Sexting and the Vacuum

Sexting: the use of text messaging to send sexually suggestive texts and/or pictures to others. It is now being practiced more and more commonly by junior high and high school students (See: MTV Study on Digital Abuse, The "Sexting" Craze, U.S. judge rules for teen girls in "sexting" case, Hype, Buzzwords, and Permanence of "Sexting"; Sexting; Sexting: Just a modern version of spin-the-bottle?; or watch these two videos: 1 and 2.)  And it is one way among many that young people are using to find the attention, affirmation, and affection they long for.



Sexting has painful consequences: the distribution of child pornography by minors, selfish and abusive and threatening relationships, blackmail, a complete twisting and distortion of honor and shame, right and wrong, what a healthy relationship based on love looks like (see my three part "Love" series: 1, 2, and 3).

Now, many have concluded this is deviant behavior that ought not continue, but no one has a basis to say why.  "It's wrong because it's against the law," some say, "And look at all those negative consequences," others state, but why is it a law in the first place?  Why are these consequences negative?  Why are these costs considered 'too high'?  Without God (the Trinitarian God of the Bible) there is no basis for a satisfactory answer.  "Without God all is permissible." (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment).  The Apostle Paul seems to endorse such a conclusion regarding the absence of objective meaning and morality apart from God when he says, "If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die'" (1 Cor. 15:32).

Temporary (fleeting) physical pleasure and temporary (fleeting) attention, affirmation, and affection often outweigh, in our own minds and hearts, the consequences.  We are all looking for someone to say we are good enough, strong enough, beautiful enough, and etcetera, but it never fulfills: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus” (Blaise Pascal).

We search and we search for some person or some thing or some list of do's and don'ts  to give us the attention, affirmation, and affection we need.  But we're all broken people, and nothing and no one and no list of do's and don'ts is capable of closing and filling the "God shaped vacuum in [our] hearts."  Our sin tore us away from God and His all satisfying attention, affirmation, and affection.

And so God sent His Son: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit...For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father" (1 Peter 3:18; Ephesians 2:18).  The good news is God had a plan, and this plan was to send His Son, Jesus, who lived a perfectly obedient life and fulfilled our need for a perfect sacrifice for our sins.  He, Jesus, paid the debt of our sins on the cross, and He died, and three days later He rose from the dead, and His perfect life of obedience, His willing death, and His resurrection achieved for us forgiveness of sins and justification as He took our sins on the cross and gave us His righteousness, and ultimately, He brings us to God who loves us and gives Himself to us as a free gift of grace we receive by faith.

Therefore, when we seek the attention, affirmation, and affection we were created to have, God says, "Come home. Return to me and be healed. Turn away from your searching, your life of sin and shame; leave your broken cisterns and receive from me living water - my salvation - receive Me."[1] May today be the day of your salvation, and if you already believe in Christ and have received Him, may this reminder stir you up to love and good deeds, to remember and believe and truth the Father who with joy sent His Son for you, who's Son, with joy, went to the cross to bring you home to His Father who receives you with joy. Hallelujah! Praise His name. Amen.
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[1] Maybe you are still wondering, "Why isn't forgiveness or a new life or heaven ultimately the good news? Why is God Himself the good news?" Good question. Here is one of the best responses:

"God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking his own praise is the ultimately loving act. For him self-exaltation is the highest virtue. When he does all things "for the praise of his glory" as Ephesians 1 says, he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longings. God is for us, and therefore has been, is now, and always will be, for himself. Praise the Lord! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord" (John Piper).

Seeing the Trajectory

I was recently (within the last month or so) inspired to read Exodus.  I had listened to a couple sermons, and I wanted to begin diving into what these pastors were pointing at.[1]  That is the trajectory of the Old Testament to Jesus, looking at how the words of God in the Old Testament are "pregnant or round with the gospel"[2].

So, I've been reading the Exodus, and it has been incredible.  I am seeing Moses as a mediator in a whole new light.  It is even more clear and amazing how Christ is the new and perfect Moses.  Just as the physical tabernacle of the Jews were shadows of the heavenly tabernacle, so Moses is a shadow of God's ultimate mediator - His Son - Jesus.

