What is Love: pure, perfect Love?

i didn't write this, a friend of mine did, but it meant alot to me so i decided to post it here, for others of my friends to see. i hope it will be as much a blessing to you as it was to me.


The night was calm with a sweet surrender. The air was cool and the trees swayed gently in the evening breeze. While there in the middle of a little garden surrounded by tiny flowers He knelt. His face tilted toward the heavens, I listened closely as I overheard what sounded to be an agonizing plea, yet a surrender of the will. The tears falling from His face quenched the thirst of the flowers, and the sound of His voice was so sweet that even the birds hushed their singing. What was He praying about? What was the burden that lay so heavy on His heart? I decided I simply must know as I moved in closer to ask my interruptive questions. I came to a sudden halt when I heard His final cry: “If it be Thy will, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done!” The next thing I knew there were soldiers marching up the path heading straight towards Him. Was He a criminal? I hid myself in the shadow of a large oak tree to avoid being seen anywhere remotely close to this man, or being mistaken as being associated with Him. The jumbled sounds of questions being hurled in His direction sounded like nothing but confusion to me. Then He spoke. “Whom seek ye?” All at once the angry multitude shouted “Jesus!” Unmoved, He quietly but confidently answered, “I am He.” I watched as the mob took Him away and brought Him before a judge called Pontius Pilate. There He was questioned and sent to be flogged, beaten, and scourged. Once the soldiers had finished their task He stood again before the judge. Questioned once more, the judge sentenced Him to be beaten again and then to hang until dead upon a cross on the mountain of Golgotha. What was His crime? What had He done that had been so wrong – so wrong that He deserved to die for it? I must have been uttering these thoughts out loud, for someone came from behind me and answered my questions. “He’s done nothing to deserve this. He’s perfect; He’s sinless. He’s the Son of God, and this is what He came for – this is the purpose of His coming.” I couldn’t help but to ask this person why; his only response was “because He loves us.”Love? Really? The man has been sentenced to death! How is that “loving us”? Well, just what is “love” anyways? Is love just a mere feeling, a fleeting emotion, or a passing idea? No. Love is so much more – so much deeper than the human mind can truly comprehend. One man put it this way: “Love is a verb.” Meaning that love is an action; love gives of itself without holding back. Love is unconditional – no matter the color, the race, the religion, the creed, or the political views. That same man also said this: “Do not seek to be loved. Seeking to be loved makes love impossible, for such actions are selfish, and love cannot be selfish.” Not only is love unconditional, but it’s selfless. Better yet, what more beautiful and truthful way is there to put it than how it’s already been presented! It’s a familiar text – one that is often recited at weddings or other such occasions; I will paraphrase. Love is willing to suffer long, without resentment. Love doesn’t envy, but wants what is best for the other, no matter what it may cost itself. Love does not behave wrongly. Love is not selfish, nor does it seek to satisfy itself. Love is not easily angered. Love thinks no evil. Love does not rejoice in the sin and downfalls of others, but rejoices in truth. Love bears all things; believes all things; hopes all things; endures all things. In short, love never fails – it cannot fail. It’s rare; it’s complete; it’s perfect. What does it mean when it says that love “cannot fail”? God claimed that He Himself is love – and God is perfect – therefore love is perfect.Often we hear people talk about “love at first sight”. I have to ask though, is there such a thing? I understand “like at first sight”, or even just plain and simple “lust” – but love? I don’t think that’s possible. Love is not words, actions, passion, or intimacy – those are merely the results of love. Young teenagers are often in a hurry to tell their boyfriend or their girlfriend (of all of 3 weeks, or sometimes less) that they love each other. How is this possible, especially if they’ve only known each other for a short time? There is no way they can really know their significant other’s character or what they truly are. How can you really love someone you know hardly anything about? Love is something you go through with someone. It’s a journey – something that takes time to develop. It doesn’t “just happen” overnight. I am always a bit skeptical when someone tells me they love me because I don’t think they understand what it really means. Of course, there are several types of love – a parent’s love for their child, someone’s love for their friends or co-workers, a woman’s love for her husband, or perhaps even a child’s love for toys of candy. What here on earth comes closest to resembling the kind of love the Lord Jesus Christ had for us? Firefighters often place their lives in danger to rescue someone from a fire, and in the end sometimes even lose their life in the middle of that rescue. Again, some would say the love that parents have for their children, and