supernaturally made pure...

Isaiah 1:18—"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

I recently read this verse explained like this….. The sinful condition of men is terrible in the extreme... God himself interposes to produce a change. The proposal of peace is always from his side. He urges that a conference be held at once, "Come, and let us reason together."

To grasp that Our Savior wants to meet with us is truly mind blowing. The Creator of the universe, in the midst of everything, wants to meet with us. God says “come now” not as a command (imperative) but simply a plea or request. He wants us to meet with Him, not later, but now...

You’d have to think that Isaiah was thinking about the greatest festival in the Jewish Tradition when he wrote this. This is a reflection of The Day of Atonement. When he uses the illustration of the forgiving of sin as red turning to white and as crimson red turning to wool. This is a insight into this great festival.

Tradition records that the High Priest laid his hands on the goat to symbolize humanities sin. The priest would have in addition, placed a red cord on the head of the goat as a symbol of the guilt and sin of the people and the blood shed by the sacrificial goat in place of man. One goat was sacrificed as the other was sent out in symbolic meaning of humanity’s sin being forgiven and “sent away. The priest would then take the cord and place it in the temple where people could see it and over the next year the red cord would supernaturally turn white.

In the Hebrew language the word “scarlet” literally means double dyed- a reflection of how sin is apart of who we are at our core.

Matthew 27:28 records Jesus wore a scarlet robe on the cross as he was our sacrifice.

God graciously upon repentance, forgives us of our sin- He makes us pure- he makes us as white as snow.

To go from red as crimson to wool literally meant to be restored to its original undyed whiteness.

When Christ defeated death He gave us a direct connection to Him and the gift of being restored to humanity’s original position with God.

We get to know Him… 

We get to be with Him…. 

We get to love Him…

Because He makes us pure...

College Growth...

The Pew Forum discovered in 2008 while interviewing students at UCLA that college students grow more spiritual, but less faithful. The Forum discovered in comparing college freshmen and juniors that the importance of spirituality grows from one year to the next, but so does the idea that people can grow spiritually without religion. The study's results found that church attendance was lowered in the junior year. Therefore, spiritual dialogue is strengthened in these two years, but done so in a method and path that leads away from Christ.

I completely agree with the understanding that someone can grow without religion…

In my 18-20 something culture religion is seen negatively. The word religion is connected to tradition, racism, hate, hypocrisy, and a judgmental mentality. But without Christ there is no hope, no purpose, and no meaning to life. One’s discovery of true living, true love, and eternity only occurs in Christ, not in spiritual dialogue…

This survey can be seen from many different perspectives:

One perspective is that this survey once again brings up the much needed conversation of our mission methodology as Christ Followers. How are we sharing Christ? How are we living out Christ? What kind of culture is the local church portraying to the community? What can be done to prosper church growth as a body of believers and then as we fill our “church
buildings”?

Another perspective is how are we promoting spiritual dialogue? If spiritual dialogue is being opened on campus, at work, and at home - how/what is being done to add to it? That’s the perspective Crave takes weekly at Rue Bar. Spiritual dialogue is going to take place somewhere so why not talk in a Bar where those who do not follow Christ are comfortable.

In Acts 17:16-34 Paul’s goes to Athens and has dialogue about an unknown god they were worshiping and through his conversations some lives were changed. He went there promoting spiritual dialogue. He used their culture and their tradition to talk about God. He was willing to open the door for spiritual dialogue. Not forcing it on them- not doing so in a religious fashion- but through simple conversation.

We as Christ followers need to go any where and every where and simply have dialogue- simply have conversation with others.

Spiritual dialogue is about our journey to Christ. It’s not talking to people with an agenda, it's loving people unconditionally and sharing with them the love of Christ that has been shared with you.

When is the last time you started a conversation?

College Growth...

 The Pew Forum discovered in 2008 while interviewing students at UCLA that
 college students grow more spiritual, but less faithful. The Forum
 discovered in comparing college freshmen and juniors that the importance of
 spirituality grows from one year to the next, but so does the understanding
 that people can grow spiritually without religion. The study found
 church attendance was lowered in the Junior year. Therefore, spiritual dialogue is
 strengthened in these two years, but done so in a method and path that leads
 away from Christ.
 
