Many things have happened since I last decided to put my thoughts out for everyone to see. I’ve applied to vet school, I’ve been called to missions (that’s a whole other blog on the way), and I’ve been fighting the urge to sleep on my free time. Despite being so “busy,” God has made this semester in my life so full. My life is so full of His grace. Praise Jesus. Yet, I am astounded. I am astounded by the sin still lingering in my flesh. Though I am a blood-bought son of God, I struggle so immensely with sin. I want to talk about a sin that is very uncomfortable to talk about. In fact, so uncomfortable I delayed writing this. I want to talk about lust.
I’m going to lay down a warning. I’m not going to sugar coat as I write this. This blog will be very blunt and straightforward so if you think you may not be able to handle it please stop reading. I want people who read this to be encouraged. I’m going to assume that this is much heavier issue for men than for woman but if you are a woman and still are interested in reading I encourage you to do so and I hope that you learn something useful.
Here is some background on my experience with this sin. I was addicted to pornography before I became a believer. I was sucked in night after night. If I wanted a picture of what a slave of sin looked like all I had to do was turn to the mirror. I was utterly swallowed up in it. My heart was beyond black and cold. Then I was redeemed by Christ and He brought repentance to my heart. The repentance of my heart had a difficult time being applied practically over my whole life however. I would live my life for a week or two free of pornography and let my guard down only to fall into a hole. Thankfully that hole was always filled with God’s grace and His encouraging words. I pressed on and continued to ask the Lord to sanctify this part of my life and I begged. I still beg. Is there spiritual progress that is going on in this area? Absolutely. Is this battle over? Absolutely not. The computer is not really a factor any more although I’ve learned that it never really was in the first place. The lust was always within my heart and my flesh. My computer just helped to exploit what was already there hiding beneath. Read Mark 7:20-23 for a biblical description of this idea. I (and I’m going to assume) many other Christians (men in particular) have just been bombarded with the deceitful lusts and half-a-second pleasures of this world. Though we fight with the whole armor of God this spiritual warfare, we must always, always, always remember that Christ already attained victory over sin and death on the cross!!! If you struggle please hear this. I need to hear it again and again. If you are born-again of the Spirit of God, you have victory IN CHRIST! Man is that encouraging. What a sweet truth. If this truth is so sweet then why do we hide and act like this sin does not exist in the church today or pretend it is far off in some other corrupt church?
Why do I tell you all this about me? Do I feel better letting everyone know that this is what I struggle with or this is what goes on in my thought life? Is this about guilt? Not even close. I have no guilt because I am no longer guilty. I can only tell anyone the facts above for one reason; because I believe Jesus Christ is absolutely 100% of my righteousness in the eyes of my God. I can only confess that I am that sinful person I described above because I truly believe in the righteousness that Christ provided for me through his death on the cross. If not for my boast in the Lord, I would hide this until my dieing day. I CAN only tell you about this because of what Jesus did but I only want to tell you BECAUSE I want you to be encouraged and I don’t want you to hide in your struggles. If you struggle with this sin know that you are not alone. Do not hide. That’s exactly what Satan wants. He wants us to struggle with our sin alone and in shame. He falsely accuses us of eternal security in Christ and tries to tell us, “If you loved Jesus, you wouldn’t do that.” You know what. Satan is right. I may not love Jesus all the time. I may not always savor and exalt Him above sex and pleasure of this world. However, Satan, Jesus SAVED me and LOVES me always. Saved is in the past tense because of the act performed on the cross 2000 years ago and love in the present tense because He continues to intercede on my behalf even as I type these words. And His loves holds o so strongly to me and will carry me to the end. I hope you would take hope in that too.
So bring your sin to light and don’t hide. Not because you’re guilty but because you are blameless. May we always boast in our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Just in case you are wondering, I am not saying or encouraging anyone to continue in this sin but rather I would beg you to repent for the sake of personal holiness and because your sin defiles the name of Christ whom you now bear also. Repentance is always present in the life of a believer and to rejoice in those truthes previously stated and to not repent is to spit upon the cross (see Romans 6:1-4). Hope that this was clear and encouraging. God bless guys. Be back soon for my blog on missions!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Election....