I have been thinking about all the sacrifices and offering that were required of God's people - sin offering, burnt offering, grain offering, wave offering, drink offering, and etcetera.  Jesus did not just fulfill completely the sacrifice of atonement, but he accomplished and fulfilled the requirement of all of these offerings and sacrifices.  Whatever these offerings were supposed to accomplish but could not (Hebrews 10:4) Jesus accomplished in fullness in His life, death, and resurrection.

Today I was reading Exodus 33:12 - 34:16.  In these passages Moses pleads with God to be with him and the Israelites or not to lead them to the Promised Land at all.  God responds and declares He will be with them; He will give them rest; His people have found favor in His sight; He will make them distinct from the other nations; He knows His people by name.  Pregnant with the gospel.  Do you see Jesus and His work?


Jesus has made the plea and He Himself has responded; He is preparing us for and leading us into the Promised Land - eternity with him.  Jesus declares, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20); He promises and gives us rest (Matthew 11:28-29; Ephesians 2:6); Jesus found favor (grace) in the eyes of His Father (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; Ephesians 1:3); He has made us distinct from the rest of the world: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10).  He knows us individually and personally (John 10:14, 27; 2 Timothy 2:19).  "Round with the gospel."


What a hope we have in Jesus!  No longer must we say, "Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people...If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”" (Exodus 33:13, 15-16).  We can and do proclaim, "Yes!  Because of Jesus we have found favor in your sight.  You have made us a people for yourself.  You do show us your ways (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 John 2:27)!


May we - His people - ever marvel more at the glorious sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ - taking the wrath of God and purchasing a people for Himself forever.  May more and more people all over the world - from every tribe, tongue, and nation - come to marvel at the glorious work of God their Savior. 
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[1] Messages from the Gospel Coalition's 2011 National Conference: http://thegospelcoalition.org/conferences/2011/#media
[2] From Mike Bullmore's message at The Gospel Coalition's 2011 National Conference: http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/a/gods_great_heart_of_love_toward_his_own1

"Untouched Fields of Snow;" journal entry from the evening of November 29th while riding home with Greg from Malenovice

"Untouched fields of snow."  This phrase has been going through my my mind.  I see it as a living picture of some truth of this country and the people who live here.  As you drive or train around these days you will surely see untouched fields (or landscapes) of snow - beautiful, bright, shining.  And so the people are here - made in the image of God with innate beauty and worth and value and purpose.  But in the midst of its beauty there is death. There is no life in snow.  It neither is alive nor produces life, and so are the vast majority of people here.  In them is only death, and like snow that is here for a season and then melts away, so their lives will melt away.  And for a season they may gleam and shine bright and beautiful, but there is death in them, and unlike snow that melts away and returns each in year in season, they will not return.  It is appointed to die once and then face judgment.[1]  And this fate is all our fates; for sin gives birth to death and only death, and maybe as with the first snow the birth is celebrated, but in due season death comes.

And it is in this state, in the untouched fields of snow of our hearts that Jesus proclaims, "The fields are white for harvest!"[2]  For it is Jesus who takes our hearts touched only by the gleaming, cold death of sin and brings forth life.  With the fields frozen and buried, the stuff of life is cut off, for the fields of untouched snow cannot and will not grow - buried under gleaming death - and death would have its way, but Jesus comes to the fields of our frozen hearts and melts away the sin and quickens us to new life, taking the frozen, gleaming death of our lives upon Himself and giving us the stuff of life, which in truth is the person of life - Himself - Jesus the Christ.

And so I hope and believe for the people of the Czech Republic and for my friends and family back home in America, whose lives are but fields of snow - life killed, buried under the weight of death.

And it is to these fields Jesus also proclaims, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out more laborers."[3]  And like the sun that melts the ice and brings life, so the Son of God melts our dead, frozen hearts and gives new life - His life - to us.

And it is to these frozen fields of snow we laborers are called, and to these frozen souls we proclaim the Savior; we love those frozen and dead by sin, and the Holy Spirit moves in and through us as life from the life Giver, and saves.

