Bebo Norman - Here Goes

Surrender to God (=) Engagement to Purpose

    Surrender to God means to Engage to/into "Purpose"

What is Purpose?
Everyone has their own definition it seems...
 And the fact is I would leave the whole debate out there on the street, and let them have their
"purpose"... But since I've come in contact with purpose I'm not going to act like I'm athiest.
 "purpose" is all a matter or  point of view and opinion right?  Nah,  Truth is not
subject to opinion and theory, No - if you believe that the Bible is true, than you must believe Christ is true, and that the Gospel is true, and so therefore Truth lines up with the word of God...

     What does Christ say?

      "Follow Me",

Which means : Love
Which means : Relationship
Which means :Trust
Which means :Servitude
Which means :Sacrifice
Which means : Endurance
Which means : Battle
Which means : Training
Which means : Message
Which means : Gifts
Which means : Sharing
Which comes back to
Love -and perhaps a
re-run of the above

 So I'm hit with this "Purpose "alll at once...

Christ says "Follow Me"
...have we forgotten that?

Or do we believe that
Christianity is this:

Believe Christ is who He said He was, and than say
"Lord; follow me"...

Follow us?
what?!
This is what most of us seem to do...instead of living
like we are already responsible to someone for our lives and our freedom,
and instead of living out the gospel message of "Devotion to Christ", we live
as if He 'owed 'us what He gave us, and we receive His death on the cross, and now we
will live "perfect sinnless' little lives all so we can all go live "unashamed of the gospel" and then
live the rest or our lives for ourselves, and give the
"rest" of our hearts to our desires, and donate the rest of our strength to our own glory..
God said to love Him with what? "All" our hearts, souls, minds, strength. How can a
person really be loving someone with all their heart, soul, mind, strength -when they're living
for "themselves", and their top priority is to be "great in the eyes of others"?

...and the little bit of Christianity we have left, is it just really our "self-righteous pride" after all?

Well, back to that statment "Lord, follow me".
Hum, yeah sounds familiar: many of us go to college just to bank upon future
"self recognition" from the "world", "success" ah, we must have it...why?
well it puffs us up good enough, I mean after all, most of us know we don't
have perfect personalities, we fail at times, some of us may just feel hopeless
we fail God at times, we fail others: so why not bank upon some sort of
worth, right? Anyhow, so we put God on the backburnner for 5 years and
then stand up on the stage qoute "God will help me reach my dream"
and "He has great plans for me"...well please do read the whole scripture
when you qoute, cause when it's talking about plans, it usually ends with
God:  for He will do this or that - for who? "For those who Love Him, and are called
according to "His" Purpose...hum? If we Love Him won't we live like we
do? We are called according to "who's" purpose? God's ...
Who are called? Those who love Him.
 How do you love Him?
First you must truly recognize His love for You...it's hard not to love someone
who would put their life on the line for you, it's hard not to love someone
who died for you, it's hard not to love someone who sacrificed His royalty
to come serve you, it's hard not to love someone who heals you, who
comforts you, who washes the dirt from your feet..
Are we heartless?
Or are we deaf?
Christ says "Follow",
it is the narrow path my friends,
few are they that trod it...
wide is the way to distruction.

So He came down from heaven, not just
any royalty "The flesh of God"
Jesus... Seperated himself from His royal place
beside the Father, and died so that you would
not have to perrish for your mistakes.
Rose again, in all proof of His Holliness,
and Sits on High, as your intersessor...

Jesus says "Come Follow"...
 "Inherit Eternal Life"...

And I'm stirred with no greater Purpose,
 Than to serve Him
 who made me.

Christ Proposing to You

This is Purpose Proposing...Drink the wine, eat the bread...
Christ is Purpose...He proposes out of Love, and you accept through  believing in His "Act of Proposal" - namely "the sacrifice on the cross"...after this, through living a life of Purpose...how? By living in the Love of Christ...By Recognizing the Love of God, Sharing the Love of God, and Living for Christ in return...How do we live purposefully? Through Love...Have you accepted the proposal of God? Have you married the Bridge Groom through His blood, and yet still find yourself searching for other lovers? Your Original Salvation scene may just be your initial "marriage" to Christ, but after that you have to "live out" your love...our flesh may  not desire so much to serve the Christ; but how is there "love" without "servitude" or "sacrifice"? It is a continual journey being "married to the lamb of God" aka "being a Christian", just like marriage between a man and a woman. You can get "married", but everyday from then forth you have the choice to either choose love or selfishness...Every day is a new day of choice... every day...and since marriage is supposed to be "forever", God will always do His part in loving you..the question is whether you will do your part or not...But truly, if our hearts are "Christ's" then we will love with all our beings! but if our hearts are only "half" or "a part" Christ's, then how can we expect to be acting selflessly with our lives toward Him? For if a our hearts, minds, strength, -is  not really "Christ's" ...then how will our hearts remain pure? how will our minds think on Him only? and how will our muscle, actions, hobbies, goals, produce anything truly "for" or "glorifying" to God?
We are all told to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, strength, - but only through "truly' being in "love" with Him, can we  even attempt to "go harder" for Him...

