Word of Life Church Podcast

<p>Among the Roman soldiers carrying out the crucifixion; among the mocking chief priests and the jeering crowd hurling insults; among the Passover pilgrims hurrying past the horrifying spectacle of crucifixion, there stood near the cross of Jesus three women all named Mary.</p>

<p>The raising of Lazarus after four days in the tomb is Jesus’ greatest miracle. But it is also the sign in the Gospel of John with the greatest theological significance: The one who called Lazarus out of death will call us of death as well.</p>

<p>The light has come into the world through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But we have to be willing to leave our darkness and live in the shining light of Christ. If we want to stay asleep in our coffins we can—but the gospel calls us out of our sleep, out of death, out of darkness, and into the light.</p>

<p>Wars, revolutions, and grand political ambitions are often cast as heroic attempts to save the world. But let’s look at saving the world in the light of Christ. Our drama plays out, not on a battlefield, not in a capital city, not in the halls of congress or parliament, but at an ancient well in tiny village.</p>

<p>The third temptation was to avoid the cross. But the cross is how Jesus re-founds the world. Instead of being organized around an axis of power enforced by violence, at the cross Jesus reorganized the world around an axis of love expressed in forgiveness.</p>

<p>What Peter, James, and John saw in the Transfiguration of Christ was prophetically anticipated in what Moses saw in the Burning Bush.</p>

<p>To fully understand what Jesus says about fulfilling the Law and the Prophets at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, we first have to understand Isaiah’s prophecy of the ancient ruins restored.</p>

<p>The kind of Christianity Christ blesses is on that is in harmony with the Beatitudes.</p>

<p>Like the Phial of Galadriel that was a light in dark places when all other lights go out, we pay attention to Jesus as a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the Morning Star arises in our hearts.</p>

<p>Four o'clock in the afternoon is just four o'clock in the afternoon…unless you encounter Jesus in some new and unexpected way. When that happens, that four o'clock in the afternoon will change your life. Divine encounters are real—and though they cannot be scheduled or manufactured, they should be expected. These divine encounters or mystical experiences need not occur at some sacred time on in some especially spiritual place—they can occur in the most ordinary places at a most ordinary hour, like four o'clock in the afternoon.</p>

<p>For people who are like broken reeds and smoldering wicks, the tenderness of Christ is good news.</p>

<p>The story of the Wise Men from the East led by a star to worship the Christ child is one of the most enchanting stories in the gospel. And for two thousand years this story has fascinated artists of all kinds—painters and poets, composers and writers.</p>

<p>Incarnation is salvation. The moment the Word became flesh and joined the human race, salvation for humanity was guaranteed. Everything connected with this would have to play out in due course—a human life, death upon a cross, resurrection on the third day—but salvation for the human race was guaranteed the moment Mary said, “Be it unto me according to your word.” With the birth of Jesus, humanity would no longer be founded in Adam but founded in Christ. Incarnation is salvation.</p>

<p>In 735 BC Isaiah gave a prophecy to king Ahaz about a young woman giving birth to a boy called Immanuel—a prophecy that seemed to be fulfilled with the birth of Hezekiah and the destruction of Aram and Samaria. But there was to be a much deeper fulfillment of this prophecy—as deep as Sheol, as high as heaven—because the testimony of JESUS is the spirit of prophecy.</p>

<p>It’s very hard to take Messiah as he is, when you have your own expectations of what Messiah is supposed to do. But Advent is about waiting. So while we're waiting on the world to be saved, let’s take Christ as he is and not to make him do something or be something that isn't Christlike.</p>

<p>The royal monarchy of Judah was established by David, the youngest son of Jesse. But after two and a half centuries the Davidic monarchy was mostly a regime of corrupt kings. That's when Isaiah foresees a shoot, a branch, a new root from the line of Jesse who will be the sevenfold Spirit-anointed king who establishes righteousness and justice.</p>

<p>The Hebrew prophets were poets of profound imagination. Poetry was their medium for pronouncing judgment and for offering visions of hope. The Hebrew prophets were not pragmatists or political activiststhey were Spirit-inspired poets possessed with prophetic imagination. They could imagine a world that did not yet exist, but one they believed would come. And the among the greatest of the Hebrew poet-prophets is Isaiah son of Amoz.</p>

<p>In Jeremiah's day Jews had to learn how to live as exiles in Babylon. The New Testament refers to the baptized as citizens of heaven who also have to learn how to live as exiles in Babylon.</p>

<p>When asked about the resurrection, Jesus spoke of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as being alive to God. If we think carefully about this, it has enormous theological implications on how we understand when resurrection occurs.</p>

<p>John the Elder tells us that the world under the sway of the evil one is driven by pride, greed, and lust. (Think of how much advertising appeals to pride, greed, or lust.) This world (prophetically called Babylon) cannot be harnessed for good—even though religious ambition for political power imagines it can. The task of the church is not to reappropriate the engines of pride, greed, and lust, but to be something altogether different—the kingdom of Jesus Christ energized by faith, hope, and love.</p>

