Good Friday

Today is Good Friday

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as "God on the cross." In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?” John Stott

It's a primary reason for some to reject God, "See all the pain and suffering! If there's a God, surely he would do something about it." He did, this Good Friday. "A Man of sorrows... acquainted with grief." (Is 53.3) Experienced it, absorbed it, sunk into the "miry clay" of suffering, submerged in it, conquered it.

Our grief and pain, his willing brokenness. That's who we follow, dear ones, the Lamb that is a Lion. Sit at the cross and watch, wonder and worship.

From Joni Tada on carrying our cross. It needs less comment than application. Perhaps only application is needed. “Your cross is your attitude about your dead-end job and your in-laws. It is your attitude about your aches and pains. Any complaints, any grumblings, any disputings or murmurings, any anxieties, any worries, any resentments or anything that hints of a raging torrent of bitterness -- these are the things God calls me to die to daily.”

Typically on Good Friday, I spend the day listening to sacred songs of this Holiest of Weeks.

Three of my favorites:

O Sacred Head Now Wounded: Praiseful.

Jesus Lover of My Soul: Confessional.

Jesus Paid It All: Prayerful.

And a lot more ones in Arabic from the first 20 years of my life.

What is your favorite Good Friday Hymn or Song? Sing it a lot today. It would do your heart a lot of good to worship in this way.