I think that I’ve

gotten most of the “bugs” out of the Vista install and it runs very quick. For some reason I can’t get it to run in 64 bit mode, keeps saying I’m missing a device driver for the coprocessor, gonna have to keep searching for one. As it is, if flies and I love the Aero glass desktop. And the “gadgets” are cool, just like in OS-X.

Haven’t had nearly as much luck installing Linux on it. SUSE is thus far the only distro that will install and it will not recognize the nVidia graphics card, using a Vesa framebuffer driver. IOW, unusable for browsing. Ubuntu, Mephis and PCLOS all freeze when gathering hardware information. Just finished downloading the dvd iso of CentOS, I’ll check that out after church.

We are finishing up MacAruthur’s Murder of Jesus this morning. Overall, I think it’s been a great study, certainly I wouldn’t have worked through this material for seven weeks otherwise. And the guys seemed to have caught on to the idea of studying daily or at least more frequently. But I have to be very careful not to give people the idea that it is necessary to be “devout” to be in Christ’s presence, so I included a portion of Jon Courson’s commentary on Matthew 27:51-56 in my lesson plan. It is a not so gentle reminder that all is paid – I can do nothing and need to do nothing to enter Christ’s presence.

Sometimes I think we picture our Father like that, saying to us, “Pray harder. Study longer. Sacrifice deeper. Give more. And if you continue to give, pray, sacrifice, and give—maybe I’ll read your paper. Maybe I’ll listen to your prayer. Maybe I’ll respond to your question.” But, gang, the issue is not trying harder. The issue is realizing Jesus completed the work once and for all.

The Father says to us, “Come boldly into My presence. Whether you have devotions or not is immaterial. Whether you study My Word or not is irrelevant. My Son opened the way for you. His body was torn. He was the ripped veil.”

Yet what do we do? We get out our little scissors and say, “I realize there’s a big opening in the veil, but I’m going to try to cut my own way through with my works of righteousness—my devotion, my prayer, my witnessing.”

Listen, precious people, the work is done. The price is paid. The way into God’s presence is open to everyone who believes. It is open to any person at any time at any place. Thus, any time and any place, every time and every place can be holy. Changing a diaper can be just as much an act of devotion and worship as reading your Bible if you do it to the glory of God, celebrating the fact that you can come into His presence anywhere. That’s what the Samaritan woman heard from Jesus when, in answer to her question concerning the proper place to worship, He said, “The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). In other words, it’s not where your body is that matters. It’s where your heart is that counts.

Working out at the YMCA can be an act of worship if you say, “Lord, I thank You for the fact that I can exercise. Help me to somehow reflect something of You as I’m doing this. May this be a time, Lord, when I can encourage someone and really be thankful to You for what You’ve given me today.” You are in the Holy of Holies at that time, even though there’s not a pew in sight. Does this mean you should never read your Bible, never pray, never tithe, or never come to church? Of course not. It means, however, that your motivation for doing those things changes. Instead of feeling responsible to demonstrate your spirituality, you realize the work has already been done, the price paid, the veil rent. And your motivation to worship, tithe, pray, and study the Word changes from one of responsibility to one of response.

When my wife gives me a Valentine, I don’t say, “I better read this. In fact, I’ll have to discipline myself to do it. I’ll carve out time tomorrow morning. Hope I can stay awake. Hope she’s impressed that I read it.” That’s crazy! And yet we take the Valentine of God’s Word—His love letter to us—and say, “Well, I better discipline myself. Hope I can stay awake. Where should I start?” When you’re in love with someone, you want to know what she’s saying, what he’s thinking, what they’re feeling. You want to know her mind; you want to hear his heart. Why do I study the Bible? Because I am so impressed with my Father that I want to know more about Him.

He has torn the veil from top to bottom. And we can enter into His presence—anyone, any place, any time. Glory be to God! The price was paid. The veil was rent. The way is open. Come on in!