I occasionally post a thought that is based on the Bible in my blog, though I haven’t in awhile and have more subscribers now hence this “advisory”.  While there are plenty who suggest it best to not mix personal sentiments or faith in a professional blog, I am willing to “risk” it as my faith is a much more important part of who I am than what database technology I enjoy playing with. I also look at it from the perspective of, “would I be offended and hurt if I stumbled across a post from a different perspective on a blog I enjoy?” The answer is, no, we are all entitled and free, at least in the United States, to believe as we wish. This post is written with from my perspective as a Bible believing Christian. If such things are not your cup of tea, that is fine, I have plenty to read in the other categories, like Best Practices, about SQL. If it is your cup of tea, feel free to read my thoughts below. All such posts are tagged with “Bible” if you wish to either avoid or seek them.

Today is “Good Friday”

A strange name for a holiday when one looks at the Biblical account of what happened on this day over 2,000 years ago.  As you can read in the Gospel accounts, this is the day that an innocent was put to death for the sins of the world. The only truly innocent One, chastised for me. For you. By itself, Good Friday can’t be good. By itself and without what happened 3 days later, it would be “Horrible Friday” for anyone who held hope in the One who was tortured on the ground and then tortured to death with two criminals.

Well I suppose Jesus Barabbas could call it good Friday. That is the day that Pilate set him free for the Passover and, to tame the mob, punished Jesus Christ in his place. As I once heard Dr. D. James Kennedy comment, Barabbas truly and instantly understood that Christ would be dying in his place. While I happen to believe He died in my place also (as the Bible is clear on (the “Roman Road to Salvation” is actually a good look at some of the scriptures behind this thought – it can be summed up as to fall short of God’s perfect holiness is sin, we all sin, the righteous punishment for our sin is death but the free gift of God to us is that He sent His Son to pay that price for us, His Son did pay that price on the Cross and Christ’s resurrection proves His power over death and over sin.. That if we simply confess ourselves to be sinners -in our own hearts- and believe that Christ’s death is enough to pay that price and accept that free offer of forgiveness that we will be forgiven) it was pretty clear to Barabbas that this sinless man with whom Pilate could find no fault in was dying for him. I’ve always wanted to know what happened to Barabbas. If he followed Jesus ‘ arduous journey up to the site of his crucifixion. If he sought after the disciples or family of Jesus after.

But, again, if this day was it, there would be no reason to call it Good Friday today.

As I blogged about last Easter, when I wrote “Tetelestai – It is finished“,  my favorite day of remembrance is fast upon us – “Easter Sunday”. At my church we typically refer to it as Resurrection Sunday and we’ll have a sunrise (or Son Rise) service, a church service and we’ll sing some of my favorite hymns.

It is because of the glorious truth of the resurrection that I can call today Good Friday. It is the resurrection that Christianity hinges on. As I said before, it is this holiday that has turned many skeptics into believers. Searching for proofs to back up the “fallacy” of the resurrection and in turn finding forgiveness and eternal security as they unravel the historicity and testimony of the resurrection.

Some people say the cross is a cruel symbol for a faith. You know what? They are right, the word excruciating wouldn’t be in our lexicon if it were not for crucifixion. The cross was a cruel and horrible instrument of punishment used to subjugate a people. It is a tough symbol but a good reminder to me of what was done for me. But, if I could change the symbol to one thing, I guess it would have to be the empty tomb. It was at the tomb where the women who went to anoint a body heard an angel speak the title of this post, “Why seek ye the living among the dead?”. It is the empty tomb that shows us the hope that came at the end of the suffering that was Good Friday.

An Empty Tomb

I wish you a blessed “Easter” weekend and hope you are able to truly enjoy some great hymns like “Because He Lives”, “Christ The Lord Is Risen Today” or “He Arose”.

He Is Risen – Risen Indeed

Back to SQL Server Content on Monday =)

Merry Christmas!

StraightPath Solutions wishes you and your family a blessed Christmas season and a safe New Years celebration. I won’t have any other posts this week and will have a couple end of year wrap up posts next week, back to regular posting in January. I hope you enjoy the joy that this season has to offer and that you have an opportunity to spend time with family and friends and reflect well upon 2009.

Some Reflections on Christmas –

Isaiah 9:6 declares (KJV) – “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

To me – that is what Christmas is all about. That prophecy in the book of Isaiah (along with many other prophecies of the Messiah from the Old Testament!) was fulfilled in the life of Christ. That child was born, in the lowliest of circumstances with swaddling cloths (normally used for burial!) wrapped around him in a stable of an Inn.

He was referred to by many names in the Bible: Wonderful, Counsellor, Prince of Peace, Creator, The Word, The Lamb of God and Jesus Christ. The list of names goes on and they each describe God robed in human flesh. He came to pay the just demands of sin on our behalf. The innocent dying for the guilty. And the government (and religious establishment that had gotten caught up in tradition and politics and lost track of the prophecies they were even taking a part in the fulfillment of!) indeed was on his back.

He was crucified by masterful torturers (the Romans had the science of torture down to a T), and died on the cross for me and for you. He rose from that grave 3 days later (To me, while Christ’s birth is to be cherished, Resurrection Sunday is a far more glorious celebration time!) and to this day His tomb remains empty.

