Whats so good about Good Friday?

Everyone looks forward to Friday week after week right? It tends to be the favored day for sure. Why? Maybe the fact that the weekend follows, and two days off work is just plain...good. Maybe for many its a chance to gather with friends, go to the movies, go out to eat, and simply enjoy the goodness of life. This Friday tends to be a bit different, and yet many people will only see so far as the Easter goodies and family gatherings. In a culture flooded with every color and variety of chocolate, bunnies, and eggs, it is difficult to allow the true goodness of Good Friday to really sink in.

I must admit I am not a theologian, and I am not for certain that Jesus the Messiah actually died on Friday, but nonetheless He died. The day is not of greatest importance, but the reality and truth of His death, burial, and resurrection. This is good news friends. Good Friday is simply a reminder that true goodness only comes from Christ, true life and joy are only found in partaking of His death and resurrection. We must allow this to sink in deeply, penetrate every part of our heart and mind and soul. There would have been no weekend to look forward to had Christ not died and risen from the dead. We would have been doomed and damned to eternal destruction and separation. 

So celebrate loudly, yes freely, and fully. 

I leave you today with Isaiah 53:3-7,

"He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth."

Life is a Narrative

Life is not a list of propositions, it is a series of dramatic scenes. As Eugene Peterson said, “We live in narrative, we live in story. Existence has a story shape to it. We have a beginning and an end, we have a plot, we have characters.” Story is the language of the heart. Our souls speak not in the naked facts of mathematics or the abstract propositions of systematic theology; they speak the images and emotions of story. Contrast your enthusiasm for studying a textbook with the offer to go to a movie, read a novel, or listen to the stories of someone else’s life. Elie Wiesel suggests that “God created man because he loves stories.” So if we’re going to find the answer to the riddle of the earth—and of our own existence—we’ll find it in story.

For hundreds of years, our culture has been losing its story. The Enlightenment dismissed the idea that there is an Author but tried to hang on to the idea that we could still have a Larger Story, life could still make sense, and everything was headed in a good direction. Western culture rejected the mystery and transcendence of the Middle Ages and placed its confidence in pragmatism and progress, the pillars of the Modern Era, the Age of Reason. But once we had rid ourselves of the Author, it didn’t take long to lose the Larger Story. In the Postmodern Era, all we have left are our small stories. The central belief of our times is that there is no story, nothing hangs together, all we have are bits and pieces, the random days of our lives. Tragedy still brings us to tears and heroism still lifts our hearts, but there is no context for any of it. Life is just a sequence of images and emotions without rhyme or reason.

So, what are we left to do? Create our own story line to bring some meaning to our experiences. Our heart is made to live in a Larger Story; having lost that we do the best we can by developing our own smaller dramas.

Taken from "The Sacred Romance" by John Eldredge

Oceans and waves

I struggle to swim in this vast ocean
Waves crash over me as I gasp for air
Rapidly moving waters sway me
Looking for a resting place
The struggle continues
Fighting the currents of this world
Resisting the pressures that face me
Pulling me under, yet not prevailing
Not my own fight, but the Greater One
All is well, and all is not
Violent forces uncontrolled by man
One chance to hold for dear life
A moment of peace, then back to battle
Not against flesh and blood
But oceans and waves
Of sin
Of death
Of fear
Of pain
Of hope
Of glory
Of peace
Mingled together for now, but soon apart
Brighter and lighter it will be
Hold on for dear life now
Guard your heart in truth

Innocence of a Child

Daily I fall in love with my children all over again. Even when World War III breaks out and all there 'dark sides' come out to chase me, I still stand in awe of them. Each uniquely crafted with such beauty, purity, and innocence. Yes, innocence. In a day and age where the heart and mind are being exploited daily with explicit content, images, and a slew of trash; we must fight all the more to preserve the innocence of our children. The last time I read the Holy Book, there seemed to be some words that went like this:

"Out of the mouths of infants and babes He has ordained praise."

And, "unless you humble yourself and become like a child you will have no place in the kingdom of God."

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

So, as a father I am constantly asking myself how I can improve in order to protect, nourish, and preserve their innocence. I am deeply saddened by the exploitation of children around the world. There is absolute truth and we must teach our children the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice. They must walk now in the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit. A child is more than able to comprehend the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are more than able to pray for the sick, prophesy over their friends and peers, walk in holiness and purity, and be lights in a dark world.