Songs and Scenes is a weekly blog review of the songs and liturgy featured in The Crossing's Sunday services. Lana Eklund provided photos to give a glimpse into Sunday morning life at The Crossing. You'll also find links in the song titles that will allow you to purchase recorded versions of the songs where available.

Sanctus - Words: Traditional (c. 1st century), Music: Christine Cover and Scott Johnson

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Our call to worship was Psalm 145:1-7.

I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever.
I will praise you every day;
yes, I will praise you forever.
Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness.
Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
let them proclaim your power.
I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
and your wonderful miracles.
Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.
Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.

How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves and Ed Cash, Arranged by The Crossing Music

The splendor of the King,
clothed in majesty;
Let all the earth rejoice,
all the earth rejoice.

He wraps Himself in light,
and darkness tries to hide,
and trembles at His voice,
and trembles at His voice.

Holy (Jesus, You Are) by Jason Ingram, Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin

Your name alone has power to raise us.
Your light will shine when all else fades.
Our eyes will look on Your glorious face,
shining like the sun.

You are holy, holy, holy
God most high and God most worthy.
You are holy, holy, holy
Jesus, You are. Jesus, You are.

Our call to confession was from Psalm 51:15-17.

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

With Melting Heart and Weeping Eyes - Words: John Fawcett (1740-1817), Music: Clint Wells

With melting heart and weeping eyes,
My guilty soul for mercy cries;
What shall I do, or whither flee,
To rid the vengeance due of me?
To rid the vengeance due of me?

Does not Thy sacred word proclaim,
salvation free in Jesus' name?
To Him I look and humbly cry,
"Lord, save a wretch condemned to die.
Lord, save this wretch condemned to die."

We heard the assurance of our forgiveness in a reading based on Colossians 2:13-14.

When you were dead in your sins…, God made you alive with Christ.

He forgave us all our sins, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands;
He took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Although our sins overwhelm us,
the grace and mercy of God far surpasses them.

In Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven
and God restores us to righteousness and life!

Thanks be to God. Amen.

O My Soul, Arise - Words: Charles Wesley (1742), Music and additional words: Eric McAllister

This song from Sovereign Grace Music enabled us to sing of Christ's soul restoring and life transforming power in our lives. Eric McAllister, who retuned this hymn had this to say about the song:

"I set the song in a minor key, aware that the battle to remember the scriptural truths contained in these verses is a battle! But how sweet it is to contend with our souls knowing that the object of our trust is Jesus Christ. He is our unique and perfectly qualified Great High Priest, and our assurance that we do not fight alone."

He ever lives above 

For me to intercede 
His all redeeming love 
His precious blood to plead 
His blood atoned for every race 
His blood atoned for every race 
And sprinkles now the throne of grace 
O my soul, arise 
Behold the risen Christ 
Your Great High Priest 
Your spotless sacrifice

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken - Words: Henry Lyte (1824) Music: Attr. Mozart, Alt. Bill Moore

Kevin Twit, while introducing "Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken" at an Indelible Grace hymn sing, provided some insight into Henry Lyte's (the author of this hymn) life.

"Henry Lyte... had a wretched father. His father and mother split up, he got sent off to boarding school, his father remarried. From then on he would write letters to his own son and he would not sign them, "Your father," but he would sign them, "Your uncle." In other words, Henry's father never let him call him "father" again. And yet every one of his hymns... the father image for him is a warm and comforting one. Which... shows the power and the Gospel and the scriptures to deconstruct and reconstruct something so basic as what does it mean to have a father."

Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.

Music and Tech Teams for Sunday, May 19, 2013:

Andrew Camp - acoustic and electric guitars, vocals
Kristen Camp - vocals
David Cover - electric guitars, vocals
Scott Johnson - worship leader, piano, electric piano
Andrew Luley - drums
Emily Riesen - vocals
Johnny Tucker - keyboards

Joy Barbero - light board operator
Kenton Binkholder - live-stream audio
Kameron Bong - tech assistant
Laurel Critchfield - camera operator
Kevin Fletcher - asst. technical director
Sam Munce - camera operator
Michael Novak - sermon cg, live-stream music cg
Gerik Parmele - video director
Kirk Pickett - camera operator
Jamie Stephens - music cg
Tyler Stone - video engineer
Jake Wandel - production manager, light designer/director
Addison Hawkins - front of house audio

How to Prepare for Sunday Worship (in general and for May 19th specifically)

We’re experimenting today with something new on the blog. Each Friday we will post a guide for how to prepare for that coming Sunday’s service. It will include the Bible passage for the sermon, the songs we’ll sing, and some other thoughts to help you get ready. We’ll see how it goes, and whether it proves helpful (so feedback is a good thing).

If you’re like me, you probably have in mind that you’ll go to the Sunday morning service, but I rarely give much thought ahead of time to what I’ll actually do there. When I’m getting ready to go into the auditorium that morning, my mind is in lots of other places: how it went checking our kids in to their classrooms, what we’re having for lunch, the conversation I just had in the foyer. I walk in during the 1st (or 2nd) song and distractedly start to sing, but it’s a process for my focus to come around and truly engage with what’s happening.

We live 24-7 in a world that is set up to run just fine without any notice of God. Businesses, most schools, maybe even our time at home—all of it is designed to operate smoothly without reference to God. Whether he exists or not is irrelevant. Life hums along without him. (For a penetrating analysis of this, see Craig Gay, The Way of the Modern World). I’m not saying this is the way it should be, but just that it is.

The value of Sunday morning is that it helps re-set us to a different, truer understanding. It reminds us that reality is defined first by God. Instead of squeezing our time at corporate worship into everything else, one of the best things we can do for our souls is to reverse the order, to make Sunday the lens through which we see the rest of our week.

So anything we can do to help Sunday occupy that central place is a good thing. This blog feature will be designed to get us thinking about Sunday morning ahead of time. It will give you a chance to read the passage, perhaps look up song lyrics, or reflect on the themes. You can let those things tick over in the back of your mind before the service.

This Sunday, May 19th, Keith Simon will preach from James 4:4, “Friend of the World = Enemy of God.” James 4:4 reads, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

As we’ve seen in James, he doesn’t pull punches. These are hard words. But we’ll have a chance to reflect on how ultimately they are life-giving words, that their sharp edge is to draw us toward God. Perhaps you might think about what makes someone a friend. What do you look for in a friend? And what is it about being a friend of the world (and what exactly does world mean, anyway?) means that we become God’s enemy?