He lived what he preached and showed us the way to salvation. He was clear in stating that He is the only way to salvation and He explained His motivations for this salvation in a simple verse that communicates much: John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We will exchange gifts and enjoy some of the secular aspects of Christmas (as well as some locally raised Ham and home raised Chicken ) but we will be celebrating the birth of our Savior over 2,000 years ago in that little town of Bethlehem.

Merry Christmas! See you next week with a couple end of year posts and see you in January with more SQL and Professional Development posts.

Thanksgiving – a great holiday with a 4 day weekend. Time to finish up some last minute winter preparations for those who live in the area of snow and freeze (that aren’t already frozen or under snow, of course). A time to hang out with family you don’t see much and a time to eat a lot of food and complain about how much you eat. Also a time of some great leftover sandwiches. But that’s not all…

A Time to Give Thanks

I would love to say this is a common occurrence for most people. I’d love even more to say it is a daily rite for me. Sometimes, I get busy and forget the little things that I can be thankful for. Many times in prayer, I brush through my thanks as a ritualistic list of the same things day over day. Don’t get me wrong, they are great things to be thankful for, I should only appreciate them more and slow it down a bit while thinking through them.

Thanksgiving is a good time to remember all of the blessings we have received. The praise for the harvest and survival through tough conditions faced by the Pilgrims is a good reminder to us to be thankful for much.

Well, in that spirit…

I am Thankful For

Professionally

I have humble beginnings. I didn’t graduate at the top of my High School class and apply to and get accepted at multiple universities. In fact, I was pretty much a directionless fool during the close of my High School experience. Dropped out, focused on work and some family stress and strife instead. Working in the hospitality industry, I found it easy to enjoy a simple existence with plenty of partying and good times. Never felt bad about not sticking with school. Fast forward through some bad times (times that this fool thought were great as they happened) and meeting a great gal knocked some common sense into me. It was the start of clear thinking and through that clear thinking and some great influences, I met Christ head on. He loved me as I was, in spite of my sins, and I accepted that love. Started turning my life around this time.  I Took some adult education classes to get an actual High School diploma and I got a lucky break -

I was always a computer tinkerer. Loved learning and exploring. I describe it as being a reductionist.. I am never satisfied knowing the how. I like to know the how and why of the how and down a vicious cycle of learning I go. I took these skills and my reputation as the computer (hardware/software) “fix-it guy” to a job interview and got a job as a Tech Support guy where I “met” a third “passion” in my life (Christ and that neat ‘gal being the first couple) – SQL Server. As I blogged about here, the rest is history.

I have completed some college course work and have so many interests that I want to pursue advanced degrees in someday (Physics, Mathematics, Finish my work towards becoming a Paramedic – interrupted by career and life – , Logic and Ethics, Church History, World History, Military History.. the list could go on longer than a Mike Walsh blog post) but for now I enjoy learning on my own as time allows in those subjects.

So I don’t have a degree and I have humble beginnings, this is a “Thanks Giving” post, back on track… I am thankful for where I am in my career. This is a tough economy. There are many great people without work right now. I am thankful that I have been able to keep passionate about SQL Server, challenge myself and be challenged and somehow manage to stay within the grace of employers.

I am thankful that I can get up each morning and proudly drive into an office and help solve problems. Some days I may forget that in my conscious but it’s there in my subconscious. I am thankful that I have people needing to pepper me with questions and requests. I may forget that, too, but I am.

I’m also thankful for the technology I happen to work with: SQL Server. No, I don’t mean the tool, though I am kind of partial to it.. I mean the community that I get the pleasure of working with. Our field is flush with experts. Not just experts who know more (way more) than me but experts who love sharing that knowledge. I can go as deep as I want to with the product (just shy of source code deep) and find an expert either an MVP, a guru or even a Microsoft employee who is there on that journey offering a tip. That’s pretty neat and I don’t see that in every other technology out there. I can help answer questions on forums, twitter, newsgroups, etc. and I know that if I am stuck there is a village waiting to help me free of charge.

This year has been a busy year. I am in a good routine at the full time job and I have had some great client experiences through StraightPath Solutions and the little bit of SQL Server consulting I do. This has allowed me to meet some great people, have some extra money we needed for various items and has allowed me to share with Options For Women through StraightPath. I am thankful for the chance to work with some of the great clients and situations I explored over these past 11 months in 2009.

Our Military

They serve. Where they are told and when and for as long as their orders state. Evil exists in this world. Terrorists who want to do us harm exist. They stand up and fight for us, leaving their family, friends and comfort. As you read this, many Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and Marines are sitting in a foreign land, more alone than ever as they think about their last family Thanksgiving celebration. Please remember them, pray for them, thank them when you see them and get in touch with them.

Personally

What can I say. First of all, the order of the thanks is more of a least to most important here but the one most relevant to my site is up top.

That wonderful woman I nicknamed ‘gal above? She’s my wife. She is still a better person than I am and sets a very high example and standard for me. Yes, Christ is the standard I aim for but if I could even get halfway to where Megan is, I’d be a lot further along. I couldn’t ask for more when it comes to what she offers.

Much like I don’t deserve to be where I am at in my career, I don’t deserve to have such a caring, loving, beautiful and smart wife helping keep my head on straight. She is the best mom ever and that brings me to two other thanks: My daughter (4) and son (19mos). How cool is it to come home and get attacked with hugs. How great is it to hear the things my daughter says off the cuff. How fun is it to share in their lives and how scary is it to know what an awesome responsibility it is to raise them right. They are a blessing. Even when they are not on their best behavior, they help me see what is important and what isn’t important.