Let me first start this blog off by saying I apologize for the long break. Not that I’m trying to come up with excuses or anything, but I am taking 16 hours of class and working atleast 12 hours per week. However, I still intend to blog because I like to get my thoughts down on paper and because I like to remind myself what my life is really about.
So I’m about to talk about a subject that is an extremely hot topic especially in the Southern Baptist Convention. I did not pick this to talk about because it is a controversially subject (even though it is). I did not pick this to talk about because I feel so strongly about it (even though I do). I picked this topic for two reasons and just two reasons. I want to talk about election not only because it is BIBLICAL but also because it is BEAUTIFUL. As with most theological subjects, I do not consider myself to be any kind of expert. However, the Word of God teaches this doctrine so clearly, it’s quite easy for me to show you how this is both biblical and beautiful.
Let’s start off with a definition of what election actually is. Election is the sovereign choice of God He made in eternity past to seek and save a lost person from his or her sins in order that they might be reconciled to God to give Him all glory, honor, and praise for their salvation and so they might be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4-9). To further add on to this definition, this election is not based on anything the person receiving it has done or ever will do but given freely according to the pleasure of God’s will. Maybe at this point of the definition you are saying to yourself, “I don’t know about all this stuff. I mean, I thought it was OUR faith that saves us? Don’t we have a free will? And if we do have a free will how can God elect us in eternity past without us being robots? Why do we even share the gospel if God has already set apart some to save and some to pass over in condemnation? Vargas this doesn’t seem right at all!!!” These objections all deserve to be answered and I will do my best to show what the Word of God has to say about each one.
First, let’s address the objection that it is OUR faith and OUR will that determine our salvation. I have two verses that I think will lay this to rest. These are two of my favorite verse in all of scripture. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” I’m positive that many of us have heard this verse numerous times. Let’s look at what this really says and what it means for this objection. Read this next part slowly and carefully. By GRACE we have been saved THROUGH faith. NOT of ourselves. We did not deserve to be saved but we were. We were saved but it was NOT of ourselves. This teaches that we are not saved of anything we did because it was grace! “Not even our faith?” you ask. Look again. What is the gift of God? Everything previously mentioned. The salvation by grace and the faith through which salvation is made ours is ALL part of the gift. I challenge you to read through this verse very carefully. The end of verse 9 screams that all sources of our salvation including the source of our faith is from God that no one may boast so God gets all the glory. This does not mean we are void of any action at all. We believe. This simply means that the ultimate source of our faith is from God and that God enables us to belief. Without God we would have no faith. That is what this verse means. This is not the only verse by any means that shows this. Check Romans 3:21-28 also.
Second, let’s address the objection that if election is true (see Acts 13:48, Ephesians 1:3-6, Romans 9:11-12, John 15:16, etc.) then man’s will is void and his will simply does not exist. Let me first give you a glimpse into the “will of man”. See if any of this sounds familiar to you. “There is NONE righteous, not even ONE; There is NONE who understands, There is NONE who seeks for God”(Roman 3:10-11) or “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil CONTINUALLY” (Genesis 6:5) or “For I know that NOTHING good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Roman 7:18) or maybe “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Roman 7:24). Ephesians gives us another picture when it calls us “dead” in our original state before God’s grace. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many dead people who can do much. This type of language is used to convey that we are utterly sinful people! Our will is bent on evil apart from the grace of God. That is what the “will of man” is like. Only by God’s electing us in eternity past are we able to have faith in Him and receive the righteousness of Christ. Praise be to God! Are you starting to see why I say biblical and beautiful?
Third, let’s consider the proposition that if election is true (which perhaps we are convinced of very well based on the authority of scripture) then does that mean we don’t need to preach the gospel to this dieing world. I mean, if God already has it taken care of it why do we even need to do anything? If someone is elected, they will be saved bottom line right? Well....here's the thing. We can not take such an attitude without blatantly disobeying the commands of God. Did Jesus not tell us to “Go there and make disciple of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” and did Paul not also say that “we preach Christ crucified”? The redeemed of Christ are the means by which God uses to bring about the message of the gospel to the lost. Romans 10:14-15 says, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’”. These objections to God’s election are not new and scripture is clearly not silent on the subject. What a blessing that we as the children of God get to be vessels for the best news anyone will ever hear.
