You're Hired: Edify!

There’s a fairly common conversation
that most saved folk tend to have:
It surrounds what we can and can’t do in Christ
as we walk this righteous path.

How much does the Old Law matter
If now, the greatest commandment is love?
Are smoking and drinking seen as sins?
Is God frowning down from above?

And what about the sins that weigh us down
as we all try to run this race;
If we do things that we shouldn’t do anymore
Are we frustrating His Grace?

In this, I think it’s a matter of focus
and it helps things not seem so odd
Because even though we’ve been saved by Grace,
We’re also hired to do a job.

We’ve been commissioned to build things up;
to promote God’s love and Glory.
By combination of our practice and preaching,
testifying what we’ve learned in His story.

But because we’re aware of the benefit perks,
most embrace their job in this way;
They want to enjoy the retirement plan,
so they start and retire the same day.

They figure; God really doesn’t fire anyone.
So if I’m in, then I’m in…what’s the riff?
But being “in” means you’re serious about doing His will,
So in the end, it’s a really BIG IF!

Only God can judge me… I’m free indeed!
Be careful if that’s all you see.
In all things we’re supposed to edify,
Which seeks to exalt Christ as King!

Here’s The Word;

1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

2 Corinthians 12:19 Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Most Christians know what the word servant means
And our basic understandings are good.
But we get so caught up in CAN and CAN’T
We often don’t consider if we “SHOULD”.

Things that we say or stuff we don’t say.
The evidences of things we desire,
should center on edification to The Glory of GOD
For this is the reason you’re hired.


In Him,
Cros

Peace

Merry Christmas!

At this ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year’, we hear the familiar phrase; “Peace on Earth and Good Will toward men” which is taken from Luke 2:14. But what is peace? I think because we oftentimes define peace by its contrasts, we come away without a real profitable understanding of what peace really is.

Yes, peace IS the absence of contention, and freedom pain and heartache but it’s so much more than an absence as it is a presence; as real and tangible as anything. In the same way the acrostic rightfully reveals GRACE as “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense” I like to think of PEACE as “Perpetual Ease at Christ Expense”. Not ease as in “easy” but ease in the comforting way that lets you know that your situation is as good as solved, being in the best possible Hands. The angel’s proclamation of ‘Peace on Earth’ was not just telling the earth to “Quiet down, the baby’s sleeping”. It was the introduction of the means to peace in the Person of Christ, who would afford peace in the midst of an age old war.

War? Yes, War! I know my thinking tends toward the uncanny, but I rejoicefully associate Christmas as the beginning of the end of the war, and I see Christ as The Ultimate Peace Offering. But why would God offer up Himself as a peace offering to the losers? ...so that the losers could know love, be reconciled and live in peace - Now that’s redemptive Love.

CONTRADICTION ALERT: In Matthew 10:34 Jesus says “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Does this verse contradict Luke 2? Not at all, look carefully. Jesus doesn’t bring peace TO the world, He brings peace FOR the world – there’s a difference. Just as this war really isn’t a war, it’s a rebellion. This peace offering isn’t an offer of surrender from God; it’s an offer of amnesty for us. We have to lay down our arms and cease the rebellion which may not be as easy as it seems when we weigh what it could mean in the context of our relationships with other rebels. It’s highly probable that we will experience dissension and many other absences of peace as we join sides with their Enemy. Even in the midst of that conflict, the peace ‘in’ Christ still affords us eternal assurance far above that of temporary relationships.

Here’s The Word;

Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

I surely hope that the next time you see the baby lying in the manger; you’ll realize that Peace is so much more than the absence of discomfort. The presence of peace should settle you and give you an unwavering confidence to hold fast to Christ's Lordship and withstand the self driven-ness of this world. Out of all the things on your ‘to do’ list at this or any time of the year, the realization that the burden of “making things right with God” has been taken care of if you disarm and accept the terms of surrender. Furthermore, if you can trust That Baby to reconcile you to The Creator, He can surely assure you that if He’s got anything to do with your future; it’s as good as done…and not just done… but done so perfectly that even the thought of you trying to attempt what He’s able to accomplish would look absurdly juvenile.


Peace in Him!
Cros

Drive Home

Hello All,

Okay, a little about myself: I love music. I mean I really, REALLY love music to the degree that there’s usually music on in at least 3 different places in my home at any given time (unless it’s timed out to the Pandora Pause). I like walking in to the room and being pleasantly interrupted by what’s on at that very moment - I may even sing along. Often times when music simply isn’t providing the background ambiance, I’m online looking for my next favorite song. I’m fairly certain that I go through at least 2 favorite songs a year and it’s not that these songs replace my recent favorites, they just get added to the list.

Case in point: My current favorite (which I’m listening to as I write) is Steven Wilson’s “Drive Home”. It's secular and if you’ve never heard it, I would recommend listening to it without watching the video (at least for the first few times, if at all) - make sure you pick the long 8 minute version, the guitar solo is ridiculous! I think I listened to it about 10 times before watching. The difference is like reading a book before seeing the movie; your own imagination has an opportunity to do so much more with the subject matter before being “told” anything. And anyway, the video is really sad, which you do sort of get from the sound of the song but maybe not to the degree associated with the video. I liked hearing the song first because when I like something to the degree with which I absolutely LOVED this song, my mind tries to redeem the sadness in it and for me something is really only sad when it’s hopeless; so I rarely, if ever, associate hopelessness. It was easy to find this song as sad yet hopeful. I took it a step forward with my usual “modus operandi” and did a little creative wordplay and tied it to something truthful and encouraging in Scripture:

Here’s The Word:

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

If there’s any reason to rejoice, this verse has it covered hands down! But having lived a little, to me this is also one of the quintessential “Sad but hopeful” verses in Scripture (another is 2 Cor 4:9). There’s SO much that befalls us in this life and pushes us to (if not over) the brink of giving up. Sometimes it’s hard to choose “cheer”. This song is not "pity-party" music but it identifies with our difficulties, as well as our hope.

It reminds me of a 20 mile hike I’d gone on with my ol’ buddy John Wilsey. We’d just did a strenuous 5 mile hike the day before and I really didn’t realize how spent I was. Somewhere around 2 miles into it we hit another steep incline and I asked the question, “John, am I going to make this?” Thank God for the confident assurance in his response “Yeah, you’ll make it”. That was all the ‘good cheer’ I needed to drive on. This is similar to the feeling I get from John 16:33. As beautiful as this world can be, at times it can be unrelenting and hard, but “You will make it”. Jesus, has already done everything necessary to make it so – It’s hard but all you have to do is let His Joy be the strength behind your endurance, let Him be the Reason you persevere, let His encouragement push you to Drive Home.

Here’s the product of my redeeming creativity colliding with the original lyrics into what has become to me, for the moment, 'The Enduring Song'.

You need to clear away all the jetsam in your brain
(Google “jetsam” and think Hebrews 12:1)
And face The Truth
His Love has made amends, Now the darkness always ends
You are not alone - So drive home


In Him,
Cros