Quieting Love

Time and the forgiveness of God

2012-03-04T20:36:00.000-05:00

An interview with Robert Farrar Capon:
"Floyd Brown: I think I understand philosophically what you are saying here, but it is still hard for us slow learners there in the back row. I’ve got to have a plan here. I know that if I go out and I fight and I’m the kind of guy who causes disruptive things, I’m a threat to society. I do bad things and bad things result. I know that if repent of these things, God will forgive me, but if I don’t ever repent of these things, what’s going to happen?

Robert Capon: He forgave you before you repented. That’s crucial. See, that is why it is so outrageous. The gospel is really vulgar, crass and immoral because it says God forgives the world before it repents. In the gospel, repent is always repent and believe. It means turn yourself around from not trusting the forgiveness and trust it. That’s it. It doesn’t mean that you earn it by repenting. You had it before."

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Stopping to look

2012-03-03T15:58:00.001-05:00

There are times when I look at the campus I'm on and my heart grieves. Just looking at hundreds of people stressing, worrying, and striving for happiness. They find it in grades, in drugs, in success, in shot glasses, in friends, in anything. Anything but God. And moment by moment, so many are dying on the inside. And when I see people, who's lives could be so full in Christ, accept the little happiness they find in worldly, temporary things, I can't help but think of this video.

This life is worthless without God. When we look for meaning outside of God we find only temporary value and shallow happiness. In Christ alone is there a rich, unending, deep, satisfying, eternal joy. A joy that comes from knowing God, and knowing his love for you.

We need to point, with everything we say and do, to the love of Christ. And we need to share in God's heart for those around us. Because who knows how long you'll have before it's too late? The thought that God is not worshiped, God is not loved by these people....
...How can we ignore it?

Look what I stumbled upon

2012-03-01T23:18:00.001-05:00

pretty cool
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/africa-emerges/ethiopia-news-queen-shebas-gold-found-archaeologists

Great reminder from a friend

2012-02-28T00:44:00.000-05:00

Reposting this from my friend Sam Ji's tumblr, who is in fact quoting it from desiringgod.com (an amazing website and resource, if you haven't looked at it already). Sam is a great man of God - it's cool to see how God uses him daily. His tumblr is solid (though Lin-obsessed, which is probably a good thing :)

""And make no mistake, sexual desires are not our most deadly desires that need daily denial. Anger, resentment, fear of man, discouragement (yes), self-pity, self-promotion, hardness, envy, moodiness, sulking, indifference to suffering, laziness, boredom, passiveness, lack of praise, lack of joy in Jesus, disinterest in others, etc. These need daily killing (Romans 8:13).

Is this Christian Hedonism? Yes. Why does Paul live like a self-disciplined athlete? Simple: Greater joy. “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Corinthians 9:25).
"

— http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/lent-or-no-lent-life-is-war

So I like to Sing

2012-02-26T23:00:00.000-05:00

All the time. It's freeing for me. It's how I express my inner self, those deep waves of existence that words can't conjure up. Music is how emotions sound. Because of this, I like to worship God through song, and one of the ways I make it my own is to take an instrumental piece and just start improvising melodies and lyrics as I go. It sounds weird, I know. But think about it: what do you love to do? What is your freeing habit, the one that relaxes you the most? Some people it's dancing (I <3 that too). For others it's art, physical exercise, some other kind of instrument, or knitting. Whatever it is, you can offer it up to God.
For example, for all my readers who like to sing, listen to this beautiful piano melody. Tell me, how can we not sing to our God, for letting us hear such a beautiful noise? Or just for who He is - the great, compassionate, loving, merciful, patient Father God?

Yearning

2012-02-23T23:29:00.000-05:00

So,
I haven't prioritized reading God's word (...again). But right now, in this moment, I really, really, REALLY miss the Word. I just wanna sit in God's presence and read, you know? Just be instructed and refreshed. I'm considering staying up later than I already am to intake a little of God. I need it.

"Food for the inner man"

2012-02-19T18:33:00.000-05:00

A quote from George Muller, an amazing warrior of the faith who founded a huge orphanage in Bristol, England. He relied on God so much through prayer and daily intake of the Word that his life is most noted by series of miracles. For example, one time (well, one of many times) there was a shortage of food, and no breakfast was available for the children. Muller and all the orphans gathered at the dinning hall and gave thanks, even though there was no food. As they finished praying, the baker knocked on the door with more than enough bread, and simultaneously the milk man's cart just so happened to break down outside of the orphanage, so he gave them all free milk.

These words from a man who truly trusted in the power of God hold immense amount of solid advice on how to qt. I thank God for this man's life once lived, and look forward to meeting him in the Kingdom of God.

