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A Good Christian vs a Resurrected Hardcharger

emblemIn about an hour, He’ll come off the cross. He’s been there since 9:00 am this morning and it will take only six hours for Him to finally breathe His last. While some will take longer than that to finally pass away, they didn’t even have to break His legs. After the beating He got before they even put Him on the cross, He was close to dead by that point anyway.

The only two people that stayed were John and Mary. Everybody else has bolted and all those that were yelling His Name and applauding His entrance into the city only a few days before are now collecting their things after having shouted, “Crucify Him” and moving on.

The show’s over.

It’s a sad day. It’s sad because you’re watching God in the flesh being beaten, humiliated and betrayed to the point where you can’t help but feel sorry for Him. Granted there’s enormous theological implications to what’s happened and it’s going to land in a great place, hence the “gospel” which literally means, “good news.”

But the sick and twisted amount of despair is overwhelming. He’s God, but He was also a friend and a Teacher. Not only are those He offers salvation to laughing as they reduce His body to a tortured sack of flesh, everyone who ever proclaimed any kind of allegiance or admiration for Him has suddenly vanished and left Him utterly alone.

It’s not over though. You’ve got to keep reading.

Not only is He going to stand up, take off the grave clothes and proceed to change the hearts and minds of His disciples as only a risen Messiah can do, He’s going to institute something that’s been on the books for centuries as far as a “New Covenant” – a paradigm that distinguishes the Christians faith from every other religion on the planet in that you can’t merit your own salvation. You’re not, you don’t, you can’t and you won’t. But with Christ, you can, you are, you will and you do and it’s not because of who you are, but because of Who Christ is in you.

It’s awesome! But here’s thing that struck me about the title of today and where we are as a culture.

We can’t afford to be “Good Christians” anymore.

By “Good Christians” I mean those who get stuck on Good Friday and never make the practical trip to Resurrection Sunday.

You are more than your wounds and you are better than your sin. That’s not “positive thinking,” that’s “profound thinking.”

We need to be “Resurrected Hardchargers” – believers who are making a difference by reeking of excellence in everything they do, think and say. Applying the Holy Ghost Rocket Sauce that’s cruising through your veins in what you do, how you vote, the quality of your work, the way you love, how you drive, how you cut your lawn and – when it’s time – how you explain Who Christ is, why He makes a difference and why you should even care.

I was listening to a radio show yesterday that featured an interview with a former KGB agent that was explaining how our enemies are waging a war by allowing the US to destroy itself from within through what he called, “…the demoralization of America.”

No morals – no values. More specifically: No God – no point. And from there, it’s just a matter of time before all that which is based on a Divine Absolute goes away and we’re applauding as it’s escorted out of the building (Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Rule of Law, Moral Absolutes, etc).

There’s good news, though! You are more than a solitary voice and you’ve got more than two hands. We’ve got the One who beat death in our heart and in our mind. Hand Him the keys, let Him drive and stop rehearsing Friday and start living Sunday. That’s how you make a difference and not just an appearance. That’s how you succeed and not just prosper and that’s how you avoid being a “Good Christian” and instead be…

…a Resurrected Hardcharger!

It Starts Tonight

jerusalemIt’s hard when you’re focused on all of the headlines and challenges represented by this particular season in our nation’s history to remember that there is a virus far more toxic than the COVID-19 scenario. And however you want to embrace or sneer at all of the hype, there’s something to be mindful of that was going on right about now some 2,000 years ago that utterly destroyed this bacteria that would’ve otherwise wreaked havoc on both our bodies and our souls.

It’s 7:30 right now. He’s wrapping up what would the last meal He would ever have on this earth. This particular meal was especially symbolic in that it had been given to Moses long ago as a ceremony that was designed to both remind the Jews of an amazing deliverance from an overwhelming political power as well as direct their attention towards a far more dramatic deliverance that would happen centuries later.

This is that moment.

That ceremony that Moses conducted the night the Israelites left the land of Egypt was now being conducted as the ultimate Passover meal. And while the disciples were not quite sure of what Jesus meant when He said, “This is my body broken for you…” it wasn’t the first time they were uncertain as to what He was talking about. 

But in a few hours, their uncertainty would deteriorate into shock, fear and disbelief.

In a little bit, He’s going to be in the garden praying with the kind of terrible passion that accompany’s a man’s complete confidence that soon He will be subjected to an unimaginable amount of pain and suffering. The word, “excrutiating” literally means “out of the cross.” It was an unbearable pain and Jesus was knew it was coming. In addition, He would be flogged according to a Roman approach that didn’t stop shot of 41 lashes.  Rather, He would be beaten until those responsible for “chastising” Him felt like they were through.

Hematidrosis is a rare medical condition where the subject perspires drops of blood. When you blush, your emotions trigger blood flow to a point just below the surface of your skin, hence the reddish tint to your complexion. In this instance, your emotions force blood out through your pores and you appear to be sweating blood (Luke 22:44). In the aftermath, your skin is sensitive to even the slightest touch.

Luke says that this anomaly was experienced by Christ…

And this would be before He was slapped, beaten, flogged and finally crucified.

This is what’s weighing on His mind right about now.

It’s not pleasant to meditate on what Jesus endured beginning tonight and throughout the day tomorrow. It’s ironic that it’s called, “Good Friday.” But it’s because of “Good Friday,” that we have both “Resurrection Sunday” as well as the knowledge that there is no plague or sickness that can stand against the Authority, the Power and the Love of the One they’re going to be indicting in just a few hours.

It starts tonight.

3:00 Today

clockLast nite was nuts! A collection of ridiculous trials had been quickly put together for the sole purpose of making a case so Pilate would be obligated to hear it and, with any luck, they could extract from him the death penalty that they couldn’t legally administer on their own (John 18:31).

He looked rough by the time Pilate took Him aside. He wanted to figure out a way to out- maneuver the irrational types outside – He wanted to set this guy free. Pilate had had Him flogged and this was after the beatings He had already received (John 19:1-3). Surely the sight of a man that ravaged would be enough to pacify these Jews, but they were insistent. Pilate was between a rock and a hard place once it became apparent that this Christ was setting Himself over Caesar (John 19:15-16). So at 6:00 that morning, the verdict the Jewish religious authorities had been hoping for was a reality and by noon Jesus was on the cross (Luke 23:44). Read more