<p>"The nuns taught us that there are two ways through life—the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you will follow. Grace doesn't try to please itself, accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked; accepts insults and injuries. Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to Lord it over them, to have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it, when love is smiling through all things. They taught us the no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end. I will be true to you whatever comes."</p><p>- The Tree of Life</p>

<p>Job was a blameless man caught in a contest between the divine and diabolical that he knew nothing about. He lost his wealth, his health, and all ten of his children. His friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar come to comfort him but end up accusing him. Job defends his integrity in a series of poetic debates that lasts for 27 chapters. Then Elihu enters the story...</p>

<p>Job is a poetic book probably written in the fourth or fifth century BC, possibly written in Persia. The authors (there appears to be more than one) were almost certainly Israelites—but the story itself occurs outside of Israel and doesn't appear to have Jewish characters. The book is a poetic exploration of the problem of suffering and our response to it.</p>

<p>The prophets and psalmists of lament show us how to find faith and hold on to hope in the time of tears.</p>

<p>“I believe” is a powerful statement. When we express our faith in Jesus we are not saying one thing, but four things. The shape of faith is made up of four sides: belief (what we do with our minds), confidence (what we do with our hearts, trust (what we do with our bodies), and allegiance (what we do with our will). Growing as people of faith requires growing in all four areas. </p>

<p>Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God primarily in parables. These parables are not folksy illustrations to help us better understand the point—quite the opposite in fact. The parables of Jesus are often deliberately disorienting. Jesus wants to throw us off balance so that we might stumble into a previously unknown world—the world of God’s grace where many of our most common assumptions are subverted.</p>

<p>The gospel story of the cross says this: Because of God’s love the Son of God came into the world, and despite his actions of love, healing, and mercy, the Son of God was ultimately rejected, condemned, and crucified by a sinful world built upon violent power. And yet, in that moment, when the world did its very worst, the Crucified One was not condemning the world, but saving the world.</p>

<p>Sweet Sounds Of Heaven</p><p>by The Rolling Stones (feat. Lady Gaga)</p><p><br></p><p>I hear the sweet, sweet sounds of heaven</p><p>Fallin' down, fallin' down to this earth</p><p>I hear the sweet, sweetest sounds of heaven</p><p>Driftin' down, driftin' down to this earth</p><p><br></p><p>Bless the Father, bless the Son</p><p>Hear the sound of the drums</p><p>As it echoes through the valley</p><p>And it bursts</p><p>Let no woman or child</p><p>Go hungry tonight</p><p>Please protect us from the pain</p><p>And the hurt</p><p><br></p><p>I smell the sweet, sweet scents of heaven</p><p>Tumblin' down, tumblin' down</p><p>To the earth</p><p>I hear the sweet sounds, the sweet sounds of children</p><p>And they're praising</p><p>The land of their birth</p><p>No, I'm not, not going to hell</p><p>In some dusty motel</p><p>And I'm not, not going down</p><p>In the dirt</p><p>I'm gonna laugh, I'm gonna cry</p><p>Eat the bread, drink the wine</p><p>'Cause I'm finally, finally quenching</p><p>My thirst</p><p><br></p><p>You can't have a light without a little shadow</p><p>Always need a target for your bow and arrow</p><p>I want to be drenched in the rain of your heavenly love</p><p><br></p><p>Let the music, play loud</p><p>Let it burst through the clouds</p><p>And we all feel the heat</p><p>Of the sun</p><p>Let us sing, let us shout</p><p>Let us all stand up proud</p><p>Let the old still believe</p><p>That they're young</p>

<p>Beautiful Things</p><p>Benson Boone</p><p><br></p><p>For a while there, it was rough</p><p>But lately, I've been doin' better</p><p>Than the last four cold Decembers I recall</p><p>And I see my family every month</p><p>I found a girl my parents love</p><p>She'll come and stay the night</p><p>And I think I might have it all</p><p><br></p><p>And I thank God every day</p><p>For the girl He sent my way</p><p>But I know the things He gives me</p><p>He can take away</p><p><br></p><p>And I hold you every night</p><p>And that's a feelin' I wanna get used to</p><p>But there's no man as terrified</p><p>As the man who stands to lose you</p><p><br></p><p>Oh, I hope I don't lose you</p><p><br></p><p>Please stay</p><p>I want you, I need you, oh, God</p><p>Don't take</p><p>These beautiful things that I've got</p><p><br></p><p>Please stay</p><p>I want you, I need you, oh, God</p><p>Don't take</p><p>These beautiful things that I've got</p><p><br></p><p>Please don't take</p><p><br></p><p>I found my mind, I'm feelin' sane</p><p>It's been a while, but I'm findin' my faith</p><p>If everything's good and it's great</p><p>Why do I sit and wait 'til it's gone?</p><p><br></p><p>Oh, I'll tell ya, I know I've got enough</p><p>I've got peace, and I've got love</p><p>But I'm up at night thinkin'</p><p>I just might lose it all</p><p><br></p><p>Please stay</p><p>I want you, I need you, oh, God</p><p>Don't take</p><p>These beautiful things that I've got</p><p><br></p><p>Please stay</p><p>I want you, I need you, oh, God</p><p>I need</p><p>These beautiful things that I've got</p>