We are in a world of untouched fields of snow waiting to be touched by the melting, life-giving embrace of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Prayer Needed ASAP!

Conclusion of the conversation in Istanbul: 
I think the conversation went well.  It is at the point where God needs to open his eyes to see the lie that Islam is and the truth that Jesus is God and that we need Him to be our savior.  I learned a lot about Islam in the process as well, and I believe God also used it to equip me more for next time and to give me a deeper love for those enslaved to their sin in the false religion of Islam. The most interesting thing was that he acknowledged our conflicting beliefs but refused to say I was wrong.  We could not both be right and that was a big deal, but he refused to acknowledge such a thing.  He lives in San Diego with his Jewish wife and (I think) two year old daughter.  I am praying more laborers would enter his family's life in Turkey and in the states.  His name is Mashala.
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Well, I'm in Istanbul, and it has been hard and great (also hot). Here's what's been up: I think I cam here desiring to have ministry and evangelism opportunities but did not come with God's armor on and equipped. This is a hard place. I was bold in one conversation last night, and I felt that God wanted me to stand up and preach the gospel to the whole hostel terrace hang out place. I was terrified, and I eventually just went to bed. Humility and repentance...I need to remember that "there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love" (1 John 4:18).


Well, that being said, I was led through the Blue Mosque by a man who sells carpet and brought me to his store. There they pressured me to buy a carpet, but I didn't cave. Here's where it hits the fan though. They serve me coffee and tea, and His nephew (about 30 years old) and I begin to talk about Islam and Christianity. He goes on for a while, and I push back with truth.

Long story short: this is Ramadan right now, and Muslims fast between sunrise and sunset. He invited me back to his store/home at 8:30 to essentially debate Christianity vs. Islam and to join him and his family for the breaking of their fast. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME AND THIS CONVERSATION AND MEETING TONIGHT.

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete" (2 Corinthians 10:3-6 ESV).

Thank you all.  I will be spending the next hour praying and preparing.  The time here is eight hours ahead of the Central Time in the U.S.  This means it is 7:00 p.m. here and 11:00 a.m. in Texas or Chicago, etc.

Stories: The end of the summer and a trip to Istanbul

The summer is done.  All the interns fly out tomorrow, and I do as well.

It has been an incredible summer.  From our three camps we saw three students saved and repent and believe on Jesus Christ for salvation, and we were invited into God's current work in many others.  It was a summer of planting, watering, and reaping.  God reminded me of John 3, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  This is my hope for the students now that camps are over.  Sometimes, you do not know what is going on inside a student, but you do not see the Spirit of God moving, but you have faith in it, and God has given me faith to believe and pray for these students.

Man Time at Strakonice Camp

At each camp I saw changed lives - people who were touched by Christ through His word and His love through His Spirit, and us, His chosen vessels of clay.  One student at our last camp said this to me, "There was no conflict here.  It was amazing."  I thought about that for a while.  How often can you put forty people together for a week, and only a handful know each other prior to that week, and an even smaller handful have known each other for longer than a few months, and have essentially no conflict?  I believe God gave us His grace to be of one heart and one mind and one Spirit as He is one with Himself, and this student got to see it, and he knew it was special, something different, in his words, "amazing."

Ultimate in the rain at Litvinov Camp

I was given the opportunity to be a spiritual brother again.  I have messed up in my share of brother-sister relationships/friendships - biological and spiritual - and God gave me opportunity for redemption, and He did redeem it.  I was asked and given the opportunity to speak words of truth into the lives of my sisters.  Here, I must thank Donald Miller and Grace Groups of Open Heart Ministries for giving me some tangible, creative ways to give words to others (If you want to know what they are, just let me know.).  I am incredibly thankful for God's redemption in my life.  I certainly do not deserve to be a safe person for others, but God has decided to change my heart and make it more like His, and along the way He is molding me into a safe person for others, with grace for the mistakes I make along the way.

Swimming in the Jordan Lake

Team BonJon 2010 is not departing each other this summer just as teammates and brothers and sisters.  I believe each of us would say that we are also departing as friends.  I am very thankful for these relationships.  God has used these people as sanctifying vessels in my life this summer, and He equipped and called me to be a sanctifying vessel in their lives as well - through righteousness and sin.  Thank you, Ryan, Alli, Jenda, and Eva.