still others would say the love spouses have for each other. These “loves” may compare in some small fashion because, no doubt, a parent would give their life to save their child’s if the need ever arose; and there’s no question in my mind that if someone truly loves their spouse the way they ought to, they would be willing to give their life for them! This is the kind of love I’m speaking of – a love called “Agape”. Agape love is the deepest love there is. It’s a sacrificial love that will go beyond any means to prove true and give anything to prove how unfathomable it really is. The Bible says that “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life” for another!So then, let’s get back to the story. The judge has sentenced Jesus to hang on a cross until death even though He’s done absolutely nothing wrong, and somehow all this is supposed to mean that He loves us. Let’s look a little farther down the road. He’s been sentenced to death, and now all of Jerusalem is lining the streets as they watch what barely even resembles a man anymore dragging two wooden beams behind Him. He’s walking towards a hill where two other criminals already hang. Jesus has already been betrayed, denied, forsook, and left alone by His so-called “friends”. He’s been beaten, mocked, scourged, and falsely accused – and that was nothing compared to what was still to come. Once He reaches the top of that hill, He’s stretched out on a cross, naked, and has three nails pounded through His flesh to keep His body on that old, rugged cross. The sky has darkened and the storm howls while angels watch from heaven awaiting the orders from their dying King to save Him from His creation; yet the orders never come. He has a purpose to complete. Finally, that moment comes as the sins – past, present, and future – of all the world weigh heavy on my Savior’s shoulders; the Heavenly Father turns His back on His only begotten Son because He is holy, and sin cannot enter the presence of Holiness. “My God, My God! Why Hast Thou forsaken me?” the question pierces through the air as the thunder booms. Then with His final breath He cries, “It is finished!” Just to be sure that He’s truly dead, a soldier drives a spear through His side as a mixture of water and blood flow from this wound confirming his death.So what does it mean? How is this “love”? Undoubtedly, this is the greatest example of love – true, real love – that there will ever be. Remember, love is unconditional, selfless, sacrificial, unending, undeniable, and perfect. The Bible says in John 3:16, “For God (the source of love) so loved (the extent of love) the world (the object of love), that He gave (the action of love) His only begotten Son (the gift of love), that whosoever (the target of love) believeth in Him (the condition of love) should not perish (the mercy of love), but have everlasting life (the grace of love)!” Remember the little garden where Jesus knelt and prayed? That was the beginning of the greatest love story ever told. Who is the recipient of the love in this story? Remember the one who betrayed Him, the one who denied Him, the ones who deserted Him, the ones that beat Him, the one that sentenced Him, and the ones that were actually guilty? All of these are the ones who are the beneficiaries of this great and awesome love. The truth is that because of our sin there is a price to pay. We were created with a free will which allows us to make a choice – either we pay the price for our sin ourselves, or we accept the sacrifice Jesus made in our stead. He is our substitute, and paid the price for crimes He had not done. As for me, I know I have never loved someone sacrificially or perfectly; and there isn’t one person in this world that I would be willing to give my son for, nonetheless my only son! After all, I’m only human. Yet God in His grace and mercy gave His only begotten Son for the world that we “might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly.” Thankfully the story doesn’t end there! My God didn’t stay dead! My God won the victory by conquering death and the grave! I know that my Redeemer lives and is ever making intercession for me on the right hand of the Father. I’ve been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb in that all my sins are covered by His sacrifice and by His love.Indeed, one of the greatest gifts we can bestow upon another is to love them – I mean really love them with a true, deep, sacrificial, unconditional love; for love’s true purpose is to give of itself, wanting nothing in return. Everyone needs someone; even the most unlovable person needs someone to love them. See, love isn’t just a feeling; love isn’t a mere emotion or some idea thought up by humans. Love is so much more than that; it is so deep that we cannot completely and fully understand it. Love was planned by God to be something so wonderful for us, yet so often we misuse those three little words. We lack true understanding in this area. I often wonder how different our world would be if when people tell others that they “love” them, they really meant it. Would they do anything for that person? Would they give anything for that person – even if it meant sacrificing their own life? People like that are few and far between. I’m glad I know one person who knows what it truly means to love me. He gave everything He had to prove His love for me!