"While I was staying at Nailsworth, it pleased the Lord to teach me a
truth, irrespective of human instrumentality, as far as I know, the benefit
of which I have not lost, though now…more than forty years have
since passed away.
The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great
and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have
my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was
not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord;
but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner
man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the
unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve
the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it
becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the
Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day
by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit.
Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously,
as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed
in the morning. Now I saw, that the most important thing I had to do
was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation
on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged,
warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditating, my
heart might be brought into experimental, communion with the Lord.
I began therefore, to meditate on the New Testament, from the beginning,
early in the morning.
The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s
blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the
Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out
of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for the
sake or preaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of
obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost
invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to
confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so
that though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation,
yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer.
When thus I have been for awhile making confession, or intercession,
or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or
verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the
Word may lead to it; but still continually keeping before me, that food
for my own soul is the object of my meditation. The result of this is,
that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication,
or intercession mingled with my meditation, and that my inner
man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened and
that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not
happy state of heart. Thus also the Lord is pleased to communicate
unto me that which, very soon after, I have found to become food for
other believers, though it was not for the sake of the public ministry of
the Word that I gave myself to meditation, but for the profit of my
own inner man.
The difference between my former practice and my present one is
this. Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible, and
generally spent all my time till breakfast in prayer, or almost all the
time. At all events I almost invariably began with prayer.… But what
was the result? I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or
even an hour on my knees, before being conscious to myself of having
derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, etc.; and often
after having suffered much from wandering of mind for the first ten
minutes, or a quarter of an hour, or even half an hour, I only then
began really to pray.
I scarcely ever suffer now in this way. For my heart being nourished
by the truth, being brought into experimental fellowship with
God, I speak to my Father, and to my Friend (vile though I am, and
unworthy of it!) about the things that He has brought before me in His
precious Word.
It often now astonished me that I did not sooner see this. In no
book did I ever read about it. No public ministry ever brought the matter
before me. No private intercourse with a brother stirred me up to
this matter. And yet now, since God has taught me this point, it is as
plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do
morning by morning is to obtain food for his inner man.
As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time,
except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the
morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for
that, as every one must allow. Now what is the food for the inner man:
not prayer, but the Word of God: and here again not the simple reading
of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as
water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering
over it, and applying it to our hearts.…
I dwell so particularly on this point because of the immense spiritual
profit and refreshment I am conscious of having derived from it
myself, and I affectionately and solemnly beseech all my fellow-believers
to ponder this matter. By the blessing of God I ascribe to this mode
the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace
through deeper trials in various ways than I had ever had before; and
after having now above forty years tried this way, I can most fully, in
the fear of God, commend it. How different when the soul is refreshed
and made happy early in the morning, from what is when, without
spiritual preparation, the service, the trials and the temptations of the
day come upon one!"

Foolish.

2012-02-18T01:28:00.000-05:00

I've been foolish recently. I've been compromising my walk with God for other things. I've been skipping my qt's to get more sleep, not praying as much because I've been studying, etc. Minor stuff, one might say, but the sum product is horrific. I know that these are only weakening me, and more importantly, showing my lack of love for the Lord.
I need to return to God, to develop a discipline of following him regardless of how tired I'm feeling.
Lord, help me. "Oh help my unbelief!"
Jck

Weak

2012-02-15T02:55:00.000-05:00

This is the time when I'm the most weak.
When I haven't sleep well in days, and that's all I seek.
When school doesn't make any sense, no matter how hard I try.
When I feel alone and I don't know why.

I have a choice. I can choose to run to the things of this world. Sinful thoughts and self-serving ideas abound at night, when the darkness has permeated the mind. It's the easy road, the seemingly right path.

But we know better. I can pray. I can pour out my heart to God, even though I sin.
I can just talk to him. Just for a bit. Tell him how weird I'm feeling and how much I doubt myself right now.

I can do all things that God desires for me to do. I can sleep later if I need to.
I need to lean on him.

If I run to the world, I gain nothing. No hope, no joy, no rest.

Only

2012-02-12T00:47:00.000-05:00

1. Sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”)
2. Sola Fide (“faith alone”)
3. Sola Gratia (“grace alone”)
4. Solus Christus (“Christ alone”)
5. Soli Deo Gloria (“glory to God alone”)

I pray that I might one day fully submit to God, and be a "living sacrifice" for his kingdom and glory.
For only One could raise people from the dead...

Caution: "Practical Sermons"

2012-02-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

I've realized I get bothered when the focus of a sermon is not on God. That's somewhat hypocritical, considering the focus of my life is not truly on God and just how far short of giving God the honest and pure glory that he deserves. Nonetheless, I find the sermons that don't primarily stick to Christ and the Word are the ones that leave the listeners- myself included- feeling dry and malnourished. It is the strong, honest biblical truths that consistently give the Holy Spirit something to work with, not personal stories or 7 step methods. This is particularly true with a brand of sermons I'm labeling "practical," mostly due to the semantic satiation of that word in these sermons.
Now, I need to give an initial condition (diff eq shout out). That is, the following applies for sermons that do not primarily address the heart (we'll define it) behind whatever topic is preached, but instead ignore or inadequately address the sin of our hearts and give an entire "talk" on how you can do these ____ actions and (Choose one: this sin will disappear// your relationship with God will see amazing growth, much like your financial portfolio // you'll be a better christian). Alright, maybe I'm getting to cynical. But in all seriousness, this is an issue that plagues topical preaching, and it hurts people. You're feeding bland food to starving souls, and expect them to come back for more the next week. Now, amazing, Godly, bible-saturated, truth-based sermons can discuss practicality and applicability of certain concepts - in fact, they should. However, as soon as you skip the heart and focus on the practical, you're skipping God's work in people, and focusing on us. The glory gets flipped to the wrong direction (us over God), and nothing good - literally, nothing - comes from that.
So, what do I mean by issues of the heart? Well, let's start in the Bible. There are numerous verses that describe the value of actions without intent / desire behind them. Be it Matthew 23:27, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 2:21, 1 Chronicles 28:9, or Philippians 2:13. In a nutshell: God knows our thoughts and minds, we can't trick him, and our works are meaningless without God. God wants our emotions and your heart to line up with him. He doesn't want us to just do what he commands, he wants us to desire to do them. He wants us to find joy in doing his will. And if we don't, if your heart isn't behind it, then we are "like whitewashed tombs." This is why 1 John talks of love for God and obedience. If we loved God with ALL of our heart, we would desire to obey.
Now, take heart - a vast majority of us aren't there... yet. God WILL perfect us in his love. But view this as a good thing - all of us have places where we need God to change our hearts and make us new, so we can never walk with swagger in our relationship with Christ (though I know I've tried, in my foolishness). Here is the issue though: one of the ways God does that is through people teaching in his Word. So (getting back to the point) when we hear a sermon that neglects the heart and focuses on action, we just witnessed the pastor assuming the gospel was fully loved and understood by his listeners. That's a huge assumption, and normally a faulty one. This is why sermons must begin and end with Christ - because if we intake that message, we become more and more conformed to his image and his desires. And suddenly, sin loses it's appeal. We are so blind when we choose to sin - we just chose empty, temporal, surface pleasure over the lasting, powerful, inundating love and joy of Christ. And the only way we can guard and arm ourselves against Satan's attacks is (yep, you guessed it) the Bible and prayer.
Enough of me ranting. Here's the take home message:
Consider carefully what's being said when you hear the next "7 steps to better worship" sermon.
Let us be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) and check what we hear.
In His Love,
jck

