This is in reference to a sermon this past week given by my Sr. Youth pastor, PDG (again, I don't want to breach any crazy privacy laws or anything). These are my rough notes along with some additional commentary on the crucifixion of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and the history of crucifixion altogether.
-Via Delorosa = the Road to Golgotha that Jesus walked with a 100lb cross on his back. Approximately 650 yards (or 6.5 football fields).
What really happened at the cross (Physically and Spiritually)?
The History of Crucifixion...
-Invented by Persians 500 years before the birth of Jesus.
-Perfected by the Romans
-Hitler crucified Jews
-Still happens today
-It's quite possibly the worst death consequence
What would people endure during crucifixion?
-Intense beating and flogging
-Ridicule and mocking
-Made to carry cross
-5-7 inch through hands, wrists and/or feet
-Intense convulsions, defecation and urination (basically total loss of bladder and bowels), weeping
-They wouldn't die from blood loss or beating, but asphyxiation (or suffocation)
-The word "excruciating" was invented to describe crucifixion and it literally translates to "from the cross"
-Eventually, the victim would stop holding their body up and suffocate to death on the cross
-The Romans put up a board for the victim to sit on so that they couldn't suffocate, but suffer longer
-Men would bend their backs in such a way so that they would either break their own backs and die quicker, or they would get off the chair and suffocate. To prevent such things, the Romans would take a spike and nail the men to the wooden blocks by their penis so that they couldn't escape.
How is this a good thing?
1) Jesus is alone without sin (John 8:46, Hebrews 4:15)
2) We ALL have sin (Romans 3:23)
3) The result of sin is death (Genesis 2:16-17)
4) Jesus didn't just die for our sin... Jesus became our sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)- For God made Christ, who never sinned, to become our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
In that moment on the cross, Jesus became the worst in all of us. He became the worst of us and had it put to death.
Martin Luther- The Great Exchange: Jesus became the sacrifice, the spotless lamb to the slaughter (in reference to the animal sacrifices done to be forgiven of sin before Jesus Christ came to be the ultimate sacrifice). He died in our place for our sins.
Jesus lived the life that we could never have lived, and he died the death that we all deserve.
In these next passages, if you do end up reading them (strongly recommended), note the keyword "for."
-Isaiah 53:5 (*Note: this verse is prophetic, as it was written many years before Jesus came to earth)
-Romans 4:25
-Romans 5:8
-1 Peter 3:18
However, all of this in no way is your "get to Heaven free" pass... we must personally accept Jesus into our hearts, minds, souls and lives. He did this for us!!!
The cry of my heart is the same as that of the thief who died next to Jesus...
"God, as you enter your Kingdom, remember me."
That day, my Father, my Friend, my God was put to death. How can we believe this and not be moved? The cross is horrific. The problem is sin, and the answer is Jesus.
The bottom line is, He did this all just because he loves us... you, me, everyone. He just wants us to be able to spend eternity with Him. To be able to hug Him, chill with Him, talk with Him, and all that amazing stuff in Heaven! He died quite possibly the worst death just so that us, dorky little screwups could be with Him. All we have to do is listen to Him, acknowledge Him in our day to day living, and be His friend, His co-worker, His employee. Accept Him... He has already accepted you, and He's calling you to Him.
All for us. (8)Your body's the bread, and your blood is the wine because you traded your life for mine(8) (Sea of Faces, Kutless).
Anyways, this is incredibly long... regardless, I hope this means something to someone else other than myself out there. Take the time to read this. It's worth it ;)
Thanks PDG for this amazing sermon and an awesome evening (Sunday, March 16th, 2008)
God Bless!!!!
Love is the movement!
TSharr
Monday, March 17, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Say
Take all of your wasted honour
Every little past frustration
Take all of your so-called problems,
Better put 'em in quotations
Say what you need to say.
Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead,
If you only could...
Say what you need to say.
Have no fear for giving in
Have no fear for giving over
You'd better know that in the end
It's better to say too much
Than never say what you need to say again
Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open.
Say what you need to say.
By John Mayer
From the film, "The Bucket List"
Download it... I'm learning it and it's fun :)
Peace out and God Bless
TSharr
Every little past frustration
Take all of your so-called problems,
Better put 'em in quotations
Say what you need to say.
Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead,
If you only could...
Say what you need to say.
Have no fear for giving in
Have no fear for giving over
You'd better know that in the end
It's better to say too much
Than never say what you need to say again
Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open.
Say what you need to say.
By John Mayer
From the film, "The Bucket List"
Download it... I'm learning it and it's fun :)
Peace out and God Bless
TSharr
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Greetings + Casper
So, I finally decided to make one of these. There has been too many times when there's something that I just need to ramble about, but I either don't have anyone willing to listen to me, or I don't feel like writing ten pages. And I'm actually really excited about making this because it's been proven that writing down your feelings and thoughts and stuff helps you sort it all out, plus maybe I'll gain some knowledge about myself when I look back on all the stuff I wrote.
Anyways, my first post is going to be mainly refering to..... yes, a girl, actually one who I am currently speaking with. You might notice that this is going to be a popular topic with me, seeing as how my life isn't screwed up, and I'm not a deep, life-pondering person... not all the time, anyways. When a girl, especially one I like alot, bothers me, it's a big thing. For privacy purposes, let's just refer to this girl as... Casper... don't ask me why. And who knows? Maybe you've a got a Casper in your life, too.
So, simply put, there's this girl, Casper. I've liked her for years now, and as the years went on, my feelings only grew progressively stronger. They've not wavered nor retreated in any way, shape or form. Recently, not long before Valentines Day, I found out from her directly (even though I'd had many other sources tell me that she did) that she liked me back, and for a long time as well. Cool, right? So I bought her a gift for Valentines Day, everything was cool, and, technically I could say things still are cool. Except, now, I've started to feel like she has a problem acknowledging her feelings for me anywhere where there's another person around. Sometimes I can barely get more than a quick glance, which is extremely frustrating.