 I completely agree with the understanding that someone can grow without
 religion…
 
 In my 18-20 something culture religion is seen negatively. The word religion
 is connected to tradition, racism, hate, hypocrisy, and a judgmental
 mentality. But without Christ there is no hope, no purpose, and no meaning
 to life. One’s discovery of true living, true love, and eternity only
 occurs in Christ, not in spiritual dialogue…
 
 This survey can be seen from many different perspectives:
 
 One perspective is that this survey once again brings up the much needed
 conversation of our mission methodology as Christ Followers. How are we
 sharing Christ? How are we living out Christ? What kind of culture is the
 local church portraying to the community? What can be done to prosper
 church growth as a body of believers and then as we fill our “church
 buildings”?
 
 Another perspective is how are we promoting spiritual dialogue? If
 spiritual dialogue is being opened on campus, at work, and at home -
 how/what is being done to add to it? That’s the perspective Crave takes
 weekly at Rue Bar. Spiritual dialogue is going to take place somewhere so
 why not talk in a Bar where those who do not follow Christ are comfortable.

 In Acts 17:16-34 Paul’s goes to Athens and has dialogue about an unknown
god they were worshiping and through his conversations some lives were changed.

He went there promoting spiritual dialogue. He used their culture and their tradition to talk about God. He was willing to open the door for spiritual dialogue. Not forcing it on them- not doing so in a religious fashion- but through simple conversation.

We as Christ followers need to go any where and every where and simply
 have dialogue- simply have conversation with others.

 
 Spiritual dialogue is about our journey to Christ. It’s not talking to people
 with an agenda, it's loving people unconditionally and sharing with them the
 love of Christ that has been shared with you.

When is the last time you started a conversation?

clean my soul

Last night in Crave (Our 18-20something group that meets in RueBar) the discussion was rooted on our individual life foundation. We each have a foundation-a platform for life that we live by. This platform or lens we look at life through, that is present in our life is our choosing, whether it's by design or default. Every experience we go through, we base our responses off of that foundation. Whether our foundation or belief system is in God or not we all have this in common.

In Matthew 7 Jesus tells the classic tale of the man who built his house upon a rock verses the man who did so on sand. In Ancient Palestine you could build a structure on a piece of land that appeared to be solid, but when the seasons changed and when the rain appeared your house and all of your possessions could have been destroyed. Something that appeared to be securely structured was nothing but sand.

Jesus tells this story in order to relate it back to Him and how humanity should build their lives upon the eternal rock...Jesus. So when the storms come, whether it’s a light drizzle or a hurricane we can stand strong and know that it will be okay.

After Jesus taught this, Matthew 7:28-29 records, the people were astonished. Not because He was some master story teller, but because he spoke with authority. He was either a spokesman for God or a heretic. History proclaims He was more than a spokesman He was God...

Jesus then began His descent down the mountain he was teaching from. A leper appeared wanting and asking to be healed. Jesus declared that He was willing to cleanse this man.

Just as He is willing to cleanse us.

Jesus touched the man to impart in him his healing. The act of touch by Jesus was something he didn’t have to do, but did so to disrupt any religious ideology. Any Jew knew touching a leper would physically and spiritually defile them. But with Jesus the opposite occurred. Jesus wasn’t defiled Jesus cleansed.

He did this to show he cared...

We are very quick to clean(se) our house when company is about to arrive or a guest is at our front door...

We are quick to clean(se) our closet when it gets a little crowded...

We are quick to clean(se) our garage when it gets to messy...

But when is the last time we cleaned out our soul?

God should be our rock...the rock we build our life on. 

And know that God is willing...willing to cleanse us... eternally and daily...

the season

As we enter the Holiday season, and the excitement of delicious food and time spent with loved ones builds, I can’t let go of the millions who will experience a holiday season like never before here in America. As the economy continues to find its path many can barely hang on.  They find themselves financially, physically, and spiritually drained.

Even though our circumstances here in America are rough, the global situation is one we really have no grasp of. With all do respect, we as Americans live in a bubble, and it’s important as we reach out to our fellow Americans that we do the same for others throughout our world. Today in the mail I received my monthly world vision update for the child Caley and I sponsor who lives in Bangladesh. Throughout the year we get to see what our small gift each month has done to change the life of this child…..

You can see his community here.

We can all do our part to reach out and help those who can’t help themselves. Now is the time that we all can give back. We all have the resources to do something from sponsoring a child, donating food to a local food bank, opening a door, or simply giving a compliment. So what will you do this holiday season to show God's love?             

Be different- be radical- give a goat to a child in Africa, or school supplies to students in Honduras, clothing to a service center in Gainesville, or a years worth of schooling to a child in Bangladesh- but do something....

Learn how to give a goat or sheep and many other items to a World Vision community here.

We as Americans have a reason to celebrate.

God has blessed us tremendously...

so show it to the world....declare it to world… and live it to the world...