2 Chronicles 14, 15, and 16

2012-02-01T00:10:00.000-05:00

Asa, Asa.... you began so righteously, so zealous and joyful before the Lord. What happened? Events like these make me fear getting old - it seems like age begets fear, and fear gives birth to infidelity and distrust in the LORD our God.
Asa really is painful to read. He's the first good king in a while, and he shows some serious faith in the beginning, when the Cushites rolled up with and army of "thousands upon thousands" against the 500 thousand men of Judah. Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said "LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. LORD, you are God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you." 2 Chronicles 14:11
How good is that? And notice, Asa's father Abijah first begins this passion by holding to the tenements of the LORD, by keeping the commands to the temple and by having the priests do their duties. That actually implies a lot for us. If you want to follow God, start by doing what he's commanded, then start looking for his help. In fact, you'll need his help to do the former. But that's another time
Asa starts off so strong. And God sends his word via Azariah, repeating how God will be with Asa if he looks for Him, but if Asa forsakes God, God will forsake him. Upon hearing these words, Asa "took courage", then "removed the detestable idols from the whole land" and he assembled his people, sacrificing "to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats". That's another good point - after hearing God's word, we should 1) take courage (be strengthened by the spirit), 2) do what God deems right (through the strength we now have), and 3) worship, and encourage others to do so! In all of this, the heart must be true (15:12).
Then we get to verse 19: "There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of Asa’s reign"
What happened in the 35th year? Asa forsakes the Lord.
....Damnit. This is the part of the story that I always feel like I'm at. I trust the Lord for some really insignificant portion of time, then BOOM back to my sins for comfort, cause I don't trust the Righteous One.
It all goes down hill after that, for both myself and for Asa. But God is sovereign - good will come to the people of Israel later. Good already came for me....Thanks be to God for his Son, Jesus!
In Him,
jck

Will I ever

2012-01-31T00:44:00.000-05:00

Will I ever love the Lord my God with ALL of my heart?
Will I ever trust God with the little things?
Will I ever stop cursing?
Will I ever be courageous about the gospel to ALL people, not just the ones I feel superior to?
Will I ever let go of pride?
Will I ever stop turning the glory of God into the glory of me?
Will I ever be pure?
Will I ever let the love of Christ replace the idols of my heart?

...Philippians 4:13

The Great Debate

2012-01-28T22:50:00.000-05:00

I stole this from the blog that the pastor of my home church, Todd Pruitt, writes. If you like debating, I think you'll find this interesting. You should note, however, that both sides (eventually) concede to not use emotional and/or internal experiential evidence, on the basis that this is not relevant in the arena of debate. That may be true, but at the end of the day, the emotional encounters and relevant experience that occurs when people hear the truths of God can not be discounted in our lives. Most of people's decisions are not governed by logic - they're governed by personal experience and internal motivation, both of which are outside of the realm of this debate but entirely relevant to how we process the world. In short, I'm saying God changes people and gives them the Holy Spirit. That's utterly important.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1hSx2evTGM&feature=related
Transcript: http://cdn.theresurgence.com/files/2012/01/13/The_Great_Debate.pdf

Looking at faith a little differently.

2012-01-26T19:29:00.000-05:00

"To say ‘justification by faith’ is merely another way of saying ‘justification by Christ’. Faith has absolutely no value in itself; its value lies solely in its object. Faith is the eye that looks to Christ, the hand that lays hold of him, the mouth that drinks the water of life. "

