Happy Super Tuesday

Honestly, I'm just not that excited about politics right now. We need changes in this country, but the ones we need aren't going to come through the government.

Here's a song for today....

Not Safe

At the Derek Webb concert the other night, I bought his "House Show" cd. I've been listening to it pretty much non stop since then. There is one track that has stayed with me. I've listened to it over and over. In it, Derek is introducing his song "The Wedding Dress". What he says, just grabs me. It's something God has been convicting me of lately- through studying the youth Life group lessons, through a novel I read, and through a few other ways.

The questions that have been stirring in my heart are "What am I doing to really share the gospel?" "Do I live like I believe that Jesus is the way to life, true everlasting life?" "Who do I tell?" "What am I going to do to about it?"

So, I typed out the whole thing. I know I could have just down loaded it, but I needed to have it in print. Maybe someone else needs to read it, too.


Introduction of the "Wedding Dress"

"This song is my own confessing that because of my unbelief, because I don't believe the gospel. I don't believe that Christ is really sufficient for me. I don't believe that he will really meet all my needs. I don't. I struggle to believe that. You can see it by the way I live. And because I don't believe that, I all too often, give in, am convinced or wooed by what some theologians have called "lovers less wild" than Jesus the great lover of our souls. Other lovers as Scripture calls them as well, that would seek to convince us that they can satisfy us. Convince us that they can safely bear our sin. That we will be safe and secure. That they can satisfy us in ways that, in fact, only our Savior can. I think that so often we try to make it our job to make the gospel easier for us to preach and easier for other people to hear. In order to not get into trouble, in order to not be confrontational. But see, here is the truth, you just can't preach the gospel and not get into trouble. You just can't do it. Hard as you might try. You can dress it up anyway you might want, but if you are really preaching the gospel, you're going to get yourself into trouble....

Because, again, the cross is both beautiful and offensive and it must be both. It is both. There is no other gospel for you to preach. So in ways that we seek to dress it up or as Tony Campollo puts it, if we seek to neuter the gospel, just to rob it of it's great offense and therefore it's great beauty, then it's no longer the gospel we are preaching to people. We are not doing anyone any favors by making the gospel easier to hear, because it ceases to be the gospel. It's not safe to boldly preach the gospel. It's not. You might as well get to preaching it and get into trouble. Our same gospel that we are told will literally set mother against daughter, son against father, not bringing peace but a sword. Dangerous work that we are in as believers. Perilous work that we have before us to preach the gospel. Not only to each other but to the outside world, the unbelieving world. Not safe work.

Safe is not a word that I believe characterizes Christians or Jesus or the gospel. It shouldn't. If it is, than it might not be the gospel we are preaching. It makes me think about the great work by C.S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Where there are these children who find their way through this wardrobe, or closet and they find themselves in this other world. A magical world where all these incredible things begin to happen. They meet this great Lion, Aslan is his name. He is the Christ figure in this story. These children, as you can imagine, when they see this huge lion, they are terribly frightened. They are scared to death. They know that he is King, but they have all these questions. They go to some that live there, who know more of Aslan then they do and they say...'Can you tell us is he safe?' The response that the children receive is not 'yes, he's safe, in fact, he's safe for the whole family.' That's not the response. But the response is 'NO, no he is not safe, but he is good and he is the King.'

Jesus, folks, He is not safe. He is not manageable. He is a wild lion. You cannot tame Him. He is not safe, but He is good. He is King. You can trust him. You can trust that He will provide for you as you go out and you seek to tell people about Him. The gospel that we carry is not safe. It is not. It is not manageable. Not efficient. Loving people is not efficient. But the gospel is good, it is true, but it's not safe."

Concert

Tonight is the Derek Webb concert. I'm so excited! We get to hear great music, it's a date night, we are meeting with good friends, and Grant gets to sleep over at Grandma's house. Everyone's happy!

Another Song...

Our college minister preached a sermon this morning about knowing Jesus and living our lives to follow Him. Following Him isn't always easy. It's not really that popular either. Going to church is popular, doing church things are even popular, but they really aren't the same as knowing Jesus. Sometimes following Him means we don't get to do what we want, we don't get what we think we deserve, we don't even know the plan. There is suffering. There is sacrafice. There is also the reward of Jesus- knowing Him, sharing Him, living the life that He purposed for us. As Brian said, "the cost is high, but the benefits are higher."

This song came to my mind several times during the message.


I Repent
Derek Webb

I repent, I repent of my pursuit of America's dream
I repent, I repent of living like I deserve anything
Of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
In our suburb where we're safe and white
I am wrong and of these things I repent

I repent, I repent of parading my high liberty
I repent, I repent of paying for what I get for free
And of the way I believe that I am living right
By trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent

bridge
I repent judging by a law that even I can't keep
Of wearing righteousness like a disguise
To see through the planks in my own eyes

I repent, I repent of trading truth for false unity
I repent, I repent of confusing peace and idolatry
By caring more of what they think than what I know of what we need
Of domesticating you until you look just like me
I am wrong and of these things I repent.

This Too Shall Be Made Right...

This song moves me everytime I hear it. Derek Webb's music is incredible.

This Too Shall Be Made Right
Derek Webb

People love you the most for the things you hate
And hate you for loving the things you can't keep straight
People judge you on a curve
And tell you you’re getting what you deserve
This too shall be made right

Children cannot learn when children cannot eat
Stack them like lumber and children cannot sleep
Children dream of wishing wells
Whose waters quench all the fires of Hell
This too shall be made right

The earth and the sky and the sea are all holding their breath
Wars and abuses have nature groaning with death
We say we’re just trying to stay alive
But it looks so much more like a way to die
This too shall be made right

There’s a time for peace and there is a time for war
A time to forgive and a time to settle the score
A time for babies to lose their lives
A time for hunger and genocide
This too shall be made right

I don’t know the suffering of people outside my front door
I join the oppressors of those I choose to ignore
I’m trading comfort for human life
And that’s not just murder it’s suicide
This too shall be made right