Hello everyone,
I’ve been meaning to let everyone know about a worship blog by a new friend. Matt Stevens is the worship pastor at Vintage21 Church in Raleigh. Be sure and check it out. You can find a link to his blog under my "friends" section on the right.
I came across this quote the other day by Mark Driscoll at the First Importance blog. It’s powerful.
“The curious paradox of the atoning death of a bloody Jesus rising
above the plane of human history with a mocking crown of thorns is that
he is offensive in an attractive way.
It is the utter horror of the cross that cuts through the chatter,
noise, and nonsense of our day to rivet our attention, shut our mouths,
and compel us to listen to an impassioned dying man who is crying out
for the forgiveness of our sins and to ask why he suffered.
Tragically, if we lose the offense of the cross, we also lose the
attraction of the cross so that no one is compelled to look at Jesus.
Therefore, Jesus does not need a marketing firm or a makeover as much
as a prophet to preach the horror of the cross unashamedly.”
—Mark Driscoll, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 33