prayer and challenge

On Thursdays, chapel at seminary consists of groups meeting together for prayer. On this morning, one of my professors leading the group mentioned the need to be praying for a brother and fellow minister of the gospel in a distant land. If you haven't heard about this man, you can read about him on CNN, FoxNews, BBC, MSNBC, or any other news media you want (I tried to attach all the big ones for those who have their preferences).

Above all, we should be praying for this man, his family, the Iranian government, and the Christian churches in Iran. Pray for his physical, emotional, and spiritual strength. I cannot fathom all he has gone through, but his unwavering belief in Christ is clear. Pray for his wife, who has been interrogated in the past, and his children. They have been without their father since 2009. Pray for the Iranian government's eyes to be open to the reality of what they are doing. The effects of their decision reaches far beyond the realm of Christianity, but the right of believe for all human beings. Pray for the churches within Iran that continue to bear the burden of persecution from their government. And thank God churches continue to grow there in spite of man's attempts. And finally, pray for the gospel to penetrate deeper and further into Iran because of this. God is more than capable of using man's attempt to resist Him to bring more people unto to Himself.

Then, let us be challenged by our Iranian brother. Would we be willing to take the same stand he is taking? Would we would ready to defend Christ at the sake of our own lives? The reports says his response to recanting was "Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?...I cannot" We may never face the same situation as this brother, but our passionate fervor should be the same nonetheless.

unending love

In case I haven't stated it enough (I highly doubt it), I greatly appreciate music. If my guitar skills were any better, I would probably play far more than I listen. But thankfully there are plenty of talented people out there to cover where I am lacking.

Recently, my internal wrestling revolves around my utter failure to grasp the immensity (in breath, width, and depth) of God's love for me through Christ. Yes, I understand Christ (the incarnate God) left heaven to live perfectly on this broken planet ultimately to suffer and die on my behalf. Without even comprehending the full weight of that statement, I should be blown away. And by going deeper into the innumerable underlying truths, I should be "undone" like Isaiah thanking God every moment for His grace.

And yet I don't. I live with an attitude of entitlement to the grace I have received. I treat God's love with little, if any, regard to how I should respond to it. What I should be doing is willingly surrendering everything because that is the least I can do to thank (not earn or merit) Him for His unending love.

On my way home from class today, I listened to the song which has been my reminder in the midst of my own stubbornness to God's Word. It's overly lyrical, often repeating a series of lines over. While I typically prefer the the former, sometimes it helps to have the same words constantly confronting me. I would be stupid to somehow miss what they were trying to convey.

I could list the lyrics of the whole song, but the reality is the pre-chorus and chorus squarely hit the head of the nail.

Jesus, nothing compares to this grace that rescues me
Savior, now and forever Your face is all I see.


Now all I am, I lay at your feet
I'm humbled by the wonder of Your majesty
One thing I know, I find all I need
In Your unending love, Your unending love


Spirit, help that be my prayer.

a nugget

I am learning to read at a lightning-fast pace. It has its benefits such as being able to adequately accomplish the assignments for my classes (I can't say enough about how much I love Google calendar's Tasks option. Sheer genius). However, fast reading does make it difficult to soak in the material. Therefore I am learning to be selective, while trying to get the most out of each assignment as I can.

But even at fast paces, nuggets of gold can be found in nearly everything I am reading. And just as gold-diggers (not the kind Kayne West sings about) do, I celebrate when I happen to stumble upon such nuggets.

Hence that dread and wonder with which Scripture commonly represents the saints as stricken and overcome whenever they felt the presence of God...We must infer that man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty              ~John Calvin

If you have never read anything by John Calvin, may I encourage you to dabble? Now those who don't hold to Reformed Theology may cringe because they rightfully equate Calvin with predestination and election. However, his scope is far more reaching than these (though I would argue there is great benefit and treasure in them as well). He is not overly complex or wordy, but rich in unpacking biblical truths.

Anyways I loved the quote above for it reminds us of perspective. I can think of myself as lowly without comparing myself to God. I recognize I fail often simply by observing how I behave compared to those around me. I know lots of people of greater morality and service than I. And it's humbling to acknowledge.