We are expecting child number 3, Lord willing, at the end of May. That is a blessing and yet one more thing to be thankful for. I could go on and on with the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. Even with the recent loss of my wife’s grandfather (who I had been growing quite close to, living next door to him) we still have so much to be thankful for. Even through his loss, we can find blessings as we know where he is and we look forward to meeting him again in his glorified state.

God

Last, but greatest of all, I am thankful for the fact that I am as sure of my salvation as though I am already in Heaven. I thank God for creating me, for His plan and will in my life. Even when I disagree or think my plan is better, I thank Him. My children are not my children, they are gifts from God and he entrusted us in their nurturing and growing.

He knew me. He knew about how my life would be. He knew about the times I would curse his name before knowing Him. He knew that I would say some horrible things and make rotten jokes out of the suffering His son went through on the cross. He knew what sins I would commit even after accepting His gift. He knows, still, what sins I have yet to commit as I go through life. He knew all of this before He laid the foundation of this world yet He chose still to create me, yet He chose still to send His son to die on my behalf, even if I were the only one to have accepted the gift. Every breath I take is from Him, every one of the blessings above this are from Him. Every good thing in my life is because of God. That isn’t defeatism, it’s counting my blessings.

God has been and continues to be great to this sinner who deserves not one ounce of these blessings. I am forever thankful for His love and watch care over me and my family. Thank you, God. I trust Him for this next year and look excitedly at what plans He may have in store for me between now and next Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! What about you? What are you thankful for?

Last week I posted about getting together with other Christians while at the PASS Summit this year. We have a good core group formed and we will be meeting throughout the conference.

I was originally planning on being there for Sunday evening but there was a death in my wife’s side of the family (her grandfather). It was expected as he was in hospice care after a long battle with cancer and COPD. He knows the Lord so while we mourn his passing, I am excited for him at all the sights He is seeing now. The funeral is Monday morning, and I will still be going to PASS, I will just miss Monday’s events. I will be arriving at the Sheraton sometime around midnight Monday. So no meetings with me on Sunday or Monday but I hope folks get together bonded by a common faith on those days still.

Two “Tracks”

There are two purposes to the Christian meetups at PASS. I wanted to talk about them both briefly

Track One: Prayer and Fellowship

One is the initiative I was talking about with some SQL Tweeps who I knew to be Christians. (I won’t name names, I am sure they are alright being named but that is up to them to do in the comments ). This is what I highlighted in my other post.

This will be a time for Christians (I described a definition for this on the other post as well) to get together and share prayer needs. Lift up the summit and attendees in prayer. Open the Word of God and read some passages and have some informal ad-hoc (not the bad kind of ad hoc involving horrible queries run amock) discussions about what we read.

When?

Throughout the Summit. I am now not arriving until Monday night but starting each Tuesday morning I will be in the lobby at the Sheraton Seattle with my Bible and some Tea (I hear there is a coffee shop built in to the Sheraton, I’ll try and stay near there). I will try and be there between 5:45-6:30 each morning (though Tuesday I may leave a bit early to register and not wait in lines).

There will also be informal meetups as we bump into each other but if you are around, want some fellowship, and to hang out with another one of us Bible believing types send a tweet out with the hashtag #passprayer. I will be looking at that link. Or add a comment here/shoot me an e-mail (mike at this blogs domain).

I believe I was invited to a few vendor get togethers and I will likely make an appearance at some of those but if you are looking for something to do, fellowship tops passing out my new moo cards, I’d rather spend time with you and the Lord.

I might even try and sneak over to Mars Hill church while there if I can find it and make it work.

Why

Why not? I love working with SQL Server and am incredibly excited to meet other SQL Server tweeps, SQL Server MVPS (at the BoF lunch will be a good spot for that) and mingle with industry experts. I am excited for the sessions, the chalk talks and spending time listening in on questions people have at the Ask The Expert areas.

Even still, my identity comes from who I am in Christ – a part of God’s creation, uniquely formed in my mothers womb by a loving Creator. One who doesn’t deserve the glory of Heaven but will receive it because God loved me first and proved by sending Christ to pay for my sins.

Just because I am away at a conference doesn’t mean I can’t hang out with other people who believe likewise. I’ll have fun with all people from all walks of life and all faiths at the sessions, events and mingling in the halls. I’ll really enjoy meeting you during #sqlbingo (I’m a square!) regardless of what you believe. That being said, I am excited to meet brothers and sisters in Christ in a few days.

Track Two: A Great Idea

Brian Moran reached out to me at the same time I was thinking of the first “track” above. His note explaining his idea is below. We will be stealing some space at the breakfast hall Tuesday morning and Lunch Hall Wednesday during lunch hour. This is not sanctioned or endorsed by PASS, we are just going to be talking about this at the tables we all sit at during the public meals.

I’ll let Brian explain his own idea with notes from an e-mail thread about it with him:

<Brian Moran>

Concept:

“You’re a subject matter expert, a community leader, an expert. You’re a technical evangelist. You know how to save the lost and convert them to your chosen technology. You’re also a Believer. Jesus has an instant ROI, the best SLA’s in the business, and offers an infinite number of 9’s of availability. Can you use your existing evangelism skills to save a few souls for Christ?”

