A Faith Tested and Proven

If you are like me, or any other human being for that matter, you deal with struggles in life. Things are difficult and don't always go your way, and sometimes it feels like you are the only one. I often begin to have thoughts of doubt on whether I'm doing the right things because often times it can feel so hard just to go through the day to day.

I have posted before on my struggles with just time in the day alone. About how much of the time it feels like I am burning a candle at five ends. With college, work, and then my internship at First Baptist Clarksville (that I consider my real job, regardless of pay or not), it can begin to feel like too much. Sometimes I feel like I just want to be done with it all and be in full time ministry, but God has his subtle ways of keeping me humble in my place in life.

Just today I was supposed to preach to the high school students in our student ministry, but a kink was thrown in when I was scheduled to begin my new paying job during the time of the service. At first I was frustrated, getting angry at my situation and wondering why things have to be so difficult, but then one of those subtle reminders from God came. In the very passage that I was preparing to preach on tonight (1 Peter 1:3-25), through His word, God had a message for me.

In 1 Peter 1:6-7, I was reminded that trials in life are meant to test us, to strengthen our faith and give glory to God. I praise God for the reminder, that I seem too often to forget, and I pray that through the trails in life my faith is proven.

Rest in the Lord

I am grieved, yet also filled with joy that my great grandmother, Ruth Shipman, is now with the Lord. She was one of the strongest women I have ever known, and much of who I am today is due to her and the closeness between four generations of family members. I will always remember spending time at my great grandparent's land and all of the memories that were made there. Though she will be greatly missed, I hold my hope in Christ and her faith in him.

Love you Granny!

Isaiah 51:11

D3- Down and Dirty in the 'Ville (Louisville that is)

The past week has been a blast working with a group of the high school students from FBC. Starting Monday and running until Thursday, we took a group to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky for the D3 Youth Conference put on by their college (Boyce College). The conference used the facilities of the seminary campus and operated like a conference-camp hybrid.

The name D3 stands for the basis on how the teaching sessions work. We had general sessions every day involving everyone, but there were also three different track sessions that met 4 times for one hour sessions. These were three areas of discipleship, hence the name D3, and they were Missions, Spiritual Leadership, and finally Worldview. Students, along with adult leaders, were able to choose what track they wanted to take, and our group was mainly split by Spiritual Leadership and Missions.

This was honestly the first youth event that I have witnessed in a long time that was

immediately all about scripture. We checked in, took our stuff to the dorms they had us staying in, and right after that we dove into the first general session. Everything from the worship and teaching was deep in scripture and truth, lacking the surface teaching and concert worship I have become accustomed to seeing at youth events, and as the Conference Pastor Eric Bancroft started speaking we immediately started dissecting the truths of scripture on what discipleship is truly all about. He used The Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20, and talked about how Jesus commanded the Disciples to take what he had taught them and take that to the nations. So it should be with us that to instruct others in the way of the faith, we must know the word of Christ ourselves.

There was even an intense game of Underground Church that we played to bring awareness of the persecuted Church to the students, using almost the entire seminary grounds where Jeff, Kyle, and I somehow found our way into the office of Dr. Russell Moore, the Dean of the School of Theology at SBTS, as well as a teacher of the word I greatly respect and look up to. We didn't touch anything, I promise...

So much more was discussed throughout the week and many great men and servants of the Lord came to teach (Jeff Struecker, Al Mohler) and lead in worship (The Hoffmans). We also had a "concert", which was more like another sermon through music, from the Christian Rap artist FLAME. I can't help but be amazed by these men and their hearts for the Lord and discipleship, as well as all of the others behind this conference, seeking to love on and teach these students.

Seriously! Check This Out

This is a blog that I read earlier this week. I tweeted about it, facebook-ed about it, but I still want to share it. There are so many great points about how in Christ we, who were once completely dead, are made alive. Rather than bad people that become good. The blog post is titled, God's Final Solution- by Pastor Tullian Tchividjian, Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

"To focus on how I’m doing more than on what Christ has done is Christian narcissism."

Click here to read!

