are so powerful i think we all just need to spend some time sitting on them, meditating over them, and letting Jesus move our hearts through them. however, there are a few things i definitely want to cover.

i think the most important thing for us to identify here is the wording in the very first line, which states "He is jealous FOR me." i want to be very clear here that there is a MAJOR difference in God being jealous FOR us versus His being jealous OF us. sadly, it was a confusion of this difference that was the first domino in a string of experiences that led our dear friend oprah to ultimately deny Christ. (if you are interested in hearing oprah talk about this, go here. you can watch the whole clip, but the part about God's jealousy starts at 2 minutes, 50 seconds). God is NOT jealous OF us. God's supreme purpose in the world is to bring glory to himself - there is nothing about us that would make Him jealous. He is holy, and we are filthy...God is most definitely NOT jealous OF us. but praise God that He is jealous FOR us! God loves us SO MUCH that He passionately pursues us. He is jealous FOR our love, allegiance, obedience, faithfulness, worship, praise...the list could go on and on! Jesus is so jealous FOR us that He took on our sin so that we could be in relationship with Him! He is so jealous FOR us that He bought us with His very life! He is so jealous FOR our praise that He commands our worship, and He commands that we lay down our lives for Him as He laid down His life for us.

after the first line, the rest of the song just gives us amazingly vivid pictures of the intensity of His passionate love toward us. can't you just see His love as a hurricane, blowing at you so violently that you bend and sway and feel like you might break? that's the intensity of His love! and the thought of grace being such a deep, vast ocean that we are all sinking? and the image of heaven meeting earth like a sloppy wet kiss, a kiss so passionate that your heart beats violently inside your chest...

HE LOVES US, OH HOW HE LOVES US!!! Praise Jesus that He is jealous FOR me!

God of justice

God of Justice

By Tim Hughes

God of Justice, Savior to all

Came to rescue the weak and the poor

Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, You have called us

Freely we’ve received

Now freely we will give

To act justly everyday

Loving mercy in everyway

Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us, what You require

Now freely we will give

We must go live to feed the hungry

Stand beside the broken

We must go

Stepping forward keep us from just singing

Move us into action

We must go

Fill us up and send us out

Fill us up and send us out

Fill us up and send us out Lord

since i started these worship song posts with my favorite song, i figured i would follow with my second favorite song! "God of justice" could not be a more perfect anthem for the upcoming chrysalis weekend, being that our verse is micah 6:8, which reads "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (ESV).

my church is currently going through a series on the book of mark, and last sunday the sermon was from mark 2. the pastor summed up the first part of mark by stating "JESUS DID STUFF." and that's what this verse (and this song) is all about. Jesus came to rescue the weak and the poor. He came not looking to be served, but to be a servant. Jesus showed mercy and justice to those who were abused and abandoned by everyone else (including the religious people of the day).

my favorite part of the song is the chorus, which states "pressing forward, keep us from just singing, move us into action." this is a calling and a challenge to us all. JESUS DID STUFF...SO WE SHOULD TOO! all too often we think that worship is just singing songs. but worship is my life, and worship is your life! if we just sing a few songs and then do nothing, then we are not truly worshipping. speaking or singing words out of lazy, insincere hearts makes for a very out-of-tune chorus rising up toward heaven but instead smacking against the ceiling.

revelation song

for the past month or so i've been collecting songs for the upcoming chrysalis retreat at which i am heading up the music team. i have already spent numerous hours sifting songs, making cds for the team, finding lyrics and chords, assembling notebooks, etc. as i was searching for lyrics and chords last night and playing through songs, i realized that it would be an awful shame if i spent countless hours with these songs, but didn't let the lyrics truly speak to me. there is so much truth packed into these songs, and i would be doing myself, the chrysalis team, the students on the retreat, and ultimately my Savior a disservice if i lead these songs without putting thought into every word and aligning my heart with the heart of worship presented in them. so, i figure it is appropriate to begin with what is currently my very favorite song. i will first include the lyrics to the song, and then i will write a little about how they speak to me.

revelation song

by gateway worship

Verse

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is He.

Sing a new song to Him who sits on Heaven's Mercy Seat

Clothed in rainbows, of living color.

Flashes of lightening, rolls of thunder.

Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be,

To You, the only wise King.

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder,

At the mention of Your Name.

Jesus, Your Name is power, breath and living water.

Such a marvelous mystery.

Holy, Holy, Holy is The Lord, God Almighty.

Who was and is and is to come.

