the victim's faint pulse picks up

Psalm 10:17-18 - The Message

"The victim's faint pulse picks up,
the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood
as you put your ear to their lips.
Orphans get parents, the homeless get homes.
The reign of terror is over,
the rule of the gang lords is ended."

...the victim's faint pulse picks up...

down in New Orleans I stumbled across this verse. It really struck me as a great way to articulate the message of Jesus in very bare bones, raw, gut feeling emotional type of way.

Jesus's message asserts that there is more. The old way is out and there is something new happening - the Kingdom of God.
We do not have to live this old way of the world anymore - there is a faint glimmer of hope on the horizon.

Imagine a person who has been physically beaten and left for dead. Their attacker has done their worst. Right as the victim is about to fade out of consciousness he or she hears the voice of a loved one coming screaming their name. Against all medical odds that victim holds on - their pulse starts to pick up again. They have seen that there is hope.
I think of the end scene of any action movie where it looks like the victim has met their end. Then at the last second the hero bursts in and saves the day. We always get excited about the hero but never really think about the victim's thoughts as the hero bursts through the door.

Followers of Jesus are people who are often beaten and left for dead. The world and this life have done their worst, and just when it seems like all hope is lost - enter Jesus. Our pulse starts to pick up...because it's not over.

I think we all identify with this emotion. That's why so many movies end this way - the hero is just about done and at the last second something sparks a second wind, a hope in them. Sometimes its a memory, other times its just the face of a loved one, or the remembrance of a promise - but something always causes them to have more hope, more drive and ultimately to make it out alive, or win the fight or whatever. Something causes their faint pulse to pick up.

The message of Jesus should cause our broken, tired world's faint pulse to jump start.

Almost like in the same way your pulse picks up at the site of your loved one, or at your first kiss, or the first time you asked someone out on a date. I think that quickening pulse is what Jesus' main message is when we boil it down - there is more, there is hope and it better cause your pulse to pump faster...you should be excited - because there is more. Good things happen here - orphans get parents, the homeless get homes, the reign of terror is over. Turn around, the Kingdom of God is here.

In Jesus' death and resurrection we have new life, we have hope, we have cause to press on with confidence that there is more, with the confidence that the Kingdom of God is here...right now...among us. There is a new world bursting forth right in the midst of the old one a world where there is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary and love for the broken heart, there is grace and forgiveness. Resurrection Sunday ushers in the new humanity - new life.

this easter - I pray your pulse picks up a beat

amazing capoeira video

go barefoot

http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/

go barefoot on april 8th for kids with not shoes

krup!

a logo i made for iv - i like it

YESSSSS!!!!!!

my excitement over this shows how much of a karate nerd I am....and im ok with that :)

my new favorite prayer

Gracious God, our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name, what our hearts can no longer bear, and what has become for us a consuming fire of judgment. Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed; and grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.