However, people don't hold a candle compared to God. Comparing myself to a "good" person is nothing like comparing myself to the holy God. When we honestly perform this task, we are left, as Isaiah said, "undone." We see the full depths of our depravity and the immeasurable beauty of God's perfection. Too often I go about comparing myself to others (in a non-judgmental way) to keep myself humble. But the reality is, I will still be good enough by doing this. Humility only comes by comparing myself to God before whom I am can never be good enough.

And this also makes me all the more thankful for Jesus Christ.

quick breather

One full week (last Thursday through today) of seminary is in the books. How's it going? Thanks for asking. Already I have read more in the last week than I did the entire summer. (And it may be even further back than that). I am trying to learn one new language (Greek) while continuing to master another (Hebrew). I sleep sounder than when I swam at least 4,000 yards per day in high school. As someone who hates calendars, I have all my assignments outlined on my Google calendar in order to keep track and check them off when I complete them (definitely my favorite part). I spend at least two hours a day in the library compared to college where I don't know if I spent more than two hours for an entire semester. I could keep going with these, but basically I am more than busy.

However, in all the busyness, one thing I failed to grasp is the blessing of people, namely the people I am meeting. Naturally, I was going to meet people at seminary. It's pretty much impossible (not to mention ridiculously silly) to avoid human contact. You share classes, library tables, meals, seats, and almost everything else. Now I tend to be more introverted, so I thank God that He created extroverts as well. When I tend to be shy (I am learning not to be), they find ways to seek me out and engage with me. And the engagement has been a wonderful blessing.

It is a treat meeting people from all over God's creation. Every continent (except maybe Antarctica) is covered and who knows how many countries. I love learning about the different backgrounds and cultures, and then seeing how Christ can bring them all together by His grace. Simply awesome.

On top of that, people bring their personal backgrounds with them. I've met folks in the fields of teaching, engineering, accounting, philosophy, psychology, pastoring, missions, church planting, labor, technology, and many others who have either given up those fields for ministry or are looking for ways to bring the gospel back into as their ministry. Sharing stories with them is an encouragement for me as I press on for where God is leading me.

Basically, I was not expecting the blessing of people to be as strongly felt as it is. I limited my expectations of personal growth and development to the classroom and books of seminary. But God always plans better things than we can hope or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). And it's a great joy and privilege to watch them unfold.

what is going on?

It has been a busy month for the Eastern United States and its residents. First, there was the abnormal earthquake in Virginia. It's force was felt up and down the entire coast even spreading as far as Chicago. On top of that, a smaller one hit Virginia again only a few weeks later. It wasn't nearly as powerful, but surprising nonetheless.

After the shakes, Irene paid a visit to the entire East Coast. By God's grace, she wasn't nearly as devastating as expected, but she wasn't exactly a party either. Numerous tornado warnings followed in her path as well floods, high winds, and an assortment of falling objects. And apparently she brought her friends along as forecasters are watching other hurricane/tropical storm systems building up steam in the Caribbean.

But a little over a week later, people have almost forgotten Irene completely. Consecutive days of heavy rainfall have placed most of the East Coast on the spin cycle. Major river systems flow significantly beyond flood stages taking over major roadways in the process. Cars, homes, schools, and business stand in the raging water's path. It seems like months since the sun was last seen shining in its typical position surrounded by skies of blue.

No one really knows why this string of events occurred. People will offer a variety of explanations for why these things happened. Each will have valid points behind them. For example, science can explain the phenomena by talking about fronts, plate tectonics, and other fascinating details I know little about. However, no one will be able to ultimately define why these things are occurring. And this includes Christians.

I have no idea why an earthquake, hurricane, and flooding hit the United States in near succession. Could it be a warning? It could considering God has used natural disasters as warnings throughout history. Could it be judgment? It could considering God has used natural disasters as means of His judgment on earth. Could it be a reminder? It could considering He tells us all of creation points to Him. But it could also be something entirely different and unrelated. No one can say for sure.

