dW 08.17.07

scripture

 

Galatians 1:10

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

 

quote

 

Your life is not going to be easy, and it should not be easy. It ought to be hard. It ought to be radical; it ought to be restless; it ought to lead you to places you'd rather not go.
Henri Nouwen

dW 08.13.07

scripture

 

Galatians 2:16

Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

 

quote

 

Roman Catholic theology believes this, that God justifies only the righteous. In other words, you’re never going to be right with God until you have achieved righteousness. My Bible says, God justifies sinners. And that is the difference. Roman Catholic theology says that you will get justified when you get righteous. The Bible says you’ll get justified when you fall on your face and acknowledge you’re a sinner. And justification is not a process that finally culminates in purgatory but its an act that occurs in a moment when God declares you righteous and forgiven. That is a huge difference. One saves the other damns because it is a system of works.

- What is the gospel? John Macarthur

My Jesus

Todd Agnew - My Jesus
From the album Reflection Of Something

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,
Why do you look so much like the world?

Chorus:
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, do we pray to be blessed with the
Wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

Chorus:

And who is this that you follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet

Pretty blue eyes, curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him

Chorus:

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reached for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He’d prefer Beal St. to the stained glass crowd
But I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus
Can I be like You
I want to be like my Jesus


QUESTIONS:
Do you speak, look, and act like Christ or like the world?
Do you spend more time speaking with the clean shaven man in line at the grocery store or do you take time to speak with the dirty matted haired woman on the sidewalk?
Are you poor in spirit (humble) or do you ask for and seek more earthly wealth?
Do you deny the image of God in the homeless, the poor, the haughty?
Do you seek to please men or God?
Do you read the Bible for yourselves or do you rely on what you once heard in Sunday school or from your grandmother and what the preacher said on Sunday?

"Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church, the blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet" - Would He be allowed in your home? Would He be allowed into your life?

May this song by Todd Agnew shake us all up and awaken us from our slumber in this dying world.