Lunatic, Liar or Lord; Remembering Good Friday

By: Gabriela Yareliz
This is probably my most important post of the week. It is a special week, but really, what makes it special should be remembered every day and every hour.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. … Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”-C.S. Lewis

“Every other person who is at the heart of any religion has had his or her beginning either in fancy or in fact. But nevertheless, there is a beginning. Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem was a moment preceded by eternity. His being neither originated in time nor came about by the will of humanity. The Author of time, who lived in the eternal, was made incarnate in time that we might live with the eternal in view. In that sense, the message of Christ was not the introduction of a religion, but an introduction to truth about reality as God alone knows it. To deny Jesus’ message while pursuing spirituality is to conjure an imaginary religion in an attempt to see heaven while sight is confined to the earth. That is precisely what Jesus challenged when he said, “I have come that [you] may have life” (John 10:10). His life spells living. Your life or my life, apart from Him, spells death.” ― Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods

“Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness.” Mother Teresa

“Like Jesus we belong to the world, living not for ourselves but for others. The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Mother Teresa

This Easter, as we remember how God became flesh and gave Himself for humanity, let us not only make the sacrifice our own. Let us make the commitment to pour ourselves out for humanity.

Gandhi said: “To live the gospel is the most effective way; most effective in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. …Not just preach but live the life according to the light…. If, therefore, you go on serving people and ask them also to serve, they would understand. But you quote instead John 3:16 and ask them to believe it and that has no appeal to me, and I am sure people will not understand it… the Gospel will be more powerful when practiced and preached.”

Live out the gospel.
And remember: “There are no unique postures and times and limitations that restrict our access to God. My relationship with God is intimate and personal. The Christian does not go to the temple to worship. The Christian takes the temple with him or her. Jesus lifts us beyond the building and pays the human body the highest compliment by making it His dwelling place, the place where He meets with us. Even today He would overturn the tables of those who make it a marketplace for their own lust, greed and wealth.”
― Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods

Share the love poured out and the message of His sacrifice in your daily living.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:16, 17

He did it so that each who decides to accept His sacrifice may be saved. All are called, not all accept.

The world is evil, our disobedience and sin separates us from God–but in Christ we find a Savior; reconciliation with divine power.

The victory of good over evil has been won. Every day, however, this battle is fought for our souls in our hearts.
What will we choose?

Blessed be Him who has not turned away my prayer

Psalm 66 by King David

Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
2 Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
3 Say to God,
“How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
4 All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah

5 Come and see the works of God;
He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
They went through the river on foot.
There we will rejoice in Him.
7 He rules by His power forever;
His eyes observe the nations;
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

8 Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
9 Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to be moved.
10 For You, O God, have tested us;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
11 You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
12 You have caused men to ride over our heads;
We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.

13 I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay You my vows,
14 Which my lips have uttered
And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals,
With the sweet aroma of rams;
I will offer bulls with goats. Selah

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
19 But certainly God has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!

Cocktail Spring/ Summer inspiration

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I am totally ready for the warmer seasons and sunshine. I am tired of dark colors, wearing more than one layer of clothes. I am ready for a softer look, where makeup doesn’t play such a big role to hide pale skin.

Current inspiration:


Diana Penty; she is known for her role as Meera in Cocktail (2012). Her hair is absolutely beautiful.

Also, inspiration #2: Deepika Padukone. Her hair is always so voluminous and fantastic.

Spring and summer weather is commmmiiiiinnngggg–you know what that means: tanner skin, time for friends, no class and a more laid back look. I am so ready for the seasonal change.

This song is soooo stuck in my head:

Tumhi Din Chadhe, Tumhi Din Dhale
Tumhi Ho Bandhu, Sakha Tumhi
Every time every minute all the day
Tumhi Ho Bandhu, Sakha Tumhi 😉

Sunshine, summer, skin actually touching air, leaves on trees– COME TO US!

Taare Zameen Par: Every Child is Special


“There are jewels in this world who see the world differently.”-Taare Zameen Par

[All images are from tumblr.com]

Taare Zameen Par was so beautiful (Thanks to Yash for the recommendation). Just watching the child, Inu, and Aamir Khan’s expressions made it worth it. So inspiring.

This was probably on of my favorite comedic moments in the film:

So adorable.

Cultural Relativism and the Emasculation of Truth: Ravi Zacharias

By: Gabriela Yareliz

AGE OF REASON

I have been listening to this series by Ravi Zarcharias, Oxford University Scholar and Professor, called Cultural Relativism and the Emasculation of Truth. He starts off mentioning so many different news headlines, like the ones of children killing others, and young people mindlessly killing peers and even family members (his focus on Western culture).

This past weekend my pastor was talking about two children who went out to rob, and when the woman with the stroller they had stopped had nothing to give them, they shot her baby. I don’t mean to sadden you, but I have been vocal about racism, discrimination, rape, violence…It is happening all over the world in increasing proportions. Anyone notice something is really wrong? We have gotten to the point where children are committing atrocious crimes.

As Ravi Zacharias said, “The path of truth is leading us into a malaise here, and into the quicksand of violence and eroticism; where we are entitled to hate our own family members, where young children are slaughtering one another–the age of reason is not doing very well, is it?”

THE MOST CRUCIAL QUESTION

Let us go to Pilate’s court, the Roman Prefect of Judaea:
(John 18)

33 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

34 Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

38 Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.

We live in an age, where much like Pilate, we ask the most crucial question of all “What is truth,” but we stay not to hear the answer.-Ravi Zacharias

TRUTH
What is Truth? How badly to people want it? Are the willing to shed convenience, preconcieved notions and all else to pursue it?

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.”- M. Gandhi

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO US
Problems in our society according to Zacharias:
1] Revelation replaced by reason; which leads to a lot of irrationality; rationalism fails, existentialism fails.

2] Truth has been subverted by agnosticism-we pride ourselves in the fact that we don’t know or cannot believe in anything, and skepticism is the hallmark of university education today.

WHAT THIS GENERATION WANTS
George McDonald: “To give truth to him, who loves it not, is but to give him more plentiful material for misinterpretation.”

Are we willing to accept truth with all of its costs?

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

“In any interplay between a person and information, the first test is not the veracity of the information, but the truthfulness of the person. Intent is prior to content. The question is, does this generation really want truth?”-Ravi Zacharias

3] The propositional is replaced by the visual-the darkest reality of our time-distortions and images coming into children’s minds. Our society has been buying into the delusion that we see on TV, in music and on our billboards.

THE EYE
We must guard our souls, by what we expose ourselves to. Are we buying into the delusion society is offering to us?

Jesus said, “let your eye be single. The eye is the lamp to the body. We are meant to see through the eye with the conscience, we are taught to see through the eye devoid of a conscience.”-Ravi Zacharias

“This life’s dim windows of the soul
Distorts the heavens from pole to pole
And leads you to believe a lie
When you see with, not through, the eye.”
~ William Blake, from The Rossetti Manuscript (aka MS. Book; c. 1793-1811). The Everlasting Gospel (c. 1810). Section 5, line 101

GOOD v. EVIL
“And in reality, nothing is so beautiful as the good; nothing so monotonous and boring as evil. But in our imagination, it is the other way around, fictional good is boring and flat; fictional evil is very intriguing, attractive and full of charm. The poles have been reversed. Good has become boring, evil has become intriguing.”-Ravi Zacharias

For the complete message:
RZIM.COM
Cultural Relativism and the Emasculation of Truth Part 1

Cultural Relativism and the Emasculation of Truth Part 2

Cultural Relativism and the Emasculation of Truth Part 3

Cultural Relativism and the Emasculation of Truth Part 4