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There’s nobody like Jesus

Posted on Saturday 24 November 2007 by Greg @ 9:40 am
Filed under: Rants

There’s nobody like Jesus.

He can take a situation where you feel pressed and distressed and turn it around with a flinch of his finger. When you are torn up inside and the pain seems more than you can bear he takes his nail scarred hand, puts it gently on your shoulder and whispers through his Word, “I understand. I hurt with you. I’m there for you. Through my strength you can endure this, you can endure anything.”

There’s nobody like Jesus.

He is defending you before the Father right now against the accusations of the Evil One. His Spirit is interpreting your prayer requests to God with deep groans that only the Heavenly Father can understand. But in his groans we find our sighs of relief.

There’s nobody like Jesus.

Through his death our sins are forgiven, through his resurrection our hope is alive, through his life in us and through us we have victory over sin and Satan.

There’s nobody like Jesus.

When he died on the cross the ground shook, the graves opened and the world changed. The creation that once was all on a highway to hell was now on the pathway to redemption.

There’s nobody like Jesus.

At the moment our Savior paid the price for sin, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. That thick veil which was handknit for thousands of man hours to keep a barrier between sinful humanity and holy divinity, was shredded in an instant by the hands of the divine. With that rip our relationship with God could finally and forever be repaired. The sounds of tearing were not just the fabric in the temple being torn but the body of Jesus on a hill being shredded. The Holy of Holies, reserved exclusively for the presence of God, was now accessible to frail humanity. What was once blocked by a wall of thread and dread was now opened up for all to enter through faith. The Son of God offered himself for our sins so that we could revel in the presence of God, not in the temple built by human hands, but in the true temple in Heaven itself.

There’s nobody like Jesus.

The last words of Jesus in the second to the last verse of the Bible are, “I am coming soon.” And he is. The first time he came as a lamb to be sacrificed. The next time he comes as a lion to conquer. Then, at the culmination of all history, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every demon that ever uttered blasphemies will bow. Every atheist who railed against the existence of the One who created them will bow. Every sinner, every saint, every person from every religion, every angel and demon that ever existed, including Satan himself will bow and admit…

There’s nobody like Jesus.

Signed, Greg Stier

33 Comments for 'There’s nobody like Jesus'

  1. On November 24, 2007 @ 9:44 am Becky said:
    • Wow very good blog.

    • Permalink to Becky's comment

  2. On November 24, 2007 @ 11:27 am Nicolas Currat said:
    • You write and preach with a great intensity, that goes a long way for credibility amongst the youth. Life isn’t prim and proper with a bow on top. I loved the part where you discribe Jesus as our defense in the presence of God. or the nail scarred hand gently reassuring us. That is something to take comfort in.

    • Permalink to Nicolas Currat's comment

  3. On November 24, 2007 @ 5:08 pm Dennis said:
    • And…

      What if it never happens?

      What if the bible is the word of man, not of god? We could be waiting forever for what will never happen. I guess the only upside is that we wouldn’t have to realize that we are living for nothing at all, other than to die and make worm-food.

      Its a morbid concept, but sometimes the truth isn’t so pretty.

    • Permalink to Dennis's comment

  4. On November 24, 2007 @ 8:28 pm Will Bratina said:
    • Hey, brother. Hey, Dennis.
      Thanks for reminding me.
      There’s nobody like Jesus.
      There’s nobody in this world like Jesus that Loves me as messed up as I am, as messed up as I have been or as messed up as I will be.
      There’s nobobdy like Jesus.
      No one else could turn a self-centered, pornography-addicted hypocrite like me and transform him into a new creation in Him with a passion to show others His Crazy Love.
      I wrote the following song for the kids in our youth group, our youth leader, and most of all for Jesus Christ, Greg. It’s based on the blessing in Numbers 6:24-27, but I was stuck until you led me to Matthew 17:24-27 and Exodus 30:13-14, scripture that convicted me of the Importance of teenagers in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

      Oh, God my Father, Spirit, Son
      Your Crazy Love Has me undone
      You Paid my price, You Died for me
      While I was still Your enemy

      And now You Bless me in this place
      Through sisters, brothers Give Your Grace
      Oh Lord, I pray You Bless them, too
      That we may praise and honor You