Our music and readings before the sermon will point us toward God, especially in his greatness and holiness, and cause us to consider our own unholiness. But the wonderful truth is that no one condemns us, because Christ died and rose for us, and now reigns and works on our behalf.

Our songs this week:

How Great is our God by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, and Ed Cash
Sanctus, traditional lyrics set to music by Christine Cover and Scott Johnson
Holy by Jason Ingram, Matt Redman, and Jonas Myrin
With Melting Heart and Weeping Eyes, lyrics by John Fawcett and music by Clint Wells
O My Soul Arise, lyrics by Charles Wesley and music with additional lyrics by Eric McCallister

After the sermon, we’ll sing a new song, Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken, with lyrics by Henry Lyte and music by Mozart, arranged by Bill Moore. You can listen to it here.

See you Sunday morning.

Pastors Attack Broussard

Whether you are a sports fan or not, by now you know that Jason Collins, most recently of the Washington Wizzards, wrote an article for Sports Illustrated in which he declared that he was gay. You might know that later that same day, Chris Broussard, an ESPN basketball analyst, answered a question posed to him on the show Outside The Lines by saying that he didn't believe a person could be a Christian and live in unrepentant sin whether it was homosexuality or any other sin.

Now enter another group of pastors who co-wrote an article for the Washington Post in which they express disappointment with Broussard. They assert that Broussard was wrong for stating that "one cannot be gay and Christian at the same time." The only problem is that Broussard never said that. If a person can't be a Christian and sin at the same time, then we are all in trouble. What Broussard said, and more importantly what the Bible says, is that Christians will be characterized by repenting over their sin. The Bible teaches that we get in dangerous territory when sin doesn't bother us, when we make peace with it, when we get comfortable with it instead of confessing, repenting, and asking God to change us.

The pastors also accuse Broussard of using words of condemnation, but I challenge you to produce those. He said that he thought that the Bible taught homosexuality was sin. Is that condemning? Do the pastors think it's wrong to say what Christians throughout the centuries and across all cultures have always understood the Bible to teach?

Perhaps the greatest irony is that the pastors who signed the article don't see that they can't live by their own standard. They condemn Chris Broussard because in their opinion he "condemns" homosexuality as a sin along with other sins. They marginalize Broussard because they claim he marginalized people in the LGBT community. Do they see a problem with that? Of course not. Why not? Because, according to their world view, Broussard has committed the unpardonable sin--he claims the Bible is true and authoritative for all people. That can't be tolerated.

Beware of Basking in the Bloodbath

I turned 17 just in time watch a slew of modern ultra-violent vengance films in the theater. Between Quinton Tarantino's Kill Bill, gritty graphic novel remakes (think 300 and Sin City) and Matrix wannabes, a new stylized bloodbath hit the box office every month. At the time I wasn't a Christian, and like most teenage boys I reveled in the violence.

Several years later, after I became a Christian, I consciously made the choice to stop watching ultra-violent films. Not because it's outright sinful to do so, but because I couldn't watch them without tempting myself to sin by breaking the sixth commandment in my heart: you shall not commit murder.

For Jesus, the ten commandments weren't merely about outward acts, they were about our inward heart. He said,  "Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matt. 5:28). Lust breaks the seventh commandment against adultery. Likewise, hatred breaks the sixth commandment against murder (Matt. 5:21-22). God doesn't delight in those who begrudgingly obey his laws outwardly; he wants men and women who delight in goodness and hate evil. David wrote, "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being" (Ps. 51:6). God delights when our hearts align with his.

Watching stylized ultra-violent films caused my heart to delight in what God hates: revenge and murder. The blood, gore and senseless violence didn't appall me. Instead, the surreal sprays of blood and stylized martial arts made it all exciting, harmless, and even cool. Can we imagine God watching a depiction of violence that way? When Cain committed the first murder against his brother Abel, the Bible says that even creation itself was appalled. God says, "The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground" (Gen 4:10). When we watch murder on screen do we even feel a twinge of pain?

It wasn't good for my heart to risk such temptation, so I took a 6 year hiatus. Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that no one can watch films like Inglorious Basterds or Saw or Django Unchained. In fact, this last weekend I viewed Django Unchained. It surprised me to discover that the blood and violence no longer engendered fascination or awe. Instead I found myself cringing throughout most the film. It wasn't a pleasant experience (but I felt relieved that violence could shock me once again).

I'm not sure whether I will watch another Tarantino film again. But I am sure that my experience during Django Unchained was the right one. While we are called to celebrate justice, we are also called to weep over evil and death. To revel in the murders other human beings, even a wicked slave owner's household, is to cheapen the life of someone made in the image of God.

This whole story is illustrative of a broader point: it's exceedingly dangerous to our souls enjoy viewing evil, and films may often tempt us to do so. Solomon describes crooked men, "Who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil"(Prov. 2:14).

What tempts each of us may be different. If you struggle with lust, you may choose to avoid films with nudity. If you struggle with idolizing romance, you may need to avoid romantic comedies. If you struggle with cynicism, you may avoid dark films. If you struggle with course joking, you might want consider forgoing the next Hangover movie. If you have an unhealthy fascination with the demonic world, horror movies may be dangerous for you. Keep in mind that what's dangerous for you is probably different from what's dangerous for your neighbor.

Most of us (my self included) love film, but we should fight to love it carefully and thoughtfully. If you aren't currently exerting self control by restraining you moviegoing experience (i.e. saying "no" to a movie when you want to say "yes") you may be putting your heart at danger. At the very least wisdom demands we question ourselves. Have you?

Rethinking the Everyday Value of Church History

Several months ago, if you had asked me to consider reading up on the history of the Christian church, my response likely would have been something in the ZIP code of, "I'm sorry, but I think you have mistaken me for someone with an insomnia issue. The truth is that I have absolutely no problems getting to sleep at night."

Granted that such an ignorant response signals more than one personality disorder, I am nevertheless clear that many - perhaps most - Christian believers are in my camp insofar as we would much rather read the works of current authors and theologians such as John Piper, Paul Tripp, Erwin Lutzer, Tim Keller and so forth. And many more of us would probably just prefer to take a well-earned nap.

Of course, there is nothing wrong (and much right) with wanting to keep up on current trends within the Christian faith by reading the works of authors who are either currently still with us, or perhaps only-recently departed; C.S. Lewis, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Francis Schaeffer are just a few names that come immediately to mind. After a few months of listening to lectures by Mike Honeycutt and reading two books by Justo Gonzalez, though, I now share at a heart level what I would previously have agreed to only in the intellectual realm. It's not at all a stretch to say that I feel closer to God and His people - the church throughout the centuries - than I did before this past semester. That sounds like progress to me, regardless of my final grade.

