My Wish to All My Friends!

Hey guys!

It's Valentine's Day!

To all my 'coupled/married' friends, I wish you a wonderful day where you can reflect upon and celebrate the relationship that you and your loved-one share!

To my single friends, I wish you a Happy Single's Awareness Day (which, ironically, can be acronymned as S.A.D.).

I know I blogged last year about how absurd the expense of Valentine's Day truly is, but I do have a newfound hope in romance. Maybe I'm turning high maintenance or something. But enough of my aspirations of white or pink roses (and yes, that could be a hint for one of you out there...), I have really come to talk about a different kind of love.

That's right, the love that Christ offered to us with the horrifically moving event that took place on the Cross.

While it in no way could really be seen as a thing of beauty in the eyes of anyone who would have been alive to witness that event, I have really come to an understanding in my own personal relationship with Jesus that the very event of the Cross could very well be considered the most romantic thing I've ever seen (of course, this would be in the nonsexual way).

Now, I'm going to do a bit of Nasser stealing right now (and might I add a shameless plug: A Call to Die- April 2006, who's in???). I heard a quite simple sermon about Ephesians 2, where Paul tells us all about becoming alive in Christ.

Jesus loved us so much that he literally created a way to give us Spiritual mouth-to-mouth so that we could no longer suffer. Now, I realize that the epitomy of romance for people my age about 9 years ago would have been that scene in Titanic where Jack lets Rose sit on that door(... or was it a piece of driftwood?) so that she could survive the wreck, but Jesus really takes the cake here. Because of His death, I am now alive in Him! WOO HOO!

I'm also reminded of that scene in Narnia where Aslan offers his life for Edmund's. I almost cried (whoever doesn't believe Narnia is a Christian allegory needs to be slapped!). Edmund did everything short of sleeping with the white witch, and I'm sure he would have likely done that as well, had he been older, and as a traitor, he was to be sentenced to death. Aslan, a King who was pure of heart, humbly offers himself to pay the consequence of death in Edmund's place.

Anyway, I think the point I'm trying to make here is that if you haven't given Jesus a chance, or have given up on Him altogether because some experience left a bad taste in your mouth, you really should look at the facts:

1. You are a sinner (romans 3:3)
2. You are condemned to hell because your sins have seperated you from God (romans 6:3)
3. Jesus, as a perfect sacrifice, was subjected to a horrific death, and then conquered death itself, making it possible for man to be reconciled with God (good ol' John 3:16)
4. In order to be in on it (and by "it", I mean "staying out of hell"), you need to believe it (in your heart, not your head). (romans 10:9)

Now, I must add that simply believing in Jesus like you once believed in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy probably isn't going to cut it (even demons and satan himself acknowledge who Jesus is). It's a heart thing. In New Testament times, believing in Jesus meant a total life change, you would be welcomed into an entirely new Church family! It meant falling in love with God (i.e. reading your Bible, praying, fasting, giving to the poor, etc!), and living a life in the mindset that you are now alive in Christ- not dead because of the world. So, if you're interested in becoming a Christian, don't think of it as filling out an application form to join the Legion... this is a life-changing experience!

For those of us who do believe-

1.I totally encourage you to dig deeper right now (don't put it off for some other time), find out who God is to you, and why you love Him so much

2. Encourage another believer! As the church, we're called to encourage each other and build each other up, not tear each other down!

3. Share the gospel with someone. It really is good news, and there isn't one good excuse you could tell me that would let you off the hook for this one!

4. Never stop showing the world the love that God has extended to us!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!