Sermon Notes: Build Up the Body

Paul often uses the illustration of a race, or a runner, in his letters to the early church. The reason for that is that we as humans often associate with what we know. The idea of a race is a great analogy for the Christian life. For one, in a race you are trying to reach a goal, winning, but if we translate that to the life of a believer the goal becomes Christ, and we are trying to reach that. Hear me when I say that our actions do not make us closer to Christ, but rather our faith in him. It is in that faith that we strive to be more like Christ. On a personal level this may translate to study and prayer, letting God’s word encourage and move us forward. There is a great importance in building up our own spiritual “body”, but that is not the Body we are talking about tonight. We must not neglect the building up of the Body of Christ, that is to say “us”. As believers we are a part of the Body of Christ, or the Church. Going back to the analogy, a runner must work towards their goal. They cannot only expect to win, while not doing anything to reach that goal, but they must strive towards it, building in strength and endurance to achieve.

-To discuss how to build up the Body of Christ, we must first fully understand that we are the Body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-20

-As members of the body we must strive to be one/unified. 1 Corinthians 12:21-27
-Our motives must not be self centered (Philippians 2:1-5), but rather by a spirit of love. Galatians 5:22-24, Romans 12:9-13

-Do this so that we may together become mature in the Spirit that we may accomplish the task before us. Ephesians 4:1-3, 11-16

-To succeed in building up the Body, we must each set our sights on striving to bring glory to God. We present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God to serve his purpose. Romans 12:1-8

God's Word is Truth

The passing weeks, months even, have been filled with heavy discussion within the Christian community, much of which has been fueled by Rob Bell (Pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church) and his newly released book, Love Wins. Debate like this is nothing new. For years we have seen debate, much of which is still going on. For example, just last night I watched a live discussion over homosexuality within the Christian faith on CNN's HLN station (too many acronyms, I know!). That's nothing new, of course, but still a highly debated topic, and I have seen more and more throughout my time within the Church (women pastors, Calvinism vs Arminianism, denominational/doctrinal differences, etc.). This post is not to discuss these, but as always feel free to ask and I'll be happy to let you know my thoughts according to scripture.

I don't know if it is the fact that I'm becoming increasingly tired of it all, or that being a college student makes me more "feisty", but I do want to say that God's word is true, and he is quite clear on where he stands. We should always return to God and Scripture when these debates present themselves.

With any book on the Christian Faith that we read, we must always match it up to God's word. This goes the same with our views on God Himself because it is in his word that he has revealed a glimpse of who He is to us. I do this with all books that I read, from authors/pastors like David Platt, Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan, and many others. Take a serious look at these, not just the face value of it.

Personally, I have not read Rob Bell's new book. That being said, I do plan on reading it and not discussing it until then. I have, however, read many reviews on it, both in support and criticism, and all are in agreement on what the book is about. Dr. Russell Moore wrote a thorough review of the book I would suggest anyone with interest in this read.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." -John 1:1-5 ESV

God is Good?

You may wonder why the title of this post is ended by a question mark. In my mind I imagine this statement said with a condescending and upward inflection. The reality is that many Americans, and other throughout the world even, ask this question of Christians all the time. Many who believe they are scientifically, or philosophically, "enlightened" are quick to point out to any Evangelical the "inconsistencies" within the Bible, and even the way the world is, in relation to who God is and what he does. Within my own dealings I have heard that, "The God of the Old Testament [or Tanakh] and the God of the New Testament are characteristically different." Also I have heard or been asked ,"How can God exist when all this bad is going on in the world [disease, war], and how could he allow 'good' people to die?" A closer look at scripture shakes the very fabric of these statements and questions, along with the perceptions of the world we have been taught.

First, we must understand that God is completely sovereign. He is the creator, sustainer, and ruler over all. He is fully good, and in his goodness he is completely just.

The next thing we have to do is understand our place as humans in scripture. Many people see humans as generally "good". This is what we learn as children and it gives us a false sense of entitlement. The reality is that we are not "good", not a single one of us. We are born into a world that is in a fallen state (Genesis 3). This is the reason that a sacrifice is needed to cover the sins of man (see Old Testament instruction in the book of Leviticus), but the blood of animals could not permanently cover sin, thus the reason for the death of Christ on the cross (Hebrews 10:1-18). We often fail to realize that God, being good, has full right to pour out his judgement on all of us. Yet in his goodness saw fit to send Christ as a permanent sacrifice for our sins.