— John Stott, The Cross of Christ

Fear

2012-01-24T22:20:00.000-05:00

I heard a sermon once that said how two things often govern our actions, neither positive - fear and pride. The latter is a huge, huge problem for me. So much of my life is still under the influence of how great I think my judgement, opinion, and talent are that I ignore the one and only living God (once again, praise Him for His mercy to me!)
But fear, fear has an interesting story. In fact, one could argue how fear is a motive for pride, e.g. I'm afraid of people thinking I'm weak at (fill in the blank, we'll say A), so I practice till I'm good at A then brag about it, OR, avidly avoid A and remind those around me how good I am at B, this other thing I got going on.
I know for me I struggled with fear over grades this semester (talk about a 180 flip from pride over grades). In a sense it was good - telling people I was struggling with school was a humbling thing, something I needed. But naturally, as I often do, I gave the pendulum too strong a push, and I ended up having many nights (i.e. mornings) that I just felt stupid. Dumb. Idiotic. As in, I'm too dumb to understand this. It wasn't the best thing. But somehow God allowed me success with last semester, which I didn't think was possible given my grades up to that point.
Now, now I approach this coming semester and I have this intuitive fear about what's coming up. I fear the lack of sleep cause I'll have over-strung myself yet again. I fear getting hurt in running, and not being able to compete again. I fear not understanding the material and feeling like I have no one to turn to (I totally do have people, I just won't want to...because of PRIDE aggghhhh). Most importantly, I fear that all the Idols in my life - lust, pride, grades, these fears, etc - will pull me from the God I love. I fear the constant lies they spout in my ear, telling me "no, no.... you are not good enough for God. No, he doesn't love people like you. Liars like you. Evil men like you. You're nothing....you're not even saved, are you?" They hiss in my ear, always ready to jump on my failures and fears and turn them into doubts.
They're half right. I'm not good enough for God. There is a lot of evil left in me. But here's the truth that these Idols don't tell you. God is greater.
God is greater than my fear. He is greater than the evil left in me. And He, the Almighty, is greater than all the attacks of Satan. For it is written
"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
When Jesus died for us, He willingly gave us his crown of righteousness and perfection, that when we die, we may plead Christ before the Lord, and He'll welcome us with love. Thanks be to God!
But what can we do now? How can we conquer these fears today? Only through God. We can overcome fear with the confidence we receive in the Love of God. We MUST take Ephesians 6 to heart, and fully put on the armor of God. I love those verses so much. The thing that is so earth-shattering is verse 17. Up till then, every item was for defense, be it belt or shoes or breastplate. This is comforting, but at the same time, defenses are painful. If you're stabbed in the chest while protected, you won't die. But you'll have a broken ribcage, and the wind kicked out of you like no other. But God gives us only one weapon, only one way to attack the enemy. "...the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." THIS is how we conquer fear. The living Word of God, the bible, is how we divest Satan of his power over our hearts. When you hear "you have to sin right now, there is no escape" you can say "God always provides a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13)." When you hear "God can't love you," you strike back with "It is written: 'As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.'" When all hope fails, "Love never fails".
Paul is an amazing example of this. The world wants him to stop preaching, so rulers threaten to kill him. "To die is gain," he says. Then they say "we'll beat you! again! and again! You'll cry in misery and pain." He says "I delight in suffering for Christ, thus conforming me more to his image." "We'll imprison you!" they cry. "Go for it bro: btw, I'm going to sing psalms and hymns and God's gonna convert your guards through me. Is that cool?"
Paul had no fear! For Christ was everything.
When we are afraid, we should turn to God for comfort, and when He's strengthened us, we can look at our hearts, see where this fear has taken root, and use the Sword of the Spirit to cut out this fear.
For in God, there is not fear... but life! Joyful, amazing, powerful, enduring life, that can take all the burdens and pain of this world and still feel joy. That......that is miraculous. That is the power of the God we serve. Praise Him!

Renewed Daily in Christ

2012-01-23T14:35:00.000-05:00

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making all things new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." Revelation 21:5

Only one man can make us new, each and every day, transforming our minds and hearts (Romans 12:1-2) to love him more. I trust in Jesus Christ to help me love him! He keeps his word. Fidelis usque ad mortem. And one day... one day I'll be with him!

A song for you

Physics and Jesus Christ

2012-01-22T15:35:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned before, an exceedingly large number of the most influential scientists of all time have been Christian. Furthermore, many of them did not just have a distant faith that had no connection with their work: many wrote and spoke about theology frequently, and they cite the fervent belief they held in God as the primary motivation to study. People don't want to believe that these days, because of the over-repeated lie that science and religion have been in conflict so permeates our society. But I wanted to point out two notable physicists who deeply believed in Jesus Christ as Lord - Isaac Newton and Max Planck.
Isaac Newton's faith is well documented, though many people like to say that it was just a cultural thing of the time period to believe in God. Not only is that not true (by his time the renaissance had already influenced public thought, and plenty of people rejected God or had no real faith), but I'll leave you with a quote from his writings: "I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily." Now, granted, some of his beliefs were off theologically, but I contend that this was a man in Love with God.
Secondly, Max Planck. I chose him because he's a little more recent then Newton, and he talks a great deal about the interplay between science and religion. Here are some quotes from him.