Leading alongside Bonnie this summer has also been a great joy.  Last summer, we would both have told you it was very difficult to lead with each other, let alone build a friendship, and we probably would have never picked to team up again, but God had other plans, and Josiah Venture paired us up for a second time, to our surprise, and we were surprised.  The summer's camp theme was "Redeem," and we lived out redemption as we saw God take what was nearly a bit of a disaster last summer and change it into something great this summer.  Last summer we entered in as strangers, frustrated by our differences and various strengths and weaknesses, and this summer we entered in as friends - excited by our differences and wanting to support each other's strengths and cover each other's weaknesses.  Thank you, Bonnie.

Watermelon Rind Home Run Derby at Litvinov Camp :)

Fun "non-spiritual" memories from the summer: getting slapped on the butt by a 65(?) year old woman in Litvinov while buying drinks for my team, having "Man Time" at Strakonice camp where we took off our shirts, did warrior yells, and played viking football; getting a new nickname at Zlin camp - Mufloniček (mountain goat), going hiking and playing ultimate frisbee in the rain at Litvinov camp, having a watermelon rind home run derby with Ryan and Barry (pronounced bar-ee) at Litvinov camp, going swimming with the team in the Jordan Lake in Tabor, having my first B52 in Prague.

I'll have more "stories" posts to come, but I need to move on to something else for the time being.

It is 3:52 a.m. in Prague, and I leave Czech to go to Istanbul today at 12:00.  Why?  Well, when you enter the Czech on a tourist passport, you can stay for 90 days.  My 90 days is up on Sunday.  Now, ideally, my extended visa would already be in and effective by now, but there have been some complications.  Czech is also part of a group of countries known as the Schengen Countries.  "Under the Schengen agreement, transiting from one country to another within the Schengen area is done without border controls. In fact, the Schengen visa makes it possible to visit all the countries in the Schengen area and to cross internal borders without further formalities." [1]  Unfortunately for me, the 90 days applies not just to being in Czech but to being in Schengen period, which means I not only have to leave Czech but I must get to a non-Schengen country as well.  The kick: nearly every country in Europe is a Schengen country.  Exceptions are the U.K., Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Croatia, and Turkey, and the cheapest airfare was to Istanbul, Turkey, which is why I am will be in Istanbul from today through Sunday.  I will be staying at the Istanbul Harmony Hostel.


So, all this said for now, here are some things that I/we could use prayer for:
- Transitioning into what's next - for interns going home (American and Czech) and for me into fall ministry here in the Czech
- Safe travel and stay in Istanbul.  For ministry and evangelism opportunities along the way and while and there.
- Learning to live on my own well.  I'll be living on my own for the first month of my time here in Czech.
- Learning the Czech language.  It is very difficult.
- For the churches to follow-up events and seeking to continue building into the relationships and ministry started at camp - discipleship and evangelism.
- Humility in listening to the Lord confessing and repenting honestly and openly and sincerely.


Thanks for everything.

Real Love in being home and departing again

"Love is doing whatever you have to do at whatever cost to yourself to help the beloved be enthralled - fully and forever - with what is most satisfying - God, not themselves" (John Piper; 01:01:25).

"There must be something inside of us that loves to be near bigness when we feel little" (John Piper).

"Your calling is His calling on you to Him for the body" (Matt Chandler; 39:45).

"You can toil away your whole life and be unbelieavably faithful to God and see little on this side of heaven.  But boy, we need to know it before we sell out and try to create cool Jesus" (Matt Chandler; 45:03).

Too often, I am learning, I regurgitate truth without crying out for it to impact and change my life.  This is a problem.  Not that I was insincere before, but it is really easy to lay truth over a life issue or problem or pain or failure, even if you really believe it, and realize you haven't processed or moved on or communicated meaningfully at all.  I have learned that too often the emotional, intimate, and relational aspect of being a Christian is elevated at the expense of the intellectual, and the intellectual is also too often elevated at the expense of the intimate, and reactions back and forth ensues.  I have learned that the spiritual truth, the Christian truth, is where the intellectual and the intimate meet, and this is a hard tension to love and hold on to.  Being home has stirred new emotions and relationships again that are in the process of being wedded to the intellectual truth of who God is and how He is working in me and others (Matt Chandler talks about this too.  It's just a great sermon.  Watch it or listen to it.  Throw it on your IPod or something.  It is well worth your time.).