      May the Lord Bless you
      May the Lord Keep you
      May the Lord Make His Face to Shine Upon You
      May the Lord be Gracious
      Turn His Smile to you
      May the Lord Give you His Peace
      May the Lord Give you His Peace

      So Holy King to You we pray
      Anoint these priests with Your Sweet Name
      Preach Crazy Love and Victory
      Jesus Who Lives and Sets us Free

      May the Lord Bless you
      May the Lord Keep you
      May the Lord Make His Face to Shine Upon you
      May the Lord be Gracious
      Turn His Smile to you
      May the Lord Give you His Peace
      May the Lord Give you His Peace
      Glory to You Prince of Peace

      God willing He will allow me to play and sing His song to honor Him in your presence, Greg.
      Dennis, I ask you to read the lyrics above and know that I am praying them, word for word, as I play my guitar and sing to our God Who Created us. This prayer is for you, Dennis. Jesus Christ Is my Truth - He Said He Is THE Truth -, and He Is BEAUTIFUL!

    • Permalink to Will Bratina's comment

  5. On November 24, 2007 @ 10:59 pm Dennis said:
    • erm yes, wth the numbers thing, my youth group says that together before we close every meeting. While it might be the truth to you, to me its just words.

    • Permalink to Dennis's comment

  6. On November 25, 2007 @ 7:35 am Will Bratina said:
    • Hey, Dennis.
      An AWESOME book to check out is ‘Venti Jesus, Please’ by Greg Stier. It’s about three high school friends talking about God’s absence (or Presence) in this world. The conversation takes place in a Starbucks and is written from the point of view of someone who doesn’t believe in God. It’s like a 50-minute read. Ask your youth leader if they have a copy available. If he or she doesn’t I can get one to you.

    • Permalink to Will Bratina's comment

  7. On November 25, 2007 @ 8:18 am Greg Stier said:
    • Hey Dennis, Just checking out the comment chain here. If you e-mail my assistant stacey@dare2share.org I’ll send you a copy of the book on me. The only caveat is that I want to hear what you think of it after you read it (sounds like you don’t have a hard time being honest!) Just tell her to check with me first and I’ll even sign it for you…although it decreases the value of the book with my chicken scratch on it. Enjoy the journey!

    • Permalink to Greg Stier's comment

  8. On November 25, 2007 @ 2:39 pm Dennis said:
    • actually Greg, I was at the Denver D2S, and I purchased Venti Jesus please, and I read it the day after I got back.

      Greg, I thought it was a wonderful book, one that can probably bring many doubters to this “relationship with Jesus Christ”, as it was said in Venti Jesus, however i’m too much of a doubter i believe, or rather I have too little faith.

      I’ve attended youth group for like three years now, actually some friends tried to get me to come after attending a Dare 2 Share conference and taking some “48 Hour Challenge” I’ve been to three Dare 2 Share conferences, Revolution, Gameday, and Survive. I’ve listened attentively to everything thats been said at all three of them, sat through three really good dramas, and have seen you introduce hundreds upon hundreds to this “relationship”. As effective as these techniques have been on some, I continue to be an atheist.

      I think that some people have too little faith in believing some things. Whenever I ask why i should believe, people say that the bible says this and says that, but then I’ll ask “Why Should I believe in the Bible?”. The fact is, I’ve seen no conclusive evidence of why I should believe in the bible. Sure, its a big book with lots of stuff in it, but then again is the Q’ran and pretty much every other book of religion. Did some normal people just make them up? If so, why couldn’t the Bible be the false preachings of liars? Sure it doesn’t have any real contradictions, but then again, the whole series of Harry Potter, which certianly seems larger than the entire bible, has one, and thats about a toilet.

      So lets consider people who don’t believe in the Bible as the word of God. What is there to bring them to this “relationship”. To me, Jesus was over 2000 years ago. Thats a long time, and a lot of stuff has happened since then. Other than the bible, what evidence exists that supports all these things that he supposedly did?

      I have too little faith in these things that i don’t know to absolutely be true. These evangelical attempts are based on my willingness to believe in the Bible. Venti Jesus please has a point. If the story is true, then its obviously the greatest story of all time, but what if its not? What if there really isn’t anything to look forward to? Its depressing, but sometimes reality is depressing.

      thanks for the offer of the book though, but i’ve already got it.

