Jesus Switched Our Cups

Last year, in Israel, I was able to experience one of the most moving sermons I've ever heard.  I think about it every time I take communion, when I hear the gospel, when I think of the Garden of Gethsemane.  The following is my recap of the talk by Ross Strader, of Bethel Bible Church in Tyler, TX. 

----- | Jesus' Anguish | -----

This talk was given on our Israel trip in the traditional Garden of Gethsemane:

 

"The Matthew 26 account is the darkest, most horrific part of the Bible." Ross

Before the day of his crucifixion, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Look at His state here -

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44

Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  Matthew 26:38

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39

Why was Jesus in so much anguish?  Was it because He feared the path before Him?  Or was it something else?

----- | The Cup | -----

What is this 'cup' that Jesus refers to?  We may think that it was his impending crucifixion.  I believe it is referring instead to another cup numerously referenced in the Bible. 

Job 21: 20 - Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

Jeremiah 25:15 - This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.

Revelation 14:10 - they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.

Habakkuk 2:16 - You will be filled with shame instead of glory.  Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed!  The cup from the LORD’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. 

Psalm 58:7 - In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.

So you tell me, what cup was Jesus asking God to take away? 

Jesus was about to drink the cup that we deserve, that I deserve - the cup of God's wrath.  He was about to take on, in His body, the wickedness of the world.  He did not just experience our sins, the Bible says he BECAME them.  He who knew no sin, became sin (2 Cor. 5:21).   He bore our sins, in His body, on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).  He was about to experience the cup of God's wrath.

From these verses, we can begin to imagine what exactly that cup was.  The cup of wrath is described in Revelation for those doomed to hell (Rev. 14:10).  Imagine the infinite wrath of God for every murder, rape, broken heart, war, death, disease, injury, lie, genocide, suicide bombing, or rebellion.  This is the cup that Jesus drank.

----- | Jesus Switched our Cups | -----

At this time in the talk, we took communion.  We contemplated how deeply painful this cup of wrath must have been.  Enough for Jesus to sweat blood.  And then, just before we drank from the cup, Ross finished the story.

The cup we drink from today is a cup of grace.  The grape juice we drink each week is a reminder.  We were supposed to drink from the cup of wrath.  We deserve it. 

But Jesus switched our cups.  He drank the cup of God's wrath, punishment unimaginable, and gave us His cup of grace. 

Isaiah 53:6 - We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

By accepting Jesus as Lord, we are seen as holy and righteous before God.  

Romans 4:24 - ...but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.  

During Good Friday, remember what Jesus did for you.  Remember the pain, the anguish, the loneliness not just from the cross, but also from the wrath for our sinful actions today. 

And Sunday, let us be joyful of the cup we now have!  

Paleo Diet for Social Media Specifics!

A couple of days ago, I began to wonder what a Social Media Paleo Diet would look like.  Check it out here.

Keeping those goals in mind, I think my time on social media should be really, really limited.  There shouldn't be enough time to just "browse around".  It should be more like a bathroom trip - get in, get out. 

This is what I'm thinking: 

Twitter - can check once per day - 10 mins.
Facebook - can check twice per week - 15 mins each.
Google Reader - can check once per day - 10 mins
Blogger - can use any time as I want (writing new blogs)
News Sites - can check twice per day for 5 minutes.

I've also been thinking about limiting time for video games and things like Netflix.  I could see these consuming all of my time if I'm not online...  As for now, these are still being thought over.

As the month goes on, I'm hoping to shorten these even more!

Do these seem too long or short?  Are there other sites you visit?  Make up your own times! 

After all, we're not cavemen.

----- | Preparation | -----

To prepare, I'm going to do a few things. 

1. Lists.  I'm going to make lists on facebook and twitter for the people I actually care about.  That way, I don't have to surf through everything and can still see how my friends are doing.  I may even make a few for quotes, celebrities, leaders, etc. 

2. Removing all comfortability.  When I open up my internet browser, boom, facebook is just a click away through a link.  Same thing on my phone - tweetdeck is in the center of my phone.  So, I'm going to hide these away.  Goodbye links and goodbye easy access to apps. 

3. Pray.  This experience will be tough.  My only prayer during this time is this: "Lord, be my treasure.  Let me see how I am simply trying to fill a gap by doing all this social media junk.  Let me find all my satisfaction only in you."

So, anybody else interested?  May is just around the corner...

The Paleo Diet for Social Media.

