Apparently yesterday or this week, President Obama compared the ISIS antics to the church's antics in the Crusades. Taking advantage of America's lack of education, the Pres wants his followers to believe that Islam and Christianity are the same and that we are both violent and peaceful.
Here is the truth behind the statement. W. Robert Godfrey says it best: "The Bible can be a dangerous book if misused and abused. In the history
of the church, the misunderstanding of the Bible has led to many serious
problems, ranging from false doctrine to legalistic customs and
misdirected lives. One of the most blatant examples of this is the
Crusades: a series of wars led by Europeans in the name of Christ
against Islamic states in the Near East during the Middle Ages."
First of all, the Muslims did take over Jerusalem and moved on towards Constantinople and other fine symbols of Christianity at the time. They used violence, killed people, and usurped their land.
The Roman Empire had fallen apart and the only thing really holding people together was the Pope. He became greater in political power and wanted to defend his folks against the Muslims, quite possibly even take back Jerusalem and Constantinople.
Using the conquest of Canaan as support, and depending on the lack of Biblical education at the time, people began to believe that God wanted the Christians to take up arms and defend her folks with a full-scale war.
Never mind passages such as Ephesians 6 that declare that our battle is not against "flesh and blood but... against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." They had not learned that Israel was a concrete picture of the greater war with Satan and sin that Christ won with the cross. With Christ here, and the temple gone, there is no more need for God's people to use force to conquer the kingdom.
Pope Urban II in 1095 began campaigning to stop the Muslims. He offered spiritual rewards, full forgiveness of sins, and escape from Purgatory if men would do their spiritual duty to fight the infidels.
There is no mention that Christ already has completely forgiven sins for his people and there is no need to do anything to earn the forgiveness they already have. There is no mention that Christ took a complete punishment for his people's sins so that they don't have to receive more punishment for sins committed later, negating the need for Purgatory. There was no reminder that Christ told Peter to put away his sword when he cut of a servant's ear as Jesus was being arrested.
And as a result, men fought against the Muslims to regain Jerusalem. And this war took them to Constantinople. And they brought along men less concerned about God and more concerned about gold and glory. Sometimes they fought the Eastern Orthodoxers. Sometimes they raped and pillaged. It is one of Christianity's most embarrassing mistakes, and no doubt the Muslims did learn many tactics from these Crusades that carry over into their Jihads today.
So yes, professing Christians, whether sincere or not, have committed horrifying atrocities in Christ's name from the Crusades to the KKK.
But we must also remember the greater horror done by Atheist mythology that sprang from Darwin's ideas. Eugenics began, the Holocaust took place, Planned Parenthood arose to prevent the poor black people from populating the earth. Slavery took and all time high. Sadly, Christians were just as gullible to Darwin and his ideas and went right along with it. However, all atrocities began when people began to look to themselves to save the world and not to the Lord who had already saved the world.
There is also the fact that all people on earth are born as enemies to God. The ones he saved are here because God drew them to Christ who gave up his life and gave them his. Afterwards, these people still sin, have misunderstandings, get mad, say stupid things, and people suffer for generations to come.
But at the heart of it, it is like that football player said when the Ferguson protests happened, "We don't have a skin problem, we have a sin problem."
Obama is that first grader who tattles on his friends when he does the same things. There has been no President more supportive of slaughtering innocent children who happen to be conceived at the wrong time and who hates the pro-lifers who want to provide women with their true choices that will lead to both life and them not being stuck in poverty raising an unexpected child.
Yes, Christians need to defend their country, but again, we do it with prayer, evangelism, and sometimes even martyrdom. Sometimes they may need to take up arms for self-defense but it should only be to defend life, not kill more of it. And the state bears the right for the sword, not the church.
And despite what anybody has done in history, saved or unsaved, Christ is still perfect, and we still need to look to him for our salvation and stop dividing ourselves one against the other. Maybe one day our President will see that. By then, let us try to make peace with our neighbors and continue to defend truth and human life.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
Put Another Nickle in
The Lord willing, I will start leading music in the summer at CCS's after school program/ summer camp. I'm up to the challenge but also wondering where to start.
