The reason I'm willing.

 ¹ Who has believed what we have heard?
    And who has the arm of the L ORD been revealed to? 

    
² He grew up before Him like a young plant
    and like a root out of dry ground.
    He had no form or splendor that we should look at Him,
    no appearance that we should desire Him.

    
³ He was despised and rejected by men,
    a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
    He was like one people turned away from;
    He was despised, and we didn't value Him.

    
⁴ Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
    and He carried our pains;
    but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
    struck down by God, and afflicted.

    
⁵ But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
    crushed because of our iniquities;
    punishment for our peace was on Him,
    and we are healed by His wounds.

    
⁶ We all went astray like sheep;
    we all have turned to our own way;
    and the LORD has punished Him
    for the iniquity of us all.

    
⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet He did not open His mouth.
    Like a lamb led to the slaughter
    and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
    He did not open His mouth.

    
⁸ He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
    and who considered His fate?
    For He was cut off from the land of the living;
    He was struck because of My people's rebellion.

    
⁹ They made His grave with the wicked,
    and with a rich man at His death,
    although He had done no violence
    and had not spoken deceitfully.

    
¹⁰ Yet the LORD was pleased to crush Him,
    and He made Him sick.
    When You make Him a restitution offering,
    He will see [His] seed, He will prolong His days,
    and the will of the LORD will succeed by His hand.

    
¹¹ He will see [it] out of His anguish,
    and He will be satisfied with His knowledge.
    My righteous servant will justify many,
    and He will carry their iniquities.

    
¹² Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion,
    and He will receive the mighty as spoil,
    because He submitted Himself to death,
    and was counted among the rebels;
    yet He bore the sin of many
    and interceded for the rebels.

-Isaiah 53

in His name,

brad

Willing.

I just wanted to share an amazing story I read in an amazing book the other day.  I will tell it in my own words, as I don't have the book in front of me.

Setup:  A man had been convicted of murder, and sentenced to death.

The time comes, and he is led out of his cell, to walk the long, dark corridor to the execution chamber.  Leading him, and following him, are guards and prison officials.  The one out of place man, it seems, is a priest.  He is reading from a book in a monotone, ritualistic manner.

The prisoner, being led to death, asks the priest, "What are you reading to me?" to which the priest answers, "These are your last rights.  I'm reading to you about heaven, salvation, and eternity...Heaven and Hell."

The prisoner was enraged, because this "man of God" seemed so uncaring about what he was reading, and was claiming he knew the way to heaven, even for a man such as him.

The rest of the way to the execution chamber, this man, this murderer....preached.  Here is what he said, "How can you speak in piety, and know the truth, and not be passionate about it?  I'm going to hell, and you know a God who loves me so much, that He would still save me?!........and yet you speak with no unction....no passion....no conviction?  If I knew the way by which men like me could be saved, I would crawl on my hands and knees across fields of broken glass and nails, shouting the message all the while. And yet, you speak as a man who is reading a novel, not the Gospel!  God have mercy on your soul priest."

Wow.  So, I end with  questions church.  Do you know the gospel of Christ Jesus?  If you do, are you willing to go through pain and blood and persecution to share it?

Is the gospel of Christ Jesus worth losing your job, and being unable to support your family?

Is the gospel of Christ Jesus worth losing your family?

Is the gospel of Christ Jesus worth being despised by those you love?

Is the gospel of Christ Jesus worth being hated, even in the  church, because you're so radical that you hate sin in the body as God hates it, and love the body, as God loves it, so  much that you can't let it live in an unhealthy manner?  Because a man doesn't despise his own body, but nourishes it, and makes sure that it's taken care of.

Are you willing for all of these things, if it means you are a workman approved by God for the bringing of Good News?

Here's a closing thought:  We honor every drop of blood that Augustine, Paul, Luther, Edwards, etc... spilled for the cause of reforming the church to Christ.  They were hated in their day, the following generations were the one's that honored them.  They only sought God's will.....no matter the cost.

Are you willing?  Am I?

in His love alone, I love you all.

brad

Question.

How come when the church walks away from Christ by teaching lies that "bend" the need for Christ........we call it progressive?

I am challenged to love.  I am challenged in that love to be intolerant.  I don't know what that looks like yet.  But I don't believe that Christ died because it's okay to believe whatever we want.

I think "tolerance" in my life has been nothing more than an excuse not to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We (followers of Christ) are called to make disciples.  Not just pastors.  Not just clergy.  Believers.  Today, love with the expectation of rejection.  Love with the expectation that someone will change because of the Spirit in you.  Love like you only care about One opinion of you.  Let love and mercy outshine judgement.

Be intolerant to lies in your heart.  Be intolerant to the lie that "what's right for them, is right for them".

What do you believe?  Who do you say that Christ is?

I love you all.

in His love,
brad