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| Considering the distance I've gone from high school, I've felt it appropriate to move to a more respectable place to post my musings.
http://ilivewithbeau.blogspot.com
Enjoy.
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| I've had enough.
If you need me, I'll be in Florida. | | |
| Here's a paper I wrote on the Biblical Perspective of Communication. I would have liked to elaborate more on some ideas, but it was limited to two pages - so I couldn't. If I had it would have centered on John 1:1-14. So you can look at that further if you like. But here's what I had to say:
The Christian life is not composed of political movements or built upon rhetoric. The religious right always has something to say, but not everyone wants to listen. We have radio shows, television programs, publishing houses, record companies, clothing companies…everything under the sun. Mammon is replaced for the cross – all because Christians have something to say. And yet we still play Mammon’s games. We have something to say and we want it heard, but like any music score, the silence is as powerful as the melodies and harmonies.
I’ve always been intrigued by Isaiah 53. In what is, by my estimation, the most powerful description of the crucifixion I find myself disturbed by His silence. Isaiah writes “he [Christ] was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). Christ based His entire ministry on preaching and teaching men and women both individually as well as en masse. Similarly, we base our success on the number of men and women that come to our services. We preach about Christ’s preaching and I wonder if that was Christ’s aim? We know that he weeps for those in rebellion to God’s Word (Luke 19:41-44) but that also he cares for the heart of man that is cracked and faulty. His words are comforting and compelling, yet also difficult and distressing.
The Apostle John writes that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (1:14) and Paul contends that Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). The writer of the book of Hebrews exhorts us to “consider Him” (12:3). In this monologue of God (or Revelation, to be technical) He tells us, simply, that Christ is the fullness of revelation. That He is not only face of God, but also the mouth of God speaking His words of comfort and condemnation to the masses and the isolated. But what do we do with His silence? As believers, we’re committed to the proclamation of His gospel – a message that lights the way to the Savior. A message to teaches sight to the blind, health to the afflicted and life for the dead, a hope found in the name of Christ alone. As he faced the fullness of God’s wrath against sinners, he spoke only, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34, Matthew 17:46) and “it is finished” (John 19:30).
On the cross, there was nothing else to say. His suffering had been on display for all to see. Like the serpent in the desert He had been raised up for all men to see. He was raised up to take our infirmities upon Himself (Isaiah 52:13, Numbers 21:8-10). This is the truth that consumes our redeemed hearts and we long to make that truth known. However, many have endeavored to make this message of deliverance into an offering to Mammon. They have used the Gospel to line their wallets and because of this, many have become disenchanted with the church and with Jesus Christ. In light of this, as believers, it may be appropriate for us now, to speak less and live more. I do not intend to establish any type of anti-establishment type of ecclesiology or give ammunition to the house church movement. But I do believe that the silence of Christ has to influence our theology of communication.
The whole of scripture is intended to point out our sin and the path to salvation: Jesus Christ. We no longer call ourselves as “followers of the Way”, but Christians, “little Christ’s”. Therefore, in every way that we communicate, verbal and non-verbal, we must imitate Christ. We will have seasons of intense dialogue and discussion and times of utter silence – all intended to reach the world with the message of the Cross. If it is not seasoned with the living water, then it is unsavory for the palate of the Christian.
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| I've been meditating on Hebrews 12:3 for the past few weeks. "Consider Him" the author says. Paul, in his letter to the Colossian church, contends that Christ is "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15, 16). The face of God is a battered, bloody, contorted and tortured face. Where blood mixes with tears and the only sound is the cry of a forsaken savior.
In his book "The Signature of Jesus" Brennan Manning, in a moment of self-disclosure, says "The Lord reveals Himself to each of us in a myraid of was. For me the human face of God is the strangulating Jesus stretched against a darkening sky...He is God's enduring Word to the world saying, "See how much I love you. See how you must love one another."
The crucified savior choking amongst the mid-day darkness destroys any notion of holiness I cling to.
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| There's a longing in my heart for something I can't understand. To articulate it is to cheapen it and never quite seems to capture all that it is in my dreams. Something's missing. It's a hope for a yet unrealized future. A place where all strivings cease, where all distasteful appetites lose their flavor. There's a longing in my heart to create a place similar to this dream. Where the words of men are met by the Spirit of God and emotions are stirred, hearts awakened and where light shines to challenge the spirit of darkness and illuminate these shadowlands.
The challenge to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, lives and souls is a challenge to our hearts, minds, lives and souls. Do I let the Word of God penetrate to my inmost being and stir my affections towards holiness? Do I allow the truth of God to challenge my mind and guide my pursuit of knowledge? Does the Word I profess manifest itself into my day to day, in the closets and in exposure? Does my whole being delight in the Lord's rebuke and discipline and respond in worship?
At the thought of the Gospel I can feel all hope, joy and anxiousness welling up in me. There's an inexplicable desire to proclaim this message to all man and pray that God's Spirit would quicken all men's hearts to embrace Him. Not that my name would be on churches, schools and institutions sacred and secular. Rather, that it would be written solely in the Lamb's book of Life next to the names of my brothers and sisters. And that upon my shoulders would not be the weight of the world but the trophies granted by the Lord for my faithfulness enabled by the power of Spirit of God. O, that my feet would bear the marks of the One who suffered to save me. That my wrists would be broken, my side pierced and flesh torn in faithfulness to the Gospel.
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