      Dennis

    • Permalink to Dennis's comment

  9. On November 25, 2007 @ 3:05 pm Heather said:
    • Hey Dennis! If you’re looking for evidence, I’d recommend a book called The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. He was an atheist journalist who wanted to find out if the Bible was really reliable and if Jesus was really more than just a good guy who walked the earth 2000 years ago. Strobel traveled around visiting theologists and historians to get to the bottom of the whole Christianity thing. He gives specific evidence that analyzes the reality of God, Jesus, and the Bible, and I think it may be of use to you. If not, it’s still in intellectually stimulating read, and I hope you check it out! (although I can’t sign and send you a free copy ;) ) Or his website gives video clips with discussions over specific topics if that’s more your cup of tea: leestrobel.com Keep questioning! ~Heather

    • Permalink to Heather's comment

  10. On November 25, 2007 @ 3:43 pm Dennis said:
    • i’ll have to see if i can get my hands on a copy of it. But at any rate, what of all those individuals who worship of other religions. What evidence is there that convinces you that you are right and they are wrong? There are smart individuals in every religion, and I’m positive that they all have their reasons. The fact that people are able to convert from one religion to another is proof that they all have logical sound basises. I’m sure that people have converted away from Christianity.

      The thing is, everybody thinks they are right. You think you are right, just as a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, and a Taoist think that they are right. Your all equally stubborn, and you’ve adopted a bias that is impossible to overcome.

      Theres several types of people. There are those who have faith, those who don’t, and those who never questioned it. I have no faith. Many people who come to this “relationship” are able because they want to believe that theres more to life. I also want to believe, but i can’t if i think theres any possibility that is wrong.

    • Permalink to Dennis's comment

  11. On November 25, 2007 @ 10:03 pm Heather said:
    • You make an extremely valid point. However, I must say that it’s not a matter of whether or not I’m right- it’s all about God’s word, and I’m convinced it is the truth from God. I won’t map out all the reasons here because it would probably be kind of annoying (unless you want me to…). All religions can’t be true so the question is, are we willing to search for answers, no matter where it may lead us?

      I guess the bottom line is that if there’s a God and we want to know Him or how to relate to Him, are we going to base our knowledge of Him based on man’s ideas and speculations or do we want something straight from God himself? I’d opt for the latter, and that means searching for what really is from Him, and all evidence I’ve seen points to the Bible.

      On faith: when you sit in a chair, you have faith that it will hold you up. Is this because it’s written in a book and you’re blindly believing it? No, it’s because you know that chairs are designed to hold poeple and you’ve probably seen the chair hold others or yourself before. It’s the same with Jesus: He proves Himself worthy of our faith in Him. Is there a possibility that the Bible is wrong and my faith is a sham? Yeah. But the argument could be made for everything in life, could it not?

      Peace!
      -Heather

    • Permalink to Heather's comment

  12. On November 26, 2007 @ 4:55 pm Suzie Eller said:
    • Hey Greg,

      I love the blog, and what you are doing. I love that you allow people to offer their questions, doubts, all-out adoration for Christ on this blog. Keep up the amazing work.

      T. Suzanne Eller (Suzie)

    • Permalink to Suzie Eller's comment

  13. On November 26, 2007 @ 5:51 pm gabe said:
    • understanding God is out of your mind, but he lives in your heart. thats why He asks for your heart and not your head.

    • Permalink to gabe's comment

  14. On November 26, 2007 @ 8:35 pm Heather said:
    • Matthew 22:37- Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

      :)

    • Permalink to Heather's comment

  15. On November 26, 2007 @ 8:49 pm gabe said:
    • oh yeah, all the way heather!! i was talking about just understanding everything about God.

    • Permalink to gabe's comment

  16. On November 26, 2007 @ 8:54 pm gabe said:
    • i guess its more of everything that God does though, because God gave us a entire book that talks all about Him and his love for us

    • Permalink to gabe's comment

  17. On November 26, 2007 @ 9:08 pm Greg Stier said:
    • Hey Dennis,

      Thanks again for all your honest questions. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to engage your questions earlier. But it looks like Heather was doing a great job. I totally recommend A Case for Faith by Lee Strobel. If you email my assistant stacey@dare2share.org with your address I’ll send you one myself. One caveat (again) you have to read it…but sounds like you read a lot anyway.