As of this writing, I have yet to take my final exam for "CH200: The Story of Christianity," but one of the questions I may be required to answer goes like this: "Of what value is the study of Church history to the Church today? In other words, be able to argue for the study of Church history, giving three main reasons, with adequate explanation, to someone who simply doesn't see the need - someone, for instance, who might not even feel it is appropriate to study Church history in Sunday school."

Some of the correct answers Prof. Honeycutt will be looking for include:

1. We develop a sense of belonging to God's Church throughout the ages.
   • Absolutely true. And it's very helpful, I think, to understand that prior to 1054, there was only one - one - "denomination." Coincidentally, I found this information amazingly helpful when responding to my six-year-old's astute inquiry on the way to school one morning: "Dad, why are there are so many different churches in our city?" Even a six-year-old "gets it" when you say, "Well, Buddy, the truth is that it wasn't like that for the first thousand years after Jesus went to Heaven." Score one for Honeycutt and Gonzalez.
2. A study of Church history fosters a tolerant (or "catholic") mind.
   • No e-mails, please; we are talking about "catholic" with a very-intentional lowercase C. Carl Trueman has said it well: "[It takes] humility to recognize that we need the wisdom of the ages, a humility that can function as an antidote to our natural arrogance and [to] the present attraction to simplistic 'just-me-and-my-Bible' solutions. As many have pointed out, sola Scriptura is not solo Scriptura." Every denomination has its strengths and weaknesses, and when we better understand the broad Christian traditions God has given us, it enables us to cooperate in mission.
3. The people of God are called to remember and celebrate the good deeds of our God.
   • While we need to be cautious about human history as recorded outside the biblical canon, there are many points in history where we can clearly see the hand of God at work and we need to celebrate those as well. Richard Baxter, in reference to the sudden, nonviolent disbanding of the Commonwealth army which had previously put Charles I to death, said this: "Let any man that hath the use of his understanding judge whether this were not enough to prove that there is a God that governs the world and disposes of the Powers of the world according to His Will."
4. Church history provides perspective on the interpretation of Scripture.
   • Historian Justo Gonzalez puts it like this: "We are all heirs of the diverse host of Christian witnesses that fill the pages of the history of the Church. When we read, for instance, that 'the just shall live by faith,' Martin Luther is whispering in our ear how we should interpret those words - and this is true even if we have never heard of Martin Luther. A person wearing tinted glasses can avoid the conclusion that the entire world is tinted only by being conscious of the glasses themselves."
5. The study of Church history is also useful as a laboratory for examining Christian interactions with surrounding culture.
   • This point obviously has multiple applications, but one helpful example for understanding today's "Christian nation" dialogue would be to study the ways that Christians have responded to being in power (politically) and out of power throughout history.
6. Church history can inspire us.
   • Donald Fairbairn says it like this: "Studying Church history brings us into contact not only with these men and women, but also with the milieu in which they lived, with the contexts which help us to understand and appreciate their faithfulness. We come away from such study challenged to be faithful in living for Christ in our world, our milieu, as well."
7. Church history can encourage us.
   • Mark Noll: "The heroes of the faith usually have feet of clay - sometimes thighs, hearts, and heads as well. The golden ages of the past usually turn out to be tarnished if they are examined closely enough. Crowding around the heroes of the faith are a lot of villains, and some of them look an awful lot like the heroes."

Painting of Augustine being tempted by Satan.

While there is much more that could be said here - just in case anyone was looking for more motivation to read up on the first 1,500 years of the Christian church - I would only add that being "forced" by the exigencies of a degree program to read Gonzalez - something I can admit I probably would never have done apart from "It's a required class," I can honestly say that being exposed to this material has proved abundantly fruitful in conversations with my own children, all of whom have plenty of questions about why I believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God and why there is no other name under Heaven by which men can be saved.

So while the "correct answers" listed above may or may not encourage anyone to dip their toe into Volume 1 or Volume 2 by Gonzalez, I'd just like to salt this encouragement with my personal assurance that a really great conversation on who Augustine is can be held (at an age-appropriate level, of course) with a fairly straightforward question such as, "Dad, where Satan is trying to accuse Augustine, how become he is green like an alien and has an extra face on his butt?"

"We live in a time when innovation is the order of the day. Whereas in the sixteenth century, the very novelty of Luther's ideas was what made them so suspect and, one might add, so likely to be wrong, nowadays it is the traditional which is likely to be considered wrong and the novel which is likely to be regarded as more likely true."  Carl Trueman

Songs and Scenes from Sunday, May 12, 2013

Songs and Scenes is a weekly blog review of the songs and liturgy featured in The Crossing's Sunday services. This week's service was planned and lead by David Cover. Scott Myers provided photos to give a glimpse into Sunday morning life at The Crossing. You'll also find links in the song titles that will allow you to purchase recorded versions of the songs where available.

Gathering Song: Surrender by Marc James, Alternate melody by David A. Cover

I'm giving you my heart,
and all that is within,
I lay it all down for the sake of you my King.
I'm giving you my dreams,
I'm laying down my rights,
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life.

And I surrender all to You. All to You.

David read Psalm 97:1-6 as a Call to Worship.

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.

God of Wonders by Marc Byrd and Steve Hindalong, Arrangement by The Crossing Music

Lord of all Creation,
of water, earth and sky,
the heavens are your tabernacle;
glory to the Lord on high.

God of wonders beyond our galaxy,
You are holy, holy;
The universe declares Your majesty.
You are holy, holy.

Holy, Holy, Holy - Words by Reginald Heber (1783-1826), Music: Nicaea, John B. Dykes (1861)

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

I Fear the Lord by David A. Cover, Patrick K. Miller and Christine Cover

The beginning of strength,
in the fold of His might!
When I'm desperate and tried,
You're the source of my life!

You are my God!
Help me walk in your wisdom's way.
You are my God!
Father, teach my heart to obey.

Following a time of silent confession, we read Psalm 23 together.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

The Lord Is by Pat Sczebel and Bob Kauflin (based on Psalm 23)

The depths of Your grace who can measure?
You fully supply all I need.
You restore my weary soul again and again,
and lead me in Your righteousness and peace.

The Lord is. The Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want.