With all creation I sing, "Praise to The King of Kings,"

You are my everything. And I will adore You

there is NO WAY i can say here everything this song means to me, so i'll go for a few highlights. the first verse begins by proclaiming that the Lamb is worthy and holy. it proclaims God's holiness, but then also declares that the Lamb is sitting on "heaven's mercy seat." what a beautiful picture this is for us! the Lamb is holy. because God is holy He cannot be in the presence of sin. however, this song depicts Christ as sitting on "heaven's mercy seat," and not "heaven's judgement seat." this is the beauty of the gospel. Jesus died so that the "judgement seat" can be satisfied and the "mercy seat" can be utilized.

the second verse beautifully depicts the splendor of the Lamb. He is clothed in rainbows, and He has lightning bolts at His fingertips! as one who has been forgiven through the mercy of the Lamb, i need to never forget his power, might, and splendor. seriously - clothed in rainbows? how can i even imagine that!?!?!

the third verse tells of my right response to the mercy of the Lamb, as well as his holiness, honor, splendor, and power. the correct response is for me to be filled with "awestruck wonder" at the very mention of His name! His name is power, breath, living water, and the most marvelous mystery ever imagined! i am ashamed of the numerous times His name is mentioned, and my first response is not to be filled with awestruck wonder. praise Jesus that He is still sitting on the mercy seat!

and finally the chorus - there isn't much i can add that isn't already there. Jesus is the Holy One, who was, and is, and is yet to come. with all creation i sing praises to the King of Kings, who is my EVERYTHING. i want my life to proclaim my adoration to the perfect Lamb as i eagerly await for my Savior, who is clothed in rainbows of living color, to appear with flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder! praise Jesus! AMEN!

coming...

so i’ve been reading through the Bible chronologically since last august. some parts have been amazing, as I have been journeying through with a group of incredible friends. toward the beginning of the study we were posting comments and questions, and really digging in together and going deeper. and then there was more old testament, and more old testament, and minor prophet after minor prophet…and i know i speak for more than just myself when i say it was draining! a month or two ago i made a comment to benjamin saying something resembling, “man, i can’t wait to be in the new testament!” and he made a wonderful connection. he pointed out that we get weary and bogged down when we are “stuck” in the old testament for 8 or 9 months. and yet if we feel that way in a "post-Jesus" world, imagine what it was like for those “pre-Jesus” people to be waiting, and hoping, and praying, and believing that someday Messiah would come and bring life and hope and freedom! the anticipation has built for me over the past week, as i could see on my schedule that the new testament (and more importantly Jesus) was coming soon. and then something john calvin said made this hit me even harder. in his commentaries on mark 1, he stated “In order to inflame the minds of his people with a stronger desire of the promised salvation, the Lord had determined to leave them, for a time, without new prophecies. We know that the last of the true and lawful prophets was Malachi.”

i read the book of malachi in a day, and then a day later i read about Jesus. the israelites read malachi, and then experienced silence for 400 years. imagine the anticipation…the longing…the hoping…the praying…the seeking…the doubting…the deafening silence. if i can long for Jesus (who i already have living in me), how much more did they long for him, and how much more astounding the anthem when all of a sudden, he burst onto the scene? and sadly many of them missed Messiah altogether. i pray that as i dig into the life of the Messiah, the long awaited One, that i will tap into that glimpse of longing that has tugged at me, and i will be perpetually grateful for the coming Messiah, WHO IS ALREADY HERE!!! the yearning and groaning for redemption is satisfied, the wait is over, and JESUS is HERE!!!

challenge

so i have been receiving monthly newsletters from Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) for quite some time now - i think ever since high school. it is so easy here in america, surrounded by comfortable things, and spoiled with all of our american freedoms, to completely forget or overlook the suffering that Christian brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing. for that reason i am extremely grateful for the little reminder that arrives in the mail every month in the form of a newsletter, as well as weekly e-mail updates from VOM that land in my inbox. tonight i began to read through some of the articles and stories, and i was overcome with the experiences of these courageous believers who love Jesus SOOOOO much.

but what really astounded me were several of the letters in the "VOM Mail" secion that were written in to VOM and published in the latest issue. one person wrote, "Stop the ruse. You are just another predatory business taking advantage of the gullibility of people. There is no such thing as Christian persecution..."
another person wrote, "You guys are kidding, right? 'Christians' attempt to impose their beliefs ('proselytize') in someone else's country, something tragic happens, and these are martyrs? Aren't you taking this Jesus complex a little far? ... Perhaps these people should consider that where they are going is populated by human beings just like themselves, with their own beliefs and ways of doing things, and respect them as they themselves wish to be respected. ... You should be ashamed - this kind of reasonless propaganda does not help anyone or anything, save your own pompous self-righteousness."

my roommate teasingly asked if these are the same people who don't believe the holocaust ever happened. while i could spend paragraphs steaming over comments like these, i believe they stand on their own as a statement of how far away people are from God. the bubble that encompases americans (and others who are removed from the persecution) is large, and it is shielding people from reality. (or perhaps people are just refusing to look at all. you don't need a bubble if you eyes are squeezed shut). the persecution is real, and it is happening all over the world. how do i know? for one i've read too many stories not to believe them. but even putting that aside, Jesus PROMISED there would always be persecution. His gospel is offensive to men who refuse to submit to a real, live, objective, holy, just God. so why are we surprised when people hate those who bring the message? the persecution will eventually be in our backyard too. if you can't see the changing climate even in our "free" country, then look closer. we won't always be able to keep our eyes squeezed shut, attempting to block out reality.