This doctrine is so precious to me. I love it. I love the truth behind it and what it means for everyone. It means that though we have sinned greatly against God and though we deserve wrath and death God has elected individuals for salvation by His sovereign hand for His own glory! It means that God gets all the glory for our salvation. It means that God REALLY is sovereign! It means that we can go and preach the gospel boldly knowing that there are those who will respond because of God’s election by grace! It means God has had a plan all along and it means that we can rejoice greatly in it! That is what this doctrine means. That’s what it means to me and that’s what I hope it comes to mean to you. Its beautiful guys! Embrace it! I pray that each one of you would examine the scriptures to see that this is true.
For those of you that may still disagree I want you to know that I love you and I say all these things in the most loving way you can on a keyboard. I would love to talk about this doctrine or anything other biblical doctrine any time with anyone willing to do so in a productive and loving manner. And if you want something further to chew on check this quote out that I now have posted up on facebook. I close with the words of J.I. Packer -- "How, then, do you pray? Do you ask God for your daily bread? Do you thank God for your conversion? Do you pray for the conversion of others? If the answer is 'no', I can only say that I do not think you yet born again. But if the answer is 'yes'- well, that proves that, whatever side you may have taken in debates on this question in the past, in your heart you believe in the sovereignty of God no less firmly than anyone else. On our feet we may have arguments about it, but on our knees we are all agreed."
So I’m about to talk about a subject that is an extremely hot topic especially in the Southern Baptist Convention. I did not pick this to talk about because it is a controversially subject (even though it is). I did not pick this to talk about because I feel so strongly about it (even though I do). I picked this topic for two reasons and just two reasons. I want to talk about election not only because it is BIBLICAL but also because it is BEAUTIFUL. As with most theological subjects, I do not consider myself to be any kind of expert. However, the Word of God teaches this doctrine so clearly, it’s quite easy for me to show you how this is both biblical and beautiful.
Let’s start off with a definition of what election actually is. Election is the sovereign choice of God He made in eternity past to seek and save a lost person from his or her sins in order that they might be reconciled to God to give Him all glory, honor, and praise for their salvation and so they might be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4-9). To further add on to this definition, this election is not based on anything the person receiving it has done or ever will do but given freely according to the pleasure of God’s will. Maybe at this point of the definition you are saying to yourself, “I don’t know about all this stuff. I mean, I thought it was OUR faith that saves us? Don’t we have a free will? And if we do have a free will how can God elect us in eternity past without us being robots? Why do we even share the gospel if God has already set apart some to save and some to pass over in condemnation? Vargas this doesn’t seem right at all!!!” These objections all deserve to be answered and I will do my best to show what the Word of God has to say about each one.
First, let’s address the objection that it is OUR faith and OUR will that determine our salvation. I have two verses that I think will lay this to rest. These are two of my favorite verse in all of scripture. Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” I’m positive that many of us have heard this verse numerous times. Let’s look at what this really says and what it means for this objection. Read this next part slowly and carefully. By GRACE we have been saved THROUGH faith. NOT of ourselves. We did not deserve to be saved but we were. We were saved but it was NOT of ourselves. This teaches that we are not saved of anything we did because it was grace! “Not even our faith?” you ask. Look again. What is the gift of God? Everything previously mentioned. The salvation by grace and the faith through which salvation is made ours is ALL part of the gift. I challenge you to read through this verse very carefully. The end of verse 9 screams that all sources of our salvation including the source of our faith is from God that no one may boast so God gets all the glory. This does not mean we are void of any action at all. We believe. This simply means that the ultimate source of our faith is from God and that God enables us to belief. Without God we would have no faith. That is what this verse means. This is not the only verse by any means that shows this. Check Romans 3:21-28 also.
