Barry Milazzo's Blog
July 26, 2015
Life Sucks and then, you die?
I once saw a bumper sticker which read, “Life sucks, and then you die!” How would you answer the occupant of that car?
Millions feel this way in view of the suffering and evil they have experienced in this world. I have been tempted by this sentiment myself in the past.
I have a new friend who was recently hospitalized for attempted suicide. As he grapples with despair and anguish, he doesn’t have time for religious fluff. What is my answer for him? What is yours?
I don’t pretend to understand the selectivity of suffering in the world.
Who gets cancer, or succumbs to Alzheimer’s? Who gets crushed in a car wreck? What winds sweep down to choose a victim, while sparing others right next door?
What makes Job, or my brain-injured son, or you, dear reader, the subject of God’s showdowns with Satan?
For that matter, what makes Job’s declaration, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15), more appropriate or noble than his wife’s counsel to simply “curse God and die!” (Job 2:9)?
The Bible tells us God loves us, yet who could blame us for becoming cynical, or even bitter?
Let’s be honest. It’s often hard to see God’s love here. What we do see quite readily is sorrow, pain, and death all around us.
Religion is full of talk about God’s love. Frankly, if God doesn’t ever do more than talk, why should we care?
Jesus lifts our eyes to a far deeper understanding of the love of God than religion will ever grasp. Jesus’ love is fraught with action.
He not only saw our anguish and pain, but He came. He willingly died to grant us forgiveness, eternal life, and genuine hope as we press on in our journey here and now ...
The above is from the Epilogue of All the King's Horses - Finding Purpose and Hope in Brokenness and Impossibility
Millions feel this way in view of the suffering and evil they have experienced in this world. I have been tempted by this sentiment myself in the past.
I have a new friend who was recently hospitalized for attempted suicide. As he grapples with despair and anguish, he doesn’t have time for religious fluff. What is my answer for him? What is yours?
I don’t pretend to understand the selectivity of suffering in the world.
Who gets cancer, or succumbs to Alzheimer’s? Who gets crushed in a car wreck? What winds sweep down to choose a victim, while sparing others right next door?
What makes Job, or my brain-injured son, or you, dear reader, the subject of God’s showdowns with Satan?
For that matter, what makes Job’s declaration, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15), more appropriate or noble than his wife’s counsel to simply “curse God and die!” (Job 2:9)?
The Bible tells us God loves us, yet who could blame us for becoming cynical, or even bitter?
Let’s be honest. It’s often hard to see God’s love here. What we do see quite readily is sorrow, pain, and death all around us.
Religion is full of talk about God’s love. Frankly, if God doesn’t ever do more than talk, why should we care?
Jesus lifts our eyes to a far deeper understanding of the love of God than religion will ever grasp. Jesus’ love is fraught with action.
He not only saw our anguish and pain, but He came. He willingly died to grant us forgiveness, eternal life, and genuine hope as we press on in our journey here and now ...
The above is from the Epilogue of All the King's Horses - Finding Purpose and Hope in Brokenness and Impossibility
July 19, 2015
Could it be possible?
From the Introduction of: "All the King's Horses - Finding Purpose and Hope in Brokenness and Impossibility"
Could it be possible that God intends to use your brokenness—the crushing circumstances which symbolize defeat, death, and shame in your life—to produce victory and abundance in and through you that is higher than you could ever have dreamed?
Many choose to blame God for their broken dreams. An understandable response. After all, if He’s as powerful and good as He’s supposed to be, why didn’t He simply prevent our tragic circumstances?
Some choose to blame others: If only that offender hadn’t caused the accident, or that abuser treated me cruelly, then I’d be happy and free.
Still others blame themselves. They could have done better in the midst of their battles, and they know it. When the going got tough, they didn’t get going at all. They wimped out and compounded their problems by making all the wrong choices. They deserve what they’ve gotten, and they know God is “ticked” at them to boot.
