A Life Well Lived - Scarlett

This morning I stopped in to the visitation of a friend who passed away last week. I am thankful I found out it in time to attend as I saw many of her family, who are friends of mine as well, that I haven't seen in over 6 years. I visited with them briefly and answered questions about my family. In many ways it felt like a reunion of sorts, which I suppose is the way you might want a funeral to be. While there is definitely more than a hint of sorrow throughout the room, there was a kindness and love that was a great reflection of the friend we had all lost.

Scarlett O'Hara Matlock was 62 years old when she obtained her reward for a life well-lived for the glory of God. She had endured more pain and suffering than many people will ever have in their lifetime and she did it with a joy that was obviously not of this world. I saw her exhibit this joy in suffering many times. Scarlett always expressed her love for people without shame, hesitation or qualification. I was privileged enough to be able to help her move around from time to time by carrying her from her bed to a couch or chair. I was reminded today by her family of how I had helped her in this way. She was light and frail due to illness, yet full of life and a passion for God that was unmistakeable.

It's not that I had forgotten having carried her - it's just that I never attached any great amount of significance to it when I was doing it. It was something that needed to be done and I was capable of doing it, so I did it. And yet, years later, the family remembered and even introduced me as the man who carried Scarlett around the house. I am reminder that simple acts of kindness that don't cost you anything but time and a little bit of energy can mean so much more to people. I need to be cognizant of the opportunities I have presented to me to help other people.

I was told by her brother that some of Scarlett's last words were "God is Good, all the time."
Indeed He is. She was faithful to God and He is ever Faithful to her, and us.

I am thankful for having known Scarlett, as I would imagine everyone who ever met her would agree.
She made the world a brighter place - a more lovely place.I am thankful that there is no doubt that she is in the presence of God, where she most longed to be. Her suffering is over. Her joy is complete.

Oh, that my life would more closely resemble hers.

Lord help me learn to love others and endure hardship in a way that brings glory and praise to you.

The G.O.S.P.E.L.

There is so much about this video that I love.
I have spent the past 2 weeks watching and listening to it numerous times.
Below I have captured just a few of the lines that struck me I have decided to include the entire text.

(HT: Zach Nielsen)

Here is my transcript from the video "G.O.S.P.E.L.":