HOWDY

hey there everybody!

I know its been along time and I can't blame it on being busy. I guess it would have to be cause I really haven't had anything to write about. i lead a bit of a boring life.

I didn't go back to school this semester because of several reasons (mainly financial), but Lord willing I will finish my schooling. well anyway i thought i would post a few pics from the past couple months since i've been home.

A Picture of my dream truck. Oh and its a five speed.Dad, Mom, Mike and Shannon opening presents on Christmas day.Mike and Shan with a photo of them with Presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Fun and fellowship at church.

Well i hope you all have a great week. God Bless You.

hey there, long time no post huh? I hope ya'll have had a great weekend and week beginning.



i know i have. since last Friday i've been on fall break and have done little of anything. its been nice to sleep in late, hang out, with friends, and well enjoy the life that God has given. God has been so good to all who are his children. This past weekend i had the opportunity to attend a University of Tennessee football game. It was the first college football game i had ever been to. it was quite an experience, and it was fun to hang out with some friends that i went with.

andrew and myself

and larry.

It was alot of fun, i hope to be able to go again sometime.

And this past Lords day was a real blessing to me. Scott Pauley preached in both the morning and evening services and it really spoke to my heart, his messages were what i needed. the one that really spoke to my heart was the sunday evening message. He preached out of Proverbs 30:12-21, bout the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, and that everyone has adversity and afflictions in their life, and its not very plesant. But through those adversities he is always with us and carries us though. These times are also given to us so that God can show us things, and tell us things and guide our steps closer to him.

Well i gotta go, but i'll try to post again later this week

Please continue to pray for me, it would be greatly appreciated.

howdy!
I Know its been awhile, but i've been really busy. with school, work, and church. I haven't had time to do much of anything. But the Lord is good the past four days was missions conference and the Lord really spoke to my heart through the messages. I also received my scholarship from Chick-fil-a which has been in the works for quite a while now, i have it now and it couldn't have come at a better time. God is so good.
well theres not much else to report right now. please pray that God will give me wisdom in some dicisions i need to make and in some situations that have arisen in my life.
Our fall break is Nov. 2-6 so i'll try to post again then. God Bless You. Bye for now.

Hello everyone!

I hope all of you had as blessed a week as I did. God is so good, it is impossible to praise him enough for his blessings to us. something that blessed my heart this week was the sunrises.

they were amazing, and to think that God made them for our enjoyment the same way he made us for his enjoyment.

I know these pics were from last week but this is pretty much what i see everymornin on the way to class.You know, its really hard to concentrate on driving when there is something this beautiful out your window. that must be what happened to this guy. He's a crown student that lost control of his car and hit a tree. He came away without injury, the Lord blessed him.

I saw another thing that was a blessing to me when i was hiking out in the wood to the natural freshwater spring that is on the property where my dorm is.

It is a bird nest in a cleft in a rock and it reminded me of the song "Cleft of the Rock". It talks about how God protects us through the storms (trials) of life. this picture doesn't show very well but this nest is pretty well sheltered by rock on three sides. God will take care of us like this rock protects this nest and the birds that reside in it.

He also answered prayer and provided a job workin at Napa auto parts warehouse unloading trucks and stocking parts. Please continue to pray for me that i will keep a good testimony for Christ and be the best employee that I can be.

Another thing that was a blessing to me was this car. God showed me that no matter how ugly and broken my car may be there is always a car that is uglier and and in worse shape than mine ;-)

Seriously though God has blessed me greatly this week. And i'm really looking forward to what he has in store for me in this coming week. God Bless you all and have a blessed Lord's day.

Hey again, God is so good. its amazing how he always takes care of his children.

Yesterdays chapel was really a blessing. Dr. Scotty Drake preached, you may have never heard of him, i hadn't. He is a former pastor and now a traveling evangelist. He just spent a couple of weeks in India with Tom Sexton, but his message was very encouraging. Here it is, hope you encourages you as much as it did me.

Things we Shouldn't sell

I Kings 21:1-2
And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

Ahab wanted Naboths vinyard but that vinyard wasn't for sell, and there should be things in our lives that we shouldn't and won't sell.

I. Our message

A. the Gospel

the grace of God

II. Our Book

we can't trade it for the new translation.

Our book is "so deep you can't reach the bottom, yet shallow enough you won't drown"

III. Our ministry

God has called us to Go into all the earth and Preach the Gospel. Our ministry is not for sell

IV. Our mission vision

We can't sell out our methods.

"Don't sell out to the world and don't compromise your standards or your testimony."

God Bless you and I Hope ya'll have a great week.