Second, let’s address the objection that if election is true (see Acts 13:48, Ephesians 1:3-6, Romans 9:11-12, John 15:16, etc.) then man’s will is void and his will simply does not exist. Let me first give you a glimpse into the “will of man”. See if any of this sounds familiar to you. “There is NONE righteous, not even ONE; There is NONE who understands, There is NONE who seeks for God”(Roman 3:10-11) or “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil CONTINUALLY” (Genesis 6:5) or “For I know that NOTHING good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Roman 7:18) or maybe “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Roman 7:24). Ephesians gives us another picture when it calls us “dead” in our original state before God’s grace. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many dead people who can do much. This type of language is used to convey that we are utterly sinful people! Our will is bent on evil apart from the grace of God. That is what the “will of man” is like. Only by God’s electing us in eternity past are we able to have faith in Him and receive the righteousness of Christ. Praise be to God! Are you starting to see why I say biblical and beautiful?
Third, let’s consider the proposition that if election is true (which perhaps we are convinced of very well based on the authority of scripture) then does that mean we don’t need to preach the gospel to this dieing world. I mean, if God already has it taken care of it why do we even need to do anything? If someone is elected, they will be saved bottom line right? Well....here's the thing. We can not take such an attitude without blatantly disobeying the commands of God. Did Jesus not tell us to “Go there and make disciple of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” and did Paul not also say that “we preach Christ crucified”? The redeemed of Christ are the means by which God uses to bring about the message of the gospel to the lost. Romans 10:14-15 says, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’”. These objections to God’s election are not new and scripture is clearly not silent on the subject. What a blessing that we as the children of God get to be vessels for the best news anyone will ever hear.
This doctrine is so precious to me. I love it. I love the truth behind it and what it means for everyone. It means that though we have sinned greatly against God and though we deserve wrath and death God has elected individuals for salvation by His sovereign hand for His own glory! It means that God gets all the glory for our salvation. It means that God REALLY is sovereign! It means that we can go and preach the gospel boldly knowing that there are those who will respond because of God’s election by grace! It means God has had a plan all along and it means that we can rejoice greatly in it! That is what this doctrine means. That’s what it means to me and that’s what I hope it comes to mean to you. Its beautiful guys! Embrace it! I pray that each one of you would examine the scriptures to see that this is true.
For those of you that may still disagree I want you to know that I love you and I say all these things in the most loving way you can on a keyboard. I would love to talk about this doctrine or anything other biblical doctrine any time with anyone willing to do so in a productive and loving manner. And if you want something further to chew on check this quote out that I now have posted up on facebook. I close with the words of J.I. Packer -- "How, then, do you pray? Do you ask God for your daily bread? Do you thank God for your conversion? Do you pray for the conversion of others? If the answer is 'no', I can only say that I do not think you yet born again. But if the answer is 'yes'- well, that proves that, whatever side you may have taken in debates on this question in the past, in your heart you believe in the sovereignty of God no less firmly than anyone else. On our feet we may have arguments about it, but on our knees we are all agreed."
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The Head and The Helper?
Sorry about the delay on this blog (I claimed it was going to be posted on Saturday). I wrote about half of it on friday night and just finished it not too long ago. Let me first clarify how unqualified and how ridiculous it is for me to write a blog about husbands and wives. First off, I am not a husband nor am I anywhere close to meeting the criteria of what it means to be a husband. In other words, I’m single . Second, I haven’t even had a girlfriend since the 9th grade which was two years before my salvation. I have no experience being romantically involved with a godly woman ever and therefore do not have any first hand experience in the matter.
So why am I going to write this blog anyway? Well the main reason is because God’s word happens to give objective information on what it is to be a godly husband or wife that is independent of any first hand experience I could have. Therefore, it matters very little that I am lacking experience. Being encouraged by the things God’s word has been teaching me on the matter of husbands and wives over the course of a month or two, I thought I would share with my audience. I realize this is a vast subject and I intend only to lightly break the surface.
Anxiety about my future is often high and one of the things I find myself being most anxious about is marriage. Every time I find myself being anxious I try to stop and pray about the matter right there and then. I have written a note on facebook that is actually more clear on my anxieties so I won’t go into it here but you can check it out if you haven’t already. Because I found myself being so concerned with marriage, I thought it most prudent to find out what scripture has to say on the matter. I found passages concerning the origin of marriage, God’s purpose for it, and what a godly marriage looks like from both the perspective of a husband and a wife.