Why:

I was at a men’s retreat with my church a month or so ago. The speaker served in the mission field; specifically in predominantly Muslim countries. The man was bold in his faith. I’ve been a Christian for 16 years and have never been bold in sharing my faith. Frankly, I’ve had little if any fruit in my life until recently. During the men’s retreat I felt convicted in my lack of evangelism. But it occurred to me that I’m actually very good at evangelism. I’ve been doing it in the SQL Server space for 15 years. I was persecuted and laughed at by my friends in the Unix space back in the old days so I’m even used to suffering from my evangelism efforts.

It occurred to me that if I had technical evangelism skills that could be used in better ways; perhaps other people did as well. My guess is that if we play a technical evangelist version of ‘7 degrees of Kevin Bacon’ that the top SQL Server TE’s in the world can probably touch the top TE’s in every major technology niche around the world. Could God use hundreds of influential technology and business leaders becoming more bold in their efforts to share their belief in Him? Probably

I spoke to a few people and there seemed to be some interested in exploring this concept further at PASS. I don’t anticipate this being any sort of formal ministry. We won’t need staff and donations. We don’t need radio shows, but let’s keep the door open on podcasts. We’re technologists after all. J

I really don’t know what this idea might lead to, or even if it’s an effort that God wants us to pursue. Please consider joining us for a time of prayer and discussion to explore how and if God wants to use this concept.

Where and when

We’ll be meeting during PASS. We’ll have two sessions. Breakfast on Tue. Lunch on Wed. You don’t need to attend both. Exact times TBD. We’ll meet in the PASS meal area. I’ll update the invites with specific time/location info as that is set. Please feel free to invite anyone else that you think may be interested. I’ll add them to the appointment if they contact me directly so that they can get updates to the appointment as they are made.

</Brian Moran> 

Current times: (Tuesday AM 7-8 for Breakfast and Wednesday Lunch 12:15-1:15)

So I hope to bump into you at PASS for any reason. If you are interested in either (or both) of these tracks send me an e-mail and I’ll get you added to the e-mail thread. Or simply comment here and I’ll reach out to you. As always you can find me on twitter.

From time to time, I blog about my faith here. I am really moving those posts over to my site where I talk about my faith, thoughts on liberty and other personal topics, A Believing Patriot. From time to time I will cross post here and since this post has to do with my SQL life and my Christian life (really, everything has to do with the latter, or it should at least) it makes sense to post here. As always, read on if you like, I won’t be offended if you choose not to and I hope you give me that same courtesy.

Away from home != Away from God

We jump on a plane, spend some time enjoying the company of some great people from the SQL Server community. We learn in sessions, learn through listening to chalk talks and questions in the pavilions and Ask The Experts lounge. We can even go to a vendor/community gathering or two and enjoy the company and networking with some great SQL Server resources.

But… As a Christian, I don’t want to leave my faith behind this year. I don’t want to let my witness lapse, let my time of fellowship lapse. I want to have the best time I’ve ever had at SQL PASS. That means I want to absorb as much knowledge, networking, socialization and fun as ever. But… In order to have the most fun as I’ve ever had, I long to spend some time with other Christians. With other people who are not only part of a SQL Server community but part of the body of believers, the family with Christ at the head.

So I will be going with my Bible (always travel for one: makes for good reading on the plane, good conversation starter at times and spending time with the Lord helps set the tone for each day), my knees (alright, a metaphor.. I pray standing,sitting and sometimes lying down.. never really kneeling) and a desire to hang out with other believers.

>= Bible & Prayer

(in number, not importance )

As I was thinking about this, I was talking to some other people in the SQL community that I knew, or suspected, to be Christians. Why don’t we try and get together at PASS was the conclusion we came to together. So we started looking for places to meet to organize a prayer breakfast or get together. A few ideas of where to meet were shot down and we started deciding to sort of wing our meeting location or at least kept putting off finding the official location. We are mostly all going to have our Bibles and we’ll likely all be praying but now we will get to meet and worship together.

So having my Bible and Prayer is great but adding to it fellowship is even better. Glad the others agree.

Where Location IS NULL

So we don’t have a location at this time. I am going to check with the hotel I am at (Sheraton), look for a church downtown or some other location. Worse case scenario has us just meeting in a hotel lobby, someone’s hotel room, a corner (unofficially and not sponsored by PASS) of a lunch or breakfast room, etc.

Once we have a location I will either send out some tweets #passprayer, update this blog or send you an e-mail (add a comment below or send me an e-mail)

GROUP BY

We already have a handful of people interested and I believe that number will grow based on some comments from others. If you are interested in having some time of fellowship, a time to remember Christ while at a conference and a time to pray for those at the Summit then contact me and I will add you to our e-mail list.

CROSS JOIN

A really neat thing happened earlier this week. A praise-worthy event. As I was busy on other priorities, this kept falling lower on my radar. Well it was clearly high on God’s radar still. I received an e-mail from someone I definitely knew from SQL Community (one of the gurus out there who really knows SQL and PASS). He was given my name by someone else in the community who knew I was a Christian. This guy was looking to find other Christians to get together with at PASS and beyond to focus on Christ together while at the conference and beyond. It was a great e-mail to read, it had a personal story and testimony from this person and I could see his heart was reaching out to do the Lord’s work while staying strong in SQL.. Combining the two.. A Cartesian product of sorts

I eagerly replied and am really looking forward to meeting him and those he was reaching out to. Not because they are geniuses in the SQL field (though some are ) but because they are people who are my brothers and perhaps sisters in Christ. They are people who I will get to spend all of eternity with, great to get to know some of them down here. They understand my work field as well which is great. We can discuss Scripture through SQL Server illustrations and work horror stories and combine our love for SQL Server and our love for Christ. Exciting indeed.

