Truth Inspires

As shouts of Hosanna ring out across the land I wanted to shout mine out too! This week is by far the most important week in the life of Christ. Oh how He loves you and I!!  This week maginifies one very unique thing about Jesus and that is He not only loves those who believe in Him but He loves all sinners and bids us all to come before Him to receive sweet release. John was right on when he shared that, "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Can it get any better than that? Hope is written all over that passage and Jesus is the one who brought it. It was this week nearly two-thousand years ago, on a long afternoon, that a weeping widow had to watch her Son die a very cruel death; simultaneously the heavenly Father turned His face from the sin and torture that Jesus was going through. The consolation of obedience was the victory His death would bring over sins penalty of death and hell. But the Bible doesn't leave Jesus on the cross or in the gr...

Crosses, gallows, guns, nooses, and chemical injections all have one thing in common, they are instruments used to torture and execute. "In antiquity crucifixion was considered one of the most brutal and shameful modes of death. Probably originating with the Assyrians and Babylonians, it was used systematically by the Persians in the 6th century BC. Alexander the Great brought it from there to the eastern Mediterranean countries in the 4th century BC, and the Phoenicians introduced it to Rome in the 3rd century BC. It was virtually never used in pre-Hellenic Greece. The Romans perfected crucifixon for 500 years until it was abolished by Constantine I in the 4th century AD. Crucifixion in Roman times was applied mostly to slaves, disgraced soldiers, Christians and foreigners—only very rarely to Roman citizens. [Death ranged from 6 hours to 4 days.]... The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died , and were known to precipitate death ...

Recently Mark Schultz, contemporary Christian artist, wrote a beautiful song entitled, "Walking Her Home." It follows a string of other tear jerking "Life" songs from various artists that touch all of our hearts, sometimes even bringing tears. These type of songs are very idealist in that they make us for a moment empathize with the depth of love a man can indeed have for his spouse. Often the songs will follow the theme of meeting young, marrying young, having children, watching them grow and then growing old together. However, as touching as they may be they still pale in comparison to the love expressed by Jesus Christ on His road to the cross. On this road, Jesus was tempted by Satan, confronted by demons, accused by religious leaders, scorned by His family, mocked by His neighbors, challenged by scribes of the law, called names, lied about, nearly stoned, faced poverty, slept outside-homeless, was beaten, tortured, mocked, spit upon, endured hair being yan...