Beloved - by: Mike Donehey

This Blog Entry is from the site tenthavenuenorth.com
It was written by Mike Donehey the lead singer
of the band Tenth Avenue North...It is Titled after
Their song: Beloved

...The disciples must have thought Jesus was crazy. Seriously. I can only imagine their faces. So confused, so perplexed, uncomfortably glancing back and forth between each other, wondering if they had misheard, wondering if someone could help them understand. Meanwhile, you got Jesus, unnerved, unfazed, just sitting there cooly, looking them dead in the eyes, asking them to marry Him. Yes, you heard me right…marry Him. With nothing more than a cup of wine, no less, the Lamb of God was proposing. So you can imagine their confusion right? “Wait. What? Come again? Jesus, you feeling alright brotha? I mean, I don’t think that I’m exactly what you’re looking for! You want to think about what you’re saying for a minute?”
Of course, we don’t see it that way, because we’re not Jewish. But they were, and they did. See it that way, I mean. “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” We hear these words and we think Communion, Eucharist, Last Supper. The disciples heard this and they’re thinking wedding bells.
Apparently, “In those days,” when a Hebrew man decided to take for Himself a Hebrew woman, he’d go to his father and say, “Her, Dad. I want to make little rabbis with her.” So then the dad would go to her dad and they’d talk camels, or sheep, or whatever the payment was going to be, and after they’d settled on a figure, the groom would call in all his friends and family, set a table in the middle of a room, set the aforementioned girl down in front of said table, break out a cup, fill it with wine, and set it in front of her saying, “This is my covenant with you, take and drink it.” And if she did, that was her answer. With a simple gulp and swig, she was saying, “I do,” and that was it. No rings, no fancy songs or dinners, just a cup and an invitation. And oh yeah, all their relatives sitting in the room watching. I mean, talk about pressure. But yeah, that was it. Her lips to the glass was the same as saying, “I accept your life, and I give you mine in return.”
Now, If the girl said yes, “in those days,” she would then go immediately back to her home, where she would be known as, “one who was bought with a price.” It’s true. That was her name. Kind of long and tedious, and extremely hard to shout out in a game of soccer, but that was it. And with her new identity, she would go back to her town, and start preparing for the wedding. And really, she’d just start waiting for future husband to finish what he had to do and come and get her. What was he doing? Well, during the engagement, the groom’s primary responsibility was to build a mansion for him and his bride to be.
Now girls, before you get too excited, let me explain. “Mansion” in Hebrew means, “apartment.” And what’s even better is that this apartment was actually more like an addition, because the groom would build it onto his parents pre-existing house. Yes. You heard me correctly. Their first home would be with the in-laws. And right now, I can just imagine how many girls are thinking, “oh please don’t let me marry a Jewish boy.” It’s true though. He would build his “mansion” onto the family “insula,” which is what they would call the family dwelling. You see, the entire family would just keep building on and building on until you had what was basically a city block, all comprised of one big bustling Jewish family. (And you thought My Big Fat Greek Wedding was bad) Crazy, but also true.
Well, as you can imagine, this process could take quite a while. I mean, it’s a house for crying out loud. Some scholars say it was six months, or even a year before the poor guy was finished. And get this, the only one who could decide if it was finished was the father. So he’d be working and working and working, and every day looking to his dad, saying, “Are we done yet?” And I can just imagine the father messing with him. Taking his time, looking it over, and then just saying, “Almost.” Could you imagine? Oh, the agony! And to top it all off, the groom and the bride weren’t even allowed to talk to each other. Nothing. Nada. Zip. They couldn’t see or speak to one another during the entire engagement, except for one outlet. The best man. He’d be the instant messenger if you will. Taking notes back and forth between the doting couple. And those moments were probably pretty funny. “Here’s your note, ‘one who was bought with a price.’ Check yes, no, or maybe.” Unbelievable.