During April, I was challenged to try the Paleo diet.  Basically, the diet only allows you to eat what a caveman could eat - fresh fruit, meat, vegetables, nuts, eggs.  No bread, sweets or even milk!

And I failed miserably. 

Okay, it wasn't a total loss.  The bigger goal in doing the diet was to watch what I was eating, and not just eat the same junk I've been eating since I was a sugar-hungry kid.  So, I did learn about some healthy foods by branching out, as well as how to resist the call of sugar. 

----- | | | -----

While I was doing this, I began to wonder, "What if I applied these same principles elsewhere?"  I mean, those 'paleo' men seemed to live pretty well without Dr. Pepper or bread.  What else could I do without?  Where else am I losing discipline?

One of the biggest areas for me is the internet.  I can get into this (sick) cycle of checking Facebook, reading there for a while, then hopping to Twitter to read all of the updates, then heading to Google Reader, catching up on some blogs, use Google Explore, check CNN, FOX News... then back to Facebook.  What?!  Where did that hour just go?  Just like this:

Somehow this social media / connecting thing has become an idol in my life.  Even if I'm just surfing "Christian" blogs and John Piper's twitter feed, I can still waste time trying to feel 'connected'.  It's consuming, it's an idol.  There is a void of lonliness which social media tries to fill, but it is always lacking.  So I keep coming back.

----- | | | -----

So, I thought, "What if there was a Social Media Paleo Diet?"  What would it look like? 

I don't think all social media should be cut out, but it definitely needs it's boundaries.  Strict ones.  The goal isn't to become absent online. 

The goals would be to:

1. Limit time in social media to get to important things.  There are good, beneficial uses for social media.  But, I rarely get to them b/c I stop and watch another "Friday" remix or a laughing baby. 

2. Get more involved with real relationships.  A big goal would be to build more real community.  Write a letter.  Volunteer.  Grab some coffee with a friend.  Start a regularly-meeting group.  At the very least - stop checking twitter while ten of us are sitting together.

3. Remove Social Media's power over me.   The final goal would be to begin to realize just how hooked I am to status updates, links, and tweets.  I believe it has more power over me than I think.  It's a very deceptive idol, this desire to be 'connected.'

Sound interesting?  I'm going to think more on what it would specifically look like.  But, I'm shooting for starting this in May.

We do not do discipline because we are strong, but because we are incredibly weak.

April: The Paleo Diet (Or, Say Goodbye to the Captain)

The second month-long challenge for April is the Paleo Diet.  Inspired by Andrew Bacon's Challenge, I decided to try to only eat what is on the Paleo Diet (basically what a caveman could eat), for the month of April.  On the diet, you can only eat: Lean meats, Fresh fruits, Vegetables, Eggs, & Nuts.  No processed foods, no dairy, no cereal. 

Now, I have heard a lot of things from both sides about this diet.  Some say that the lack of carbs is just plain stupid, while others (especially some friends who are now in the military) have right up there next to the gospel. 

Here's my take:  I have been doing a 'practice run' this week.  I've mostly been eating fruit for breakfast and lunch and meat and vegetables for din-din.  I haven't really been swayed either way until yesterday.  I've been slowly getting over the holidays (yeah, the ones in December), and finally have been running regularly for like two weeks.  I've been trying some longer runs (2.5 miles, if that counts as 'long').  Anyways, the point is this: I had been running the 2.5 mile loop in about 23-24 minutes.  That's like a 10 min mile.  But, yesterday, I finished it in 19:50!  I cut off four minutes of time since last thursday?!  How did I go from a 10 minute mile to under 9 mins? 

Maybe I've just been getting used to running, but I am leaning towards the fact I've been eating healthier. 

But we'll see how April goes.  Now I just have to kill my addiction to the Captain...

I am changing a few of the rules though.

1. Milk in protein shakes is allowed.  Like Andrew, I'm not trying to lose weight, but gain some muscle.
2. Yogurt is allowed.  Hopefully the Greek kind, with way more protein and less sugar. 
3. Coffee after Easter.  I've given it up for lent. 
4. Finally, 'fresh' fruits and veggies are expensive - I'm allowing canned/frozen ones.  Just gotta check that salt/sugar content. 
5. Peanut Butter.  I know cavemen didn't have any... but that's their problem.

There's a good chance I'm going to break some rules, but it's still gonna be an interesting month!  Probably have some updates later.