Be Thou My Vision  - Traditional Irish hymn, Arranged by The Crossing Music

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heav’n’s Sun.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Music and Tech Teams for May 12, 2013:

Andrew Camp - vocals, acoustic guitar, glockenspiel
David Cover - worship leader, acoustic guitar
Ashley Gross - vocals
Nick Havens - bass
Andrew Luley - drums
Scott Johnson - piano, organ

Haley Atkins - camera operator
Joy Barbero - light designer
Ray Batt - sermon cg, live-stream music cg
Kameron Bong - live-stream audio
Tracy Christman - camera operator
Mike Conant - light board operator
Addison Hawkins - front of house audio
Scott Jones - camera operator
Barrett Knox - tech assistant
Ken Kroll - asst. light designer, director
Darin Nichols - music cg
Gerik Parmele - video director
Casey Reichart - video engineer
Jake Wandel - production manager
Phil Vinyard - asst. technical director

Are Christians Intolerant?

Are Christians intolerant when they call homosexuality a sin or oppose same-sex marriage? How about when they claim that salvation is only found in Jesus?

I guess the answer to those questions all depend on what you mean by tolerant. In his book The Intolerance of Tolerance, D. A. Carson explains that the definition of tolerance has changed which is something that every Christian has experienced even if they can't explain it. Christians are now called intolerant bigots for expressing our convictions rooted in the Bible.

Take Chris Broussard ESPN's NBA analyst. After Jason Collins celebrated exit from the closet, Broussard, a Christian, was asked what he thought of Collins' claim to be a gay Christian. Broussard responded with a great answer in that it was both biblically informed and humbly delivered.

But, according to Deadspin, Broussard is a bigot. Others called for his firing. Why? He dared to claim that biblical teaching was true. By "true," I mean true for everyone. If he would have said, "The Bible is true for me but not for others," that would have been fine. But to claim that the Bible is Truth will not be tolerated by the tolerant. It turns out that there's nothing quite as stifling as tolerance.

Nathan explained this very well in a Point of Focus and I'd encourage you to take a couple minutes and watch it. He echoes Carson in saying that tolerance used to mean that you accepted other people's rights to hold views different than yours. Today, tolerance means that you believe all views are equally valid.

This is a problem for Christians because we believe that Jesus is Truth - not a truth but the Truth. This is exactly what the new tolerance won't tolerate. And it's why Christians are now being labeled as intolerant and even as a hate group.

What Happens When Don Draper Goes To Hell?

"Midway upon the journey of our life, I awoke to find myself in a dark wood. For I had wandered off from the straight path." So begins Dante's horrifying excavation into the pit of hell. AMC's Mad Men opened season 6 with Don Draper reading Dante's Inferno on a beach, and it seems that he, midway on his life's journey, is about to follow in Dante's footsteps.


Death casts a dark pall on episode one, ominously titled "The Doorway." The doorway to where? To heaven? To hell? Into nothingness? Violin cases are called coffins; little girls describe losing their mothers; soldiers await death in vietnam; Roger loses his mother and shoe shine.

Don is strangely repulsed and attracted by death. He vomits during a funeral, but attempts to sell a morbid ad campaign to Hilton (depicting a suit, shirt and tie strewn out on a beach, with no one to be found). Don thinks it represents freedom from the business of life, for everyone else (including me) it evokes suicide.

Is Don's ultimate freedom only found in death? Must he walk through "The Doorway" to hell? That's what the whole episode seems to imply. Of course, the doorway to hell in Dante's inferno bears these words, "Abandon all hope, you who enter here." Those who thought that Don finally found himself with Megan and became a better man will be disappointed by season 6. Abandon all hope. Nothing changes. Even Don knows that. He makes an hopeless New Year's wish at the end of the episode, in the arms of adulterer, "I want to stop doing this."

Dante's Inferno seems to the interpretive lens through which we must view season 6. It's all about the loss of hope, and Don's disillusionment as he sees all the idols he once lived for crumble away (much like Dante watching the punishment of the wicked).

As a Christian, I commend this season above previous seasons. Mad Men's hero literally killed his old identity, Dick Whitman, to take on a new false identity, Don Draper. It's about the masks we all put on: the fake, aggrandized self we market to our friends and coworkers. It's about the parade of idols in vanity's fair: the way we all try to find meaning and worth and identity in the things of this world.

Don is the supreme example. He's self-conscious enough to see that he's living a lie, yet unable to stop living it. In every season he tries on a new mask. He tried to find identity as "Don Draper," loving husband and ex-combatant. He tried to find his identity in his career, success, and money. Identity in keeping up appearances, and even (last season) in true love. Every idol, every lie, every mask lets him down, leaving Don lost. In season 4 an interviewer asks "Who is Don Draper?" That's the great question of Mad Men.


Who are you?

In Season 6 Don is lost and empty. He's passed through the doorway. He sees the empty vainness of his life. A photographer asks Don "To just be himself." He looks befuddled and confused; he does not know who he is.

In the earlier seasons there was always a hint of hope that maybe Don would find himself. Now there is none. Each episode deconstructs an old mask of Don's. Much like Dante descending through the spheres of hell, witnessing the variegated punishments of wicked souls, Don descends witnessing his idols crumble.

In episode one Don is in limbo (Dante's first level of hell). In episode two, "The Collaborators", Don descends to the second level (where Dante shows the punishment of the lustful). He sees how is own life was destroyed by living in a brothel. Even Pete's life is destroyed by adultery. In Episode three Don watches his success crumble as he loses one of his biggest clients. So it continues.

If we live life without God, we are condemned to a hell of hopeless idolatry. We are condemned to wear a lie. If you wanted to be Don Draper before season 6, I doubt you do now. As Christians we can look at this TV show and agree that it depicts the abject horror of living within the inferno of a godless world.

But remember that Dante himself saw the greater truth: this life is a horror only because we all sense that we were made for something far better. Mad Men is a tragedy because in its universe there is no such thing as heaven. But if you think you live in a world without heaven, then at least be as honest as Don and abandon all hope. As Blaise Pascal said of this view, "The last act is tragic, however happy all the rest of the play is; at the last a little earth is thrown upon our head, and that is the end for ever."

For those of us who know of the life to come, let's thank God and live in light of a heaven where we are freed to be who God made us to be, without the drudging train of idols and false identities.

Is This Too Good to Be True?

Familiarity, as they say, can breed contempt. But a certain kind of familiarity—a fresh experience of even familiar biblical truths—can produce a few things that we all need more of: joy, hope, peace, and so on.