God ordained the institution of marriage back in Genesis as you most likely know with the ever so familiar “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” God, throughout scripture, uses marriage as an illustration of His covenant with His people. You can see this best in the Old Testament in Hosea 2:14-23 where God says of Israel, “I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord” and best in the New Testament in Ephesians 5:22-32 where you see a husband’s likeness to Christ and a wife’s likeness to the church. This is a beautiful “mystery” as it is called in the New Testament. It is obvious if I am to understand anything about the positions of a man and wife I am first to understand their bond to each other and the purpose of that bond. This picture that is displayed by God towards man shows us that the husband is to be the head, give himself for his wife, and love his wife as his own body. The wife is to be a submissive helper and encourager. These are tall orders and are big shoes to fill. When I read “give himself for his wife” I was hit hard by the level of love this described. The calling I have as a husband to the woman I would marry is to love her with such a love as Christ had for the church. I must love her sacrificially, selflessly, and wholly. That in my book is a very tall order that must be taken seriously. On the other hand, you have a wife who is to be “submissive” not because she is in anyway a lesser person or because he is better. She is to be submissive because the Lord has commanded that this is His will for the wife to willingly and obediently submit to the husband. Her submission is to be “as to the Lord” because the husband is the head as Christ is the head. Yet another tall order that must be taken equally serious to those who seek to be wives. The complimentary system that is set up here is absolutely beautiful when working correctly. The husband and the wife are as one as Christ is with the church and they love each other and serve each other and its all so fantastically awesome! So now that I have scratched the small surface on marriage and the duties of wife and husband what does this mean practically to someone single like me?
That has been the hard part about all of this. In order to get to the place before marriage, you must be have the balls to ask a girl out (I'm lacking sometimes) and be dating her for awhile. Let be honest, these days there aren't many parent arranged marriages so dating SEEMS the avenue to take. However, there is no place in the Bible that says anything about dating. Nowhere does it give me the specifics I long to have. Rather I have been in thanksgiving and have been content in what the Lord has shown. Because it is not specifically written, “You shall go and take her out for coffee on the first date and to a movie on the second date” or “You shall always offer to pay and adorn her with many gifts” or “You shall propose after two years and once you have solidified a job for yourself.,” I am made to be completely and utterly reliant on the Lord by way of prayer. I am thankful as all the prayer that has been surrounding this issue has drawn me closer to Christ and given me a greater understanding of His will for me in this area. For now I am learning to be more like this man called “husband.” Jesus is teaching me to serve the church sacrificially and wholly with great love. Jesus is preparing me to lead by first cleansing me by the washing of the word. Jesus is showing me the greatness of the love He has for me, that I may one day mirror it to that of the love for my wife. It’s a complicated situation and I’m ok with that for now. I don’t know how it will happen or even if it will ever happen. I do know one thing though. I know that His grace is sufficient for me and though I do not understand the road in front of me I will follow the light. Ok…so that’s two things that I know.
Though most of you who read this are single I would like any kind of feedback if you are in a relationship or married. *Cough* Ben please say something helpful for me please *Cough*.
So why am I going to write this blog anyway? Well the main reason is because God’s word happens to give objective information on what it is to be a godly husband or wife that is independent of any first hand experience I could have. Therefore, it matters very little that I am lacking experience. Being encouraged by the things God’s word has been teaching me on the matter of husbands and wives over the course of a month or two, I thought I would share with my audience. I realize this is a vast subject and I intend only to lightly break the surface.
Anxiety about my future is often high and one of the things I find myself being most anxious about is marriage. Every time I find myself being anxious I try to stop and pray about the matter right there and then. I have written a note on facebook that is actually more clear on my anxieties so I won’t go into it here but you can check it out if you haven’t already. Because I found myself being so concerned with marriage, I thought it most prudent to find out what scripture has to say on the matter. I found passages concerning the origin of marriage, God’s purpose for it, and what a godly marriage looks like from both the perspective of a husband and a wife.
