kculver. journeywithjesus

If a man has an apartment stacked to the ceiling with newspapers, we call him crazy. If a woman has a trailer house filled with cats, we call her nuts. But when people pathologically horde so much cash that they impoverish an entire nation, we put them on the cover of Fortune Magazine and pretend that they’re role models.

Stanley Donwood, artist and visual collaborator with Radiohead

“It is Finished!”

Nov 21, 2011
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do —John 17:4

The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr. His death was not something that happened to Him— something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.

Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us. That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ. It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.” God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ. God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death. “We see Jesus … for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor …” (Hebrews 2:9). The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!” (John 19:30). That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.

Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ. Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us. Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree. Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin. Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God. Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.

Oswald Chamber My Utmost for His Highest

You might have walked past it a few times at your local mall and wondered how they crammed the interior of a late-nineteenth century barn into a shopping center that was built in 2005. It is the store equivalent of a Wes Anderson film, which certainly helps to explain its appeal, but it is also the most efficient way for white women to look and (hopefully) live like Amélie.

Haha! A description of Anthropologie by

stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

Lord I know you’ll stay by my side
Forgive me for trying to hide

When you alone hold the words of life
Jesus In You alone I will die
In you alone I have life

I just want to see you glorified

I was waiting to find You
Were waiting for me
I was far too blind to
See you standing next to me

And now I have You
And You have me

“By My Side” by Josh White

If you don’t contextualize enough, no one’s life will be transformed because they won’t understand you. But if you contextualize too much, no one’s life will be transformed because you won’t be challenging their deepest assumptions and calling them to change

Tim Keller, as quoted by Christopher Lazo

How I love the world, but not be worldly? … Genesis 49:22 defines what it means to be in the world, but not of the world. It’s a verse… where… Jacob prays for his sons, and he says something interesting about Joseph—Joseph the godly one, the one who is most like Christ, one of the greatest examples of Christ-likeness in the Old Testament. It says, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; its branches run over a wall.” Now notice, there is a well of water. There is a tree planted by the well. The tree is pulling its life from that well. There is a wall that separates. There is a wall that separates the tree and the well from the rest of the world. The wall is a separation. But notice, as the tree grows, from the life-giving force of the well, the boughs do something interesting—they go up and… over the wall. And it is then that the people on the other side of the wall can pick the fruit from the branches and discover its life, without destroying the tree. And I believe that that is a picture of the Christian life. There is separation. There is something different about the way that we live. There is something different about the way that we think. There is someone different that we love. And through our life in Christ, we begin to produce fruit; and that fruit should be feeding those whom we come in contact with. But there is separation. “Be holy, as I am holy,” says the Lord. And there must be a change in the way that we think and process reality. And we have been given the Holy Spirit; there is no excuse for us not to be living differently.

Josh White

Seeking Answers…

For all you who just graduated or are about to this coming year, let me share some simple truth, that I’m sure many of you have heard before on countless occasions. Right after I graduated this past summer, I moved abroad to begin what has developed into a year and a half commitment to working with on non-profit humanitarian organization that emphasizes sustainable development in the southern border regions of Haiti. I have for some time now felt like God was calling me to follow Him to the island of Hispañola, to declare the gospel of Truth. As I prepared for the process, I weighed the options of partnering with believers here in my daily work while on the island, or with a humanitarian focus, not-strictly Christian organization. I chose the latter, in hopes of being able to shared to good news in my immediate context— with my co-workers.

In June, I got the word to head on down to join the team in Haiti. Within a week, I got the go-ahead, bought my plane tickets, and moved out of the country to a small town, “Pedernales,” on the south tip of the island, on the Dominican side of the border.

Although, I can surely say I wrestled with God before going and even once arriving— to strip myself of my fleshly wants, and seek to be sure that in the transition, I was going not because I thought God was calling me there to this place, to do this work, but that I was going because in walking with Him, I go where He goes, and I was going to come to know Him more and praise Him as He does His sweet work of sharing His love and goodness.