but anyway, that's not the point of this blog. the reason i'm writing is to challenge myself, and to challenge anyone who might read this, to do something about the persecution our brothers and sisters are experiencing. i will be the first to confess that i often don't do even the little things that i could to make a difference. but i want to try harder, and there are several things we can do even from our own sofas in america. of course we can always pray. and we can pray intentionally and specifically. check out www.persecution.com, www.PrisonerAlert.com, www.ChinaAid.org, and www.persecution.com/chinareport for up-to-date info on Christians who are facing persecution and imprisonment as we speak. but we can do more than just pray - we can write letters. at www.PrisonerAlert.com you can write letters to imprisoned believers, watch it translate the letter right in front of you, print it out, and mail it! can you write one letter a day? one letter a week? one letter a month? VOM reports that sometimes numerous letters from the US prompt prisoners to be realeased earlier than expected.

my question to myself is this - how can i claim to be a follower of Christ, and yet fail to do something as simple as writing a letter to a believer who is suffering for the same Jesus i claim to love so much? i think the only response i can give is to just shut up and write. so that's the challenge i'm giving myself. will you join with me???

dumbfounded

so it has been nearly a year since i last blogged. i guess once i started working and i had a computer in front of me for 8 hours a day at work, it've had an increasingly hard time making myself spend time on the computer in the evenings. however, i am finding that i miss having an outlet, especially intellectually, since writing/communicating is largely how i hash out the thoughts and questions that are always swimming around in my brain. so i am going to try to renew my posts.

in the past few months i have attended two incredible conferences. in november i attended the nationl conference on christian apologetics, and in march i attended the national conference on spiritual discernment. after the second conference i briefly looked into seminary costs (and quickly determinded that i cannot afford seminary at the present time - especially with my extensive grad school loans). both conferences served to spark intellectual desires and passions in me that i have deeply missed since graduating from erskine. most importantly they reminded me that, even though i am not presently enmeshed in the academic world, i still have an overwhelming need and responsibilty to be able to rationally support my faith in Jesus Christ, and to support it well.

tonight my roommate and i went to see the ben stein movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." (http://www.expelledthemovie.com/)
First, let me say if you haven't seen it YOU NEED TO! the gist of the movie is that the scientific community is intensely persecuting anyone who even suggests intelligent design as an alternative to or even an explanation of darwinian evolution. there is so much content in the movie that it would be impossible to skim the surface here, but there is piece i would like to mention here. toward the end of the film ben stein sits down with contemporary atheist richard dawkins, author of the abhorent book the god delusion. stein poses the question to dawkins regarding how the first building blocks of life got here, and he states that nobody knows how it really all began. he then goes on to say something to the effect of some other intelligent entity somewhere else in the universe evolved itself, and then "seeded" the building blocks of life onto earth. (basically, he believes aliens beamed un-evolved amoebas to earth and then the evolutionary process began). and he believes that his view is more plausible than the possibility that God, an uncaused cause, an uncreated creator, intelligently wove us together for a specifice purpose? and he thinks proponents of intelligent design are "idiots"? my roomate (erin) and i tossed this idea around, and it seems so obvious to us that people all around us (dawkins included) want so badly to belive that there is no objective Creator that they are not only willing to believe that aliens beamed our "ancestors" down to earth, but they are willing to state this belief as fact and then to persecute anyone who disagrees with them. they are fighting so hard to see what is right in front of them, that they concoct outrageous explanations, package them as science, and "crucify" anyone who dares to posit a different option. why? becasue their hearts are depraved and wicked, and to admit that there is an intelligent designer means to admit that there is a reality apart from ourselves that we are subject to. the potter creates the pot, and then uses the pot for his own purpses. the painter paints the picture and then does with it as he wills. the watchmaker engineers the watch and sets in into motion, and then uses it for the purpose he intented it. (thanks to william paley for the wonderful watch anaolgy. check him out for an intriging argument from design for the existence of God). if there is a Creator, then his subjects must answer to Him. and because people don't want to answer to the Creator, they would rather believe in aliens "seeds" and masquerade around as almighty scientists.

this is dumbfounding to me. i look at the sky, and i see design. i look at the hills, and i see design. i look at myself, and i see design. i look at scientific order and laws, and i see design. i look at the moral code written on my heart, and i see design, purpose, and CALLING. and that is what REALLY amazes me. yeah, i am a product of design. but God didn't just design me and leave me. he CALLED me. he drew me. he wooed me. he DIED for me! he isn't just an intelligent designer - he is a LOVER. a lover of my dead, depraved heart. i am dumbfounded at those who refuse to accept this, and i am dumbfounded at a God who STILL pursues us in spite of our unbelief. to GOD be the GLORY!!!