April: Read Through Desiring God with me and Piper

That's right!  You can read Desiring God AND hear discussions with the brilliant author himself - John Piper! 

During April, Bethlehem College and Seminary is sponsoring the event.  Every Thursday in April, there will be a live webcast (and archived version if you miss it) at John Piper's blog .

I'm pretty excited - I've actually never read the book, but I have started it a few times.  Now, I have a little extra motivation.  I'll be trying to post updates about some topics, but I think there'll be way too much to discuss... we'll see. 

So, join in, even if you've already read it!

The schedule is as follows:

Schedule
12pm EST – Live
12pm CST – Rebroadcast
12pm MST – Rebroadcast
12pm PST – Rebroadcast

March 31

Chapter 1 – “The Happiness of God: The Foundation for Christian Hedonism”
Chapter 2 – “Conversion: The Creation of a Christian Hedonist”

April 7

Chapter 3 – “Worship: The Feast of Christian Hedonism”
Chapter 4 – “Love: The Labor of Christian Hedonism”

April 14

Break (The Gospel Coalition 2011 National Conference)

April 21

Chapter 5 – “Scripture: Kindling for Christian Hedonism”
Chapter 6 – “Prayer: The Power of Christian Hedonism”

April 28

Chapter 7 – “Money: The Currency of Christian Hedonism”
Chapter 8 – “Marriage: A Matrix for Christian Hedonism”

May 5

Chapter 9 – “Missions: The Battle Cry of Christian Hedonism”
Chapter 10 – “Suffering: The Sacrifice of Christian Hedonism”

CRASH (Part VI): A Blessing

(So, maybe that last post was a little misleading.  I mean, what was the 'answer'?  Should I keep going on with medicine?!  Well, you're in luck, because that will be answered now.)


So, let's look at what just happened.  It started with some doubts I had for a long time which finally surfaced - "Do I really want to be doing this?", "Is medicine my passion?", "Have I just been going along this whole time?"  Then, things got bad.  I was going crazy trying to roll up my sleeves and figure this out alone.  When that didn't work, I talked with my community, and finally, God.


In this struggle, the real problem was unearthed: I was finding too much of my identity in what I did.  When I didn't know what I would be doing career-wise, I crumbled away.  Too much of my satisfaction was found in what I was doing.  My whole self was relying on this pillar, and that pillar was crushed.


Who do I believe did this crushing?  Well, I believe that God did.  Why would a good God do that?


I'll show you.

-----| | |-----

(Note: You should know that everything in this series happened in a span of five days.  Two days after things finally settled our story picks up.)


I had a phone meeting with a certain medical school to discuss last year's application.  (The meeting was set before these doubts showed up.)  I called the school and was put on hold.  Then, I realized I was actually going to be talking with the Dean of Admissions!  No pressure, right?


But then something amazing happened.  As I talked with him through my application, we started to click.  Once he found out that I was re-applying as a Texas resident, he encouraged me!  Moreover, he told me that we should keep in touch and that he would be willing to look over my application before I sent it off!  The icing on the cake was this - he told me to let him know when I sent it off, and that he would go and look for it!  How as this happening?! This was the Dean of Admissions!  


Now, I didn't go into this conversation trying to butter anybody up or even 'get my name out there.'  Still, something amazing had happened.  If it wasn't me, how did this happen?  Maybe the dean was just a nice guy, but I believe God had all of this planned out.


He had just crushed my dependency for satisfaction in myself and my career, and now, 48 hours later, He was blessing me beyond belief!


(FYI to answer all those wondering -  I'm going to continue with medicine because I think God is clearing that way for me.  But, unlike before, it's on the table as an option, not a "known".  If I feel lead somewhere else, I'm ready to drop it.  But, like I said, right now it seems as if God has blessed me here.)

-----| | |-----

And so, that's the big, final lesson I learned from all of this.  God wants to crush those areas we cling to, and then bless us.  He brought me through this time of struggle because He loves me as a son:

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
      Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children.  For what children are not disciplined by their father? -- Hebrews 12:5-7

He found an area of my life where I was shutting Him out, so He pushed me a little, and I fell apart.  Then, once I realized my absolute need and dependency on Him in this area, He brought a little of  His kingdom here on earth - a blessing.  Jesus told us:

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" -- Matthew 7:9-11

Now, I'm not promising you anything.  God isn't going to bless us all with corvettes and mansions.  He only works according to His will (which, could include corvettes and mansions I guess).