I have two friends who write songs for children. When I was still a youth pastor and Googled "Catechism" I found a website for a woman who wrote songs for WSC questions. Then, in 2012 I had remembered that someone at Refuge had told me that she went to a Reformed Presbyterian church in Covington. Years after she told me that, I remembered, looked it up online, and started going to the Sunday evening service. Turns out the same woman who writes the WSC songs is the pastor's wife and a now good friend of mine. Judy gave me some of her albums and some of those songs may come into play.
I also grew up listening to this song called "Simeon's Lullaby" by the woman duo, Wendy and Mary. One time my parents played it for a church we went to, and the bulletin said that they were friends of us. That would be like saying we were friends with Simon and Garfunkel. But thanks to facebook, Mary is a friend of mine these days. Between her and Judy, there are plenty of plans I can follow in leading children in music.
My favorite growing up, however, is still Psalty the Blue Song Book. A blue book with a face who sings songs with kids about Jesus. I still sing "Amen, Praise the Lord," and the "Butterfly Song" from time to time. He has so many catchy Scripture songs that have motions and dances and pictures.
I mentioned some of my ideas and heard that last year when someone lead music, the favorite song was "Locomotion." So now I'm also listening to old songs like "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed." How can I get a good mix of songs with good theology and just for fun songs and be fun but informative? If any people I mention in this post read this, what would you recommend? At least I have until after Memorial Day to figure it out.
I have two friends who write songs for children. When I was still a youth pastor and Googled "Catechism" I found a website for a woman who wrote songs for WSC questions. Then, in 2012 I had remembered that someone at Refuge had told me that she went to a Reformed Presbyterian church in Covington. Years after she told me that, I remembered, looked it up online, and started going to the Sunday evening service. Turns out the same woman who writes the WSC songs is the pastor's wife and a now good friend of mine. Judy gave me some of her albums and some of those songs may come into play.
I also grew up listening to this song called "Simeon's Lullaby" by the woman duo, Wendy and Mary. One time my parents played it for a church we went to, and the bulletin said that they were friends of us. That would be like saying we were friends with Simon and Garfunkel. But thanks to facebook, Mary is a friend of mine these days. Between her and Judy, there are plenty of plans I can follow in leading children in music.
My favorite growing up, however, is still Psalty the Blue Song Book. A blue book with a face who sings songs with kids about Jesus. I still sing "Amen, Praise the Lord," and the "Butterfly Song" from time to time. He has so many catchy Scripture songs that have motions and dances and pictures.
I mentioned some of my ideas and heard that last year when someone lead music, the favorite song was "Locomotion." So now I'm also listening to old songs like "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed." How can I get a good mix of songs with good theology and just for fun songs and be fun but informative? If any people I mention in this post read this, what would you recommend? At least I have until after Memorial Day to figure it out.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Lady Huntingdon and the Lost Man
I'm posting an excerpt from Charles Spurgeon's sermon "The Blood-Shedding."
Let me tell a story to show how Christ saves souls. Mr. Whitefield had a brother, who had been like him an earnest Christian, but he had backslidden; he went far from the ways of godliness; and one afternoon, after he had been recovered from his backsliding, he was sitting in a room in a chapel-house. He had heard his brother preach the day before, and his poor conscience had been cut to the very quick. Said Whitefield's brother, when he was at tea, "I am a lost man," and he groaned and cried, and could neither eat nor drink. Said Lady Huntingdon, who sat opposite, "What did you say, Mr. Whitefield?" "Madam," said he, "I said I am a lost man." "I'm glad of it," said she; "I'm glad of it." "Your ladyship, how can you say so? It is cruel to say you are glad that I am a lost man." "I repeat it, sir," said she; "I am heartily glad of it." He looked at her, more and more astonished at her barbarity. "I am glad of it," said she, "because it is written, 'The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.'" With tears rolling down his cheeks, he said, "What a precious Scripture; and how is it that it comes with such force to me? O! madam," said he, "madam, I bless God for that; then he will save me; I trust my soul in his hands; he has forgiven me." He went outside the house, felt ill, fell upon the ground, and expired. I may have a lost man here this morning. As I cannot say much, I will leave you, good people; you do not want any thing.