For example, consider a single verse of Paul’s letter to the Romans:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (8:32)

Many Christians are familiar with this verse, and for good reason. In just a handful of words, Paul gives us a bold summary of the gospel. It contains both a statement of what God has done and a promise of what he will do on behalf of believers. Both are staggering in their implications and, as such, deserve a closer look.

First what God has done: Paul says that God “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all.” He is of course referring to Jesus, God the Son, whom the Father loves perfectly, unreservedly, and with a depth that you and I can barely begin to imagine. There is nothing or no one that the Father loves more. Jesus is inestimable in his eyes.

And yet, Paul says, it is his Son that God gave up. For whom? For us. Sinners. Rebels. Traitors. That is what we are, every one of us. Paul elsewhere makes it clear that, in doing this, God was not responding to some heroic show of goodness and worth on our part. Quite the contrary: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5, emphasis added; see also Rom. 3:9-28). Precisely when we were at our worst, God loved us to the extent that he gave up the one who always pleases him perfectly.

And to what did he give him up? To the horror of death on a cruel instrument of torture. And even more improbably, to the full measure of his own wrath against our sin—not for any deficiency on his part, but to satisfy the punishment we fully deserve. Only since I’ve had kids of my own have I wondered how painful that must have been not just for the Son, but also for the Father.

And yet it happened. That it did so stands as an eternal, unfathomable witness to the depth of God’s love and commitment to his people. Do you want to know the extent of God’s love for you when you believe the gospel? Look no further than the fact that, completely graciously, he gave his beloved Son for you.

It’s this act that also makes sense of subsequent promise that Paul proclaims in the latter part of the verse. It is a classic argument from the greater to the lesser: if God is willing to do this for you, what will he withhold? Paul’s point isn’t that God will give you anything that you could ever want. Given our limited perspective and fallible desires, that wouldn’t be consistent with his love for us. No, Paul means that God will give us everything we genuinely need for our good.

This God will do. And he will do it graciously, in spite of the fact that we still don’t deserve his favor. He will give, not reluctantly, but in a manner consistent with the fact that he constantly, genuinely seeks our good. And ultimately, he will give us for all eternity what we really long for, what we were really made for: himself. 

Do you see? Do you and I really see what an incredible passage this is? Do you see what peace comes from knowing that God is “for us”? Do you see the joy and hope we can have when we understand his ongoing provision and the ultimate goal for which that grace is given?

I’m tempted to say that, if we’re not struggling to believe these things to be true, then we haven’t really grasped what Paul is saying. May he give us all the grace to do just that.

Living Out Suffering in Light of Eternity

Last week, I posted to ESI about how holding on to an eternal view of life can help us battle against unforgiveness. Life this side of heaven is such a short span of time when compared with eternity; our 50 or 70 or even 100 years here on earth simply cannot compare to the reality that the hymn "Amazing Grace" describes:

"When we've been here (heaven) 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we'd first begun."

Keeping an eternal perspective as we go throughout our day to day activities can also create a paradigm shift in the way we think about the suffering that comes into our lives this side of heaven.

You need to find a way to think about and deal with the suffering that comes to you, because let's face it - God allows suffering into all our lives. If you have yet to face a particularly painful season of life that seems out of your control...just wait. If you live long enough, you will find yourself suffering. Relationships don't go the way you'd hoped, a loved one is in an accident, you lose your job, a close family member dies, your teenager rebels...we all end up dealing with situations that just hurt.

Often, the way we deal with suffering is to get angry about its presence in our lives. The question that pours from our lips is "Why?" Certainly I have asked God that question many times: "Why are you allowing this pain in my life, God? What good can possibly come of this situation?"

There are many answers to the question of suffering and why God allows it, and people far smarter than me have helped me understand some basic truths when it comes to life's hardships. In particular, Jerry Bridges' "Trusting God" and Nancy Guthrie's "Be Still My Soul" are two outstanding resources I would recommend, as I think it's important that each of us have a solid understanding - as best we can as finite beings - of what God is doing in the midst of suffering.

But for this post, I want to suggest that maintaining an eternal perspective on your life can help you live out a season of suffering with patience, quiet endurance and even confident hope, rather than kicking at the goads and making yourself and everyone around you more miserable.

I have often thought of Jesus' mother, Mary, as a good example of someone who probably lived out a lifetime of suffering, and yet was able to keep a long view of what God was doing in her life.

When Mary first learned that she was going to be pregnant and bear the Son of God into our world, she was just a teenager; visited by a supernatural being announcing this impossibility was going to become reality in her life, her response seems to me to be a show of remarkable faith. It also seems to me she had no real idea what just happened to her life.

Indeed, at first it must have seemed like an exciting blessing! When her cousin, Elizabeth, first sees her and becomes divinely aware of her pregnancy, she prophesies and tells her, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Luke 1:41-42)

Ultimately, of course, that was true. Mary was and is uniquely blessed to have mothered the Christ. But have you really thought about what it was like for Mary to live out that reality day after day, year after year?

• Right out of the gate, her fiance Joseph thought she had been unfaithful and could have had her stoned for immorality. Even though he came to understand (through divine intervention!) her situation (Matthew 1:18-25), I have to think everyone else they knew - Joseph's family, her own family, the community they lived in - continued to think that Mary had been sexually promiscuous, and that Joseph was foolishly marrying an immoral woman.
• The rumors of her pregnancy probably faded as the years passed and Mary and Joseph raised their family, but there are hints when Jesus began his ministry that even when her son was in his 30's, people remembered him as the illegitimate son of Joseph's wife. In referencing Jesus as "Mary's son" (Mark 6:3), the implication is that he was not Joseph's son, a derogatory reminder of those rumors from long ago.
• Jesus' ministry was so extreme and exhausting for him that at one point Mary and some of her other sons tried to pull him away (Mark 3:21); Jesus ignored their concerns and continued in his ministry.
• And then, of course, Mary watched her firstborn son die a shameful, unbelievably painful death by crucifixion, knowing he was not a criminal and yet being powerless to do anything (John 19:25).

When I think about some of these details, I imagine it was pretty hard at times for Mary to sync her reality with the her cousin's declaration of a "blessed" life. She must have dealt with all kinds of suffering and injustice over several decades as people called her own character into question, and then her son's.

