You had no hope, now you do. Texas is a big land. For that matter, the West is vast and needs men with hope.”
–D.C. Adkisson (Mal de Ojo)
“Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.”
–1 Peter 1:21 (NLT)
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“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
Oh, that old rugged cross so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
To bear it to dark Calvary.
In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see;
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true,
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.”
Tremendous words written by George Bennard that we never hear anymore. Shame, there is such truth and such feeling within those words. Since the church has become more “enlightened” it has cast aside these treasures.
That cross truly is despised by the world. It is the cross that divides the world. Accept Jesus, His death, followed by the victory given in the resurrection and there is life eternal. Man cannot earn or make his own salvation; it only comes through the grace that was given because of the death of Jesus on the cross. The Cross represents the atonement, the propitiation, the substitution, the redemption for our souls.
No matter what happens in life–cling to the old rugged cross.