Jesus died to pay a debt! That debt is our sin that separates us from God. Sin is what causes wars, poverty, crime, oppression and even slavery. On Good Friday, Jesus took on my sin. Today, I need to acknowledge that. In fact, every day I need to remember. The penal substitution is central to my faith. The theological yet biblical word “propitiation” is something foundational.

Without it, the death of Jesus simply is seen as a nice plot line in a story that does not have personal, cosmic and eternal consequence. It is re-interpreted as a fuzzy event–not a powerfully life changing one.  Remember that Jesus paid it all, as that old song says.”Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow..”

1 John 2:2 (English Standard Version)

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

To begin Lent, this first week of fasts will: Sweets, Treats and Self Indulgence. So, no candy, chocolate, beer, fun beverages of the same kind and no cigars for me. No dessert, ice cream. I will have coffee, however. This will be the first week fast where I will resolve to spend nothing special on myself. We will see how I do!

At www.sunridgeworship.org you can see what my church community is doing about Lent.

What you are doing or not doing?

Sunridge Church in Temecula has an internal site called SunridgeFamily.org and there we connect our church people through a tool called 360Hubs. Give our site a click: www.sunridgeworship.org!

Any feedback?

I was a young worship leader looking for that one sound, that one thing or that one song. I had a good budget and I had all of the resources pouring into my office every month. You know those stacks of CDs and charts that you get from worship together and all the clones that do the same thing. I would sift through all of this content and listen to every track, month after month.

I couldn’t find it. I was never stoked with anything I was hearing.

It hit me, not when I was up on a stage leading worship, but when I was in a room full of people that were worshiping their guts out. It was a song I had passed off as weak the first time I heard it, yet this room was ripe with passionate worship to the sound of that very song.

It wasn’t about the song, although some songs in and of themselves demand real worship, it was about the experience.

It always seems to be this way with God. We get caught up trying to figure out a recipe for spirituality and worship, when all along he wants us to tune into the experience.

“…I have come that you would have life to the full…”

{photo credit :: Taylor Hain }