God ordained the institution of marriage back in Genesis as you most likely know with the ever so familiar “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” God, throughout scripture, uses marriage as an illustration of His covenant with His people. You can see this best in the Old Testament in Hosea 2:14-23 where God says of Israel, “I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord” and best in the New Testament in Ephesians 5:22-32 where you see a husband’s likeness to Christ and a wife’s likeness to the church. This is a beautiful “mystery” as it is called in the New Testament. It is obvious if I am to understand anything about the positions of a man and wife I am first to understand their bond to each other and the purpose of that bond. This picture that is displayed by God towards man shows us that the husband is to be the head, give himself for his wife, and love his wife as his own body. The wife is to be a submissive helper and encourager. These are tall orders and are big shoes to fill. When I read “give himself for his wife” I was hit hard by the level of love this described. The calling I have as a husband to the woman I would marry is to love her with such a love as Christ had for the church. I must love her sacrificially, selflessly, and wholly. That in my book is a very tall order that must be taken seriously. On the other hand, you have a wife who is to be “submissive” not because she is in anyway a lesser person or because he is better. She is to be submissive because the Lord has commanded that this is His will for the wife to willingly and obediently submit to the husband. Her submission is to be “as to the Lord” because the husband is the head as Christ is the head. Yet another tall order that must be taken equally serious to those who seek to be wives. The complimentary system that is set up here is absolutely beautiful when working correctly. The husband and the wife are as one as Christ is with the church and they love each other and serve each other and its all so fantastically awesome! So now that I have scratched the small surface on marriage and the duties of wife and husband what does this mean practically to someone single like me?
That has been the hard part about all of this. In order to get to the place before marriage, you must be have the balls to ask a girl out (I'm lacking sometimes) and be dating her for awhile. Let be honest, these days there aren't many parent arranged marriages so dating SEEMS the avenue to take. However, there is no place in the Bible that says anything about dating. Nowhere does it give me the specifics I long to have. Rather I have been in thanksgiving and have been content in what the Lord has shown. Because it is not specifically written, “You shall go and take her out for coffee on the first date and to a movie on the second date” or “You shall always offer to pay and adorn her with many gifts” or “You shall propose after two years and once you have solidified a job for yourself.,” I am made to be completely and utterly reliant on the Lord by way of prayer. I am thankful as all the prayer that has been surrounding this issue has drawn me closer to Christ and given me a greater understanding of His will for me in this area. For now I am learning to be more like this man called “husband.” Jesus is teaching me to serve the church sacrificially and wholly with great love. Jesus is preparing me to lead by first cleansing me by the washing of the word. Jesus is showing me the greatness of the love He has for me, that I may one day mirror it to that of the love for my wife. It’s a complicated situation and I’m ok with that for now. I don’t know how it will happen or even if it will ever happen. I do know one thing though. I know that His grace is sufficient for me and though I do not understand the road in front of me I will follow the light. Ok…so that’s two things that I know.
Though most of you who read this are single I would like any kind of feedback if you are in a relationship or married. *Cough* Ben please say something helpful for me please *Cough*.
Friday, June 8, 2007
The Heart of The Matter
Welcome back my readers and I hope you have all been well (the few of you who actually know about this). I have not had much time to put my thoughts down on paper until today so I decided that I would write two blogs back to back. I’m in my apartment on a Friday night trying to relax in between my tests. I figured writing some encouraging words is a better use of my time than flipping on the television and watching the repetitive coverage of Paris Hilton’s jail sentence. This first blog is about evangelism and the condition of the human heart while the other focuses on what God has been teaching me about what to look for in a wife and how I need to prepare in order to be a godly husband (pending that a wife is what God actually has for me of course). The second blog will most likely come tomorrow.
Monday of this week I happened to run into an old friend of mine from junior high/ high school. I had not seen him in a really long time and last I heard he was pretty much doing what I know I would be doing if not for the grace of God: drinking to the point of utter ridiculousness and rebelling against God in every and any way possible. Not that the two actions I’ve listed are actually separate but rather one is specific and one is general. Anyhow, I was just walking down the concourse on the way back to my apartment for some lunch when this old friend, who shall henceforth be referred to as Bob, rides up on his bike and starts talking to me. It was sort of awkward at first, but I realized this was a great opportunity to preach Christ and Him crucified. So often I miss the opportunity and the importance of sharing the gospel with the lost because I so often forget that our God is not a God that simply SHOULD be worshipped. Our God MUST be worshipped and all those who withhold His glory from Him and do not bow down in utter awe of Him will one day perish. With this in mind, I decided to offer Bob lunch at Chick-fil-a since neither of us had class for another hour or so. So there we were in Chick-fil-a when I ask the ever so dangerously generic question, “So are you going to church anywhere here in Auburn?” At this point he throws up his hands and says, “Whoa, whoa, whoa….Don’t go there man. Just don’t go there. I am so sick and tired of people preaching to me!” Rather than summarize the conversation I would like to actually introduce some quotes that actually came from his mouth. I wrote them down shortly after our meeting and they are accurate to the best of my knowledge.