But you know, how much more beautiful would that day be when the father finally approved? That day when the groom was finally finished, and he could gather up his homeboys, or ‘groomsmen’ as we westerners would say, and imperiously march into his fiance’s town? Oh it was sweet. And that’s just what he’d do. He’d get his bridal party together and they’d come to her house, and without any prior announcement or advanced warning, they would blow a shofar, which was a ram’s horn that served as a trumpet, and upon hearing it, the pining bride would come bustling out her front door and practically straight down the aisle, and into her beloved’s arms. The period of waiting and wanting would be over, and the two would be united at last to consummate their long-awaited union. Joy. Happiness. Little Rabbis… You know, all the good stuff.
So then, back to the dinner table with the 12. Can you sense where this is going? Jesus breaks into this marriage proposal, cup out, wine-filled, offering his covenant with them. They accept. “I do” to Jesus. Gulp, gulp. “I accept your life, and I give you mine in return.” So then, what does Jesus do? He explains how they have to spend some time apart. Naturally. Only this is going to be longer than a year. However, the best man was coming. His name? The Holy Spirit. So when Jesus leaves, off to get busy preparing a “mansion” for them, (“in my Father’s house there are many rooms”) He doesn’t leave them alone, but instead sends His own mediator, the Holy Spirit, to keep the messages going between Himself and his Beloved. Meanwhile, the bride is left behind in her town, keeping watch, day and night, not knowing the day, time or hour that the bridegroom will appear. Until finally, after a long-awaited return, and we’re talking seriously, long awaited; centuries and milleniums waited people, after this much awaited consummation, the Father alone will announce that the time has come, and Jesus will be coming back for all His faithful, all who are His bride. With a posse of angels and loud trumpet call of their own, He will take us home, to the marriage supper of the Lamb! And we will share in ever-increasing joy and intimacy with Him forever and ever. As C.S. Lewis so brilliantly articulated, “Further up and further in!”
And people still want to insist that Christianity is no more than a religion.
I don’t know about you but in light of this information, it puts Jesus in an entirely different light. He’s no longer an ideal, or a belief system. He’s a person. And to put it more precisely, He is a groom in love with his bride. And not just any bride, but a wayward, adulterous bride. A bride who is half-hearted at best, chasing other lovers and other interests more than Him. And still, He keeps on loving. He keeps on being faithful, He keeps his promises.
In the Old Testament, He tells his prophet Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman, to show everyone the way He loves his people. (see Hosea 3) In the New, He tells us that divorce will never be an option for Him. (Phil 1:6) Over and over and over again, From Isaiah, to Ezekiel, to Ephesians, He tells us that we are not just his children, but we are his bride. Faithless though we might be, we are His, and He is ours.
And like I said before, this changes everything. It changes the way I view prayer. It changes the way I view marriage. It even changes the reasons that I obey. As Donald Miller once said, “it’s a far different thing to break a rule, than it is to cheat on a lover.” I only pray that it changes things for you.
   - Mike Donehey (from band: Tenth Avenue North)

The Truth is Who You Are Lyrics

The Truth is Who You Are - Tenth Avenue North

“it would be easier if you were just a thought in my head
simply something that I once read
a belief needing my defense
and it would be easier if you were something I once knew
a hope just to hold on to
but you’re holding out your hands

chorus:
cause you came to take us back to the start
you came to touch the hardness of our hearts
you gave us truth that truth is who you are
it’s who you are

and it’s not enough to just say, ‘I believe.’
Cause truth is that talk is cheap
so grace give me eyes to see

flesh and blood you offer us
oh to eat the bread and drink the cup
oh to taste to see to feel to touch
Emmanuel God with us
Emmanuel God with us”

....it doesn’t matter how much Scripture and philosophy I know, what matters is what I do with it. Ironically, having a lot of information about Jesus can often be the very thing that keeps us from Him. We delude ourselves into thinking that Jesus is nothing more than a fact on a page. An idea to comprehend, a moral to ascribe to. And believe me, He’s much more than that. He is our life, our breath, and the pulse within our veins. He is before, behind, and all around. Over. Underneath. Inside. In between. - Mike Donehey

Tenth Avenue North - Love Is Here