      I’m praying for you on this journey to Jesus!

      greg

    • Permalink to Greg Stier's comment

  18. On November 26, 2007 @ 9:20 pm gabe said:
    • sorry. i tend to mess things up like that

    • Permalink to gabe's comment

  19. On November 26, 2007 @ 9:29 pm Suzie Eller said:
    • I’m in Oklahoma, Greg. I’ve had the privilege of working with teens for a long time, and love it. : )

    • Permalink to Suzie Eller's comment

  20. On November 27, 2007 @ 5:27 am Joe Donahue said:
    • Greg,

      Your post kind of reminds me of the video, “That’s My King.” Have you seen it?

      Joe

    • Permalink to Joe Donahue's comment

  21. On November 27, 2007 @ 9:13 am Greg Stier said:
    • Yeah Joe, I’ve seen it. That’s a great video.

    • Permalink to Greg Stier's comment

  22. On November 27, 2007 @ 7:45 pm Heather said:
    • To Gabe: yeah, I was just teasing you. :)

      I’m pretty sure if we were able to understand God completely, we’d have to be God or have created Him, neither of which are true. I like the verse that tells us our wisdom is God’s foolishness- it’s a nice reminder of our limitations and His lack thereof.

    • Permalink to Heather's comment

  23. On November 29, 2007 @ 6:36 pm Emnet said:
    • Hey guys! Hope I’m not too late to post but I was just reading over all the coments and I had a question for Dennis. If you’re reading this Dennis, you said you are an athiest and going to dare2share or church for three years hasn’t helped you change your mind. So why do you keep going back? I don’t mean to sound rude and im soo not saying that you shouldn’t keep going to church or dare2share, alls i want to know is why? I mean, you said you are still an athiest so why do you keep going back for more? If its not helping, wouldn’t it kinda be a waste of your time? Or is there something in you that keeps telling you to go…. think about it.maybe it’s God speaking to you.

    • Permalink to Emnet's comment

  24. On November 29, 2007 @ 10:29 pm Dennis said:
    • Well in the first place i’ve gone for what i’ve always went for. I went to just spend more time with my friends. That and I’m essentially looking for something. I’m not convinced, but i think if D2S has instilled anything in me its that I sure as hell don’t want to end up in Hell. Just a fear of a hell has affected me in numerous ways. Its probably kept me from committing suicide many times, and essentially I’d like to find information out one way or another so that i don’t live my life in such fear.

    • Permalink to Dennis's comment

  25. On November 30, 2007 @ 5:22 am Dave said:
    • Hey everyone, I kinda like this saying by the seventeeth century mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal when he struggled with issues of meaninglessness. He concluded that faith sometimes resembled a wager. He used to tell his friends, “If I believe in God and life after death and you do not, and if there is no God, we both lose when we die. However, if there IS a God, you STILL lose and I gain EVERYTHING.” And I add to that by saying that my odds are 50/50 and your odds are 0%. However, by FAITH I believe my odds are 100% plus.

    • Permalink to Dave's comment

  26. On November 30, 2007 @ 5:34 pm Dennis said:
    • thats a novel concept, but if you have little/no faith, then you ultimately see everything as 50/50. Your not sure, and if your not sure, then you don’t really believe.

      My inclination varies day by day.

