Jesus Christ, The Ultimate Hero

Joseph Campbell once wrote on the topic of Memorial Day: “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”

This Memorial Day weekend is always an opportunity of remembrance and thanks to our soldiers who have given their lives for the safety and protection of the country we are so privileged to live in. And while our allegiance, as Christians, is always and utterly to God, we can nevertheless stop and thank Him for the many men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country and for us. Indeed, their sacrifice, and Joseph Campbell’s sentiments, are reflections of a greater truth - the ultimate hero, Jesus Christ!

So thank a vet this weekend, remember the fallen, and worship the greatest of heroes - the Lord Jesus Christ!!

Prayer

When Jesus prayed for His church in John 17, He sent them into a world that is, at best, unclear on biblical Christianity and at worst, antagonistic towards it.  John 17 is sandwiched between Jesus’ instructions to His church (John 13-16) and Jesus’ own redemptive actions to bring about salvation (John 18-20).  Prayer, it seems, is the glue that brings together teaching and actions in a world that does not know what to do with Christians trying to live out their faith. 

All of this to say that we are geared up this coming week to minister in the name of Jesus at the Blossom Festival.  If you are in town and able, I hope that you have sought God on how you and your friends and family can minister in some way to the thousands that will gather just a few miles away from our location.  And now, one more need - prayer!  Deep, specific, intercessory prayer!!  That will be the glue, the undergirding of all that we do to bring glory to Christ.   

Chuck Colson

Several weeks back, the Church lost an amazing leader when Chuck Colson passed away at age 80.  What a model of transformation, servanthood, grace, truth and missional living!!  His first 45 years were spent as an ambitious politician who was later convicted and sentenced to prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal.  Shortly after prison, Colson was witnessed to by a friend in his driveway…and for the last 35 years, the world has been a better place. 

He saw his mission as combining a clear, unapologetic declaration of Jesus as Lord and Savior and acts of compassion and mercy for those in prison and their families.  He was the poster-boy for how God takes our deepest pains and regrets and turns them into avenues of grace, how God causes all things to work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

What a model for us as well: passionate about unleashing love, passionate about acts of mercy, having an amazing redemptive effect on a world under siege.  We echo what is surely God’s Word to this man’s life - “Well done, Chuck Colson, well done!”   

Love One Another

Our lives seem to be filled with all kinds of tough decisions that need to be made and difficult choices that we wish we could avoid.  Sadly, ultimately, the choices must be faced with integrity while driven by principle, prayer and grace.  And in the middle of all of this, the church is called to love one another.  Jesus tells us plainly: “I am the vine and you are the branches…now, remain in My love.  If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love…My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:5, 9-10, 12).  No matter how hard the choices that we make are, no matter what conclusions we feel we are driven to by prayer, by principle, by grace, we still have the duty—no, the privilege—of doing it all in Christ-like love.  And by God’s grace, so we shall.