Jesus is My Chainsaw

I once heard a gentleman tell a study group about how he chops down trees with an axe. A tiresome chore, he said, and when it becomes clear the work is too hard, he gives up. He throws down his axe and quits. He is defeated. The tree still stands. But then he gets out the chainsaw. And a tree is no match for a chainsaw. He made his point with this statement: Jesus is the chainsaw.

Another man showed fast appreciation and cheerfully proclaimed, “Jesus is my chainsaw.”

We all laughed and agreed to allow Jesus the classification of a power tool, and it brought to mind this verse:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Mathew 11:28-30

So what does that have to do with a chainsaw? The disciples to whom Jesus offered rest were bound by the law, weary of struggling to keep its demands. Burdened by the toil of insufficient sacrifices. Jesus—the fulfillment of the law—wanted them to know their lives about to be radically rectified. The sin they couldn’t escape was about to let them go. Their destiny of death was about to take a strike ending its grip forever. The tree they couldn’t topple was about to come down.

We can wear ourselves out trying to take care of our own sin problem. We can strive to make ourselves acceptable to God. But it can’t be done. When we lay down our axe, when we see our tree hasn’t fallen, that’s when Jesus comes with great power. Like a chainsaw. A sinner swinging an axe is weary and burdened. A sinner with a chainsaw can rest.

Okay, we’re not really talking about chopping down a tree here. And some may say there’s nothing gentle and humble about a chainsaw. Analogies only go so far. But here’s what I know: I was weary and burdened and Jesus gave me rest. The yoke of my sin was too great. The yoke of redemption is easy. Sin is grueling and stern. Jesus is graceful and tender. But He’s also infinitely powerful.

I imagine dropping my axe to the cold hard ground and watching Jesus approach my tree with a chainsaw in his strong hands. And cutting it clean to a stump in no time flat. And framing it into a cross. It must have been my tree He hung upon. Thank you, Chainsaw Jesus. Thank you.

Book Sale You Won't Want to Miss!

For the next few days, my publisher is offering some great books for Kindle and other e-readers at a discounted price of 99¢, plus you can enter to win prizes! Don’t miss this opportunity to discover interesting stories, follow wonderful authors, and win fantastic prizes!  Click here and check it out:

Christian eBook Bonanza & Giveaway

Here are the books I’ve purchased (so far) during this great sale:

The Tremblers   BlackburnChronicles, Book 1 
by Raquel Byrnes

 

Charlotte Blackburn—Beautiful, intelligent, a gifted tinkerer—lives in a cloistered world of wealth and privilege beneath the Electric Tesla Dome that shields survivors of The Great Calamity. But when her father is abducted, and a strange sickness starts transforming men into vicious monsters, she discovers that technology is no protection at all.

Ashton Wells has a dire mission: Secure Colonel Blackburn and deliver his research to The Order of the Sword and Scroll. But the plan goes awry, and he is left with nothing but the colonel's daughter who has a target on her back and is willing stop at nothing to rescue her father—including handing over to the enemy the only means to stop the monstrous plague.

Branded as traitors, Ashton and Charlotte brave the treacherous floating sky ports of Outer City to hunt down the elusive inventor who is the only person able to activate the strange device that harbors the secret to their salvation. 

With the government closing in, a rebellion brewing in the streets, and terrifying Tremblers attacking the innocent, the two must work together to stop their fragile world from crumbling once more into destruction.

Society of the L.A.M.B.
by Judy DuCharme

In a raucous colony of those who celebrate dark desires, Josiah and other LAMBers who believe King Glory lives are hunted and imprisoned…or worse. 

But hope and truth endure in the midst of total danger. After fleeing the colony, Josiah finds light and hope at his grandfather's house, where a secret gathering of LAMBers have escaped the watchers. After learning of the power of the shout within himself, Josiah is chosen to carry the truth to others. But how can he return to the colony without being captured and put to death?

The shout cannot be denied. Josiah knows his mission.

                                    

                            Rust
                                       by Corbin Bernsen

This absorbing fiction adaptation of Corbin Bernsen's film Rust, which featured him in the starring role and director, is currently available for purchase and streaming online at Netflix and other online sites. 

In the midst of a crisis of faith, a man finds hope where he least expects it—his hometown. James Moore is a former pastor who returns home to discover his childhood friend is implicated in the arson of a farmhouse and the murder of an entire family. Convinced of his friend's innocence, James sets out to find the truth. In the process he reclaims a relationship with his father, restores hope to a floundering congregation, and rediscovers his own lost faith. Rust is an uplifting tale about faith, family and the powerful ties that bind a community.

So, for me it’s steampunk, dystopia, and restoration. (Yes, I have eclectic tastes.)  What’s your choice? Maybe you’d like a near-future story about the world’s first transhuman! Here's book one in my trilogy for only 99¢:

Wake the Dead

What if the first man reborn of an evolutionary leap doesn't like his new life? Is escape even possible? The time is right for introducing the world to the marvels of techno-medical advancements. An influential man, one loved and adored, is needed for the job, and who better than celebrity Chase Sterling? 

After suffering injuries no one could survive Chase is rebuilt like no one has ever seen before. In the not-too-distant future a man—if he can still be called a man—breaks away from the forces taking over his life and finds new purpose in the secret world of hiding believers.