Read the rest of the sermon. You will see why I wear a shirt with this guy's face on it.
Let me tell a story to show how Christ saves souls. Mr. Whitefield had a brother, who had been like him an earnest Christian, but he had backslidden; he went far from the ways of godliness; and one afternoon, after he had been recovered from his backsliding, he was sitting in a room in a chapel-house. He had heard his brother preach the day before, and his poor conscience had been cut to the very quick. Said Whitefield's brother, when he was at tea, "I am a lost man," and he groaned and cried, and could neither eat nor drink. Said Lady Huntingdon, who sat opposite, "What did you say, Mr. Whitefield?" "Madam," said he, "I said I am a lost man." "I'm glad of it," said she; "I'm glad of it." "Your ladyship, how can you say so? It is cruel to say you are glad that I am a lost man." "I repeat it, sir," said she; "I am heartily glad of it." He looked at her, more and more astonished at her barbarity. "I am glad of it," said she, "because it is written, 'The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.'" With tears rolling down his cheeks, he said, "What a precious Scripture; and how is it that it comes with such force to me? O! madam," said he, "madam, I bless God for that; then he will save me; I trust my soul in his hands; he has forgiven me." He went outside the house, felt ill, fell upon the ground, and expired. I may have a lost man here this morning. As I cannot say much, I will leave you, good people; you do not want any thing.
Read the rest of the sermon. You will see why I wear a shirt with this guy's face on it.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Interpreter's House
I don't plan on blogging much about Pilgrim's Progress, but I had more trouble with chapter 2, so I will write it out for clarification.
Christian has passed the Wicket Gate and has been sent to Interpreter's House. He sees seven different rooms and without commentary, I was much confused.
Commentary from Derek Thomas's teaching series: every preacher of the Gospel is an interpreter. Every church is an interpreter's house. So here are 6 of the rooms and then I will consider the one room that disturbs me.
1. Christian sees a picture of a serious man looking toward heaven, holding a book in his hand and having a crown on his head. This is a preacher, a man blessed with ability to lead other people to God's Truth.
2. Here, a man sweeps a room, but he only makes it more dusty. A woman comes in and pours water on everything, then it is finally clean. This is a picture of someone trying to find salvation by works and good deeds. He only makes things worse. Only Jesus, the Gospel, makes him clean.
3. Two children named Passion and Patience. Passion is a worldly guy who must have everything now. Patience gets to have everything for eternity because he was willing to wait for it, to trust God's promises no matter how slow.
4. A fireplace with a fire that grows despite someone throwing water on it. Behind the place, Christian sees someone pouring oil on the fire to keep it going. As a Christian, the world will do its best to douse your fire. The Holy Spirit pours oil on it and keeps it going.
5. A man in armor with a sword. The Christian life is a constant battle until we reach heaven.
7. A man rising out of bed trembling because he had a dream where God's judgment came and he got left behind. This is not the Left Behind series. This is simply a man coming to two roads: the popular one that leads to futility or the smaller, narrower road that leads to Eternal life. What will he take?
6. The disturbing one. Christian talks to a man in an iron cage. This man used to be a pilgrim too, but he turned away from his faith and now he cannot repent due to his hardened heart. This scene comes from Hebrews 6, the passage that for me both confirms eternal predestination for me, but also challenges it. People do come and lead the Christian faith and cause good. But we also see people become more enamored with the world's values who then turn their back on Jesus. This is a very serious warning to the true believers that even though salvation is a gift that can never be lost, they still are responsible for continuing in holiness. The good news is that the Holy Spirit will fan this flame. The bad news is that people still try to keep it going by their own efforts which never worked.
An example is Judas. He was Jesus's disciple and worked with the 11 ministering and spreading the Gospel through Judea. He betrayed Jesus, sold him to be arrested by the Jews, had Jesus crucified, and then hanged himself, never coming to a true release of trusting in Jesus's grace. This was not the way with all of them. Peter denied Jesus three times, but Jesus did bring him back. Paul put people to death because he was against Christianity, but Jesus brought him back. The thing is, there are people that God passes by in salvation. They may look like savory ministers for a while but they are not and they fall away never to return.