A close look at scripture shows a God who is unwaveringly just, but also completely loving and good. The death of Christ on the cross is a testament to both of those characteristics. He is just, therefore there must be payment for our sin and rebellion, while being loving and good in that he sent his son to live a perfect life, then die and overcome the grave, so that we may live! He created us to give himself glory, and was not obligated to give us life in that, he would gain the glory either way. We see strong examples of this in the Old Testament, where God uses the Israelites, as well as other nations against them, to bring himself glory (as well as so many more examples). Yet he loved us so, that he covered our sins with the sacrifice of Jesus.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." - John 16:33

Being Who God Calls Us to Be- Are you up for it?

The idea presented in this video by Darrin Patrick is on that needs to be heard by many people in our churches today. Over the years churches have risen and died because of a lacking in discipleship. Granted there are always a couple of people here and there that take discipleship of younger generations seriously, but that number gets fewer and fewer as time rolls on. I can remember in my own childhood, after I publicly professed my salvation that I had a severe sense of being lost. In my mind I was saying, "I'm saved, now what do I do?" but the answer never seem to come. See, there were a wealth of great men in my church, many that came through later on, but there at the very start I had no one who told where to go from there. As a result, my spiritual life was stunted. I searched for a role model in other areas, like my older brother and his friends, and then people older than me in school. Time and time again they all failed me, and it led me down a path opposite of where God has called me, ending with me feeling completely lost in life. I won't continue to harp on my own experiences, but as always feel free to ask if you would like further detail.

Luckily, I was fortunate to find strong Christian leadership, but the problem is that many people have not or will not find that if trends continue. That is why one of my biggest passions in life is discipleship. Without that we end up with generations of men and women who have no idea how to carry on their faith, or as the video said, have no interest in doing so. As Darrin Patrick discusses in the video, we need leaders and pastors in the church who are up to the task of being an adult, not ones who are trying to prolong their adolescence. It is far from "lightly" that I say this... We need strong leadership from generation to generation, to teach, lead, and bring up the younger generations in the truth of God's word, so they may learn how to be the men and women God calls them to be. We are to follow the example of Christ, bringing people up in his teachings.

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."- (Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV)

I echo the final words of the video, this comes from me just as much as it came from Darrin Patrick in the video, "I don't want anyone to have a bigger dream for my church, and my city, than I do."

If we fail to do this, our churches will stand only as a testament to what they once were.

Letters to Corinth: 3-Wisdom from God (Part 2)

Passage- 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

We talk about seeking true wisdom from God, and we know that it comes from him, but it is also important to see how he reveals his wisdom to us. See, in the time of the life of Christ, he was there to speak words of wisdom to his disciples. After the ascension of Christ, He was no longer present to share that wisdom. Prior to his ascension though, as told in Acts chapter 1, Christ tells the disciples that he will send them his Holy Spirit so that they will be his witnesses to the people. Then in the beginning of Acts chapter 2, we see where Christ's promise of the Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost where all of the disciples were gathered in one place.

Now, getting to 1 Corinthians, Paul has been discussing in this letter about the wisdom of God and how wisdom from God is true wisdom. We should seek out wisdom from God, learn from him the things that do not come in our own understanding. Though in this, we must comprehend that this wisdom is revealed to us only through the Holy Spirit. We see in verses 6 through 8 that apart from the wisdom of God, we cannot understand the purpose of Christ and his death on the cross, as the rulers who executed Jesus did not understand. In the same way, without the Holy Spirit Paul, the Corinthians, and even us today could not understand the meaning of "Christ crucified", as discussed in the last post.

"these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." - (1 Corinthians 2:10-11 ESV)

The role of the Holy Spirit is key. The Spirit not only searchers our hearts, but also the depths of God. The Spirit is the bridge in the gap between our hearts and God. The truth of Christ can only be understood by the wisdom of God. It is when the Spirit is at work in us that we are able to truly see sacrifice Christ paid on the cross for us. When teaching the word, it is not human wisdom that is given, as Paul discusses in verse 13, but it is the Spirit that teaches of the wisdom of God through us. True wisdom is from God alone, and it is by the Holy Spirit that we are given this wisdom.

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 'For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ." - (1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV)