Flirting with the Best Man

Flirting with the Best Man

Staring at the bridegroom
Stands a radiant, stunning bride.
Draped in silk and taffeta
And yet her vision slides…
To the man standing beside him
With a grin a mile wide.

Looking handsome as he can be
Is the bridegroom’s own best man.
The bride looks down and clutches hard
The bouquet between her hands,
Wondering how this new distraction
Will affect her wedding plans.

The best man tries to woo her,
The bride becomes confused.
She thought the bridegroom was The One,
Yet now she has to choose.
Will she pass the tempter’s test?
What does she have to lose?

Though lured for just a moment
Her heart cries out, “No, wait!”
For the bride could see the look of love
Upon the bridegroom’s face.
How could another ever take
Her dear beloved’s place?

A test, indeed, for we, the bride,
The Church, have often spurned
The One, True Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
O, how our hearts have turned!
We try to seek and find true love,
But lessons must be learned:

No flirting with the best man.
Don’t let the feelings start.
For the best man is not always
The best man for the part.
The Bridegroom is the Chosen One,
And He must have your heart.

-- Jackie M. Johnson

The Mystery of The Cross -- Reviewed

The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life (IVP) by Judith Couchman is a unique read.

Couchman offers forty images of the cross from the early church days and throughout history. Thoroughly researched (and with illustrations), ancient images spring to life from the pages as you traverse historical, theological, and artistic context in each of these different images. The chapters are both informational and devotional.

“Without this cross,” says Couchman, “we’d be stuck in our sin with no future hope of heaven…The cross is our spiritual centerpiece, the sign of our soul’s emancipation.” (page 22)

While early believer’s revered Christ’s cross, “they knew the Savior, not the actual cross itself, had ushered in salvation and radically changed their lives.” (page 14)

It’s one thing to read about the cross of Christ; it’s quite another to let it change you. Instead of ignorance and forgetfulness, let’s remember that Jesus died and rose again to free us. Live free forever, both now here on earth and forever with Him!

We remember the power of the cross, and are unspeakably grateful.