The Cross of Christ

“But as for me, I will never boast of anything except the Cross of our LORD Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, & I to the world…”-Gal.6:14

Christianity is united not by emotion or opinion, but by things that are transcendent & eternal. It is bound together by revelations of reality, principles of truth, & laws that govern life…by a vision of God’s glory, ideals of faith (knowing GOD), mercy (Divine benevolence, loving-kindness, & forgiveness), & justice. These ideals need constant articulation.

Christianity is unique because of Christ & His Cross! On that cross, Jesus did what no other religion or prophet ever did…died for our sins & forgave us. Because of that, the Cross makes Christianity another culture, not just a religion!!!

This Christ & His Cross is the focal apex of human history. It plainly shows the heinousness of sin & nature of man. It makes a way of forgiveness consistent with the justice of God. It clearly demonstrates the character, purpose & love of God. And, it calls…challenges us to daily live & walk with a different perspective, commitment & responsibility.

Jesus Christ was not just a martyr dying for principles; different from a patriot dying for country, & more than a president or king dying for citizens/subjects …He was a man dying for the world, the Savior dying for our souls, God for men!

The Way of Jesus Christ is the way of the cross. Other than the “Spirit of Christ,” there is nothing more missing, lacking or essential to experiential/New Testament Christianity than the revelation & application of the truth of the cross. There at Golgotha (meaning “the place of the skull,” carnal mind), Jesus judged sin, Satan, the world’s system, & our selfishness.

When the revelation of Jesus opens us to a real working of the power of His cross in our lives, it transforms everything. Our thinking, service, worship & priorities are entirely affected.

Although the cross is claimed & spoken of, its purpose & power in the life of a believer depends upon ones’ apprehension of it. The growth & strength of the Christian life is in the power of Christ’s cross & Spirit. It is Christ that adds to us what’s missing & needed by His Spirit, but it is His cross that subtracts (painfully at times) anything in us that needs to be removed. It is by the working of the cross by faith, that we may receive more of the Spirit of Christ (Gal.3:1-2, 6-14).

It is my great desire & fervent prayer that Christians would come to believe Jesus Christ is our life, & increasingly know that His Cross is the power & wisdom of God. I encourage you to read cross scriptures, meditate on Christ’s passion & pray to understand & experience its reality & blessing. May we follow Christ’s way & daily carry the cross.

“You never conquer the mountain…you only conquer yourself.” -James Whitaker,

(The 1^st American to reach the summit of Mt. Everest)

“Yes, I Will”-by Bebo Norman

In the passion of Your sacrifice…I saw the prophecy fulfilled.
The Healer of the world, the wounded Christ,

I heard You say, come follow me,
So I will, yes I will…

Follow You JESUS

all the way up that hill.
Follow You Jesus, all the way up that hill!
To the cross where the river runs
Crimson even still, yes I will…
Follow You Lord, I will.

On the sacred path, You bled for us…Scored and broken, up that hill.
How terrible the cross, how glorious (how glorious)…
I heard You say, come follow me (follow me),
So I will, yes I will…

In my weakness, when I feel afraid,
Hear me Jesus, when I call Your name.
Won't You help me Lord, won't You help me Lord,
Please help me Lord (please help me Jesus),
Can You help me Lord (please help me Lord)?

Follow You Jesus, all the way up that hill.
Follow You Jesus, all the way up that hill!
(I will follow all the way)
To the cross where the river runs
Crimson even still, yes I will…
Follow You, Lord (follow You),
I will (I will follow), yes I will (I will follow You).

…Help me Jesus, when I feel afraid.

The Testimony of Truth

… “Pontius Pilate entered the judgment hall again”… (Jn. 18:33). There before him was Jesus, the presumed convict from Galilee. In the midst of a tornado of accusations, Jesus stood silent, faultless, guiltless…silent. As the prosecution pressed for the death penalty, his only rebuttal was a claim of the witness of truth. “What is truth?” thundered Pilate as he stormed out of the room (Jn. 18:37-38). This is the cynical spirit that pervades our relativistic age. It implies that truth cannot be known, or does not even exist. The love for the truth is its only antidote, and will be costly in this hour.

Contrary to popular opinion, truth is absolute. God has dropped a plumbline of absolute truth down from heaven—Jesus Christ. Relativism contends, “that may be true for you, but not for me…it all depends on how you look at it…nothing is black and white…” However, the universe does not approximately hold together in partial perfection because there is nothing approximate or partial about God (Jas. 1:18, Ps. 19). Jesus is not approximately true or partially right. Think of that! Jesus Christ is absolute…absolutely holy, absolutely right, and absolutely true. The spirit of the age and worldly wisdom constantly try to undo absolutes and obscure the truth, creating a gray haze of convenience to justify personal desires and actions. Nevertheless, common sense and conscience add their agreement to the “testimony of truth.” There is nothing relative about stop signs, poison warning labels, or a question on a mathematics exam.