Recently, she's started this thing where she calls me "bud" or "buddy." Now, I don't know about other people, but when I say buddy, I'm normally refering to a smaller child, or even an animal or something. Bottom line is, when someone calls me "buddy," it makes me feel belittled. When the girl I've liked for years calls me that, it makes me feel frustrated and basically, it only further drives me to the conclusion that she doesnt like me very much, if at all. This girl is a challenge... and I'm up for the challenge. Honestly, I prefer having to actually work, think, feel, and fight for this girl. She's not like those girls who just like you and make-out with you the first chance they get. I rarely even get hugs, and she only holds my hand in the dark when not many people can see (normally during movies), but then again that doesnt even happen very often any more. I send her a text or two like everyday, or every other day, just inquiring about how school went, or something like that, and she will reply. But I think she's only texted me once (that I can remember) to see whats up or whatever. Am I missing something here? Is it some crazy thing that I didn't hear about where the girls aren't supposed to text the guys?
I fear I have these unhealthy feelings deep inside of me (and I don't think I'm the only one) to make her desire me the way I do her (which is not sexually, but very purely). There's days where I want to make her jealous so that she will want me, or days where I want to go away for a while so that she'll miss me. Stupid stuff like that. But I'm really starting to think she doesn't care. Her close friends reassuring me that she still likes me is no longer a valid means of consolence.
Maybe it's me... I have my days where I can be a little more quiet and subdued, and maybe even a bit awkward. Who doesn't? But I generally go out of my way to speak with her, or I'll text her, or message her somehow, or tell her how awesome she is and how much she means to me. No word of it is a lie. Maybe she was just never really into me in the first place. But then why would she say she was? Why would all her friends be so excited about telling me something she said about me, or telling me that they can't tell me something she said about me? Casper is an Ice Queen! And I'm obviously missing something here. I hate this feeling that I'm in a relationship (no, not a dating one) where I'm doing all the liking and she is just taking it in. I'm so vulnerable to her, and if she was that kind of person, she could tear me down to nothing. (8)I worry, I throw my fear around. But baby, you've got my only heart(8). Anyways, I've said enough for my first entry. I don't know how this site works, or if people comment it or whatever.
Anyways, I'm out. Peace and God Bless.
TSharr
Anyways, my first post is going to be mainly refering to..... yes, a girl, actually one who I am currently speaking with. You might notice that this is going to be a popular topic with me, seeing as how my life isn't screwed up, and I'm not a deep, life-pondering person... not all the time, anyways. When a girl, especially one I like alot, bothers me, it's a big thing. For privacy purposes, let's just refer to this girl as... Casper... don't ask me why. And who knows? Maybe you've a got a Casper in your life, too.
So, simply put, there's this girl, Casper. I've liked her for years now, and as the years went on, my feelings only grew progressively stronger. They've not wavered nor retreated in any way, shape or form. Recently, not long before Valentines Day, I found out from her directly (even though I'd had many other sources tell me that she did) that she liked me back, and for a long time as well. Cool, right? So I bought her a gift for Valentines Day, everything was cool, and, technically I could say things still are cool. Except, now, I've started to feel like she has a problem acknowledging her feelings for me anywhere where there's another person around. Sometimes I can barely get more than a quick glance, which is extremely frustrating.
Recently, she's started this thing where she calls me "bud" or "buddy." Now, I don't know about other people, but when I say buddy, I'm normally refering to a smaller child, or even an animal or something. Bottom line is, when someone calls me "buddy," it makes me feel belittled. When the girl I've liked for years calls me that, it makes me feel frustrated and basically, it only further drives me to the conclusion that she doesnt like me very much, if at all. This girl is a challenge... and I'm up for the challenge. Honestly, I prefer having to actually work, think, feel, and fight for this girl. She's not like those girls who just like you and make-out with you the first chance they get. I rarely even get hugs, and she only holds my hand in the dark when not many people can see (normally during movies), but then again that doesnt even happen very often any more. I send her a text or two like everyday, or every other day, just inquiring about how school went, or something like that, and she will reply. But I think she's only texted me once (that I can remember) to see whats up or whatever. Am I missing something here? Is it some crazy thing that I didn't hear about where the girls aren't supposed to text the guys?
I fear I have these unhealthy feelings deep inside of me (and I don't think I'm the only one) to make her desire me the way I do her (which is not sexually, but very purely). There's days where I want to make her jealous so that she will want me, or days where I want to go away for a while so that she'll miss me. Stupid stuff like that. But I'm really starting to think she doesn't care. Her close friends reassuring me that she still likes me is no longer a valid means of consolence.
Maybe it's me... I have my days where I can be a little more quiet and subdued, and maybe even a bit awkward. Who doesn't? But I generally go out of my way to speak with her, or I'll text her, or message her somehow, or tell her how awesome she is and how much she means to me. No word of it is a lie. Maybe she was just never really into me in the first place. But then why would she say she was? Why would all her friends be so excited about telling me something she said about me, or telling me that they can't tell me something she said about me? Casper is an Ice Queen! And I'm obviously missing something here. I hate this feeling that I'm in a relationship (no, not a dating one) where I'm doing all the liking and she is just taking it in. I'm so vulnerable to her, and if she was that kind of person, she could tear me down to nothing. (8)I worry, I throw my fear around. But baby, you've got my only heart(8). Anyways, I've said enough for my first entry. I don't know how this site works, or if people comment it or whatever.
Anyways, I'm out. Peace and God Bless.
TSharr
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