Overlords, Overseers, and a Glimmer

by The RevNo Comments
Last week I wrote that we have experienced an epic fail regarding our roles as ambassadors for the Creator to the creation. We rebelled and separated ourselves. We lost our way and began a corrupting process that led to shame and guilt (the first sin was Adam’s silence followed quickly by fratricide, that’s one heck of a spiral).The story though is just beginning. Thankfully we are not the heroes or the centerpieces of this story. A good story needs a hero who desires something and overcomes conflict to get it.The story that I am talking about has a hero, God. He wants something, relationship with people. So, what is he doing to get it? That’s the question I want look at.It started in Genesis 3: And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21 ESV) If you look a few verses earlier you see that Adam and Eve were experiencing shame from being...
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Epic Fail

by The RevNo Comments
In my previous post we looked at our identity as image bearers of the Creator King. We saw that humanity is called to follow its Creator in creation as representatives and ambassadors.But, something is not right.The original ambassadors for the King failed. They failed and as a result they sent all future generations into despair and exile. The man, Adam our representative head, was silent as his wife was deceived and drawn into sin.From this moment on humanity was in a state of brokenness. We were lost and dead. The consequences extended to how humanity related to one another and to the creation. We no longer functioned as the King’s ambassadors but as traitors to the throne.We corrupted it all.We broke everything.Separation was natural.As a result we went to war to with our natural calling as human beings. We set aside our freedom for law. Enslaved by a self-centeredness that is tangible to every aspect of life.We lost our way....
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In the Beginning…

by The RevNo Comments
God created…Did you catch that? God created.God made. God did. God acted.What did he create? Quite simply, everything. He created it all and he did it well. You might even say perfectly.One of the things he created was a human being, “male and female he created them.” We learn from Genesis: “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living...
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Welcome to the Jungle

by The RevNo Comments
I am reading a great book by Dick Staub entitled, The Culturally Savvy Christian. As I have been reading it, I keep hearing amens and alleluias rumble inside my head. I think it’s because this guy has written a book that I would have loved to write.I can’t write the book, he already did.What I can do though is bring some focus to this little corner of the cybernet and discuss a bit what I think it means for the church to engage culture.Welcome to the Jungle, it should be an interesting journey....
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Can You Feel It Coming…

by The RevNo Comments
It seems as though there is something huge waiting to break through. I can’t put my finger on it but there is something almost tangible enveloping my heart, mind, and soul. Have you ever felt this way?Naysayers don’t seem to have any power. The vision, the mission, the dream are in front of me and yet it seems as though there is a fog that causes me to not quite be able to fully comprehend.So I actively wait.Faithful to the things that are clear and before me.Hopeful for the things that wrapped in the mystery of the fog.Thankful for the sovereignly good God within whose kingdom I serve....
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A Baby, A Cross, and a Catharsis

by The RevNo Comments
Don’t we all love the prayer scene from Talladega Nights? httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7pco3TTV5k OK, maybe not all of us. But, I sure do. What strikes me is that today is the day when we all celebrate “sweet baby Jesus”. On Christmas Eve we watched a full slate of classic Christmas movies for kids and all of them dealt with skepticism regarding the existence of Santa. At the end of the day the point was always, “Christmas is about helping poor people” or some derivation. In my head though this wasn’t ringing true. I am becoming more and more convinced that Advent and Christmas cannot be separated from the Cross. The Magi brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh, all important for middle eastern burials. Jesus was most likely born near Passover (that’s a discussion for another time) and he died at Passover. The Lamb of God born at Passover, the Bread of Life born in the City of Bread. What is Christmas about? It’s simple, it’s about a Cross...
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I Can See Clearly Now…

by The RevNo Comments
…the rain is gone,I can see all obstacles in my wayGone are the dark clouds that had me blindIt’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)Sun-Shiny day. It’s funny how clarity can change things. After the first big winter storm the schools were all closed and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader had just been released, so we packed into the car and headed to the show. The roads weren’t too bad but there was a constant spattering of stuff on my windshield. I hit the mister and nothing happened except for the mud and grime to smear. The realization of traveling on an expressway with no visibility was a little nerve racking. This got worse as I had to slowly make way around the exit ramp cloverleaf without falling off the side. I learned a timeless that day: Clarity IS important. In the previous post we talked about the importance of language. Here’s the thing though: language without clarity is useless. This hit home...
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Watch Your Language!

by The RevNo Comments
Sa a se bagay ki pi enpòtan ke ou te ka janm li. Ou ka li li l ’? Si ou pa kapab alò ou pa pral kapab konprann. Ou dwe konprann! Frape, frape! Ki moun ki la a? Ou. Ki ou? Oh pa kriye, li jis yon blag!I think that I have heard the words, “Watch your language!” more than I could ever imagine. It turns out that when I was younger I did not have much of a filter. It also turns out that as an adult I do not have much of a filter. Every day my poor wife has to remind what not to say.Don’t you feel bad for her? I do.My issues are not the point of this post, however. The issue is language. Could you read the opening few sentences? Unless you are some sort of awesome linguist, then probably not.If you are a follower of Jesus you speak a secret language, a language...
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