I saw a meme on facebook recently. It asked what religion the person was, and that person replied, whatever leads to the light. Sadly, unless your faith is in Jesus, that light will only be the fires of hell and eternal gloom. Jesus really is the only way to salvation. God did not have to send any way to salvation, but he sent Jesus. We must strive to continue following him with abandon and stop trying to contribute anything to our salvation or decide that what we think is better. Nothing is better than Jesus and following his will.
Christian has passed the Wicket Gate and has been sent to Interpreter's House. He sees seven different rooms and without commentary, I was much confused.
Commentary from Derek Thomas's teaching series: every preacher of the Gospel is an interpreter. Every church is an interpreter's house. So here are 6 of the rooms and then I will consider the one room that disturbs me.
1. Christian sees a picture of a serious man looking toward heaven, holding a book in his hand and having a crown on his head. This is a preacher, a man blessed with ability to lead other people to God's Truth.
2. Here, a man sweeps a room, but he only makes it more dusty. A woman comes in and pours water on everything, then it is finally clean. This is a picture of someone trying to find salvation by works and good deeds. He only makes things worse. Only Jesus, the Gospel, makes him clean.
3. Two children named Passion and Patience. Passion is a worldly guy who must have everything now. Patience gets to have everything for eternity because he was willing to wait for it, to trust God's promises no matter how slow.
4. A fireplace with a fire that grows despite someone throwing water on it. Behind the place, Christian sees someone pouring oil on the fire to keep it going. As a Christian, the world will do its best to douse your fire. The Holy Spirit pours oil on it and keeps it going.
5. A man in armor with a sword. The Christian life is a constant battle until we reach heaven.
7. A man rising out of bed trembling because he had a dream where God's judgment came and he got left behind. This is not the Left Behind series. This is simply a man coming to two roads: the popular one that leads to futility or the smaller, narrower road that leads to Eternal life. What will he take?
6. The disturbing one. Christian talks to a man in an iron cage. This man used to be a pilgrim too, but he turned away from his faith and now he cannot repent due to his hardened heart. This scene comes from Hebrews 6, the passage that for me both confirms eternal predestination for me, but also challenges it. People do come and lead the Christian faith and cause good. But we also see people become more enamored with the world's values who then turn their back on Jesus. This is a very serious warning to the true believers that even though salvation is a gift that can never be lost, they still are responsible for continuing in holiness. The good news is that the Holy Spirit will fan this flame. The bad news is that people still try to keep it going by their own efforts which never worked.
An example is Judas. He was Jesus's disciple and worked with the 11 ministering and spreading the Gospel through Judea. He betrayed Jesus, sold him to be arrested by the Jews, had Jesus crucified, and then hanged himself, never coming to a true release of trusting in Jesus's grace. This was not the way with all of them. Peter denied Jesus three times, but Jesus did bring him back. Paul put people to death because he was against Christianity, but Jesus brought him back. The thing is, there are people that God passes by in salvation. They may look like savory ministers for a while but they are not and they fall away never to return.
I saw a meme on facebook recently. It asked what religion the person was, and that person replied, whatever leads to the light. Sadly, unless your faith is in Jesus, that light will only be the fires of hell and eternal gloom. Jesus really is the only way to salvation. God did not have to send any way to salvation, but he sent Jesus. We must strive to continue following him with abandon and stop trying to contribute anything to our salvation or decide that what we think is better. Nothing is better than Jesus and following his will.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Mr. Copper
One of my favorite Doctor Who moments is in the episode with David Tennant where aliens made a replica of the Titanic in space. It was a Christmas episode where viewers became afraid that angels would throw their halos at them and slice them.
In this episode is an "earthologist" named Mr. Copper. He knows all kinds of facts about planet Earth, or thinks he does, and tells all the people.
"I shall be taking you to Old London town in the country of UK, ruled over by Good King Wenceslas. Now human beings worship the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve, the people of UK go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner, like savages!"
