What is Advent?

What Does Outreach Look Like?

What does outreach leading to evangelism look like in 21st Century America?

Click here for an excellent, practical article written by Ken Chitwood.

The "Gorgeous" Cross

Yesterday, I was in a doctor's office...

I was sitting in the waiting room, waiting, when a woman walks in and stops at the receptionist's desk.  I immediately hear from the receptionist, "Oh, what a gorgeous cross you're wearing!"  And my thoughts immediately turned theological.

Saying "gorgeous" as an adjective modifying the noun "cross" makes as much sense as putting together the words "delightful" and "electric chair."  A cross is an ancient instrument of brutal and grotesque torture and death.  One does not wear a cross around one's neck because it is beautiful.  One wears a cross around one's neck because of the Son of God's brutal death upon it in your place.  Even we Christians have sanitized, cleaned-up, and dressed up an instrument of death - in order to insulate ourselves from the brutal reality of death.

The beauty of the cross is not the material beauty of its structure.  The beauty of the cross is the beauty and glory of the story of the work Jesus of Nazareth did upon that cross for you and me and the whole world - and emerged victoriously living the resurrected life as a first fruits of your resurrection.  It's an incredible, divine irony.  As Paul writes in 1st Corinthians:

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

And

"For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and follow to Gentiles."

Next time you wear a cross around your neck, think not of it's beauty, but of the beautiful irony of the work of God in Christ.

Note: An excellent recent article on this topic by a Seminary professor of mine can be found here.