All Access Pass

“I have a backstage pass to the concert!” “We were able to get all access passes for the amusement park!” “The package included a pass to meet the conference main speaker!” These are all exciting to have. They give the holder a privilege that is usually limited to only a few. Most of us will live our whole lives never meeting anyone we would consider “famous”. Some of us have or will try, but not succeed. Only a few will attain those exclusive passes. However, what many Christians don’t remember is that we have been given the best pass ever. By having our sins forgiven and Christ’s righteousness imputed upon us, we have been given an all access pass to the throne room of God. We are invited to enter, and approach the throne of grace, boldly and with confidence! There is no problem too big or too small, to conversation too deep or too trivial for God. And He wants us to come. Why would I go to a concert, sit in the back, and leave early if I had a ticket that gave me a front row seat and the chance to meet the musician? I wouldn’t, no one would! So, I shouldn’t stand in the hall outside God’s throne room either. I need to accept this amazing privilege God has offered me, rejoice, and go in! This opportunity should excite each of us more than any other pass we may get in life. If you are a Christian, you have an all access pass into the throne room of God! Does that excite you?

Psalm 122 Revisited

Psalm 122
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, that is built
As a city that is compact together;
To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord—
An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For there thrones were set for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
“May peace be within your walls,
And prosperity within your palaces.”
For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “May peace be within you.”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.


I posted this Psalm several weeks ago before I left on an exciting adventure that God had brought to me. I had the privilege of spending 11 days touring the land of the Bible, Israel. It was an amazing and incredible experience that has changed the way I read the Bible. I decided to come back to this Psalm, that so beautifully talks about Jerusalem. I cannot describe the joy of standing within the gates of this city that is indeed “compact”. I do give thanks to the name of the LORD for the opportunity He gave me, and I urge you to join me in praying for the peace of Jerusalem, both physically and spiritually. It is a city that is filled with people who need the salvation that only Jesus Christ can offer.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Christ Is Risen, Christ Is Living

Christ Is Risen, Christ Is Living
Christ is risen, Christ is living.
Dry your tears; be unafraid.
Death and darkness could not hold Him,
Nor the tomb in which He lay.
Do not look among the dead
For One who lives forevermore.
Tell the world that Christ is risen;
Make it known He goes before.

If the Lord had never risen,
We’d have nothing to believe.
But His promise can be trusted:
“You will live because I live.”
As we share the death of Adam,
So in Christ we live again.
Death has lost its sting and terror;
Christ the Lord has come to reign.

Death has lost its old dominion;
Let the world rejoice and shout!
Christ, the firstborn of the living,
Gives us life and leads us out.
Let us thank our God who causes
Hope to spring up from the ground.
Christ is risen, Christ is giving
Life eternal, life profound.

The Cost of Salvation

Salvation is not easy. It cost God everything, even His own Son, and it costs you the same, even yourself. - John MacArthur

Good Friday 2010

“Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life.
I know that it is finished.”

“My sin, o the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole
is nailed to the cross and I bare it no more. Praise the Lord!”

Building a Relationship with God - Part 1

The Westminster Catechism states that the purpose of man (humans) is to, “glorify God and enjoy Him forever”. If you are going to glorify God and enjoy Him, you first have to know Him. To begin this life-changing relationship you must first make sure that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Everything else builds on top of this very important fact. You can’t have a relationship with Him if He isn’t your Lord and Savior. You have to believe that Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, came to earth, lived a perfect, sinless life, and died on the cross so that you could have your sins forgiven. Three days later, He rose from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God. When you believe this and ask Him to forgive your sins, He becomes your Savior. Many people know and do this, but they don’t allow Christ to be their Lord. They don’t understand that “Lord” and “Savior” are not separate, they have to come together. You can’t have one without the other. When you make Christ your Savior, you must also make Him Lord in your life. By making Christ the Lord, you are giving Him complete control. It’s like your life is a car. There can only be one person driving the car. Are you going to drive, or are you going to give the keys to Jesus and let Him drive? Give God your life, and not just part of it, give Him your whole life. Make Him your Lord and Savior today and begin the relationship that will change your life forever.

A Beautiful Truth ~ 2 Peter 1:3

Seeing that His divine power has granted to us

everything pertaining to life and godliness,

through the true knowledge of Him

who called us by His own glory and excellence.

2 Peter 1:3

God has called me by His own glory and excellence and has given me everything I need to live a godly life.

For You

The life of Jesus given for you.

“For you” two of the most precious words in the New Testament.

May we each take time today to remember the price Jesus paid so that we could live eternally and thank Him for His precious gift to us.

Via Dolorosa

“The last thing men did to Christ was beat, crucify, and bury Him.”

Via Dolorosa

Down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day,
the soldiers tried to clear the narrow street,
but the crowd pressed in to see
the man condemned to die on Calvary.

He was bleeding from a beating,
There were stripes upon His back,
and He wore a crown of thorns upon His head;
and He bore with every step
the scorn of those who cried out for His death.

Down the Via Dolorosa,
called “The Way of Suffering,”
like a lamb came the Messiah,
Christ the King.
But He chose to walk that road
out of His love for you and me;
down the Via Dolorosa,
all the way to Calvary.

The blood that would cleanse the hearts of all men
made its way through the heart of Jerusalem.

Down the Via Dolorosa,
called “The Way of Suffering,”
like a lamb came the Messiah,
Christ the King.
But He chose to walk that road
out of His love for you and me;
down the Via Dolorosa,
all the way to Calvary.

Two Cups

“Christ drank the cup of wrath so that we could drink the cup of remembrance.”

Tonight is the night Jesus had what we call the last supper. At that last meal He had before going to the cross, Jesus passed around some bread to His disciples and said “This is My body”. He then passed around a cup of wine saying, “This is my blood, poured out for forgiveness of sins.” That night, Christ instituted communion. Later that evening, Jesus prayed to His Father asking Him to take the cup of His wrath from Him. However, Jesus held onto the cup and went to the cross. Today, we partake of communion to remind us of the sacrifice Christ paid so we could have our sins forgiven.

Praise the Lord for the Snow!

I woke up yesterday morning to snow on the ground. Again. We have had so much snow this winter I can’t even remember how many days it’s been. While I am definitely ready for warm weather, this winter I have realized that snow has some wonderful qualities. Winter hasn’t seemed quite as long this year. Perhaps because instead of the rain and gray that is typical of winter in the Great Northwest, the snow transformed my surroundings into a sparkling, white wonderland for a few days every couple of weeks. Snow also is a great reminder of God’s holiness and purity. I happen to own a white dog. And even though I do absolutely nothing to try to keep her white, most of the time she appears to be a very nice, clean white. However, when I see her playing out in the snow I see her true color, which happens to be a kind of brown/yellow white! Seeing this reminds me that things often seem pure white until we put it by something that really is pure white, like snow. Likewise, we often see ourselves as good or pure until we are compared to the perfect holiness of God, then we see ourselves as we really are, dirty from our sin. Thankfully, as Christians, Christ has washed us and clothed us in His righteousness, making us pure in the sight of God. So as you look out your window today, instead of complaining about more snow or wishing for warmer weather, join me in praising the Lord for His mercy and grace toward us in saving us and washing us whiter than snow.