1. In his famous lecture Religion and Science (May 1937) Planck wrote: “Both religion and science need for their activities the belief in God, and moreover God stands for the former in the beginning, and for the latter at the end of the whole thinking. For the former, God represents the basis, for the latter – the crown of any reasoning concerning the world-view.” (Max Planck, Religion und Naturwissenschaft, Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth Verlag, 1958, 27).
2. “Religion represents a bond of man to God. It consists in reverent awe before a supernatural Might [Macht], to which human life is subordinated and which has in its power our welfare and misery. To remain in permanent contact with this Might and keep it all the time inclined to oneself, is the unending effort and the highest goal of the believing man. Because only in such a way can one feel himself safe before expected and unexpected dangers, which threaten one in his life, and can take part in the highest happiness – inner psychical peace – which can be attained only by means of strong bond to God and unconditional trust to His omnipotence and willingness to help.” (Max Planck 1958, 9).
3. Planck concluded his lecture Religion and Science (May 1937) with the words: “It is the steady, ongoing, never-slackening fight against scepticism and dogmatism, against unbelief and superstition, which religion and science wage together. The directing watchword in this struggle runs from the remotest past to the distant future: ‘On to God!’ ” (Planck, as cited in Heilbron 1986, 185; see also Planck 1958, 30).
4. “Under these conditions it is no wonder, that the movement of atheists, which declares religion to be just a deliberate illusion, invented by power-seeking priests, and which has for the pious belief in a higher Power nothing but words of mockery, eagerly makes use of progressive scientific knowledge and in a presumed unity with it, expands in an ever faster pace its disintegrating action on all nations of the earth and on all social levels. I do not need to explain in any more detail that after its victory not only all the most precious treasures of our culture would vanish, but – which is even worse – also any prospects at a better future.” (Planck 1958, 7).
5. “But the value of religion exceeds the individual. Not only every man has his own religion but the religion requires its validity for larger community, for nation, race, and the whole mankind. Since God reigns equally over all countries of the world, the whole world with all its treasures and horrors is subdued to Him.” (Planck 1958, 9).
6. Unfortunately, during World War II, in February 1945, Planck’s son Erwin was executed by the Nazis for participation in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. On 14 March 1945 Planck wrote in a letter to his friend Anton Kippenberg:
“If there is consolation anywhere it is in the Eternal, and I consider it a grace of Heaven that belief in the Eternal has been rooted deeply in me since childhood.
God protect and strengthen you for everything that still may come before this insanity in which we are forced to live reaches its end.” (Planck, as cited in Heilbron 1986, 195-196).
7. “That God existed before there were human beings on Earth, that He holds the entire world, believers and non-believers, in His omnipotent hand for eternity, and that He will remain enthroned on a level inaccessible to human comprehension long after the Earth and everything that is on it has gone to ruins; those who profess this faith and who, inspired by it, in veneration and complete confidence, feel secure from the dangers of life under protection of the Almighty, only those may number themselves among the truly religious.” (Planck, as cited in Staguhn 1992, 152).
8. In his major book Where Is Science Going? (1932) Planck pointed out:
“There can never be any real opposition between religion and science; for the one is the complement of the other. Every serious and reflective person realizes, I think, that the religious element in his nature must be recognized and cultivated if all the powers of the human soul are to act together in perfect balance and harmony. And indeed it was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls.” (Planck 1977, 168).
9. “As a physicist, that is, a man who had devoted his whole life to a wholly prosaic science, the exploration of matter, no one would surely suspect me of being a fantast. And so, having studied the atom, I am telling you that there is no matter as such! All matter arises and persists only due to a force that causes the atomic particles to vibrate, holding them together in the tiniest of solar systems, the atom.
Yet in the whole of the universe there is no force that is either intelligent or eternal, and we must therefore assume that behind this force there is a conscious, intelligent Mind or Spirit. This is the very origin of all matter.” (Planck, as cited in Eggenstein 1984, Part I; see “Materialistic Science on the Wrong Track”).
10. Planck believed in life after death, he believed in the existence of “another world, exalted above ours, where we can and will take refuge at any time.” (Planck, as cited in Heilbron 1986, 197).
“Farsighted theologians are now working to mine the eternal metal from the teachings of Jesus and to forge it for all time.” (Planck, as cited in Heilbron 1986, 67).

Quiet Time and SOAP

2012-01-22T01:18:00.000-05:00

As Christians, we need to have a relationship with God - it is eternal life (John 17:3). A major part of developing that relationship involves getting in the Word (Psalm 119:11, Job 23:12) and spending time with Him. Most do this through quiet times (q.t.'s) with God. It took me a while before I even wanted to try quiet times: after all, I had a history of boredom with the bible, in the sense that every time I'd tried to read in the past (pre-Jesus relationship) I'd gotten nothing out of it. Even after I started growing with God, I had issues with consistently spending time with Him. At first, my qt's consisted of just reading my bible before I went to sleep. Thinking about that now, it is sort of disheartening, as I was probably reading the bible to help me fall asleep - as if the Word of the Living God, the one who sits on High in a glorious throne, was my sleeping pill. Sad.
Anyway, they eventually got better - I started praying more, desiring the Word of God more, etc. However, something was still missing, and when my victory over some particular sins seemed to disappear, I realized my lack of deeps roots with the Lord our God was the issue. But where does one start? I was already praying consistently, and reading the Word consistently. I realized my desire to dwell in the Word had dwindled - that's a red flag if I've ever heard of one.
What happened to my heart?
Then God, in his infinite mercy, taught and humbled me. I started doing a discipleship class with my church, and I came in with some arrogance on my part. Nothing obvious, but in the back of my mind I thought I knew all the answers. But, I was taking the class cause I knew I wanted more, so clearly God was working regardless of my foolish sin.
By the by, our leader was reviewing some concepts from the prerequisite discipleship class, Foundations. In particular, he was reviewing some acronyms we had learned for different topics. Now frankly, I strongly oppose these acronyms - not because they are inherently evil, but because I feel like they lead to a mechanical, works-based, "if i do ____ I get ____" type of attitude. Furthermore, they can change something like prayer into an intellectual recitation of A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, blah blah blah).
However, you can learn an immense amount from them, if God will's it. One of the acronyms my leader asked us to do during our qt's with God was S.O.A.P. (Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer). Again, my initial thought was "great....more of this stuff." But God wasn't done with me yet. He showed me something beautiful through this method. See, the point of this method is you read a passage of scripture (of course, you pray before....), and because we believe the Holy Spirit speaks to us during these times, you'll leave with something God wants you to hear. Now stop. Reread that last part. Cause I've said that so many times before, without actually doing or understanding it. God speaks to us through his Word.
So how many of us listen to Him? I used to just underline the passages that stuck out to me, maybe even jot a comment, then I'd go pray about whatever was on my heart, without connecting the two. That's like God saying "Hey Josh, you should do ______" and me responding by ignoring whatever He says, then saying "But God, I need you with this stuff"
Good one, Josh. Ignore God some more.
Anyway, I'll break down the acronym below. I highly suggest you try it - you never know what God will show you!
In the Name of Christ our Lord,
jk