When I changed my blog title to "Home Again" back in December, I did not yet know what being "Home Again" would hold for me.  I was leaving something "big" to come home.  I wanted home to be big, as in a big time of my life, not five months of small, and it has turned out to be big.  It has been made so clear that I needed this five months home in a different community to prepare for the ministry ahead of me.  Parts of my life have been stirred up here that would have never been stirred in Chicago, mainly because I am a part of a different community, not better or worse, but different, and so they push and pull and stretch me in different ways, and new places in my life are being pruned and there are new pains and failures and new joys and successes.

I have been blessed with incredible communities to be a part of, and getting to reunite with friends in Chicago was a great gift.  I received words there that I will cherish for a long time (Hopefully, I'll write them down so that long time will be a life time.).  I was impacted and allowed to impact, and it was exciting and exhausting and renewing, and I know that these last four weeks home will be similar, and that seven months in the Czech will be as well.

Do you feel broken or unclean?

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine (Romans 1:11-12).

I am continually encouraged by the faith and teaching of Mark Driscoll, and I was greatly encouraged by these two videos, and I hope they encourage you as well.  Why was I encouraged?  He reminds of who Jesus is and what He's done for me.  Is there anything better to be reminded of?  Is there anything more encouraging?

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).

Thoughts from "Garden State"

Garden State is one of those indie dramedies (examples include Lars and the Real Girl, 500 Days of Summer, United States of Leland, or Wristcutters) many, or at least some of us have come to know and love these days.

After seeing Garden State for a second time, I am reminded of the difficulty of interacting with this genre of film. These movies are very dialog heavy, and since I do not take notes, it is easy to lose key lines from the movie as you watch it, and they slip away even faster once the movie is over.  Second, I do not so much watch these films as much as I enter into these films.  Movies like Avatar and Daybreakers are movies you watch but do not necessarily enter into, or you merely enter in for a scene here or a scene there.

This film deals with the themes of emotion, home, love, significance; and all of these are addressed within a world that is finite.  This life is the only shot you get, and when it's over, it's over.  That's it.  So, where's the hope?  Well, hopefully you'll find something worth living for and people worth living with...hopefully.  After all, according to Garden State, life is an "infinite abyss."  So, what do you do?  You live in the present, for the now, because who knows what's on the way and how long it is going to last anyway.

As I watched Garden State I realized that I shared similar emotions and feelings with the varying characters at different points in the film, but I could not enter into these feelings without knowledge of how my faith addressed these emotions.  True, sometimes you do not feel like you have a home, a place of community to go back to ("The affectionate child pines in a mansion for the home of his parents, though that is a scene of comparative poverty," which is clearly revealed by the statements of Jesse in the film.), but for the Christian, it does not end there.

For the Christian, we know that whatever idea and community of "home" we experience here, it is only a taste of what our real home will be - Heaven, eternally in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  "This is the expression and summation of all the believer hopes for beyond the gave...ETERNAL LIFE: It is life, intellectual, physical, spiritual, social—in absolute perfection—and all this forever...through eternity there shall never be a moment when there shall not be a fullness of joy; when the happy immortal shall not be able to say, "THIS IS LIFE!"  'He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain! For the old world and its evils are gone forever!' (Rev. 21:4)."[1]

For Garden State, this life is a road to nowhere:

Andrew Largeman: You remember that idea I had about working stuff out on my own and then finding you once I figured stuff out?
Sam: The ellipsis? 

Andrew Largeman: Yeah, the ellipsis, it's dumb. It's dumb. It's an awful idea. I'm not gonna do it, okay? Cause like you said, this is it. This is life. And I'm in love with you... I think that's the only thing I've ever really been sure of in my entire life. And I'm really messed up right now, and I got a whole lot of stuff I have to work out, but I don't want to waste any more of my life without you in it. And I think I can do this. I mean, I want to. I have to, right?
Sam: Yeah. Yes!
Andrew Largeman: So what do we do? What do we do?