I can’t condemn those who find themselves playing the blame game. Frankly, I’ve struggled badly through all three of the above perspectives during my lifetime, and not just once. Were it not for the fact that I ultimately found something better, something worth living for, there would be no good reason to write this book …
Jesus’ first words from the mount are aimed at desperate souls who face devastating brokenness.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
Beautiful teachings; even poetic. “But come off it, Jesus! You don’t expect us to believe that the circumstances that have tortured and brutally twisted our lives are something to be happy about, do You?”
Indeed, talk is cheap. But not from Jesus ...
When it came time for God, peering into the eyes of a serpent, to push His chips to the middle of the table, the most shocking wager in history was revealed for all creation to see.
How would God choose to handle the issues of sin, brokenness, pain, and human defeat? He staked the whole world, the fate of every son of Adam and every daughter of Eve, on a peculiar hand indeed.
He chose brokenness and death for His very own Son. What kind of strange gamble was this?
All the King’s Horses will pose a question to be considered by every person whose dreams have been shattered, whose life has been broken beyond repair:
Could it be possible that God intends to use your brokenness—the crushing circumstances which symbolize defeat, death, and shame in your life—to produce victory and abundance in and through you that is higher than you could ever have dreamed?
Does not the question itself remind us of something? Strange indeed!
Could it be possible that God intends to use your brokenness—the crushing circumstances which symbolize defeat, death, and shame in your life—to produce victory and abundance in and through you that is higher than you could ever have dreamed?
Many choose to blame God for their broken dreams. An understandable response. After all, if He’s as powerful and good as He’s supposed to be, why didn’t He simply prevent our tragic circumstances?
Some choose to blame others: If only that offender hadn’t caused the accident, or that abuser treated me cruelly, then I’d be happy and free.
Still others blame themselves. They could have done better in the midst of their battles, and they know it. When the going got tough, they didn’t get going at all. They wimped out and compounded their problems by making all the wrong choices. They deserve what they’ve gotten, and they know God is “ticked” at them to boot.
I can’t condemn those who find themselves playing the blame game. Frankly, I’ve struggled badly through all three of the above perspectives during my lifetime, and not just once. Were it not for the fact that I ultimately found something better, something worth living for, there would be no good reason to write this book …
Jesus’ first words from the mount are aimed at desperate souls who face devastating brokenness.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
Beautiful teachings; even poetic. “But come off it, Jesus! You don’t expect us to believe that the circumstances that have tortured and brutally twisted our lives are something to be happy about, do You?”
Indeed, talk is cheap. But not from Jesus ...
When it came time for God, peering into the eyes of a serpent, to push His chips to the middle of the table, the most shocking wager in history was revealed for all creation to see.
How would God choose to handle the issues of sin, brokenness, pain, and human defeat? He staked the whole world, the fate of every son of Adam and every daughter of Eve, on a peculiar hand indeed.
He chose brokenness and death for His very own Son. What kind of strange gamble was this?
All the King’s Horses will pose a question to be considered by every person whose dreams have been shattered, whose life has been broken beyond repair:
Could it be possible that God intends to use your brokenness—the crushing circumstances which symbolize defeat, death, and shame in your life—to produce victory and abundance in and through you that is higher than you could ever have dreamed?
Does not the question itself remind us of something? Strange indeed!
May 29, 2015
The Christian experience boiled down
The whole Christian experience can pretty much be boiled down to learning to trust in God more, and in ourselves less. We’re told to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2). In order to truly fix our eyes on the King, our focus must come off of the mirror. Our gaze will automatically gravitate to one source of strength or the other. One source is legitimate (Christ). The other is delusion (me).
From page 19 of the book, All the Kings Horses – Finding Purpose and Hope in Brokenness and Impossibility, by Barry Milazzo
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1629984191
From page 19 of the book, All the Kings Horses – Finding Purpose and Hope in Brokenness and Impossibility, by Barry Milazzo
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1629984191
May 26, 2015
Daddy's lap
God won’t strike us down for being honest. He is far too big for that. Mercifully, our Father sits on a throne of grace, not of condemnation. We can throw all our doubt, our exasperation and even our anger right into our Daddy’s lap. At least that would mean we are where we belong: in His lap. This is the place He can teach us, and change us. Even when our attitude is dead wrong, He doesn’t slap us around, as a cruel father might. Nor does He affirm our error. As a good Father, He remains intent on turning our minds and hearts toward what is right, and transforming our character toward the image of our elder Brother, His firstborn Son. No, the danger isn’t in coming to His throne with a “bad” attitude. The danger is in staying away.