Scripture: Though reading large portion of scripture is good for the overall picture, you loose some of the details in the reading, so stick with a chapter or two, and read carefully. Listen to your heart as you're reading, and underline what sticks out.
Observation: In your journal, after citing what you've read, copy the one verse/set of verses that stuck out the most. Think about why that stuck out. Was it a whole new idea or approach to something? I'll give you an example from my own: 1 Chronicles 16:35 stuck out to me because we are not just crying out to God to stop the assumed suffering - we're crying out to God so that we may worship him. It is all about him.
Application: This is the hardest part, the muscle that's most atrophied. Basically, you're asking "why did god show the above to me? What do I need to change? What is God convicting me of?" Now, at times, it may not be negative stuff. Sometimes it's just straight knowledge of himself, that doesn't necessarily apply to your situation right now. But more often then not, God has something to tell you. We need to listen.
Prayer: This is the chance to respond to the conversation. Now, briefly, remember Revelations 4 and Ecclesiastes 5 when praying. But to be honest, if you're doing this non mechanically, by now you;re going to be so excited/awe-filled/broken/joyful etc by what God's saying that I have no doubt about the holiness and earnestness of your prayer. But basically, this is a chance to thank God for what he's shown you, praise him, ask him for strength to make any changes, and so on. And now, if you have other things that are on the table (for example, your friends who don't know Christ and you desperately want them to because you love them), you have the chance to speak to Christ about it.

In the shadow of His Wings

2012-01-16T00:24:00.000-05:00

"Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings"
How merciful are you, oh God! That you cover us with your love, and protect us in the shadow of your wings! I love this imagery so so much - it is difficult to describe how much it helps me. Just the image of the Lord our God covering me from the darts of the Enemy that is all around is so beautiful. In fact, I want to go talk to my suite mate right now about how prevalent spiritual warfare exists today. But we have more than hope in the One who died for us!
Thanks be to God, who turns sinful death into glorious life.
Worship him! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=4O9kw3cILpg

Anniversary

2012-01-11T19:23:00.000-05:00

Today is a special day for me, and probably holds very little value for those who don't have birthdays or weddings on this day. Today, last year, Tuesday the eleventh of January 2011, I was humbled by God. It's funny - the best thing in my life happened that day, but for a long time, I considered it the worst thing that ever happened.
Brief background: I was raised in a Christian household, said the sinner's prayer, all that jazz. But I never really knew God - Jesus Christ. I just knew what to say, and when to say it. I could totally intellectually tell you a decent amount about the bible and theology, yet not a piece of it mattered in my heart. This is why I disagree with people who say if you have theology the heart will come. Not so, at least for me. The mind does not lead the heart, nor the heart lead the mind. Both must walk together with God.
Anyway, I struggled with numerous sins for most of middle and high school, many of which I don't have the time or courage to get into. But one of them was drinking. I first really drank at the end of my sophomore year, but I didn't really party much until second semester my senior year in high school. This rapidly spiraled into me getting absolutely blackout hammered every time I drank. Why? I have a lot of reasons why. I think it boiled down to numbness. I felt when I drank - a shallow, fake, temporal happiness, yes. But something. When I was sober I felt nothing. And that, frankly, scared the daylights out of me. I wanted to numb the fear I had, that inside I was nothing but evil. And who could I talk to? Whom could I be honest with, who wouldn't judge me? There was no one.
Anyway, going to college and being on an athletic team does wonders for alcohol consumption. We routinely drank in the double digits, and the natural progression of the week (much in alignment with the school I'm at) was "work hard (weekday), run harder (saturday race), drink hardest (saturday night)." My drinking got worse and worse, and I had plenty of times where I should have gone to the hospital, but didn't due to other circumstances.
Finally, this all caught up to me. After finding out I had my seventh stress fracture (oh joy) over the winter break, and after not drinking for 3 weeks, I was ready to rage by January's month of pass/fail classes. First day back we had classes, but there was no party at the athletic house. "Whaaaat?" I thought. We had been promised many wild, fun, etc parties for the break, and how could we NOT have one as soon as we get back??? (I'm sure you're getting the irony here). So anyway, the alcoholic freshman class (we were crazy...) had enough people with fakes to supply ourselves with alcohol, and when one of the track houses opened up Tuesday night for a "chill night" I rolled in with my handle of strawberry Smirnoff, ready to go. In the next two and a half hours I would drink just under half the handle (20 shots). Ironically, the last thing I remember was thinking "I'm doing a good job drinking: I'll remember this!" I later would wake up in the hospital, finding out that I blew a .33 BAC. I cannot begin to describe the emotions and attitude that flooded my mind when I awoke. I cannot begin to tell you how quickly depression set in for me, and just how far I receded into the hollow darkness of my mind and heart.
But here, here is the beautiful thing. God made me. He knows me. He knew that, to get my attention, to break down the years and years of defenses and hard walls I'd put up to my friends, my family, and most importantly, to Him, He'd have to do something drastic. He killed my pride, my flesh, my confidence, and left me searching. Cause honestly, after that, I had nothing. How could one be prideful when you were that humbled? And slowly, through Him (via prayer, finding an amazing church, and awesome people) I was made whole. Through Him I began to understand Romans 8:6, that the death of my flesh (which I felt so strongly last year) would lead to new life. Through Him, I tasted true, powerful, freeing joy. I felt! My heart was free. At first it was just a hint, just a lingering taste in the deep wells of my heart after a day a church in February. It would grow in spirit and in truth, grow till I believed with all my heart and with all my soul and all my mind that Jesus, the Christ, is all that matters, and Him - the Son of God, one with God - died for me. The beauty of His sacrifice is slowly pushing out the sins of my life, and is breaking the chains of slavery to sin. I owe the Lord a debt I can never repay. Thanks be to God for His mercy!