Execution Plan

We haven’t built an official structure to our get togethers. I see them as times of prayer, Bible Study and devotion. There are no rules and this isn’t some exclusive club. I can’t speak for everyone that I have talked to but we seem to agree on some basics… Anyone is welcome to join us, we aren’t looking to have a time of debating denominations, politics, etc. If you are a Christian or want to know more about what that means and meet some folks who are, you are welcome to join us.

I will say what I mean by Christian in a moment and I hope this helps set the tone and focus of these get togethers. I am one who believes in a Christ-Centered, Biblical Christianity, while anyone is welcome I hope to keep this focus in mind.

I have mentioned this in a few of my posts that are in the Bible category. I’ll be brief here, I define Christian as meaning:

I have realized and admitted I am a sinner, that I fall far short of the glory of God and His perfect will. It means I admit that I deserve what the Bible says the wages of my sin is: death (hell, separation from God’s love eternally). It means that I believe that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross exemplified God’s love to me (John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”). It means that I realize that I can’t meet the standard of Heaven and fellowship with God (Perfection is the only standard a holy and just God could demand, anything else would make Him a liar and no longer perfect in his nature and attributes). It means I believe that when Jesus died on the cross, He went there on my behalf, in fact He went there on behalf of anyone who puts their trust in Him. Doesn’t matter what sins you have committed, it doesn’t matter how far you think you are from God. The relationship with Christ has nothing to do with your actions but everything to do with his action when we died for you. Finally, it means I have applied His sacrifice to my life and trust Him and Him alone for my salvation and my eternity.

There are many benefits, many answers to prayer and countless testimonies to share with you but that is what it means to me to be a Christian. To be a follower of Christ and one whose sins are “covered” by His blood. I can have daily fellowship and closeness to the creator of this world and I will spend the rest of forever in a close relationship with Him.

It means I have received the gift of one of the most beautiful words in the dictionary: grace (unmerited favor)

Interested in meeting, talking, praying and having fun with us? Shoot me a note, send me a tweet. I really look forward to meeting you and please know that we’ll be praying for a great Summit this year for all attendees, regardless of faith or walk of life. I would love to be able to share my personal story with you and open a Bible with you. I am not going to push this on you, if you find me because of SQL Bingo, we’ll talk SQL and fun Summit stuff. If you ask about my faith, I’ll tell you. If you don’t want to hear about it, well I can’t promise it won’t slip out but I’ll respect your wishes and still have a great time getting to know you.

-mike

I occassionally post some blog entries about my faith and family or both. These posts may or may not touch on SQL Server and this is one of them. I discussed this when I first blogged about Jesus’ last words on the cross (Tetelestai). I welcome you to read or skip and I won’t be offended either way. I hope and pray that folks find something useful but even if not, I tend to find something useful on the infrequent times I write a post like this. Most of these are directed at me and I share in hopes others have same needs.

The Crutch that was Romans 7

I have been a Christian going on 8 years now.

let’s back up… What do I mean by Christian? – This term gets used in many different ways to mean many different things. I mean I am saved from the punishment that I deserve (hell) for the wrongs I commit and how far short of God’s glory I fall (sin). It means I put my hope for eternal life in Christ’s death on the cross and the glorious truth of his resurrection from that cross. It means that I followed what the Bible says in  Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”. (KJV)

Continuing on… I have been a Christian for almost 8 years now. In that time I have also been a human. I have been a sinner, but now a sinner saved by grace. A redeemed sinner receiving a gift I don’t deserve that Jesus bought for a price He didn’t deserve to pay. I have had struggles, I have had times where it felt like I was living the victorious Christian life, giving into the will of God, diligent in Bible study and prayer. There have been deep valleys also. Dark valleys. Where the world has ensnared me (don’t see that as me claiming passivity while the world somehow attacked me.. I was in the driver’s seat) in its offerings. There have been, it seems, more consistent times of me not being in the Word and not being in Prayer than vice versa.

I am a sinner. I don’t go a day without sinning somehow, someway. I wish it wasn’t so. I am challenged on three fronts each time I do… On the skyward front, I think of the blood Christ shed for me, the pain He endured for me. At my feet I think of my children and someday maybe theirs if the Lord’s return should wait. I think of the stern warning in the Bible about the sins of a father cursing children and their children (with the guilt of the potential promise that the blessings of the father will bless many generations). I also think of others, my wife who should look to me as the spiritual head of the house, the people I go to church with, my coworkers who sometimes see me not that differently than their friends who are not saved.

I am secure in my salvation and I am secure in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (KJV). I know I am forgiven and in God’s eyes He sees me as He sees Jesus – pure white. Even still I sometimes beat myself up over my shortcomings, my sins of commission and omission. When young in my Christian walk I heard a sermon on Romans 7 once and read the passage and found solace in it.