Hey guys, sorry i haven't posted in a while, I've been pretty busy with school, lookin for a job and workin on my car.
Yes, as hard as it may be to believe my car broke down and i had to fix it. The wheel bearings on the front went bad on me, and i had to tear the entire front end off of my car. the thing was that the bearings had to be pressed in to the wheel hub by a hydrolic press that i didn't have so i had to take that part to a shop to have it done. but the Lord blessed and it came off easy and it went back on even easier. plus i fixed other things that were wrong with it unknowingly. Praise be to God.
I also have to make a revision to a previest post.
I added a class on my mon.,wed., fri. schedule at 7:30 a.m. The class is Theology of Christian Education. Please pray for me i have some catchup to do since i'm starting a little late.
well anyway have a great weekend and a blessed Lord's day.

Last evening was (as you prolly well know) Church, and we had a guest preacher, Byron Foxx.

He was a real blessing. He is an evangelist/songwritter/singer that preaches all over the country, and his main theme was Christian Music. It was a real blessing to me to hear a message on music, and not really preaching against secular music, but encouraging us to listen to Godly music. It was something i really needed to hear. So, I thought i'd share his outline with you. The Title was "The King who sang and prayed".

Psalm 103:1-2:

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

I. David had a song
A. He Sang about God and his attributes
1. the goodness of God
2. the mercies of God
3. the grace of God
B. His songs are still alive
They are recorded in the eternal Word of God.
We still read and sing them.
II. He had sorrows
A. Saul envied him and tried to kill him
B. But David still had a song
C. There is comfort in being a christian

I Thessalonians 4:17-18

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together

with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:

and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

III. He had sin in his life

A. There is mercy with the Lord

B. David made suplication with the Lord

Psalm 55:1

Give ear to my prayer, O God;

and hide not thyself from my supplication.

IV. We must make sure that we take the time to sing and pray.

"We can't let the urgent take precedence over the important"

Keep a song in your heart and Pray on your mind

I hope this is as much of an encouragement to you as it has been to me.

God bless ya'll and have a great week end.

Tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of the attack on the world trade centers. i hope you remember all the people who died and all the police and firemen who gave their lives during that tragic time, also the men have given their lives in defending our freedom and the men that are still in places of danger.

Yesterday Temple Baptist Church in Powell, TN sponsored an event called "Knoxville Remembers". It was a special time where we remembered the men and women that lost their lives in the WTC, and honored (and encouraged American citizens to pray for) those that are serving now in the armed forces at home and abroad. They have a great responsibility in defending our the freedoms that we have in our great nation.

It was an open air meeting in Knoxville market square at bout six o'clock. It was lovely evening for an outdoor meeting.These are pics of the program for the evening. Mike Fox on the far left, Scott Hooks next to him Scott Pauley at the podium, and Greg Gray on the far Right are all on Crown College or Temple Baptist Church Staff.

The Childrens Choir

The Crown College Choir

Mr. Evans the Dean of Students and head of Security

Anyway pray for our troops, and remember those who gave their lives for our freedom.

God bless you and have a great week.

Mon., Wed., and Fri. class
8:30-9:20 Bible Doctrine
9:45-10:45 Chapel (livestreamed online at http://www.faithforthefamily.com/broadcasts/live_services/)
Tues., and Thurs.
7:30-8:20 Comparative World Religions
8:30-9:20 Pastoral Epistles
11:00-11:50 Major Prophets
12:00-12:50 Gospel Records

My schedule for the semester. please pray for me that i will do well in these classes, and that the Lord really speaks to me through the chapel services.
Also pray that i will get a job.
thank you for your prayers, and God bless you all.

hey again, here's some of those pics of the bike ride yesterday.

It started out as a beautiful day the sun shining. a few clouds and about 65 degrees... PERFECT

here are a couple of the bridges over a gorge it was prolly bout a 50 foot dropMe in Green Cove

this is me and tim one of the friends i went with

this is an old train station and a souvenier shop.

me sittin on a huge boulder overlookin a creek. and this is my personal favorite; hangin from a cliff face bout 25 feet above the creek.

This mornin' i got up at 5:50 a.m. and got in a small pickup truck with two friends and drove to virginia to the top of a mountain and rode a bike 17 miles down the mountain it was a lota fun. it was a great time of fellowship and enjoying God's amazing creation.
The trail we followed was an old railroad bed with the tracks pulled up. we went across several trussels that were anywere between 15 feet and like 60 feet. the trail also followed a creek down the mountain, it was kinda low because of the drought here but it was beautiful none-the-less.
I wanted to put some pics on here but i'm havin some problems so i'll get them up there as soon as i can.
Hope ya'll have a great week. God Bless! and remember God Loves you.

hello,
this is my first post, and its gonna be short cause i gotta go to class. but anyway i just thought i'd say hi to anyone who happens to stumble across my blog.
I'll create a profile and post some pics later. bye.