And yet, the Bible gives us a hint as to how Mary was able to hang on to the bigger picture throughout her life. Right after the birth of her son, shepherds arrived in the night and began to tell her about the supernatural visit from the angels announcing the birth of the Christ. This was a confirmation of what Gabriel had told her before she was pregnant. And Mary took these things to heart and pondered them (Luke 2:19).

In other words, despite years of slights, insults and injustices, I suspect that Mary was able to endure the suffering that came with being the mother of the Son of God, because she kept an eternal perspective on what God was doing in her life. And of course from our vantage point, we can see that God's plan for Mary's life had huge eternal implications not just for her, but for all of us.

What might seem harder to grasp for us, but is nonetheless true, is that in this sense our lives are no different from Mary's.

Each of us believers, in our own ways, are woven into God's big plan to redeem His people to Himself. And as such, our lives are not our own. There are hard things that will be brought into our lives today, or tomorrow, and we may not understand why these sufferings must be. But from the perspective of eternity, whatever we are asked to endure now - even if it is a lifetime of suffering - is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed as we live out 10,000 years (for starters!) with Christ. And what it is achieving far outweighs anything we can possibly imagine (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Your response to the suffering you go through can bring God glory as you trust Him with the outcome. After all, God's plan sees beyond your life here on earth, and has implications for eternity. Surely His plan exceeds our own. (Right?)

Songs and Scenes from Sunday, May 5, 2013

Songs and Scenes is a weekly blog review of the liturgy featured in The Crossing's Sunday services. Ben Walton provided photos to give a glimpse into Sunday morning life at The Crossing. You'll also find links in the song titles that will allow you to purchase recorded versions of the songs where available.

Our Call to Worship was Psalm 50:15.

Call on me when you are in trouble,
and I will rescue you,
and you will give me glory.

Divine Invitation by Steve Hindalong and Eric Owyoung, Arrangement: Page CXVI

We are all here to find
the place where our restless souls will be free.
We were all made to see.
our hearts could not rest until found in Thee.

In this divine invitation we find Your embrace
and in our deep adoration see the light of Your face.
In this divine invitation we all find the place
for our souls where the longings were born long ago.

The Christ, Our Light by Martin Reardon

When all was dark and without dawn
You gave us Light, you sent your Son.
The Christ, the Christ, He shines, He shines
to take all dark away, away.

The Church Has Waited Long - Words: Horatius Bonar (1845), Music: Scott Johnson, Arrangement: The Crossing Music

The whole creation groans,
and waits to hear that voice
that shall her comeliness restore,
and make her wastes rejoice.

Come, Lord, and wipe away
the curse, the sin, the stain,
and make this blighted world of ours
Thine own fair world again.

The Mystery of Faith - Words: Traditional english liturgy, Music by Scott Johnson and David Wilton

After a time of silent prayer, Kristen led us in singing this song based on an anglican liturgical prayer.

Christ has died, Christ has risen,
Christ will come again.
Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
Christ will come again!

The Revelation of Jesus Christ by Cam Huxford

I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first had passed away.
I saw a new city, Jerusalem;
a bride on her wedding day.
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“look at the dwelling place of God.”
He will dwell with them, they will be his people,
and He will be their God.

Wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Death will be no more.

As Christians we believe in real darkness, in real suffering but we don’t believe it’s the end. We’re a people of hope, who trust God to fulfill his promise—Christ will come again to make all things new. So we read Revelation 21:3-5, 20:22 to give us a vision of the restoration that is to come in that day.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[a] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Jesus Paid it All - Words: Elvina M. Hall (1865), Music: John T. Grape (1835-1915), Arrangement: Kings Kaleidoscope

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
can change the leper’s spots
and melt the heart of stone.”

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

Music and Tech Team for May 5, 2013:

Walt Beeson - bass
Andrew Camp - vocals, electric guitars, six-string banjo
Kristen Camp - vocals
Ashley Gross - vocals, percussion
Rhett Johnson - electric guitars
Scott Johnson - worship leader, piano, acoustic guitar, six-string banjo
Andrew Luley - drums
Benedict SIn - violin

Jay Atkins - asst. technical director
Kameron Bong - tech assistant
Kevin Fletcher - video engineer
Jeff Fox - camera operator
Chris Halsey - light board operator
Addison Hawkins - front of house audio
Barrett Knox - live-stream audio
Sam Munce - camera operator
Gerik Parmele - video director
Michael Schobey - camera operator
Kate Shanks - sermon cg, live-stream music cg
Ben Walton - video engineer
Chantel Wandel - music cg
Jake Wandel - production manager, light designer, director

Does It REALLY Matter if Jesus Rose Again?

Some Christians describe (more subtly than this) Christ's work on the cross as an exercise in example setting. Christ's crucifixion teaches Christians how to live as self-sacrificial servants. And it certainly sounds Biblical, because Christians are called to serve and sacrifice. I held this view of the cross for quite some time. It wasn't reasoned a choice, so much as what I'd heard for years.

Eventually I started asking questions: If Jesus simply came to set an example, then did it really matter if the Biblical accounts of his life were historical? Does it really matter whether Jesus was born of a virgin? Does it really matter whether he really did all those miracles? And, most importantly, does it really matter whether Jesus rose again? It's the example-setting story that matters, not its historicity, right? Would the historicity of these events really change anything about my life? If Jesus' life functions to set an example, then the historical truth of it really didn't matter. The story set the example; that's what Christians need, someone to emulate their life after.

Or so I believed. At least until I came Paul's letter to the Corinthian church. He wrote,

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. ...If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19; 32)

Initially I found this passage indecipherable. Why is our faith futile if Christ wasn't raised? We can still live self-sacrificial lives! Why should we be pitied? We've answered the highest calling: to pour ourselves out!

This passage crushed my atrophied view of the cross. It gave spiritual muscles to walk with. It can help us definitively understand why the historicity of Christ's life (and the Bible) really does matter. Let's look at three brief implications of this passage:

1. Jesus came to make dead men alive, not just set an example. If Christ wasn't raised from the dead, then Paul says "you are still in your sins." Why? Setting an example has no power to make dead sinners alive to God in righteousness. Christ's example shows us how to live, but seeing a good life doesn't mean we have the power to live one. We are like those "having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power" (2 Tim. 3:5).

Thankfully, the cross wasn't about setting an example, it was about bringing dead sinners to life. While we "were dead in [our] trespasses and sins," God "made us alive together with the Christ" (Eph 2:1, 5). Christ's work on the cross crucifies the power of sin in our lives, and makes us alive to God (Rom. 6:11). Only Christ's real death kills our sin, and only Christ's real resurrection makes us alive to God. Christ did not come to set an example, he came to bring the power of salvation.