It’s the full story of life crushed into four minutes.
The entirety of humanity in the palm of your hand.
And crushed into one sentence.
Listen, it’s intense, right?
God. Our. Sins. Paying. Everyone. Life.
The greatest story ever told that’s hardly ever told.
God. Yes. God.
The Maker and Giver of life – and by life, I mean any and all manner and substance.
Seen and Unseen.  
What can and can’t be touched:
Thoughts. Image. Emotion. Love. Atoms and Oceans.
God.
All of it His handiwork. 
One of which His masterpiece.   
Made so uniquely that angels looked curiously. 
The one thing in creation that was made with His imagery. 
The concept so cold, it’s the reason I stay bold.
How God breathed into man and he became a living soul. 
Formed with the intent of being infinitely, intimately fond
Creator and creation held in eternal bond.
And it was placed in perfect paradise until something went wrong. 
The species got deceived and started lusting for His job.  
An odd list of complaints, as if the system ain’t working    
And used that same breath He graciously gave us to curse Him.  
And that sin seed spread through our soul’s genome  
And by nature, your nature, your species, you participated in the mutiny of
Our, yes, our sins.  
It’s nature inherited. Black in the human heart.
It was over before it started
Deceived from day one and led away by our own lusts
There’s not a religion in the world that doesn’t agree that something’s wrong with us.
The question is “What is it?” and “How do we fix it?”
Are we eternally separated from a God that may or may not have existed?
But that’s another subject
Let’s keep grinding
Besides, trying to prove God is like defending a lion, homey – He don’t need your help.
Just unlock the cage.
Let’s move on how our debt can be paid.
Short and sweet: The problem is Sin. Yes. Sin.
It’s a cancer. An asthma.
Choking out our life force.
Forcing separation from a perfect and Holy God
And the only way to get back is to get back to perfection.
But silly us, trying to pass the course of life without referring to a syllabus.
This is us: “Keep up your good deeds”. Chant. Pray. Meditate.
But all of that, of course, is spraying cologne on a corpse.
Oh you can choose to ignore it, as if something don’t stink
It’s like stepping in dog poop and refusing to wipe your shoe
But all of that ends with how good is good enough?
Take your silly list of good deeds and line them up against perfection:
Good luck!
That’s life past your pay grade.
The cost of your soul. You ain’t got a big enough piggy bank.
But you can give it a shot.
But I suggest you throw away the list.
‘Cause even your good acts are an extension of your selfishness.
But here’s where it gets interesting:
I hope you’re closely listening, please don’t get it twisted, it’s what makes our faith unique.
Here’s what God says is Part A of the Gospel.
You can’t fix yourself, quit trying. It’s impossible.
Sin brings death.
Give God His breath back – you owe Him!
Eternally separated. And the only way to fix it is someone die in your place.
And that Someone got to be perfect or the payment ain’t permanent.
So if, and when, you find a perfect person, get him or her to willingly trade their perfection for your sin and debt
Clearly since the only one that can meet God’s criteria is God
God sent Himself as Jesus to pay the cost for us.
His righteousness, His death functions as Payment. Yes. Payment.
Wrote a check with His life but at the Resurrection we all cheered because that means the check cleared.
Pierce feet. Pierced hands. Blood stained Son of Man.
Fullness. Forgiveness. Free passage into the Promised Land.
That same breath that God breathed into us, God gave up to redeem us.
And anyone and everyone, and by everyone I mean everyone, who puts their faith and trust in Him
And Him alone can stand in full confidence of God’s forgiveness.
And here’s what the promise is:
That you are guaranteed full access to return to perfect unity by simply believing in Christ and Christ alone you are receiving life. Yes. Life.
This is the GOSPEL:
God. Our.Sins.Paying.Everyone.Life.

Return to College Night

Last night I was at the REALM for college night for the first time since Adelaine was born. The number of students attending over the past few months has greatly increased. I saw quite a few familiar faces and a lot more than I did not know. The musical worship time was very well done, with songs that were very appropriate for the evening's talk, which focused on Love and was wonderfully given by Freddie Williams.

After the talk I had the chance to catch up a little with some of the students that I have some history with. I didn't have the opportunity to go into to much depth with many of them, but it was good to see them and get a chance to begin reinserting myself into that community.

I had a very good discussion with one of the students I know regarding the Christian life and how we are to live in the world, but not of it. Our conversation touched on a variety of ideas and issues, but we kept circling back around several important questions:
- How are Christians to live for the Kingdom?
- Are we to forsake all possessions and live lives of poverty for Christ?
- Is it wrong to have "stuff"?
- How can a Christian be wealthy and not give to the poor?

All of the questions that we talked about were solid questions that Christians have been wrestling with since Christ walked the earth. We did not come to any consensus or conclusions in our time-limited discussion last night, but I believe that our conversation was edifying, challenging and encouraging for everyone involved.

I'm thankful for students who are trying to figure out how to live for God.

The Work of Sanctification

On the inside, in the deepest parts of who we are, we are the sons and daughters of God. The righteousness of Christ. Saints. That's our identity; our fundamental definition as saved people. But there are many areas of our loves that haven't caught up yet. Sure, our hearts have been changed, but there are still those pieces of the person we used to be hanging on with white nuckles. That's where the work comes in, because we're ina continual fight to pry those hands loose.
...
While we work to have faith in who we are as God's redeemed children and to act in a manner that reflects that, God's busy doing the actual prying of those white-nuckled fingers from around our hearts. Sanctification is about work - the work of God in us, and our work to have faith in His ability to do that work.

- p. 90 "Holy Vocabulary" by Michael Kelley