This famed earthologist got many things wrong when describing the UK and Christmas. I always think of Mr. Copper when a well-meaning person writes information that exposes how much they don't really know about a subject.
I peruse a volume of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which is written by many people. Some are accurate when they describe philosophies. When they bring up Christian topics, however, they seem lost like Mr. Copper.
In the article "American Philosophy" they say this about the Puritans:
"The Puritans agreed with many of the principles of Calvinism. They believed that God is absolutely sovereign and that man, beset with original sin, is totally dependent upon him. Salvation cannot be earned by virtuous works; God has foreordained who shall be elected to the "Society of Saints," although presumably the performance of good works predisposes man's soul to receive God's grace."
Up until the italicized part, I mostly agree. Yes, the Puritans were Calvinists. Yes, we Calvinists believe that man is completely dependent on God and contributes nothing to his salvation. Yes, we believe God foreordained the elect.
What is this "Society of Saints"? In seminary and in all my reading of the Gospel Coalition, Ligonier, and other blogs, that term is nowhere. We do not have anything we call a Society of Saints. I can see where they get the idea because we do believe in the communion of the saints that can never change throughout history. But no, there is no Society of Saints.
"Good works predispose man's soul to receive God's grace." No they don't. We just established that nothing predisposes a soul to receive God's grace. God gives people grace because he wants to based on no condition. Romans 9 is explicit in this when Paul talks of Isaac and Ishmael and then Jacob and Esau. God chose Jacob to have his special blessing when Jacob and Esau were still in the womb. They were both scoundrels who did unforgivable things, but God went with Jacob because he wanted to bless Jacob with Jesus's lineage.
Now, we do believe that a person who displays good works is saved, but good works do not predispose a person to be saved. Without being arbitrary, salvation is completely free of conditions, but still based on God's plan.
Back to Mr. Copper:
"It has often been pointed out that the Puritans' rejection of the authority of the church and their stress on the privacy of man's relation to God manifested a certain individualism."
What? Rejected the authority of the church? Never. Their theocracy proves that. It's such a misunderstanding from the outside that Protestants reject church authority because of their split from the Roman Church. But no, Christ established the Church and will always have the complete authority. Protestants and puritans simply reject the leadership of the Pope and to a lesser extent, the Queen of England for the Anglican Church.
The things we reject rely on meaningless rituals, place a man or governor on Christ's throne as head of the church when Christ is the church's only head and husband. Without saying that the Prots don't also rely on rituals, oh we do, the church we reject places salvation value only on following rituals of good works and penance rather than simply trusting Christ's permanent payment for sin alone. But other than that, we wholeheartedly follow the church and say with the church fathers, "If the Church is not your mother, then God is not your father."
Ultimately, Mr. Copper will never quite understand unless the Holy Spirit illumines him. At least for the episode in question, the Tenth Doctor did send him to live on earth and learn the true earthology. It is always my hope that the Holy Spirit changes a person so that he or she can truly understand Christ's headship, exclusivity, and why the reformation is far from over until Christ returns.
In this episode is an "earthologist" named Mr. Copper. He knows all kinds of facts about planet Earth, or thinks he does, and tells all the people.
"I shall be taking you to Old London town in the country of UK, ruled over by Good King Wenceslas. Now human beings worship the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve, the people of UK go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner, like savages!"
This famed earthologist got many things wrong when describing the UK and Christmas. I always think of Mr. Copper when a well-meaning person writes information that exposes how much they don't really know about a subject.
I peruse a volume of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which is written by many people. Some are accurate when they describe philosophies. When they bring up Christian topics, however, they seem lost like Mr. Copper.
In the article "American Philosophy" they say this about the Puritans:
"The Puritans agreed with many of the principles of Calvinism. They believed that God is absolutely sovereign and that man, beset with original sin, is totally dependent upon him. Salvation cannot be earned by virtuous works; God has foreordained who shall be elected to the "Society of Saints," although presumably the performance of good works predisposes man's soul to receive God's grace."
Up until the italicized part, I mostly agree. Yes, the Puritans were Calvinists. Yes, we Calvinists believe that man is completely dependent on God and contributes nothing to his salvation. Yes, we believe God foreordained the elect.
