removing Jesus from the equation

what if you took Jesus out of the equation?

if I were to hear just that question with no context, red flags would go up and I’d say that sounded like some type of Rob Bell question.  I mean, you can’t take Jesus out of the equation.  You can’t remove Him from the Bible.  You can’t remove Him from the Christian faith.  You just can’t.

ok but what if you did?  wait – ok, stick with me here for a minute.

at worship team practice last night, we were discussing Psalm 97.  Here are the first 7 verses -

¹ The Lord is king!
Let the earth rejoice!
Let the farthest coastlands be glad.
² Dark clouds surround him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³ Fire spreads ahead of him
and burns up all his foes.
⁴ His lightning flashes out across the world.
The earth sees and trembles.
⁵ The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
⁶ The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
every nation sees his glory.
⁷ Those who worship idols are disgraced—
all who brag about their worthless gods—
for every god must bow to him.

So you read that and if you’re like me, you think “Yeah…totally.  Wow, God – You are awesome!”  You can read all through the Old Testament of crazy accounts of God’s unfailing love and compassion, and also accounts of God’s wrath and justice.  But in the New Testament, you don’t read those same kinds of accounts – at least ones about God wiping out entire nations and requiring all these sacrifices to keep people in right standing with Him.  We don’t see these stories because…well…enter Jesus.  The ultimate sacrifice, our ultimate rescuer, the One who redeems us and restores our relationship with the Father.

I don’t know about you, but often when I read the Old Testament, I think “God, I don’t understand why You do the things You do, but I know You’re good and I know You’re just.  and I’m glad Jesus’ blood covers me.”

ok so now – what if you removed Jesus from the equation?

as we read Psalm 97 last night, I was challenged by this.  I re-read Psalm 97 with this in mind, and suddenly…God’s holiness and His righteousness hit me in a whole new way.

“Fire burns up His foes…His lightning flashes out across the world…the earth sees and trembles!  Mountains melt like wax before the Lord…those who worship idols are disgraced…every god must bow to Him…”

see, when I’ve read passages like this before, I think I’ve always kept Jesus in the back of my mind – yeah, God’s holiness and splendor is terrifying (beyond what I can comprehend, for sure)…but I’ve got Jesus.  I mean, in the New Testament, we are told we can boldly approach the throne of God because of Jesus (Heb. 4:14-16, for example).  it’s almost like I have grown accustomed to this feeling of entitlement, for lack of a better word.  I take it for granted that I can approach the throne of God because of Jesus.

but when you remove Jesus from the equation, when you read these Old Testament passages with the mentality of “ok, this is how God is and I don’t have Jesus here to vouch for me”…oh.  my.  goodness.  Our God, the Creator of the Universe who holds it all together…is terrifying.  He is Holy.  He is Righteous.  He is Just.  in His presence, sin cannot exist.  without Jesus, I would not exist in His presence.

I think by removing Jesus from the equation, I realize my sinful wretchedness in a whole new way.  and at the same time, I realize my need for an Advocate, an Ultimate Sacrifice that will cleanse me of my unrighteousness and allow me to come before the throne of the Holy God.

may we come to recognize on whole new levels the holiness and righteousness of God.  and may we fall deeper in love with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

our God is worthy.

my top 7 reasons for liking the snow tonight

it’s snowing right now.  it’s actually beautiful, it’s the big fluffy flakes that just gently fall to the ground.  I’d take a picture but it’s night and the camera won’t do it justice.

normally, I would be twitching involuntarily and going around with my hands in fists and exclaiming, “I HATE THIS!!”

but tonight, no.  I am quite at peace about it.  here are my top reasons (perhaps my only reasons) why:

1. The farmers/ranchers need moisture (look, I put that one first so I sound super selfless and hopefully appear to be the most humble person you know).  (please regard anything in parentheses as completely sarcastic).  No but really, they really do need the moisture.
2. I have an amazing, warm, squishy, down coat that I just got a couple weeks ago.  Not only is it amazing, warm, and squishy, but I also look like a slightly-deflated black marshmallow.  or the Michelin man.  and I feel squishy.  and it’s awesome.
3. I have super warm gloves that Cristine introduced me to last winter.  And since I went home to Florida for 1/2 the winter last year (don’t hate), now I can get more use out of them!
4. When I wake up in the morning, I don’t have to drive to work on the icy, gross, freezing, snowy roads.  My jobs rock.  The furthest I have to walk tomorrow is from my bed to the coffee pot, back to my desk in my bedroom.  Given the fabulous layout of our house, that means I don’t even have to walk outside.  it’s a beautiful thing, really.
5. I can drink the same large amount of coffee I normally drink, but now use the legitimate excuse that it helps keep me warm and my body temperature stable.
6. I have a space heater that cranks up to 80 degrees and I can have my own Jack Johnson/Bob Marley festival in my room and put on surf documentaries.
7. In 10 days, I will be in SoFla (South Florida) for 11 days.  This might be my #1 reason for being at peace with the snow tonight, but I put it last so it appears that I’m not rubbing it in.

today: random bewilderments

I had to look up the word “bewilderment” after I wrote it.  true story.  it’s like one of those words that nobody really uses a lot, but at random times it just seems like the best word to use.  I had to dictionary.com it to make sure I used it correctly.  ain’t no shame.

today as I was driving, I saw a dog on the side of the road…happily frolicking…in poop.  or a dead animal.  I couldn’t tell for sure as I drove by.  but it was wagging it’s tail and rolling around over and over.  as I passed, I laughed but felt bad for the dog’s owners.

about 50 feet past the dog, there was a cow on the side of the road that had gotten out of its pasture.  I would prefer him on my plate.  but hey, as long as he stays off the road, I’m OK.