2. Christ's promises are meaningless if they're not historical. If Christ wasn't raised from the dead "we are of all people most to be pitied," because Jesus has no power to fulfill the promises we trust in.

This is simple logic. If someone promised to pay you for a soda, but instead told a story about paying you, he did not kept his promise. Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). To fulfill this promise, he must truly defeat our slave masters: sin and death. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then death and sin defeated him on the cross. A story about resurrection is insufficient. Only a historical resurrection can fulfill his promise by defeating sin and death and sets us free.

3. The Bible is deceptive and dangerous if it's not historical. If the Bible, which purports to be historical, is actually a fable, then we can't trust any of it. If Biblical authors lied about historicity, why should we trust that they have the true word of God? Why should we obey the Bible? Why should we hope in eternal life?

If Jesus didn't rise from the dead he was a failure. What good did his sacrifice accomplish for others? To set an example? It's a terrible example! Sacrificing ourselves to accomplish nothing? If Jesus did not historically rise from the dead, all is lost. All hope. All meaning. Paul says, "Eat and drink for tomorrow we die." He's right.

We can only call Jesus a good example only if he rose from the dead, because then he sacrificed himself for something: to save sinners. If he rose again we have a living hope for a perfect life to come. Does the historicity of the Bible matter? Yes. Definitively, yes.

Talking Pictures in Review: Lincoln

A few thoughts for you dedicated film fans out there who weren’t able to make it to the Talking Pictures discussion of Lincoln. As usual, there’s much more that could be said than can be included here.

First, a couple of notes on the artistic qualities of the film:

• In my judgment, the film does a nice job in encouraging the viewer to feel the significance of the historical moment. We witness, even if briefly, the terrible cost of the Civil War and the weariness of those who prosecute it. We must face the attendant political complexities and the far-reaching consequences of decisions made even as the fate of millions, both black and white, more immediately hangs in the balance. The film may occasionally over-communicates this sense of historical importance, but on the whole, the mood fits the moment. 

• Happily, most of the film’s main characters are presented as complex, rather than flat, one-dimensional actors. And Lincoln has no shortage of fine acting performances. David Strathairn’s Secretary of State William Seward, Tommy Lee Jones’ Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, and Sally Field’s Mary Todd Lincoln all deserve praise. But Daniel Day-Lewis is nothing short of extraordinary as the titular character, so much so that when I saw a picture of the real Lincoln after viewing this movie it actually looked odd to me. Day-Lewis gives the audience a nuanced blend of palpable humanity and legendary political/rhetorical genius. The resulting character’s charisma is evidenced throughout the movie, not the least of which being the sense of sadness one feels at his passing.

As to important questions and ideas that Lincoln brings to the fore:

• With its vivid portrayal of the cultural blind spots of the Civil War era, the film encourages us to think about what subsequent generations—or more importantly, eternity—will judge to be our own failures. In saying that, however, it would be a mistake to assume that all cultural changes since that time amount to “progress,” or a collective step in the right direction. In fact, C. S. Lewis once remarked that one great benefit of looking into the past is to see clearly what really amounts to nonsense in your own age (see “Learning in Wartime”). A film like Lincoln is an aid to the kind of reflection that looks for both positive and negative aspects in the way our culture has changed. 

• Lincoln is also a thoroughgoing testament to what Blaise Pascal called “the greatness and wretchedness of man.” The awful toll of a war bound up with the inhumanity of slavery is set right alongside numerous examples of moral clarity and fortitude. Nor does this paradox on display only at the macro level. It’s also evidenced within individual characters, where virtues intertwine with imperfections and base means are employed to noble ends. All in all, it is a decidedly faithful rendering of the fact that human being retain some of the glory of their maker, despite the all-too-apparent scars of our own sinful rebellion.

• Having seen the political sausage making of the film, we might do well to ask a number of important questions. When do ends justify the means? What’s the film’s answer? Would a biblical Christian worldview agree? When should a principled stance be moderated by prudence, by understanding the political realities of the moment? When should we settle for a “half a loaf” so to speak? Does the rough and tumble world of politics mean we should be less involved as Christians or more? What are the costs if we aren’t in that arena? What are the challenges if we are? How should we address them?

• Whether intentional or not, perhaps the biggest political and moral question the film raises is this: what makes something right? Is it, in America at least, simply what is contained in the Constitution? Is it, as the film overtly suggests at least on one occasion, located in the popular will of the people? Particularly when that will can and does change on a given question? Or are we, at the end of the day, confronted with the idea that some other standard exists outside of ourselves, one that we cannot shape to our own desires but rather calls us to align to it. And if this last possibility is true, as I think many of us will eventually acknowledge (albeit often inconsistently), where does this standard come from and where do we find it? As the aforementioned C. S. Lewis famously explored in Mere Christianity, it’s to these timelessly relevant questions that Christianity has much to say.

Ripping Up Carpet, Living Out Unbelief

This past week, my husband and I - along with two close friends - closed out The Crossing's ninth session of DivorceCare, a 12-week class designed to help people heal from the pain of divorce. During that final session, we discussed at some length the most difficult aspect of going through divorce - that of forgiving someone who has deeply wronged you.

At the risk of being over-obvious, this is a topic that is difficult to discuss with a roomful of people who have been deeply wounded by someone who once promised to love and cherish them.

There are many things Christians can say about forgiveness; in fact, Warren and I have written about the topic many other times in the last several years. We've discussed the idea that offering forgiveness is not a feeling, but a choice we make (Choosing Raw Obedience Over Endless Theologizing); we've written about the fact that sometimes our sins against someone feel like so much less by comparison (Forgive Me, Lord, for Being Unforgiving), it can be a hurdle to forgiveness. Just earlier today, I read a blog by a highly respected RZIM blogger on how it's easier to understand forgiveness if you're the "prodigal" in the story, but far harder to accept God's lavish forgiveness when you're walking in the shoes of the older, "more obedient" brother (My Brother's Shoes).

I don't think that the command to forgive each other is a topic we can read and think about too much, so I would encourage you to read those other posts...and more.

Certainly we continue to write about it because, particularly in the context of divorce and the deep wrongs being done to us as a marriage is ripped apart, forgiveness continues to be one of the more personally difficult steps of faith one can take. John MacArthur once said that we are never more like Christ when we forgive another person for wronging us, and never less like him when we hold on to our angry desire to mete out justice ourselves.