In the lifeless stone of my heart, God broke ground and made life, as only He can do. :)

Now, the only response for me is to worship the Lord our God, and share the truth that will set you free (John 8:32). That is, that Jesus Christ, the loving Son of God, came down to earth in human form, lived a perfect life, took all the punishment we deserve (Romans 6:23) on himself, died on the cross, and rose again on the third day. He fulfilled much of the Hebrew prophecies of the Christ, and will fulfill the rest when He returns.
Now, if any of this doesn't make sense, or you think I'm exaggerating, being over-emotional, being irrational, etc., let me say this: I am a scientist. I think logically - always have, always will. By the grace of God, I study in one of the best programs at one of the best universities in the country (that was all God that I got in, btw). All I'm saying is, I can think. And I join with the founders of science (Bacon, Kalvin, Pascal, Kepler, Galileo, Dalton, Newton, Maxwell, Planck, and may, may more) in a fervent belief in the living God. Science and logic are not at war with God - He made them. His creation shouts at the beauty and complexity of God (if you ask me, the beauty of evolution totally points to God's incredible genius). If these men mentioned above fully believed in science and fully believed in the Christ, what is so logically wrong with Christianity? I think you'd be surprised by the logic of God.
So ask yourself - what is making you happy? And does it last forever?
I pray that God will show Himself to you, for only he last forever.
In the Name of the Most High God,
Amen.

Dancing before the Lord

2012-01-06T09:16:00.000-05:00

So, in my quest to actually read the whole bible (yea, still haven't done that yet...)
I've been marching through the Old Testament, which is awesome btw. I just came to this a few days ago, and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite verses. 2 Samuel 6:12-15

"Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets."

I love this interplay. Let's start with verse 12. The section before this (not included) basically speaks of David fearing the ark of the Lord after the Lord struck down Uzzah for touching the ark. So, right off that bat, we see that David fears the Lord. How many of us rationalize all the passages that say "fear of the Lord" (is the beginning of wisdom, proverbs 1, etc) and immediately go "oh no, that's not, like, fear - he actually means healthy respect!"
uhhh...no. Watching someone being KILLED BY GOD is not "respect-inspiring." It is fear. Dread. Total weakness in the sight of the LORD God. And King David gets that. But here's the cool part. He's so thrilled to have the ark back in the city of David (and NOT have it kill him) that he offers all these sacrifices to God, thanking him for the victory he has given David in battle and allowing him to bring the ark back. He rejoices at the presence of the Lord. There's something too. He's thrilled to be in the presence of God. You know when we are in the presence of God? All the time, thanks to the Holy Spirit. How is it then, when we come before the Lord in prayer, we often do it with some misplaced sense of duty? We should be full of joy.
And then my favorite part..."David was dancing before the LORD with all his might." I love that. I really do. Honestly, I love to dance. I'm horrible at it, and I learned a lot of it via sinful decisions. But I really do love to dance. What a beautiful way to worship the Lord! If there is something that just hurts my soul, it is this: going into a church and seeing a giant congregation have phrases like "you are the most high" or "you are my all in all" fall out of their mouths with not a single drop of joy (or any emotion, for that matter). What the heck! Is this what worship is? Dryly repeating whatever you read, without feeling a hint of true and God-inspired emotion? NO! Honor the LORD! Sing with Joy! Bring "shouts and the sound of trumpets" to him! Dance! STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT YOUR NEIGHBOR THINKS ABOUT YOU SINGING/DANCING/WORSHIPING. If they really say something to you about it, chances are, they are sinning in their hearts (check out verses 16-22 of 2 Samuel 6 for proof of that). Of course, you don't want to detract attention from the worship of God, but people, c'mon. Move! "Sing joyfully unto the Lord!"

I'm sorry for that, but honestly, this breaks my heart whenever I see it. Cause I know that those people, those people could be experiencing God so much more - be it through joy, through brokenness, or through straight awe - but instead, they've chosen the religious repetition of worthlessness. And that....that breaks my heart.

Matt Chandler

2012-01-05T09:50:00.000-05:00

I love Matt Chandler. If you haven't listened to his sermons yet, you should. God is doing mighty things through him, and over the last decade he's turned a pretty messed up small Texas church into a culture where Jesus is the center and where people are honest and open with each other. Those two points are rarely found in churches today. Let's be honest, how many of us have attended (or still do attend) a church where everyone is happy and perfect and no one seems to be struggling? Yeah, when you see that, there's an issue. Every church should be broken, for every person is broken, and we will not be made fully whole and whole clean until heaven.
But yeah, Matt Chandler is the man. He's great at taking Biblical truths and smacking you in the face with them, without making you hate him. If that makes any sense at all. Anyways, here's a clip.

2012-01-03T21:51:00.000-05:00

Watch this. It sounds like a poetry reading, right? Listen, listen to the biblical truths that beautifully wrap around your mind and heart, binding them as one.

This is what hip hop should sound like. This is the promo for Shai Linne, a philly brother making things happen for the Glory of God. I know a lot of people hate christian rap and hip hop, but frankly, a lot of people hate Jesus too. They just don't know him...yet.
Shai Linne fires every line as a fragrant offering to the Lord, and his theology is straight up biblical. You can't top that.

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-01T15:34:00.000-05:00

So a really good friend from school asked me last night, before the ball dropped, what my new year's resolutions are. For some reason, the question hit me - I really, really should make some goals for the changes that I need and want in my life. After a sec, only two things were really on my heart:
1) To taste the pure joy that comes only from knowing God, to taste and become addicted, to taste and to pursue it, so that all other idols my heart still clings to will be thrown by the wayside, and
2) To see more students at Hopkins come to Christ, particularly on the cross country team (they're my brothers - I want them to know this awesome Savior).

What are your resolutions? What is God putting on your heart to give over to Him?

On an entirely different note, I feel like talking about Christian music for a sec. Real quick background about me: I love music. I started singing in the Philadelphia Boys Choir in 1st grade, and have done something with that ever since. Good music stirs so much in the soul, it is incredible. Listen to the Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams if you need proof.

