Christ alone

Everything I am is because of Him. I have no identity apart from Him, no life, no freedom, no love.

He is my all; He is everything; He alone is God.

Before the earth was formed He knew me; before the earth was formed He made His choice.

It was a choice, for me. No one took His life from Him; He gave it up of His own will.

They accused Him of profaning God. And then they put God on a cross and left Him to die.

Because His Father said so.

In the garden He agonized, prayed, cried out; before His accusers and facing His tormentors He was silent. Truth stood still and uttered no word, and Pilate ordered that Truth be sent to Skull Hill and crucified.

He hung suspended, bleeding, trembling, the Maker of galaxies and constellations. He can hold the universe in the palm of His hand, and He hung on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem, while Tiberius ruled the world.

Reluctantly the earth accepted the blood of its Maker. It must be so.

Down His head dropped; the ground convulsed in pain, unable to bear defeat.

It shook again on Sunday morning, a shout that all creation could feel, glorious, victory.

And the Victor stood on His maimed feet and rattled a ring of keys.

And my captors trembled, and knew their loss, and the walls of my prison quaked, and the doors flew open.

And I walked out of my tomb and stood beside Him. A victor, too, and more than a victor, through Him who loves me.

He was dead and is alive, and so I am. Through Him. He is all.

In Christ alone I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the Cross
In every victory, let it be said of me
My source of strength, my source of hope
Is Christ alone.

Random thoughts

Random thoughts before I retire (to bed):

Just got done reading a play by Chekhov for Theater class. I'm sure it was deeply moving. Awesomely beautiful. Splendiferously phantasmagoric. I'm glad it's over.

I hate not being able to spend very much time with my family, with my job and school and everything. I love Lana and I want to marry her and live with her more than anything, but the idea of leaving my family makes me want to cry.

I believe; help me with my unbelief.

"It is a curse having the epic temperament in an overcrowded age devoted to snappy bits!" - J. R. R. Tolkien

Romance is like a very special Christmas present from your Father, who gives the best gifts in the whole world. You've waited for it for so long, dreamed about it. Finally, one day, you see it wrapped and sitting under the tree. But you can't open it yet, not for a long time, and you know that shaking it could spoil the surprise that awaits. One day, after staring at it dreamily for a long time, you break down and open it in secret, just for a second, to see what it is. Then you close it up again. As December rolls onward, you do this over and over again. It's pretty fun, very exciting; you talk yourself into believing there was never anything wrong with opening it early. But when Christmas morning rolls around and you get to open and enjoy the whole thing, something curious happens, or rather, has happened. It's, well, not everything you'd hoped. It's exciting, sure, but it's nothing like what you'd dreamed. And you're left to wonder what it would have been like if you'd left the box alone until the appointed time.

Life is a complicated haze of preemptive indigestion.

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to just give it up and quit the stupid school thing.

You guys have no idea how awesome it is to get to lead a group of young people in worship once a week.

I have a watch. It's really nice. All the guys in my youth group envy it, although only Aaron is willing to admit it.

Some Christians say that even if we were wrong in what we believe and there was no God and death was the very end, we would still be on the right side because Christians live the happiest lives. I say, balderdash. The Apostle Paul said, if our belief in a resurrection is false, "we are to be pitied above all men." If Jesus did not rise from the dead, there is no hope, all is vanity, period.

"Oh God, bless us. Yea, even curse us. But please be not silent!"

The term "Jesus Freak" used to be a way of insulting Christians. Then a little band called dc Talk turned it around and made it cool. But do you claim it, and if so, do you live up to the title?

There ain't no disguising the truth...Truth can be suppressed, but it cannot be silenced. We get down on Pilate, but he asked the right question; he just didn't wait around for the answer. "What is Truth?"

What will you do for Christ? What will you NOT do for Him?