    • Permalink to Dennis's comment

  27. On November 30, 2007 @ 6:59 pm Emnet said:
    • Dennis, you don’t have to live your life out of fear. If there’s something I know its this: Jesus loves you like crazy (even though you reject His existance) and doesn’t find pleasure out of your suffering. Romans 5:8-9 “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners…” and Isaiah 43:4 ” You are precious to me and I love you..” God loves you more than you can imagine or favom. You’re right about hell being an unpleasent place, the Bible confirms that, but you really don’t have to go there and God REALLY DOESN’T want you to go to hell, He wants you to go to He Heaven and spent eternity with Him. However, I know how you feel about the whole faith thing but if you really just want to get to the bottom of this whole God thing just look and try. I know for a fact that if you search for God, He will reveal Himself to you. One of my other favorite verses is Matthew 7:7 ” ask and you will be givin what you ask for, knock and the door will be open…” . Seriously, just pray to Him saying something like “God, It if You are really there please reveal Yourself to me because if You are there, I don’t want to go through life without you or suffer the consiquences of a life without you.In Jesus’ name, amen.” I know you think you have too little faith, but I am pretty sure that you can believe in God for two reasons.The first: you are able to believe in hell(something you don’t want to be true), so I think you are fully capable of believing in Jesus (something that could give you hope you never dreamed of hoping for) and reason two: the bible indicates in Romans 1:20 that everyone believes in God deep down inside, they just deny it.If you want Jesus and the peace and hope that comes with Him, all you have to is ask. Its that easy because Jesus did all the other work by dying on the cross. I know that if you just try, God will come to you and you will love Him because He first loved you. Also,that fear of hell won’t be the thing keeping you from commiting suicide, the thing that will keep you from commiting suicide would be wanting to live a life for Christ instead. Listen, God really wants you to come to Him (so do I) so please just pray something like that prayer, seek God, get into His word, and He will,without a doubt, reveal Himself to you. If it’s about not having enough proof, read that book by Lee Strobel and do some research for yourself.I have one question for you: will you just try? I will be praying for you. Tell me if you will try. Besides, what have you got to lose? If you live life for Jesus and He doesn’t exist, nothing will happen to you, but if you live a life without Jesus and He does exist…… Uh-oh! Doesn’t it simply make more sense?

      Remember: You can never stray too far from God, He will always take you back!

    • Permalink to Emnet's comment

  28. On December 1, 2007 @ 3:29 pm Abigail E. said:
    • Dennis, i have a few questions for you. When you go to these places like D2S and your youth group do you really want to gain a realtionship with Jesus? You are afraid of hell but why does not your fear make you want to know more anout him? Do you remember in The Denver D2S when Zane told us aout how the one guy from his old high school found him at one store one time. Weel Zane was like, ” Dude, Notify you face. The last time I checked being a chrisian is a good thing.” The thing there is that being a Christian is more than just heaven or Hell. It is being with God. God is the reason you want to be a christian. Hell is being witout God. If you took out every little thing that had to do with God the world would be empty. That is the truth right ther. If you think about it how is it that you think we got the world, The stars, the moon, or even trees. That si the proof that I give to you. Everything that is on Earth is because of God. There is no better proof then the proof of even the existance of you. God loves you and he will try tomake hiself shown to you. Think on it. We all want to see you in heaven!!

    • Permalink to Abigail E.'s comment

  29. On December 1, 2007 @ 11:40 pm Lindsey said:
    • It was great reading through all of this. It’s really doing it’s job, isn’t it? Opening teenagers up to have these conversations!

      Dennis, Lee Strobel’s books are great. I read the teen version of Case for Christ… but I may have to tackle the full one sometime. I really enjoyed the book. Also, I don’t know what the church you go to is like, and it may be fantastic, but if God isn’t speaking to you there, maybe try another one some Sunday? My family changed churches a few years ago, and while I thought it was terrible, because we were leaving a place we were familiar with and people we knew well and loved, I have to say now that it was the best thing that could have EVER happened to me! Through my new church, youth pastor, and body of Christian friends, I was able to have a Personal relationship with Christ. It meant so much to me. Now I’m in college, and I still have my church at home, but I have a church I attend while at school too, and I love it. It’s very modern and we sing contemporary worship music for a full half hour every Sunday. The first time I was there, I actually cried, God’s presence was so strong.

      Just remember that everyone who has commented on this blog is praying for you, and countless others who read it but may not have responded.

    • Permalink to Lindsey's comment

  30. On December 6, 2007 @ 6:29 pm jessica. said:
    • wow. i am like so praying for you dennis dude. before i was saved, the whole “is Jesus really real?” thing used to pop into my head a lot. but then two years ago at a dare2share conference in charlotte, NC, i had the most amazingest experience EVER. and i even have spiritual proof that my Jesus is real. see, right after i got saved, my personality changed in a loooootttt of ways. a lot of people had noticed a difference in me. it was just super awesome. i know that’s hard to believe coming from a person you’ve never met…all i can say man is that Jesus is definately real. 100% real. me=sure. i have no doubt in my mind that Jesus is real, and that he died for EVERYONE’S sins and rose from the dead on the third day, and that he’s coming back!! :] i sat down and read alllll of revelations the other night, and it’s puh-rettyy scarry. dude, im so not kidding. lots and lots of bad stuff. so man, im praying that you somehow find your way to life (aka-Jesus) soon. :]

    • Permalink to jessica.'s comment

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