Today, I wanted to share one other perspective that has personally helped me in the last few years to change how I view a lot of things - and choosing to let go of anger and forgiving others is one of those things that has become - at least a little - easier in light of this new perspective.

A few years ago, Keith Simon preached a sermon wherein he used a word picture that has stuck with me ever since, and served to create a paradigm shift in my thinking in all kinds of things. Keith's word picture went something like this:

Imagine someone who has made reservations to stay at a hotel for the weekend and, upon arriving and being shown to his room, is deeply dissatisfied with the overall look of the room. "The drapes in this room are horrific, and they don't even go with the bedspread. And the carpet! When was the last time it was deep cleaned?!" So, this weekend guest decides to have the carpet ripped up, the room freshly painted, and new drapes and bedding brought in. For his two-day hotel stay.

That sounds completely insane, doesn't it? Focusing so much time and energy on those details for such a short period of time is something none of us would do for a weekend respite. And yet, that's actually what we do every day when we focus primarily on the things that are in the here and now and ignore the eternity that awaits us.

All of us tend to focus attention on the things that impact our lives this side of heaven - our bank accounts, our careers, our love lives (or lack thereof), our weight - and ignore the obvious impact that spending all our time and energy on these things will have on our eternity.

And we tend to do the exact same with our anger and our hurt. We focus entirely on how it feels today to live with the pain someone has, wittingly or unwittingly, inflicted upon us, and we want retribution now...justice now...vengeance now. Even if vengeance is meted out in cold looks, a drawing back of relationship, and taking advantage of every opportunity to tear down the one who has hurt us in conversations with other people.

Whenever we exact vengeance (small or large) in this life, we completely ignore the fact that God calls us to forgive and trust Him to make things right one day - in eternity. One day, every knee will bow and every mouth will confess that Jesus is Lord (Romans 14:10-12). One day, all wrongs will be righted. But trusting in that "someday" takes an eternal perspective.

Let me bring it home just a bit.

God, through Christ, has forgiven me of so much. Start with decades of mocking God by attending church every week and then living out the rest of my life as if He were of no consequence at all. Pursuing all the gods of this world - money, security, sex, etc. - and yet calling myself a Christian because I spent my Sunday mornings within a house of worship.

Even after decades of rebellion, however, He lavishly forgave me. In fact, before I made a move toward him, He forgave me! And in forgiving me, He has given me the promise of new life with Him for eternity. A life without end, where there will be no tears, no sorrow, no pain, no hunger, no lack.

Can I really accept that this is what my forever looks like as someone forgiven of so much, and still insist that it's too hard for me to forgive someone for the pain they have caused me here? Even if I have 40 more years of living here on earth, 40 more years to remember that pain and live with the consequences of someone else's sin against me...is that really too much to ask me to lay aside and trust that God will make right, especially when compared to the everlasting joyful life that awaits us one day?

I don't want to minimize the difficulty of this thing that God commands us to do. Forgiveness is a process, and the more deeply you've been hurt, the longer it will likely take for you to recover and to forgive the person who inflicted those wounds. But keeping an eternal perspective on all things - including the wounds others have inflicted upon us - can help us let go of our own desire to see justice now, and trust that God is Who He says He is.

I recoil at the idea of wasting my time on pointless pursuits. I have to think all of us would scorn the idea of pouring time, talent and treasure into new drapes, lamps and carpeting for our theoretical "weekend hotel room," and yet most of us are often not able to see that exacting "payment" from others in this life, on our timetables, will look equally foolish and condemning when we find ourselves at home with the Lord. Better, perhaps, to abandon payment and repayment to Him that judges justly.

1 Peter 2:20-24 (ESV)
For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Songs and Scenes from Sunday, April 28, 2013

Songs and Scenes is a weekly blog review of liturgy and songs featured in The Crossing's Sunday services. Nate Herndon provided photos to give a glimpse into Sunday morning life at The Crossing. You'll also find links in the song titles that will allow you to purchase recorded versions of the songs where available.

The Prayer of St. Francis - Words: St. Francis of Assisi (translation c. 1912), Music: David A. Cover and Christine Cover

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

1 Chronicles 16:8-9 was our call to worship this morning.

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty - Words: Joachim Neander (1680), Music: Lobe Herren (1665), Arrangement and chorus: The Crossing Music

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation!
O My soul, praise Him
for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise him in glad adoration.

I Love You, Lord by Laurie Klein

I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice
to worship You, O my soul, rejoice.
Take joy, my King, in what you hear:
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear.

David read James 3:9-10 and Isaiah 59:2as a call to confession.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.

Since I Am So Sick by Don Chafer

Since I am so sick, since I am in need,
since I have no healing within me,
Oh, my God, be mindful of me,
You are my help and my Redeemer.

Surely those who wait on You
will never be ashamed.
All of those who call on You
will know the faithfulness of Your name.

Open the Eyes of My Heart by Paul Baloche

Open the Eyes of My Heart is based on Ephesians 1:18-21. When we sing this song, we're asking God to open our hearts to see more and more the incomparable inheritance that we have in Christ.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart.
I want to see You, I want to see You.

Be Thou My Vision  - Traditional Irish hymn, Arranged by The Crossing Music

High King of heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heav’n’s Sun.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Psalm 34:4-6 and 2-3 assured us that God hears our prayers and saves us from our sin.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles

I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.

Gloria by Chad Gardner

Chad Gardner writes in a blog post about this song (based on Psalm 34), "Christ delivers us, making us unashamed and radiant. When we really see who Christ is, when we actually taste his goodness and are overwhelmed, how else could we respond but with a resounding “Gloria!”

O taste and see that the Lord is good;
all you people, all you saints
all you children of the king.
Gloria!, Gloria!, Gloria!, Gloria!

Music and Tech Team for April 28, 2013:

Christine Cover - vocals
David Cover - worship leader, electric guitar
Ashley Gross - vocals, percussion
Nick Havens - bass
Andrew Luley - drums

Jay Atkins - camera operator
Kameron Bong - live-stream audio
Tracy Christman - camera operator
Laurel Critchfield - asst. technical director
Henry Imler - live-stream music cg, sermon cg
Scott Jones - video engineer
Barrett Knox - tech assistant
Ken Kroll - light board operator
Michael Novak - music cg
Ben Walton - camera operator
Jake Wandel - production manager, light designer, director
Tim Worstell - front of house audio
Phil Vinyard - video director