But there is one can we can say with certainty in spite of all that is going on around us, as a collective group and individuals. God is in control of it all. He knew the about the earthquake, hurricane, and floods. He controls them all by the power of His Word. He sends them out according to His will for His glory. Here are few examples of His control over them (emphasis mine).

I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain, and the field on which it did not rain would wither  ~Amos 4:7

He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.  ~Deuteronomy 11:14

Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? ~Job 38:34-35

And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him? ~Matthew 8:27

So while we don't know the exact reasons, we can rest assured the events are not beyond His control. Therefore we can trust and take comfort that He knows exactly what is going on.

(I have very little doubt of the true intent of the article I am attaching a link to. A handful of people avoid the media because of stories such as these. Honestly, I think there is far more value in confronting them, than running in the other direction.)

I do find it difficult to read articles such as these. Righteous anger (or at least I pray it is the case) nearly boils over by the time I get to the end. And there is nothing wrong with that.

However, this article proved to be different. Instead of leaving it with ruffled feathers, I lingered with a heavy heart. Here is a story about a man relishing in the success of a false church, when the reality is how the church failed him. And the writer aptly (though I doubt intentionally) states this reality in one sentence.

"It was a very empowering experience for me to be in a church, and I didn't have to deny my sexuality," he said. "I could be very honest with myself, with all church members and also with God."

The first half of the sentence attempts to portray the good news, which is actually bad news. A true church of Jesus Christ will lead it's people into self-denial. As the gospel of Jesus is faithfully proclaimed, people will want to leave who they are behind (that is their sin nature). There's nothing about it worth holding on to when compared to the gospel. This is the Spirit-driven reaction to the truth of God's grace. We won't want to be the same, sinful people we once were. Glorying in a church which says God demands nothing from His people is glorying in a church that preachers a lie. Christ wants people who faithfully follow Him, which means giving up all of ourselves (not limited to, but including our sexuality).

The second half of the verse is another attempt at good news, when it is actually bad news for The Church. The word fundamentalism is synonymous with "conservative Christianity" for this particular individual. He sees no difference between the two. Typically, conservatives have the foundation to argue. But when it comes to homosexuality we, conservative Christians, appear too much like the fundamentalists we try to avoid.

I've said it before; homosexuality is a sin. We are not fundamentalists for declaring this biblical truth. God calls us to preach the truth to those around us because God's truth is always about His glory and the fullest extent of joy for His people (John 15:10-11). We aren't trying to rob people of joy and satisfaction, but rather point them in the only direction where it can be found. And this is in regards to all sin. Each and every sin is us robbing God of His glory and ourselves of true joy.

But we like to add on condemnation and judgment to declaring God's truth. This is why we are viewed as fundamentalists. For some reason we exalt homosexuality as a sin worthy of our judgment. We ignore how equally defaming adultery, fornication, pornography, and other sexual sins are to the God-ordained covenant of marriage, which is the picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride. They all stain the covenant by disregarding it completely.

Our problem is we don't do a good job of listening to the second half of the statement quoted earlier. The church should be a place where congregants are honest with themselves, one another, and God. It should be a place where people can struggle without fear of judgment. Yes, they need to be told (if they don't already know) what they are doing is wrong. But they also need to be told, there is hope in Jesus Christ. We speak of this hope to addicts, adulterers, liars, thieves, even murderers. Churches are filled with ministries geared towards serving these and many more. But when homosexuals come we scream the truth at them, tell them to stop, and avoid them until they do.

We refuse to let them struggle. In my own life, I can't think of one sin I stopped simply because God's Word said to. I wish that were the case. Sin is too ingrained in my nature. More often than not, I continued (and I can speak in present tense as well) to struggle and found freedom through God's Spirit and the encouragement of His people around me. I believe if the churches confronted all sinners (regardless of type) with their sin, and then supported them as they struggled to find freedom there would be less stories such as these. Because honestly, what is there to celebrate in divorce equated with freedom, the truth of God's Word trumped by human reason/experience, and sin embraced as freedom? Obviously, not all will ever desire to be rid of their sin, and God will deal justly with them. But do we desire to see them change and are we willing to struggle with them for God's glory and their joy?