From page 17 of the book, All the Kings Horses, by Barry Milazzo
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25...
From page 17 of the book, All the Kings Horses, by Barry Milazzo
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25...
April 3, 2015
What Would Jesus Do on Good Friday?
I wonder what I might do if I knew my executioners were coming, or more chilling, if I knew I'd soon be tortured to death.
The One who could think a Universe into existence as easily as you and I take our next breath could have summoned legions of Angels to obliterate the arrogant "religious" men, the fools with the hubris to condemn the only righteous Man on earth, and the brutal soldiers who would dare to nail Him to a cross. Just one word from Him, and they'd have all been toast!
Honestly, I don't know what I'd do, nor do you. But we don't need to conjecture about what Jesus would do. It is a matter of record:
"Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, HE LOVED THEM TO THE END." John 13:1
"... Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" Hebrews 12:2
Why did He do it? Why didn't He stop it? After we betrayed God by choosing sin (Adam, me, and you), after we wrecked this planet with hatred and war and murder, He remained determined to love us to the end, to endure the cross in order to rescue us from the peril of our own rebellion, allowing His sacred blood to flow as payment for your sin, and mine.
He knew His executioners were coming. He knew He'd be mocked and spit upon and tortured to death. What Jesus decided to do is a matter of record. Why He did it boggles the mind.
Do you know that YOU were on His mind has He endured that cross (Heb 12:2). Our reconciliation with God was His joy, because WE are His joy.
God created us to love us. We turned from Him. He pursued us. He paid an astonishing price in the death of His Son to rescue us. He remains determined, even now, to love us to the end.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21
What would I do? What would you do? Who in the world knows? What would Jesus do? This is a matter of record. The only important question now is, what is our response to such love?
Will we love Him to the end, even as Jesus loved us? Once we begin to understand all that God has done for us, in Christ, is there really any other reasonable choice?
"See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God; and such we are." 1 Jn. 3:1
"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10
"We love, because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
The One who could think a Universe into existence as easily as you and I take our next breath could have summoned legions of Angels to obliterate the arrogant "religious" men, the fools with the hubris to condemn the only righteous Man on earth, and the brutal soldiers who would dare to nail Him to a cross. Just one word from Him, and they'd have all been toast!
Honestly, I don't know what I'd do, nor do you. But we don't need to conjecture about what Jesus would do. It is a matter of record:
"Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, HE LOVED THEM TO THE END." John 13:1
"... Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" Hebrews 12:2
Why did He do it? Why didn't He stop it? After we betrayed God by choosing sin (Adam, me, and you), after we wrecked this planet with hatred and war and murder, He remained determined to love us to the end, to endure the cross in order to rescue us from the peril of our own rebellion, allowing His sacred blood to flow as payment for your sin, and mine.
He knew His executioners were coming. He knew He'd be mocked and spit upon and tortured to death. What Jesus decided to do is a matter of record. Why He did it boggles the mind.
Do you know that YOU were on His mind has He endured that cross (Heb 12:2). Our reconciliation with God was His joy, because WE are His joy.
God created us to love us. We turned from Him. He pursued us. He paid an astonishing price in the death of His Son to rescue us. He remains determined, even now, to love us to the end.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21
What would I do? What would you do? Who in the world knows? What would Jesus do? This is a matter of record. The only important question now is, what is our response to such love?
Will we love Him to the end, even as Jesus loved us? Once we begin to understand all that God has done for us, in Christ, is there really any other reasonable choice?
"See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God; and such we are." 1 Jn. 3:1
"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10
"We love, because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