So, what do you do in a life that's on a road to nowhere?  Where do you go?  Find love that will hopefully last until you die?  Find a home that's permanent enough to last so you can leave it instead of it leaving you?  What?

"There is a source that can tell us what life is really about. Found in the pages of Scripture...are directions not just to “live and learn” but to “learn and live.” The promise of skillful living is made to all those who will “listen to advice and accept instruction” (Proverbs 19:20). God has revealed truths about life; the Bible is a guidebook of sorts, a blueprint to living, the foundation of a well-built life and a roadmap through the maze of confusion that our days often resemble. There is purpose and meaning, clarity and fulfillment in this life. But it is only found as we navigate by the wisdom contained in the word of God."[2]

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:7-9).

On a road to nowhere with no absolute destination except the non-existence of death and no absolute purpose, all that is left is desire.  Purpose becomes fulfilling your desires, and you cannot fulfill your desires; no one can ultimately fulfill their desires, which makes every life without Christ a failed life.

"For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee" (Augustine).  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."  He is the road; He is the destination; He is the purpose, and it is through Him that we finally reach our true home, where we've been meant to be since the day we were born - eternal life with Him in Heaven.

"Legion" from two sides

Legion (click this link to get the basic information and summary of the film) is a new movie in theaters.  It is one I cannot directly interact with because I am not going to see it.  There are films I will not see (The trailer was bad enough.).  This is one of them.  It is a film that "deals" with spiritual matters.  Thus, for those that are interested, I want to give you a review of the film from a Christian and a review of the film from a non-Christian.

I think it is a clear contrast between the Christian and non-Christian mind.  The movie itself testifies to the fact that without the Holy Spirit, one can never rightly understand and interpret and apply the Scriptures.  Without the Holy Spirit, one can only twist and butcher God's word and the God who authored it, "which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:15).

"Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish" (2 Peter 2:10b-12).

From Glory to Humility

There are realities in the Christian faith so awe-inspiring that it seems nearly impossible for me to comprehend, too incredible for me to feel deeply, a realization that to seek to know this truth brings a weight to one's worship and gratitude I can hardly bear.  Below is one of these truths.

In Ezekiel 1:22, 25-28, Ezekiel describes his vision of the throne of God:

"Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads...And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.  Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking."

Ezekiel knew this to be God but did not know this person to be the Son, to be Jesus Christ, but it is the Son who reveals the person of God in the ways our physical senses can comprehend, and comparing this passage with Eph. 1:21-22; Phil. 2:9-10; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 1:13-16; 4:2-3; and 5:13 shows clearly that this is indeed Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Ezekiel is witnessing on the throne, and here is the truth I can hardly bring myself to meditate on, this is where it hits home:

"You will never fully grasp and understand the love of God until you grasp and understand the distance between the throne and the cross" (Robert Reyburn).

The distance between the Son of God on His throne, His pure glory, to His death on the cross, His complete humiliation.  I can hardly bring myself to think on and feel this more deeply.  Like a giant wave coming up and crashing down over my head.  I can barely bring myself to stay put and let its truth wash over and in and through me.

"How great the Father's love for us?  How vast beyond all measure?  That He would give His only Son to make a wretch His pleasure."  The Father's love is the Son's love, and how great is His love, how vast?  It is the distance from the throne to the cross, from His glory to His humiliation.  How great indeed is His love for us, indeed is its vastness beyond all measure, for no one can comprehend the distance that none of us will ever go out of love for another.

May you and I never forget how great is His love.  May you and I boldly approach the throne of grace as sons and daughters and ask, "Help me to understand more clearly, help me to feel more deeply the depth and greatness of Your love."

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I have been reading Ezekiel, and anyone who has read Ezekiel knows how difficult this book can be to understand or apply, which is why I have been listening to a sermon series on it for further teaching and understanding, which is what God used to teach me this, to remind me how great the distance was for Him to give His life for me.