If there are areas of your life where you are pushing God out - beware!  He will find them, and He will crush them.  Not because He isn't good, but because He loves us.


We read that one day, "every knee will bow. . . every tongue will acknowledge God."  So, by choosing to follow His ways now, we're just getting a head start on the inevitable.  We can choose to acknowledge Him and His ways now, and be a part of His kingdom now; or we could wait it out, and miss out on all the goodness God desires to bring to his people!  Find those places where we are relying on ourselves and destroy them!  


So this is the choice we're left with:  Be crushed now or later. Become an adopted son and see God's kingdom realized here, or continue to be a 'god', building pillars that can't support the weight.  


Your choice - for now.




CRaSH is a short series of lessons learned from a time of deep struggle in my life.  View all posts here.

CRASH (Part V): An Answer!

"What am I living for?"  

This has been a question I've wrestled with for months here in Dallas.  With a 9-5 job, I suddenly had all of this time on my hands.  I could come home, relax, and . . . do what?  The achiever in me thought of grand goals such as reading every book I own, or getting a second job.  The gamer in me just wanted to sit inside and play Xbox.  I had worked and fought for free time in college, and now, I had way more than I could ever dream of.  

Then, all of this stuff came up about my career path.  I had tried to solve things myself - that didn't go well.  Then, I talked it through with some of my community; and I was beginning to get a few answers.  

----- | | | -----

My friend and I had decided that this experience may be less about what my future career would exactly be.  It was more about this: I was holding on too tightly to this path.  There have been so many times when I knew I would've followed God anywhere He told me to go; but in the back of my mind I thought,"...but I'm still going to medical school, right?"  God owed me this, right?  

Of course not!  And so, I gained some good wisdom from that talk - I was most definitely clutching this dream too tightly - so, my mindset went from a fist, to an open palm, as if to say "Do with me as You will."

But this was not the root of the problem.  The root was deeper.  

----- | | | -----

You see, in all of this, I was avoiding the one relationship which could actually help - God.  Oh sure, I prayed a lot during this time, but I wanted an immediate answer.  Instead, I was lead into this time of suffering and struggling without an answer to my prayers.  But, I think He wanted it that way.  

The real answer came after I had tried everything else.  I was contemplating all these events, and praying with the Lord again.  And finally, something was brought to my mind - the real problem.  

The real problem went all the way back to my identity.  Imagine, if you will, that my entire identity was a 'house.'  In it, my strengths and weaknesses, purpose and direction, likes and dislikes, etc.  At the bottom, was the foundation, holding everything else up.

Sounds good, right?  What God showed me was another column, underneath that whole 'house', struggling to support the entire thing.  In that column was where I found my true satisfaction, purpose, direction - and that was in my career and the things that I can do.  That column propped up everything.  And that's what all of this was about - that pillar was crumbling, and so the entire house was falling!  Without knowing exactly what I would be doing, (I mean, I just had a little doubt about how passionate I am!) the entire thing fell.

And so, the answer was this: My satisfaction, my joy and purpose will never be satisfied by a career.  I will never be satisfied by how much I can do or get done.  What I do is not meant to support the rest of me - it can't!  And, it didn't - it fell apart when things got tough.  

----- | | | -----

So, I want to touch on the importance of identity.  Specifically, what our foundation is.  If everything else were to fall apart, what would we have left?  Our money?  A spouse?  A son or daughter?  Creativity?  Something we've done?  Our body?  What would we try to find our hope in?

Well, here's a newsflash - whatever we put there is going to eventually fail!  We will lose money, get old, lose a loved one, become disabled. . .  Anything and everything we fall back on will fail.  (Just ask Brett Favre).

Apparently, my faith has been in my performance for a long time, and I had built up a nice pillar for my career.  And then, with a little stress, it just crumbled away this week.  A very weak foundation, indeed.

I submit that we must put our full trust and faith in something else.  That is, someone else: Jesus Christ.  The bible says that He loved us, even in our rebellion; He came to bring us to the Truth, despite all the world's lies; and He died and rose again, allowing us to come into a relationship with a true Foundation.  It is only in Him, the eternal lover of mankind, who calls us to Him, where I can put my true faith and trust.  

Because everything else will fail.

----- | | | -----

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." - Mathew 7:24-28

(Don't fret, there is one last lesson coming in this series!)

CRaSH is a short series of lessons learned from a time of deep struggle in my life.  View all posts here.