What is this "Society of Saints"? In seminary and in all my reading of the Gospel Coalition, Ligonier, and other blogs, that term is nowhere. We do not have anything we call a Society of Saints. I can see where they get the idea because we do believe in the communion of the saints that can never change throughout history. But no, there is no Society of Saints.
"Good works predispose man's soul to receive God's grace." No they don't. We just established that nothing predisposes a soul to receive God's grace. God gives people grace because he wants to based on no condition. Romans 9 is explicit in this when Paul talks of Isaac and Ishmael and then Jacob and Esau. God chose Jacob to have his special blessing when Jacob and Esau were still in the womb. They were both scoundrels who did unforgivable things, but God went with Jacob because he wanted to bless Jacob with Jesus's lineage.
Now, we do believe that a person who displays good works is saved, but good works do not predispose a person to be saved. Without being arbitrary, salvation is completely free of conditions, but still based on God's plan.
Back to Mr. Copper:
"It has often been pointed out that the Puritans' rejection of the authority of the church and their stress on the privacy of man's relation to God manifested a certain individualism."
What? Rejected the authority of the church? Never. Their theocracy proves that. It's such a misunderstanding from the outside that Protestants reject church authority because of their split from the Roman Church. But no, Christ established the Church and will always have the complete authority. Protestants and puritans simply reject the leadership of the Pope and to a lesser extent, the Queen of England for the Anglican Church.
The things we reject rely on meaningless rituals, place a man or governor on Christ's throne as head of the church when Christ is the church's only head and husband. Without saying that the Prots don't also rely on rituals, oh we do, the church we reject places salvation value only on following rituals of good works and penance rather than simply trusting Christ's permanent payment for sin alone. But other than that, we wholeheartedly follow the church and say with the church fathers, "If the Church is not your mother, then God is not your father."
Ultimately, Mr. Copper will never quite understand unless the Holy Spirit illumines him. At least for the episode in question, the Tenth Doctor did send him to live on earth and learn the true earthology. It is always my hope that the Holy Spirit changes a person so that he or she can truly understand Christ's headship, exclusivity, and why the reformation is far from over until Christ returns.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
He says Yes
I still look back on my life in the past decade and still wonder at where God has led me.
2004 -- I was at Trevecca in Nashville
2007 -- I was at Erskine in Due West, SC
2008 -- Mom got diagnosed with rare adrenal cancer that was already stage 4
2009 -- Mom went home to be with the Lord. Dad and Andrew lived at home and I had one year left at Erskine.
2010 -- I moved back to Conyers, began volunteering at Refuge Pregnancy Center, got involved with a young adult group out of Grace Community Fellowship in Snellville, and became children's minister at Trinity EPC in Loganville.
2011 -- A lady moved into our house to care for Andrew. I started attending Clayton State University. Dad moved five minutes away to live with his dad and brother. I was not able to go to the GCF group anymore, but I did start attending BCM.
2012 -- I went to a BCM small group at the leader's house and sat on a couch next to Tim.
2013 -- I married the same Tim and we moved in with Dad, Pappy, and uncle Delmous. Andrew and Mary still lived at the house I grew up in. I worked at the LifeWay on Cleveland Avenue in Atlanta
2014 -- Mary moved to Florida, Tim and I moved into my old house with Andrew, and now I'm greatly involved at my church and my job which happen to be the same place.
I see myself in 2004, and I see where God has led me. I feel amazed, baffled, grateful, and fulfilled.
This past Sunday at CBC, the sermon was about "ask, and it shall be given to you."
Recently, I was floored by Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 1, "Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory."
Every promise in God is yes. If you ask God for something, he will give it to you. But I agree with Brooks when he said that God has not always answered my prayers with a yes. He said no to many boys that I liked up until I met Tim. He said no to healing my mother from cancer in this life. He said no to many jobs and situations that I wanted.
But he did answer my prayer and he did give me what I needed. I wanted a husband in 2004. I finally married him in 2013. After breaking my heart, with guys named Chris, guys named Michael, and one really close friend at Erskine who was the last one I liked before I met Tim, he answered yes to my question by letting me meet Tim at the BCM leader's house.