So if you are doing the whole eat, pray, love thing and planning a backpacking trip through Europe, to discover yourself or to figure out what you are meant to do with your life; or if you just got a new job, or are applying to grad school, or getting married— please be assured that your identity, who you are, what you are to do, etc. is dependent on these things or will be revealed through them.

Here it is.. that ol’ quote.

Luke 9:23 (NLT): Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Let us lose ourselves. Let us fall back, sink into our new natures— that of God, as He now dwells within us. Let us relax and let Him take the reigns. May we trade our hard yokes, for His that is easy, and our heavy burdens, for His that is light. May seek His face that His glory may shine on us and through us. And may we sweetly walk in step with the Holy Spirit. Here and only here, is it ways you truly come to know yourself and learn of the ways in which you get to be a part of His good work of ushering in the new Kingdom. Here and only here, He begins to speak of truth of exactly who you are— who He created you to be. He is your Heavenly Father, the Creator of all. He, who numbered the hairs on your head and knitted you together in your mother’s womb— as deep cry unto deep— the Holy Spirit bring revelation of who you truly are— as the One who made you set out for you to be. Be encourage. If you seek Him, you will find Him. And like the merciful father who desperately awaits his wandering, defiant, rebellious son, who rejected him (saying to his father that he was dead to him, in asking for his inheritance, and then producing to go off and blow everything with wild living)… The father, who despite it all, is crazy in love with a beautiful, pure, unconditional love LONGS, his heart aches for you to come to Him, that He may richly lavish His love on you— bringing you to live and live abundantly— the Father of lights longs to share every good and perfect thing with you— primarily Himself, as He is truly the best there is and could ever be. Here, you are welcomed and embrace. You are called “beautiful”, “beloved”, “cherished.” He delights in you. Come to Him, call Him out and come to be blessed far beyond you could ever imagine.

Oh the rich sweetness of wholesome talk and encouragement, seeking to glean wisdom and be increasingly purified— all which comes from Christ. May we be Christ-centered in our thought, speech and actions, seeking to renew our minds in coming to know and more clearly understand the Word that became flesh. May we speak life into one another. May the deep well-springs of our soul ring out with Truth.

Thought-for-Thought

Since no two languages are identical, either in the meanings given to corresponding symbols or in the ways in which such symbols are arranged in phrases and sentences, it stands to reason that there can be no absolute correspondence between languages. Hence there can be no fully exact translations.

This article reminded me of why I love the NLT so much, as it delivers the Truth in an eloquent, thoughtful manner that reads with such fluidity. As I have been living abroad, in a non-english speaking country, I have seen the wide popularity of thought-for-thought translation, in place of word-for-word. For example, because of the fact that expressions, certain words, and region-specific cultural terms sometimes do not have precise or exact translations; and because most often translations by sentences flow better than translations by individual word, films, television and other media are primarily translated thought-for-thought. If you are bilingual in the two languages represented, you may see slight, if not sometimes significant discrepancies between the two, but nonetheless, you note the language flows more smoothly, as the subject is logically described. Thus, I am coming to better understand the variances in natures between the two styles of translation and recognizing that although the thought-for-thought may be the better, more fluid translation, greater insight and depth can be found reading various translations ranging from thought-for-thought (i.e. the message, and more moderately, the NLT) and always word-for-word (ESV), and finding a balance between the two styles (like the NIV).

(Source: ht.ly)

When political elections come down to who can claim to love God the most, we all lose. Religious devotion and piety does not inherently equal governing competence.

When religion becomes merely another political trick, we all lose. The politicization of faith profanes the sacred.

My prayer is that candidates and voters will move away from confessional politics. As a committed Christian and former Baptist pastor, I do not wish to see religion excluded from the public square. However, giving religious beliefs too much weight in electoral decisions undermines the basic democratic values that have guided our nation for over two centuries.

The expectation that candidates talk about God and their personal religious beliefs shifts attention away from critical policy concerns, creates a de facto religious test for office and essentially disenfranchises those of minority faiths or who have no faith. Confession may be good for the soul, but it is not always good for democracy.

“When religion becomes merely another political trick, we all lose.” Brian T. Kaylor on CNN Belief, http://ht.ly/6unh5