Starting in verse 14, Paul is agonizing over his sin and he is asking the question that every Christian (at least I have) asks them self from time to time, “Why do I do the things I don’t want to do and why do I not do the things I want to do?” Without a lot of agonizing Bible study time or prayerful consideration, I took this as “Hey look here! This is the apostle Paul, he wrote much of the New Testament, he was used in mighty ways and look at that! He struggled the same as I do!” While this is true, this is where my study here stopped and I would use this more of a guilt quasher than a Christian growth verse.

Well through a great program called Faith Bible Institute my church has been doing, I heard some excellent sermons on Romans 6. I have read it before but it never sunk in, I was just reading the Bible to read the Bible, I guess? I wasn’t prayerfully looking for the Bible to be a mirror to my soul like I should have been. In retrospect, I was selfishly cherry picking for my own benefit. Looking for encouragement here, answers there but rarely searching and asking, “God, what are you trying to tell me at this moment, what do I need to change and what are your plans for me?”

The Beautiful Truth of Romans 6

You see, while I was searching for a manual on how to be better, how to flee from sin (notice a pattern? relying on me) the whole time there was a promise and a truth in Romans 6. On my last work trip, I spent a lot of airport and hotel time studying Romans 6, remembering the sermons and underlining some great truths.. I thought maybe I would share them and maybe encourage a brother or sister in Christ out there. This Bible is a NASB translation so that is where the scripture references come from. The words I underlined are bolded below.

Introduction –> This chapter starts off after Romans 5 talking about our justification (a great word picture I heard from more than one source.. To be justified means to be declared “just as if I’d never sinned.. Even more it means to be declared “just as if I’d always been as righteous as Christ”). Grace was being talked about in Romans 5 and how precious it is. It was talking about the worse off we were, the more grace abounded. Chapter 6 picks up and starts off with one of Paul’s “God Forbid!” exclamations, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be!”

6:2-3 (A preview) - I thi nk these verses sum up a lot of what this chapter is all about. “2b How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” This is an important doctrine of Christianity to me. As we’ll see Paul reiterate later, if we have placed our trust in Christ we are dead. Our old selves are dead, we are risen in newness of life with Christ and we now live for Christ, born again, eternally alive with death having no more sting over us. When He died he took our sin natures with Him. We forget that and try to fight on our own power like we haven’t yet died and risen with a new nature. We give up on the promise and try to fight a losing battle with a deceptive enemy (and our own nature) and we have ceded defeat before even trying or knowing we have given up.

6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism with death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life”

Have Been – it’s done, it isn’t happening continually. When we put our trust in Christ for our only hope of salvation we were buried. It’s done. We can’t undo it, we can ignore it and rely on our own “strength” or we can accept it and live it. “as Christ was raised” Are you sure of the resurrection? I am, I have pinned my eternity on it and am willing to lose any earthly relationships over (no matter how painful) or suffer for my Jesus who died for me. So as sure as I am of that, I am told right here that I can be just as sure that I too might walk in newness of life. So there is part of the “secret” that God’s Word plainly reveals in a moment, but we don’t even need to read further to see the truth: I am alive in and through Christ; my old nature (lazy, selfish, pleasure seeking, gluttonous,crass,etc) is dead and buried. If I am not choosing to walk in the newness of life, I am relying on the phantom pains of my old nature and using that as an excuse. God took care of my old nature, I just need to get ahold of it and live it.

To Be Continued (A formula emerges)

I will continue this next weekend, it is getting long here. I will discuss a formula that is seen in the next verses and then in that post or possibly a third we can talk about what it means to be free and where that freedom comes from and what the responsibility is (hint.. it isn’t just a freedom from something. It’s a freedom towards something also).

Sneak peak at the formula… I encourage you to read Romans 6, I encourage you to read any chapter in Romans, the whole book in context even. It is a great book in a great collection of love letters to us by God.

The formula we’ll talk about next time:

• Knowing (that the old nature is dead and a new one is here)
• Understanding (a heart knowledge, perhaps?, that the old nature is dead and we are new creatures)
• Presentation (to which master?)
• Obedience (As slaves in bondage to sin there was one thing we should all admit we were great at: obedience to the bondage. So we already know how to obey and we can do it quite well! Christ, through Paul’s hand and style, explains a simple principle)

More on this next week. Until then, God bless you. Thanks for reading and I hope you have that relationship with God and can know and trust that you are seen as white as snow in spite of our sin in God’s eyes. The Bible makes it clear that there is one simple way to that end: Romans 10:9 spelled it out above. Believe you are a sinner, ask Christ to lead you in the right direction, to pay for your sins, confess Him Lord of your life, believe He died for your sins and proved victorious over them and the grave at the resurrection. That’s a personal decision that you have to make for yourself. No one can force it, beat it or plead it out of you.

As I said when I posted tetelestai, I will be blogging about my faith from time to time. Well maybe I’ll be doing more of that, maybe I’ll be making a separate blog for that but for now, this is one of those posts. Today’s post may turn more folks away but it’s on my chest and it’s coming off.

Today was the national day of Prayer (Website). This is an annual celebration of remembering our nations heritage and remembering where the only hope for this country is found –> God. No elected leader (from either party) can give us this same hope. No elected leader will ever fulfill the traits of who God wants to rule the world- Christ, the king of kings.

Through a great sermon, some wonderful prayer time with other believers and an extra dosage of conviction from the Holy Spirit I picked up a valuable lesson today: I’m not focusing on what is important in life.