In Jesus Christ, the light of absolute truth was seen and heard. There at the hall of judgment, the Gabatha Pavement…Jesus took the judgment seat and trumpeted truth in a sin-shattering silence. Yes, in quietness and confidence, Jesus “published the name of the Lord…a God of Truth and without iniquity, just and right is He” (Dt. 32:3-4). Then, in the face of relativism, the citadel for Adamic rebellion, a standard was raised. As a plumbline, Jesus became God’s sovereign instrument of separation and judgment (Mt. 3:12, 13:91, Acts 17:30-31). Everything becomes black and white as the Spirit and Word agree, separating light and darkness, right and wrong, truth and Lies.

“What is truth?” Pontius Pilate never asked a more important question. The man Christ Jesus, born to bear witness to the truth, had spoken loud and clear. He need not answer to absurd accusations, for the truth He held was self-evident and exposed all lies. He need not speak up, because to utter a single truth would have been to obscure the living truth that He was (Jn. 1:14, 7:18, 14:6). If Pilate, or any other judge and skeptic could not see the truth before him, then nothing he might have heard could have saved him (Lk. 16:31).

May God the Father open our eyes to see the truth that is ever before us; and kindle anew a love for the truth, which alone saves us from perishing in this deceptive age of relativism (2 Thes. 2:10). May the Lord Jesus Christ inspire us to seek and obey the truth, that God’s house would testify to the world as “the pillar and ground of truth” (1Tim. 3:15). May the Spirit of Truth lead us in the will and way of God; for therein are we established in the present truth, revealing the life that is the light of men (2 Pet. 1:12). May we desire truth in our inward parts (Ps 51:6) that God’s glory may be seen as all grows dim before the rising daystar, the coming sun of righteousness.

“I believe that in the end the truth will conquer.” --John Wycliffe

“The Generation that strips itself of every impure motivation and loves Christ for His sake will usher in a mighty visitation from heaven! Such ones will see the risen and glorious Jesus!”
--David Smithers

Our Braveheart

Psalm 101:6 “My eyes shall be on the heroes of the land!”

“Tell my father…I died with my face to the enemy!” –Col. Avery at Gettysburg

Between 1992 & 1994, I actually spent in depth devotional time reading about Christian martyrs. Foxe’s Book, Fair Sunshine, The Search for the Twelve Apostles, They Knew Their God, Martyrs Mirror, The Forbidden Book, The Torch of the Testimony, They Dared to Overcome, many Chinese martyr booklets & The Early Christians were the most memorable.

I believed then & now that history frees us from the cult of the contemporary & testimony invites us into experiences with the One True Living God! The shock & awe of such studies births authentic, New Testament faith, love, humility & perspectives, as the spirit of our age evaporates in the face of the courageous sacrifices of these heroes of faith.

The Bible became a new-open book, conviction & shame filled my heart exposing the desperate need of a sincere & unfeigned faith, religion & worldliness turned repulsive, the Cross shined forth wisdom & power, life became precious, the Kingdom & calling of God was now, prayer & worship became tearful & breathless…

When resurrection is reality, truth is a Spirit & person…Jesus Christ is revealed, experienced & crowned King & Lord!

In these revelation moments, uncontrollable weeping, groaning-travail prayers, raising hands to Heaven, & falling repeatedly on your hands & knees are normal!


Yes, JESUS is alive! He was crucified, dead, buried in a borrowed tomb…and on the third day…arose! This glorious revelation produces a heart revolution resulting in personal, family, community & historic reformation. It is all to be set down as the personal, post-mortem achievement of the Son of the Living God!

JESUS is & ever shall be our “Braveheart!”…& those who follow HIM, the called, chosen & faithful…that great cloud of witnesses should stir our hearts to historic faith & heroic obedience.

My challenge & HIS calling on this Memorial Day was captured by Erwin McManus’ when he invited Christians “to return to the ancient, primal, dangerous faith of Jesus & His early disciples.”

“Jesus is being lost in a religion bearing His name. People are being lost because they cannot reconcile Jesus’ association with Christianity (or the church). Christianity has become docile, domesticated, civilized (paltry, acceptable, palatable, unscriptural, unspiritual, worldly and weak -added for emphasis and clarity). We have forgotten that there is a kingdom of darkness stealing the hopes, dreams & souls of humanity without God. It is time to hear the barbarian call, to form a barbarian tribe, & to unleash a barbarian revolt.”

“(Please understand) the barbarian way is about love, intimacy, passion & sacrifice. Barbarians love to live & live to love. For them God is life, & their mission is to reconnect humanity to HIM. Their passion is that each of us might live in intimate communion with Him who died for us. This way is both spirit & truth, & the soul of the barbarian is made alive in the presence of Jesus... (Remember) the evidence that Jesus is the Christ is that He baptizes us in both Spirit & fire. Barbarians are guided by the wind of God & ignited by the fire of God."

"This way can be found only by listening to the voice of the Spirit…only known by those who have the heart of God. The steps of this way are guided by the footprints of Jesus, followed by those that see the invisible & hear the inaudible because their souls are alive to God…”



“There is within you a raw & untamed faith waiting to be unleashed!...Let go of a sanitized Christianity & get back to the powerful, raw faith that chooses revolution over compromise, peril over safety, & passion over lukewarm, watered-down religion.”
–Erwin McManus, “The Barbarian Way”, a must read by every Christian disciple!

“The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It draws the finest people!”
-Stephen, (One of my heroes, the Irish guy who talks to & hears from God in Braveheart)