He answered my prayer by taking my mother home to live with him. But he still said yes. We wanted her healing. He gave her the perfect healing with no sin or any troubles. I look forward to the new heaven and new earth that He will build when he comes again.
And I certainly have not become a famous singer in Nashville, a long-term missionary in Ukraine, or traveled the country on a book-signing tour. But I spent one year as a missionary in South Atlanta at LifeWay, I am now in a band at church, I now teach at that church's school, and I am more involved with children's ministry.
So I look back and times when I went out of my mind wondering where God would lead me. I still have those times. But if God made a promise and made a will, then it will end in a yes. It certainly will not be yessed today or possibly even in this life. If it does, that will be great, but I look forward to the ultimate yes when Jesus comes to rule his universe.
2004 -- I was at Trevecca in Nashville
2007 -- I was at Erskine in Due West, SC
2008 -- Mom got diagnosed with rare adrenal cancer that was already stage 4
2009 -- Mom went home to be with the Lord. Dad and Andrew lived at home and I had one year left at Erskine.
2010 -- I moved back to Conyers, began volunteering at Refuge Pregnancy Center, got involved with a young adult group out of Grace Community Fellowship in Snellville, and became children's minister at Trinity EPC in Loganville.
2011 -- A lady moved into our house to care for Andrew. I started attending Clayton State University. Dad moved five minutes away to live with his dad and brother. I was not able to go to the GCF group anymore, but I did start attending BCM.
2012 -- I went to a BCM small group at the leader's house and sat on a couch next to Tim.
2013 -- I married the same Tim and we moved in with Dad, Pappy, and uncle Delmous. Andrew and Mary still lived at the house I grew up in. I worked at the LifeWay on Cleveland Avenue in Atlanta
2014 -- Mary moved to Florida, Tim and I moved into my old house with Andrew, and now I'm greatly involved at my church and my job which happen to be the same place.
I see myself in 2004, and I see where God has led me. I feel amazed, baffled, grateful, and fulfilled.
This past Sunday at CBC, the sermon was about "ask, and it shall be given to you."
Recently, I was floored by Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 1, "Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory."
Every promise in God is yes. If you ask God for something, he will give it to you. But I agree with Brooks when he said that God has not always answered my prayers with a yes. He said no to many boys that I liked up until I met Tim. He said no to healing my mother from cancer in this life. He said no to many jobs and situations that I wanted.
But he did answer my prayer and he did give me what I needed. I wanted a husband in 2004. I finally married him in 2013. After breaking my heart, with guys named Chris, guys named Michael, and one really close friend at Erskine who was the last one I liked before I met Tim, he answered yes to my question by letting me meet Tim at the BCM leader's house.
He answered my prayer by taking my mother home to live with him. But he still said yes. We wanted her healing. He gave her the perfect healing with no sin or any troubles. I look forward to the new heaven and new earth that He will build when he comes again.
And I certainly have not become a famous singer in Nashville, a long-term missionary in Ukraine, or traveled the country on a book-signing tour. But I spent one year as a missionary in South Atlanta at LifeWay, I am now in a band at church, I now teach at that church's school, and I am more involved with children's ministry.
So I look back and times when I went out of my mind wondering where God would lead me. I still have those times. But if God made a promise and made a will, then it will end in a yes. It certainly will not be yessed today or possibly even in this life. If it does, that will be great, but I look forward to the ultimate yes when Jesus comes to rule his universe.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Pure lips, hot coals, and first grade
I think it's been more than a month since I blogged. First, I ran out of hours to work at LifeWay and had plenty of time to blog and write. Then I got a job at my church's school in the afterschool program. Then I got busy with that. Then I hosted all my in-laws for Thanksgiving.
And now I finally find time to blog.
The first thing I learned on my second week of subbing for the afterschool program is that children love to tattle on each other. There is no greater display of man's total depravity than a 1st grade class. They pout when you say no. They touch each other. Sometimes, they get violent. And they always tell the teacher when somebody said a bad word or won't share.