The Bible is quite clear that I deserve hell. My actions and motives back that up. I am a sinner, motivated by selfishness and pride. Even when I do good I look to see who noticed far too often. I should be spending an eternity banished from God’s presence. It’s only fair.

The Bible is also so very clear that I am not getting what I deserve! In a verse that almost anyone can recite, that many people like to mock and that means so much I am told why I am not getting what I deserve:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 – King James Version)

I am bound for Heaven, an eternity of joy worshipping the very one who formed this world. The author of the Bible (a collection of 66 love letters written to us using over 40 human authors from all walks of life and profession over 1,500 years but the message being so tightly woven nonetheless!) will share the rest of eternity with me.

Not because of me but In spite of me. I was purchased with a price, a price so dear to God – the blood of His Son. God robed in human flesh took on our humanity, he paid a horrible price. He suffered more than anyone in the history of suffering: paying the price of my sins and your sins. Our actions could never pay this price! Our works are but dung according to Paul when it comes to our deserve of salvation. We are guilty as charged and the punishment is death and Hell. In spite of this, Christ came down to mediate for me. He suffered, bled and died for me. In spite of me. He was dead, buried and he arose, a glorious feat with so much evidence that so many who seek to fight the truth come to be fervent believers after their journey.

He now sits at the right hand of God in Heaven as my mediator. Every time satan says, “look what he did” Jesus cries out, “UNDER THE BLOOD!”. My sins are covered by His sacrifice. I am free from the bonds of sin and free to serve the Lord who gave so much for one who for so long hated Christianity, hated His truths and fought against those people who served Him.

Today’s service for the National Day of Prayer didn’t remind me of the above, I have had that in mind. Today’s time, however, helped me realize how much I am not doing. How far my walk with Christ is not moving.

He didn’t die so I could live a carnal life, worrying about the small stuff, living on in sin, stagnating in my walk. He didn’t die so I could work as hard as possible to be a go to guy with SQL Server. He didn’t die so I could have as many clients as possible. He died so I could taste Heaven and be His. While my sins are paid and I can’t be wrestled away from the hand of God that isn’t a license to go on as before. Can I? Sure, Heaven is still mine because it’s not up to me and my works.

But – why would I? Why would I want to? God gave me so much in Christ. My motivations in life are being turned upside down today. How can I do my Bible studies and go to church and then be a quiet, in the closet, Christian every other day. When so many don’t know the simple truth found in John 3:16? When so many (like me 10 years ago) have heard the words but don’t understand what they mean?

No. I can’t stay quiet anymore. There may be ramifications, there may be opportunities lost but who cares? I am here for another 40-70 years, Lord willing. I will be in Heaven for the rest of forever. I have a growing desire to offer more of myself to Him. Let Christ work through me and in spite of me.

I will be shifting my priorities – blogging, SQL Server knowledge growth, picking up extra work, etc need to take a back seat to walking with Christ and sharing what He has done for me. Family needs to come more into the spotlight, but even that comes under God. I will still be out here, but not as much. I want my short time here to be getting closer to Go. I am writing this goal so I can be reminded of it often.

What about you? Have you thought about where you stand with God? Are you trusting in the hope that the good in your life outweighs the bad? Are you hoping that your community activities are enough? Are you curious but waiting to close the deal until you are done, “having fun”?

Your works mean nothing because the standard is God’s holiness. We all fall incredibly short. Your community activities are works. Waiting? What if tomorrow never comes? You don’t know your death date, why chance it? Worried about missing out on fun? I never knew what true joy was until I asked Jesus into my heart.

Today is the day that you can ask for salvation. There is no other day that is better. If you feel that same feeling I felt a couple times before giving in, that strange, “I know it’s true but this, or but that” feeling then act on it. If you have never trusted in Christ’s completed work on the cruel cross you can do that right now.

You just have to admit you are a sinner, admit you can’t be good enough for Heaven. Trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Believe in your heart that when He died on that cross that He was doing it for you. Just like the thief on the cross next to Jesus who believed and entered Heaven that same day you can have eternal joy. Pray and ask Him into your heart if you believe.

It’s as simple as:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 – King James Version)

Send me an e-mail if you have questions. Send me an e-mail if you want to know more. There is no secret ritual or handshake. It’s all clearly in the Bible. I may not have your answer but I know the Answerer.

I recently read a post by Michael Deputy that talked about his Blog Direction. He brought a good point up: Focus on what’s important. Well today I am doing just that. I am a Christian as I say plainly in many locations and in my about us page. I am thinking I may periodically post something from the Bible, perhaps lessons from the Bible that work in our jobs, perhaps just my thoughts. The focus here is technology and will remain technology but I feel led to share a bit. If you don’t want to read these posts, I understand and I’ll tag them “Bible”. I wrestled with posting or not but I really can’t find any great reasons not to.

Tetelestai!

Today is the day that we remember what Jesus Christ did for us over 2,000 years ago. After living for 30 to 33 years, fulfilling over 300 specific Old Testament prophecies He paid the ultimate price for someone else. He gave His life in the cruelest form of death known to man (The Crucifixion, an “art” mastered by the Romans is where we get our word excruciating). He was tortured by “expert” torturers who flogged him, tearing flesh from his body and bringing him very near to death. He was nailed to a cross and had His fellowship with His Heavenly Father broken for a moment.