1. “I am going to do what is in MY best interest and what serves ME best.”
2. “Why would you want to know my spiritual health?”
3. “The problem I have with the church is all the corruption and hypocrisy.”
4. “Christianity throughout its entire history has been morphing itself in order to get heathens into it so they can get their money and their loyalty.”
5. “Denominations are so messed up they can’t even agree on what it takes for a person to be saved”
6. “The [Bible] was written by man, if it opened up and words appeared on it then I would believe it.”
I provide these quotes so that you can not only see the presuppositions he has about Christianity but more importantly so that you can see the state of his heart. As with most lost people, it was incredibly hard to keep the conversation centered upon who Jesus is, what He did, and what that means for everyone. I tried to lightly address those things he brought up in those quotes as best I could ,but I found it very difficult to talk with him specifically about the work of Christ and that he must repent and believe on Jesus. He wanted to talk about all the peripheral arguments rather than the crux of the matter. Not to mention he was throwing down the f-bomb every other sentence and being incredibly hostile. The conversation that followed with Bob left me in a saddened state. I was utterly broken by the rebellion within this man’s heart and reminded just how hostile the unbeliever is towards God. I was reminded that not only this man but also every other person who is not in Christ is utterly and totally against Him regardless of how hostile they appear on the outside.
It made me think of myself when I was lost and how badly I needed Jesus. Titus 3:3 says, “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” It reminded me of the condition of my heart before God’s initiative. Romans 2:5 says, “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” What grace we have received. My heart. Your heart. Our lives were in total rebellion to God. We were storing up righteous wrath and we were LOVING IT! Thanks be to God Who according to the pleasure of His will gave us sinners LIFE! He blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, forgives us our sins, sanctifies us by His words, and best of all gives us the knowledge of His will and character!
Bob would leave me that day in the same state we met. God used this circumstance in my life to pain my soul for the lost around me and to remind me of the grace I have and continue receive. I pray that we all would see the lost in a new light and be reminded of our former likeness to them. I pray that we would go forth boldly with faith as we seek to be messengers of this good news. I pray that we would not JUST be saddened by those who hear and do not believe but rather that we would be driven to our knees to plead on behalf of their souls. I pray these things because I am weak and because Christ is strong. Please join me in the prayer that the eyes of the nations would be opened as to see this God and worship Him for all that He is and all that He does. Amen.
Monday of this week I happened to run into an old friend of mine from junior high/ high school. I had not seen him in a really long time and last I heard he was pretty much doing what I know I would be doing if not for the grace of God: drinking to the point of utter ridiculousness and rebelling against God in every and any way possible. Not that the two actions I’ve listed are actually separate but rather one is specific and one is general. Anyhow, I was just walking down the concourse on the way back to my apartment for some lunch when this old friend, who shall henceforth be referred to as Bob, rides up on his bike and starts talking to me. It was sort of awkward at first, but I realized this was a great opportunity to preach Christ and Him crucified. So often I miss the opportunity and the importance of sharing the gospel with the lost because I so often forget that our God is not a God that simply SHOULD be worshipped. Our God MUST be worshipped and all those who withhold His glory from Him and do not bow down in utter awe of Him will one day perish. With this in mind, I decided to offer Bob lunch at Chick-fil-a since neither of us had class for another hour or so. So there we were in Chick-fil-a when I ask the ever so dangerously generic question, “So are you going to church anywhere here in Auburn?” At this point he throws up his hands and says, “Whoa, whoa, whoa….Don’t go there man. Just don’t go there. I am so sick and tired of people preaching to me!” Rather than summarize the conversation I would like to actually introduce some quotes that actually came from his mouth. I wrote them down shortly after our meeting and they are accurate to the best of my knowledge.