I just have to smile. What else can I do? But if I could teach them that they are all sinners and need to go to Jesus for forgiveness and also to forgive their friends, how would I do that?
I take the example of telling on somebody because he said the "S-word." Is this the actual S-word, "stupid," or "shut-up"?
I don't know. Either way, we all are aware that our mouths are not the cleanest. I thought of one time where a man in the bible had unclean lips and then he met God.
In Isaiah 6, the king Uzziah, the king who had been king for 50 years, had just died. This same king, who loved the Lord, made a mistake of burning incense when only the priests could do that, and then he talked back to the priests, and then God gave him leprosy for the rest of his life while his son ruled.
Now he is gone, and Isaiah wakes up and finds himself in heaven's throne room. A reminder, despite his flaws, Uzziah loved the Lord, and Isaiah was probably one of the more faithful people in that era. He saw "the Lord sitting on his throne, the train of his robe filling the temple," and all his angels covering their faces from his perfect glory. Isaiah then has a breakdown and fears his immediate doom.
He is face to face with our perfect God and creator who has every right to dispose of him for even one sin.
"And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”"
But the good thing is that although Isaiah has uttered blasphemies and profanities with his lips, Jesus shows him mercy. He sends and angel to him with a coal from the altar to burn all the eww off of his lips. It burns, but it feels so good. And we know it's Jesus because his cleansing came from the altar where he was sacrificed before the world began.
Immediately, God called him to be prophet to the idolatrous nation of Judah through the reigns of king Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. History says that Isaiah lost his life for the gospel during Manasseh's reign.
So, what do you do when your friend says the S-word or any other crude word? You pray for him. When a kid tells me that her friend said such-and-such, I tell her to pray for that child. I can't clean her lips. Her friend can't clean her lips. She can't clean her own lips. But Jesus can do all that. And once they really know Jesus, they will be frightened by their own unworthiness and relieved by his mercy that they will be able to speak with purity because he's saved them.
And now I finally find time to blog.
The first thing I learned on my second week of subbing for the afterschool program is that children love to tattle on each other. There is no greater display of man's total depravity than a 1st grade class. They pout when you say no. They touch each other. Sometimes, they get violent. And they always tell the teacher when somebody said a bad word or won't share.
I just have to smile. What else can I do? But if I could teach them that they are all sinners and need to go to Jesus for forgiveness and also to forgive their friends, how would I do that?
I take the example of telling on somebody because he said the "S-word." Is this the actual S-word, "stupid," or "shut-up"?
I don't know. Either way, we all are aware that our mouths are not the cleanest. I thought of one time where a man in the bible had unclean lips and then he met God.
In Isaiah 6, the king Uzziah, the king who had been king for 50 years, had just died. This same king, who loved the Lord, made a mistake of burning incense when only the priests could do that, and then he talked back to the priests, and then God gave him leprosy for the rest of his life while his son ruled.
Now he is gone, and Isaiah wakes up and finds himself in heaven's throne room. A reminder, despite his flaws, Uzziah loved the Lord, and Isaiah was probably one of the more faithful people in that era. He saw "the Lord sitting on his throne, the train of his robe filling the temple," and all his angels covering their faces from his perfect glory. Isaiah then has a breakdown and fears his immediate doom.
He is face to face with our perfect God and creator who has every right to dispose of him for even one sin.
"And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”"
But the good thing is that although Isaiah has uttered blasphemies and profanities with his lips, Jesus shows him mercy. He sends and angel to him with a coal from the altar to burn all the eww off of his lips. It burns, but it feels so good. And we know it's Jesus because his cleansing came from the altar where he was sacrificed before the world began.
Immediately, God called him to be prophet to the idolatrous nation of Judah through the reigns of king Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. History says that Isaiah lost his life for the gospel during Manasseh's reign.
So, what do you do when your friend says the S-word or any other crude word? You pray for him. When a kid tells me that her friend said such-and-such, I tell her to pray for that child. I can't clean her lips. Her friend can't clean her lips. She can't clean her own lips. But Jesus can do all that. And once they really know Jesus, they will be frightened by their own unworthiness and relieved by his mercy that they will be able to speak with purity because he's saved them.
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