As 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, Christ became sin for us: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” The perfect, sinless Christ took on my sins, He took on your sins and received our punishment. The pain He must have felt when for the first time His dad wasn’t there when He looked for him. The pain he felt when he cried out “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani!?” or “My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me?”

Christ wasn’t a victim here though. He willingly came to pay this sin debt. He was the Creator God, robed in human flesh coming to redeem His people. He changed the lives He encountered, He gave hope and when He went to the cross He became our redeemer. He died so we don’t ever have to if we choose not to.

Before He died, He cried out “Tetelestai!” This is often translated as “It is finished” and that translation is an accurate translation… But did you know how Tetelestai was also used in New Testament times? It was used as an accounting term. It was written on a bill, on an account and it meant “Paid in Full”, it meant that account was now closed, the debtee no longer owed anything. The Bible is clear that Christ’s death on the cross was the full payment of a sin debt that we all owe. As one of the great hymns declares, “Jesus paid it all” and He paid it in full.

This sin debt? According to the Bible in Romans 6:23 that sin debt is death, eternal separation from God, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Who owes that debt? The Bible declares that we all do. It declares that there is none good, no not one. How much sin makes us guilty and worthy of that debt? Just one sin, God’s standard is perfect holiness and we fall short often if we are honest with ourselves. That has us in deserve of death, but what’s this gift mentioned in Romans 6:23?

We learn in various verses but Romans 5:8 shows it to us clearly, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God shows his love toward us through Christ’s death on the cross. God is a righteous God with a Holy standard. He is also a God of Love and he balances that perfectly with his Righteousness. Our sin demands payment, if God is to be fair and maintain perfect balance, He MUST demand this payment. He Loves us though. That’s where the cruel cross of Calvary comes in. Jesus was cursed for us, He became our sin and when He died His death had the potential to pay for our total sin debt.

Only a potential payment? How do we actualize it? By believing, by putting aside our own feeble attempts (Paul called his own attempts at holiness before meeting Christ on the Damascus road, “Dung!”) to somehow deserve Heaven – we don’t and we can’t, if we are honest with ourselves we see our faults, we see our sin and just one sin is enough to fall short of God’s holy standard. We need to put aside our own feeble attempts at saving ourselves and trust in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. Romans 10:9 tells us, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

If we trust in Christ’s completed work on the cross we shall be saved. Free from the wrath that we rightfully deserve. Free from the bonds of sin and freer than you could imagine. I used to scoff at the notion. I thought it was about my own works, losing joy and being a slave to a church and I hated the thought of organized religion. About 9 years ago, I asked Christ into my heart, I trusted in His finished work on the cross to pay for my sins. I have never been freer or happier.

The Resurrection

This is my favorite weekend of the year. Friday is filled with both joy and sorrow. Joy because I know the resurrection happened, because I know Jesus proved victorious over the cross, over the grave and over death. Sorrowful because I know it was for my sins that He died, because I know that I still sin and know that so many I love and care about don’t believe.

Christmas is great, Christ was born but without Good Friday and the Resurrection that birth would matter little. His crucifixion was powerful but without that triumph over the grave it would be the end. Jesus would have faded from memory, His followers would have died out, His story would have died down in just a few decades or perhaps centuries. With His resurrection, His empty tomb, Christianity has stood, grown and thrived. He has proven that believers will never die. His word tells us that when He died, a believer’s old nature was with Him, our sins are dead, they were buried. When he arose victorious we arose with Him, a new creation, a new creature as 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us.

Death lost it’s sting. Satan was bruised as predicted in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The seed of the women (Who could only be the virgin born Christ, the man has the seed…), Jesus’ victory over the tomb and death was a head blow to Satan. Jesus was wounded in the process but it was a heel wound. He suffered on the cross and before the cross, He was buried but He didn’t stay buried!

The resurrection has also stood to many tests. Folks know that if you can destroy the resurrection, you can destroy Christianity. You make Jesus a liar, you make the Bible a fairy tale with lies. Many have sought to destroy the account only to be overwhelmed by it’s proof. Just one example:

Simon Greenleaf – Legendary jurist and law professor, co-founder of Harvard University Law School. His 3 volume series, Treatise on the Law of Evidence was a text book used long after his death and still referenced. He was an ardent non-believer. His students asked him to apply his treatise on evidence to the resurrection account. He agreed and set out on a mission to destroy the account only to conclude that the evidence was overwhelming and he wrote a book detailing his findings, Testimony of the Evangelists.

This weekend, I will get to go to a “Son Rise” service at my church. We’ll worship our risen Lord, we’ll celebrate His power over the grave. Sing some of my most favorite hymns (Because He Lives, Up From the Grave He Arose, etc) and have a great time of fellowship. Then we’ll get to head to an Easter service with song and word and I’ll have my normal Sunday evening Faith Bible Institute class. I try to remember His death and resurrection each day but this is a special remembrance and I love it.

This is finished

Thanks for letting me share. It is my hope that you have this same joy this weekend. That you can celebrate the risen Lord who died for your sins. If you don’t, you can. It’s a decision you can make on your own and it’s between you and God. Those verses above tell you how and your life will be forever changed if you do. This can be the first Easter you celebrate a real celebration. This can be the first Easter you give up on your own attempts at earning or “deserving” something the Bible clearly tells us we can’t earn on our own.

One little SQL bit to add to this post, check out Phil Factor’s post about calculating Easter.