DANIS LINUS

reblog: The Beautiful Paradox of Good Friday and the Final Words...

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:02:37 -0500

reblog: The Beautiful Paradox of Good Friday and the Final Words of Jesus

Originally posted on Good Friday - April 2, 2010

I was chatting with a friend on iChat earlier this morning and I wanted to recognize this important day but somehow “Happy Good Friday” just seemed inappropriate so I settled on a rather weak and cliche “God bless you and your family today.” It’s the best I could come up but I meant it knowing today should be a day of sober reflection for every follower of Christ.

Even the name “Good Friday” is paradoxical. It’s a good day for us but it wasn’t so good for him.

But I also find that Jesus’ final words carry a bit of paradox that a lot of people can relate to and resonate with. I know he was fufilling prophesy but it doesn’t diminish what I believe Jesus was really feeling in that moment and was honest enough to come right out with it…

Matthew 27:45-46: From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi,lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Have you ever felt this way? Ever felt like Almighty God was letting you down? Ever wondered, “What in the world are You waiting for? Step in and DO SOMETHING!”

I know I have. But, I love how God in his wonderful grace and mercy has placed things in his Word so human and so raw. It’s not the glossed over Gospel that is often times presented today. It’s real. It’s gritty. It’s to be wrestled with and grappled with.

The Beautiful Paradox of Good Friday and the Final Words of Jesus can be seen in his follow up to this incredible feeling of despair…

Luke 23:44-46: It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

The same God who Jesus felt had left him out to dry, was the same God he committed his life to… committed his spirit to… committed his pain to… committed his trust to.

Jesus is our perfect example. He’s the essence of beauty and life. So…

May you, on this day, even though you feel forsaken and torn and broken and bruised… even by God himself… turn to Him because he’s good. He’s loving. He’s faithful.

And He cares for me and you.

"The Bible does not counsel abstinence before marriage because it has such a low view of sex but..."

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:10:21 -0500

“The Bible does not counsel abstinence before marriage because it has such a low view of sex but because it has such a lofty one.”

- Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

today’s visual inspiration

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:00:05 -0500

today’s visual inspiration

"My latest mission is classified. All I can tell you is that it involves submarines, a tiger, a very..."

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:00:06 -0500

“My latest mission is classified. All I can tell you is that it involves submarines, a tiger, a very precious certain object that shall remain nameless, miles and miles of Sahara, and one Frenchwoman, coincidentally also named Sahara. Or so she wants me to think.”

- The Most Interesting Man in the World

today’s visual inspiration

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:00:06 -0500

today’s visual inspiration

"The Gospel is this: we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe yet at the..."

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:42:05 -0500

“The Gospel is this: we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”

- Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

today’s visual inspiration

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:13:06 -0500

today’s visual inspiration

"The picture of [a biblical] marriage is not of two needy people unsure of their value and purpose,..."

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:03:05 -0500

“The picture of [a biblical] marriage is not of two needy people unsure of their value and purpose, finding their significance and meaning in one another’s arms. If you add two vacuums to each other, you only get a bigger and stronger vacuum.”

- Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

Sweeping Beauty

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:48:52 -0500

Sweeping Beauty

LEGO Shuttle Takes Flight Into Outerspace on Weather...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:00:00 -0500

LEGO Shuttle Takes Flight Into Outerspace on Weather Balloon

I’ve seen a couple amateur weather balloon videos but none as cool as this.

via PSFK

In case you're in need of a little affirmation this morning, 30 seconds at this link should do the trick.

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:59:00 -0500

In case you're in need of a little affirmation this morning, 30 seconds at this link should do the trick.

today’s visual inspiration

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:00:05 -0600

today’s visual inspiration

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:00:05 -0600

today’s visual inspiration

What Logos Look Like to a 5-Year-Old via TWBE

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:00:06 -0600

What Logos Look Like to a 5-Year-Old

via TWBE

My top reads from the past year Use the arrows to scroll left...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:02:05 -0600

My top reads from the past year

Use the arrows to scroll left or right.

What have you been reading that should go in my queue?

today’s visual inspiration

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:02:06 -0600

today’s visual inspiration

LEGO Graffiti Two of my favorite things together in one...

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:22:00 -0600

LEGO Graffiti

Two of my favorite things together in one delightful YouTube video.

reblog: Confessing Temptation

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:03:06 -0600

Originally posted May 12, 2009

Some of the deepest and most meaningful conversations happen for me online through iChat. I won’t go into what some may assume is an aversion to “real” connectedness and the reasons for choosing indirect interaction as opposed to face-to-face. Get over it. It’s real.

Anyway, I was having a conversation a couple weeks ago with a friend and we were talking about life and struggles and sin and church and blogs and whatever. We were talking about temptations and here’s what I wrote…

I’m finding I have to be up front before [I stumble]
like I was always ashamed of the temptation
and so I’d wait
then confess the sin
it’s much harder for me to confess the temptation
but that’s where the safety is
and that’s the part of american church I guess I’ve been rebelling against
we don’t confess our temptations enough because we want people to think we’re above it
but there’s so much freedom and safety in confessing beforehand
even when it’s like… my heart isn’t in the right place
and to be able to admit that before you act on it
I don’t always get that right for sure but I’m learning

I’m reminded of a statement by Tozer that goes something like this: As humans we try and transcend our humanity and become like God; while God steps down from Heaven and embraces humanity and clothes himself in it through the man, Jesus Christ.

Why are we so afraid to admit our failures? And why, when we haven’t even sinned yet, are we so afraid to admit our frailties in the form of common temptation?

It’s pretty simple… the Church should be a safe place to confess our temptations. Maybe then, we wouldn’t be so consumed with creating forced accountability groups where we all sit in a chair and have to confess our sins.

today’s visual inspiration

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:02:06 -0600

today’s visual inspiration

“Crumbs of Hearsay” “I admit I once lived by...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:06:47 -0600

“Crumbs of Hearsay”

“I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand-from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry-forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.” - Job 42:5-6

I wonder how many of us live on “crusts of hearsay and rumor” of who God is, what he is like, and what he expects and requires.

It’s not lost on me that Job’s revelation comes after much suffering, pain, and subsequent wrestling and even accusing God.

And so I wonder… Could it be that suffering is the only gateway to firsthand knowledge of our Creator? Could it be that failure is actually the only stepping stone to a deeper understanding?

I realize this is not a very American view of Christianity and certainly not a Pentecostal one. In a culture (even church culture) that idolizes success as the primary thing, suffering is to be avoided, spurned, rebuked, and cast off at all costs.

But, might we corporately and individually be living on “crumbs of hearsay” and missing out on true relationship with God and each other as we rush through moments and seasons of struggle that assault our sense of justice and what we think we’re owed?

In our attempt to “cast off sin” quickly, could it be we are not learning anything about ourselves as we abort the process of understanding the very brokenness that drives those appetites and lusts?

Like an anorexic model, we choose appearing pretty and “all together” while we settle for the malnutrition of mere “crumbs”.

With Job, may we echo a new prayer in church life that says…

“I’m sorry-forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise!” because our hunger to know God “firsthand-with our own eyes and ears” is greater than our desire to avoid all pain in order to project the image of put-togetherness and perfection.