School begins again!

I write to update everyone on one of the things going in my life and to ask for your prayers as the Lord leads you. I have spent the past year here in Minneapolis and have been incredibly blessed in multiple ways. One of the ways the Lord has chosen to bless me in this new year is to allow me to participate in a local-church based d-ship program in the Twin Cities called The Bethlehem Institute (TBI). Our class went on a kick-off retreat this weekend and then enjoyed our first day of classes this past Thursday. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be able to participate in such a wonderful program with such amazing people. Please pray that the Lord would use my time here to enlighted my mind with delightful, humbling truth, to enflame my heart with a love for Jesus, and to empower my will to honor Him above all in all things! Thank you all so much for praying for me and please let me know how I can be praying for each of you. (jacalcote@yahoo.com)

Because He is,
jason

In Accordance with Reality

Small Group Fighter Verse Summary Poem
(Feb. 2007 – July 2007)

We live and die to self for Christ,
His ownership demands such price (Rom.14:7-8),
The Lord your God, my soul, now bless,
I paint His face, His works attest (Ps.103:1-4)
His acts articulate His name with soul-strengthening satisfaction,
The oppressed freed in seeing his sovereign character revelation (Ps.103:5-7)
Free, powerful, relational, immeasurably great and wise,
His steadfast love He gives to those, whose fear also supplied (Psalm 103:11-14)
Eternal are the steadfast love and righteousness of God,
Fading vapor, withered grass man’s accomplishment from sod (Psalm 103:15-18)
Slight and momentary pain works eternal weighty glory,
Faith is fixed on He unseen, until He closes story (2 Cor.4:17-18)
God is light and we are dark, disguise our sins’ delight
New creatures hate hypocrisy, confession breeding sight (2 Cor.5:17)
The medicine of joy through injected Bible heals brokenness of heart
Run to the Tower, the LORD His name, find safety from the start (Prov.17:2, 18:10)
The new mouth builds and fits with grace, appropriate for each,
Be a doer who listens well, not a don’ter, conversation leech (Eph. 4:29)
Be, incline, let not, keep, keep; your ear, My words, your heart
Watch yourself, your heart is trixy, be then sincerely smart (Prov.4:20-23)
Put, put, look, ponder, don’t swerve; mouth, eye, mind, foot addressed,
Straight-forward, holy habit forming; Spirit’s normal pattern expressed (Prov.4:24-27)
Authority, serious, obedience and near,
The father commands more than knowledge proximity endear (Prov.6:20-21)
Enlighten, Enflame, Empower; my mind and heart and will,
This the prayer of constant grace the sinner begs “reveal” (Prov.6:20-21)
I have been crucified with Christ, and so I’m crucified to me,
The evidence of death required, faith and sacrifice like He (Gal. 2:20)
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,
The Spirit’s fruit observable, so test yourself, your heart patrol (Gal. 5:22-23)
In trouble trust the Stronghold, you oppressed to God do flee,
His name is never-failing, what a welcome place to be (Psalm 9:9-10)
My needs all met in Jesus, by His strength I do all things;
The secret of contentment, knowing Christ, my spirit sings! (Phil.4:13-19)

The Foundation of our hope

In my meditation on Paul's presentation of the gospel in 1 Cor. 15, the Lord was delighted to show me why the resurrection of Christ is so central to the gospel message. In 1 Cor. 15 Paul presents 4 main parts to his gospel message: 1. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" 2. "He was buried" 3. "He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" 4. "He appeared to.......[six different individuals or groups of people]".

Upon first examination Christ's death seems to be of utmost importance in the gospel because as Paul says in Romans, "having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." Blood takes away wrath and purchases redemption (Eph.1:7). Yet Paul seems to indicate to the Corinthains a different emphasis or point on which the gospel hangs. "...if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, and your faith also is vain." (1 Cor.15:14) "...if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins." (1 Cor. 15:17) Note that: not if Christ didn't die for our sins, but if He hasn't been resurrected. The resurrection is the foundation of our hope and our faith! But why?

To explain, please allow me to offer an analogy. Let's say that you wanted to go to a world famous water park because you loved water. But the problem is that your are in debt $1 million to the water park for vandalizing (dishonoring) their property. Now let's say that one day the owner of the park decided to freely pay off your debt to the water park for you and also to pay the price of admission for you. Would you be grateful? Absolutely! However, if you were to then go to the park only to find that it had been closed down due to the death of the owner, then all the work done to secure your admittance would seem to have been in vain, right?

So it must also be with the spiritual water park of Jesus' presence. If your sin debt, which prevents you from coming to Him, has been paid off by Him, and your righteousness debt paid by Him as well, and yet you come to Heaven only to find that Heaven (Jesus) is not there, then all His work would have been in vain. Without Christ's resurrection the gospel is incomplete and vain, for the hope of eternal life is dead if the Source of that eternal life is dead. "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3) Knowing Jesus is eternal life! Therefore He must be alive to know if eternal life can truly be considered good! Jesus Christ is our Living Hope! "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3) We have hope because He has been risen!