I went to a coffee shop today, one that my cousin and i have had numerous “wow, really?” moments at.  so, normally I now just get a decaf coffee or an Americano to keep it simple.  but today, I ordered a soy hazelnut decaf latte.  because it’s Sunday.  and I was craving something sweet.  and like I said, it’s Sunday.  c’mon.  I should’ve known this wasn’t going to end well the moment the barista turned to her co-worker and said “it’s an iced coffee”. …  I interrupted her and asked if they were making my latte iced.  and she looked at me confused and said, “well yeah, that’s what a latte is - all lattes are iced.”  … oh boy.  I had to give a polite lesson in what a latte was.  to the coffee shop.  this was the same place that I once ordered decaf coffee and the barista (a different one) looked at me totally confused and asked, “so…do you like…want that brewed or…?”  … ????  over 5 minutes later, I left with milky coffee.  sigh.  I guess I’ll stick to homemade lattes.

on the flip side, one of our high school girls gave her testimony at church today and it was amazing!  I LOVE seeing God work in and thru people.  turning ashes into beauty.  it’s awesome.  we serve a GREAT God who is so much more incomparably better than bad coffee drinks.

A great day continues

So I've had an amazing day today in Denver. Went to a coffee shop and worked a couple hours-ish. Then went to Red Rocks and laid down on the amphitheater bleachers for awhile. Now I'm at a coffee shop with Rachel and we're sitting outside on the deck and it was all nice and warm until the sun went down. Then I started getting cold.

No. Wait for it...

THEN this wonderful old man comes out and turns on the outdoor heaters and lights the fire pit things. Oh. My goodness. It is so warm and cozy outside on this deck now. And I'm enjoying a good book and time with my great cousin!

Trips to Denver might have to be more frequent...

Stay classy, Stella's.

a quick status update

I wish you could be here with me right now.  I don’t even care who you are.  as long as you’re not a creeper.  assuming you’re mentally stable and healthy, I wish you could be here with me right now.

I came down to Denver for a couple nights to hang out with my cousin.  she’s at work right now, so I’m at a coffee shop.  trying to force myself to get at least SOME work done.  it is absolutely beautiful out.  the sky is so blue and the mountains are so crisp and it’s WARM!  it’s supposed to be in the 70’s today!

as I headed to the coffee shop, I had vague but pretty easy directions from my cousin on how to get there. so I headed West on the road.  and my heart nearly bursted (burst?  bursted?) out of my chest.  the view of the mountains was MAGNIFICIENT.  oh my goodness.  snow on the higher peaks.  I quickly decided I didn’t even care if I found the coffee shop, I was just going to drive West until I could get a clear view of the mountains.

then the road ended in a parking lot surrounded by buildings.  epic fail.

so I told myself if I could work for at least 2 hours at the coffee shop, I could go drink in the beauty of God’s creation.  :)

my heart is full.  I have tasted and I have seen the power of God the past 3 weeks specifically in my life.  speaking at church, leading the worship gathering, completing my first 1/2 marathon.

today is a day to breathe.

and breathe deeply the greatness of my Creator.

i am not the same

a year and 1/2 ago, if you had told me I’d be on a worship team – I may have thrown up on you (OK maybe not that extreme, but my stomach would’ve turned and I would’ve said “no…I don’t think so”)

a year ago, if you had told me I’d be living in a small town in Wyoming – I would’ve laughed and sarcastically told you you’re cute.

a year ago, if you had told me I may go a whole year without visiting the islands I call home – I would’ve said there was no way.

a year ago, if you had told me I’d be on staff at a church – I would’ve wrinkled up my face and said, “mmm…probably not”.

a year ago, if you had told me I would share for nearly 10 minutes in front of 260+ people – I would’ve ran to the giant bean bag that I love at my friend’s house, curled up in a ball, and buried myself in it for…days.

a year ago, if you had told me I’d be leading worship – I would’ve thrown up on you (no, really - that one’s for real this time).

a year ago, if you had told me I’d be leading entire worship gatherings – I probably would’ve had a heart attack right then and there.

a year ago, if you had told me all of the above would be possible by God’s power and strength – I would’ve agreed, wanting to believe God could really do that, though not totally believing God would do it.

now I can truly say I believe my God can do anything.  nearly all my life, I would’ve told you God could do anything – and I believed it.  but I didn’t always live like I believed it.  fear and worry had such a grip on my life.

I am blown away by the power of God.  I am not the same person I was a year ago because of the power of God that breaks chains of strongholds that weigh us down.  strongholds that keep us from living lives fully alive & fully dependent on our Creator.

and I am so beyond thankful for my family and friends who God’s surrounded me with.  for the ones who don’t take fear-driven “no’s” for an answer.  for the ones who cover me in prayer time and time again.  for the ones who are willing to ask the hard questions.  for the ones who show me God’s grace, over and over.

I write this because I so strongly desire for YOU to know that God is real.  He is mighty.  He is strong.  He has incredible plans for YOU that you could never imagine.  and any fear that is holding you back from pursuing what you know He is calling you to do IS able to be conquered by His strength and power alone.

I am not the same.  may you know His unfailing love and His almighty power and may you be able to say the same – whether it be now, or a year from now.

First snowfall

This morning I woke up and looked outside to see the first snowfall of the season. At the same time, Bob Marley's "Stir It Up" started playing in my head. I'm not sure what that means. But I think it means I'm ready for summer.

Continuous Worship Conference 2013, Feb. 7-9th

COME!  you will NOT be disappointed.  and it’s so cheap and there’s an endless flow of free coffee.  one of my favorite places on earth.  :)  @ Maranatha Bible Camp, near North Platte, NE.

www.continuousworshipconference.com