1. “I am going to do what is in MY best interest and what serves ME best.”
2. “Why would you want to know my spiritual health?”
3. “The problem I have with the church is all the corruption and hypocrisy.”
4. “Christianity throughout its entire history has been morphing itself in order to get heathens into it so they can get their money and their loyalty.”
5. “Denominations are so messed up they can’t even agree on what it takes for a person to be saved”
6. “The [Bible] was written by man, if it opened up and words appeared on it then I would believe it.”
I provide these quotes so that you can not only see the presuppositions he has about Christianity but more importantly so that you can see the state of his heart. As with most lost people, it was incredibly hard to keep the conversation centered upon who Jesus is, what He did, and what that means for everyone. I tried to lightly address those things he brought up in those quotes as best I could ,but I found it very difficult to talk with him specifically about the work of Christ and that he must repent and believe on Jesus. He wanted to talk about all the peripheral arguments rather than the crux of the matter. Not to mention he was throwing down the f-bomb every other sentence and being incredibly hostile. The conversation that followed with Bob left me in a saddened state. I was utterly broken by the rebellion within this man’s heart and reminded just how hostile the unbeliever is towards God. I was reminded that not only this man but also every other person who is not in Christ is utterly and totally against Him regardless of how hostile they appear on the outside.
It made me think of myself when I was lost and how badly I needed Jesus. Titus 3:3 says, “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” It reminded me of the condition of my heart before God’s initiative. Romans 2:5 says, “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” What grace we have received. My heart. Your heart. Our lives were in total rebellion to God. We were storing up righteous wrath and we were LOVING IT! Thanks be to God Who according to the pleasure of His will gave us sinners LIFE! He blesses us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, forgives us our sins, sanctifies us by His words, and best of all gives us the knowledge of His will and character!
Bob would leave me that day in the same state we met. God used this circumstance in my life to pain my soul for the lost around me and to remind me of the grace I have and continue receive. I pray that we all would see the lost in a new light and be reminded of our former likeness to them. I pray that we would go forth boldly with faith as we seek to be messengers of this good news. I pray that we would not JUST be saddened by those who hear and do not believe but rather that we would be driven to our knees to plead on behalf of their souls. I pray these things because I am weak and because Christ is strong. Please join me in the prayer that the eyes of the nations would be opened as to see this God and worship Him for all that He is and all that He does. Amen.
Friday, May 18, 2007
My Mission Statement
Well, I thought it was about time that I grabbed a blog seeing that you don't have to know what you're talking about and you can pretty much say anything you want. But seriously, I was hesitant when the idea struck me long ago to make a blog. I was against it because as it is I spend far too much time on the internet when I could be doing things of actual importance. However, as I was reading some fellow bloggers postings I realized how much I was encouraged by what they had written. Realizing this encouragement they had been to me, I began to see the profit that may come from having a blog. I finally came to the conclusion that it may be a good idea to write occasional words of encouragement to brothers and sisters as some have already done for me.
So here it is. My mission statement. This blog is for the purpose of drawing eyes to Christ by the proclaimation of the words within the Scriptures and the usage of circumstances within life.
I do not want this to be a waste of time where I trivially update my friends upon what is going on within my life because I do that for the most part in every day conversation. This is more for the purpose of intentionally drawing out my thoughts in such a way to exhort my brethren and proclaim the goodness of our God. I hope to stick close by this statement so that this blog does not become unprofitable. Rather I pray that this is one more thing in my life the Lord uses as a tool for His glory. Let the blogging begin!
So here it is. My mission statement. This blog is for the purpose of drawing eyes to Christ by the proclaimation of the words within the Scriptures and the usage of circumstances within life.
I do not want this to be a waste of time where I trivially update my friends upon what is going on within my life because I do that for the most part in every day conversation. This is more for the purpose of intentionally drawing out my thoughts in such a way to exhort my brethren and proclaim the goodness of our God. I hope to stick close by this statement so that this blog does not become unprofitable. Rather I pray that this is one more thing in my life the Lord uses as a tool for His glory. Let the blogging begin!
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