Anyway, I feel some of the music that we call Christian is surprisingly not Christ-centered.
example: not to hurt Michael W. Smith's feelings (cause the man does love God, and he's my brother in christ) but I'll give you an excerpt from a song of his.
"This is my desire/ To honor You/ Lord with all my heart/ I worship You/ All I have within me/ I give You praise/ All that I adore is in You"

Just real quick, count the number of I's or me's in that excerpt. I give you, All I have, etc. Why are we focusing on us? How many of us can really sing that we've given God everything? Sorry, but that's a lie. I'd much rather give glory to God by singing of his power and his love, and begging him, in his mercy, to help me give more of me to him, then talk about something that most of us haven't actually done.

On the other hand, stuffy old fundamentalist who tell you "rock music is the devil" clearly haven't read the psalms.....ever. I love David Crower Band - his stuff gives so much glory to God. Even a decent portion of Chris Tomlin's stuff (which, in my opinion, is a little shallow) really gives God praise. I just wish people would take Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 to heart before picking up the guitar.

To end on a positive note, two songs I love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuV5btFoZas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7IryEV4F2c

2011-12-31T09:54:00.000-05:00

"Nothing shows the direction of the deep winds of the soul like the demand for radical, sin-destroying, Christ-exalting joy in God." - john piper
I need that desire for God. I need - we need - to "taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psalm 34:8), that the Joy found in him (and him alone) is what satisfies our longings, is what replaces sin in our lives, is what fuels us to spread the best and most wonderful news.

There is freedom in the blood!

Our Father, who is in heaven, holy is your name.

2011-12-28T17:32:00.000-05:00

I love the joy behind this song. Unless you love video games, ignore the video and just listen to it. The crescendo/climax at 1:37 is perfect, cause at that point, they're saying "Your kingdom come, that it be done on earth as it is in heaven." God's kingdom coming, that's the climax. That's what we're living for.
Praise the Lord!

Readings and Random thoughts

2011-12-27T17:41:00.000-05:00

During the break, I've been trying to read more by (what I consider) Biblically rooted, so in essence, anyone with generally reform doctrine. So I'm a big fan of people like John Piper (currently working through Desiring God by him - it's really, really good), Tim Keller, D.A. Carson, etc. Now, to clarify, I don't really know to much about much advanced theology (I literally just learned the 5 points of calvinism, aka TULIP), but generally I run with two rules while reading.
1) Be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) - check what you hear or read. It's far to easy for people's own opinions (and Satan's scheming) to get in the way of or distort Biblical truth.
2) Take scripture with scripture, aka context is key. Easy example: Jesus turns water into wine (John 2:1-11) and Proverbs 23:31. I could take the former in ignorance and say "Hey! Jesus wants us to drink! And a lot, too! (since he made the wine at the end of the party, to continue to the party...)," or I could take the latter in ignorance and say "Alcohol is the devil. If you drink, you're not a Christian." OR, I could not be a fool, take a contextual, fully biblical approach, and say "Alcohol isn't evil, we are. When you're getting really drunk, you're trying to seek pleasure outside of God, on your own terms. But having a few drinks with dinner, relaxing after a day of good labor - that is entirely fine. You're enjoying the fruits of good culture vs trying to get hammered."

Anyway, rant over. One of the resources I've stumbled upon is called Fire and Ice: Puritan and Reformed Writings . It's a pretty sick website, and I recommend it for those who want a challenge, spiritually. For me, I'm too young to need a challenge: living for God is enough in itself! Speaking of which, one of the things I'm currently working on is how to handle a resurgence of old sin. I get the concept behind fighting habitual sin, but what happens when you think you've conquered that sin? I mean, long time victory, where you feel like you've finally got it, that you seek God's joy more than whatever shallow joy this sin gives you. Then it rears its head again, and strong, too. What do you do? How do we handle that?
With this in mind, I found a great article that I'm looking forward to really getting into: Directions Against Sinful Desires and Discontent by Richard Baxter. I'll give you a quote by him (not from that article) that I think demonstrates a biblical perspective on disputes between christian factions.
"In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity."

My prayer is that as I work through that article - and the bible itself - is that God would work fully in my heart, that he would give me the strength to fight temptation, and to remind me of the pure and unimaginable joy that comes from knowing him - something that I've tasted before but am clearly forgetting.
I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

P.S. Last random thought. I'm trying to apply to internships over the summer, but that's been a struggle, mostly because I'm lazy, partly because I'm not sure if I should be doing them or not. I guess we'll see what God has for me as I pray about it. The stuff is pretty cool though. Check it out: http://www.stowers.org/education/stowers-summer-scholars

"...and I've heard of Paul"

2011-12-24T16:30:00.000-05:00

I was just rereading a passage that I love from Acts 19. What I love the most about it is the dialouge between the sinful men and Satan's messangers. It begins right after verse 11 and 12, where the writer tells of how God did (key emphasis, God) many miracles through Paul.

"Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. "
Acts 19:13-16, NIV
Now, I like the NIV for readability (I'm a horrific reader), but it is my understanding that the ESV does the most accurate job translating the Hebrew or Greek into what it actually means. The ESV begins verse 13 with "Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus...." Describing these Jews as "itinerant exorcists" sounds a lot like a traveling circus. These men, who also used their father's title as chief priest for their own glory and fame, can't even take ownership of the power they're trying to invoke. Instead, they say "in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches..." They're trying so hard to imitate what they have read and heard of Jesus and Paul, instead of actually having a relationship with Christ, and having Him work through them. Confession time: how many times do I read something in the Bible (be it miracles of Paul, the courage of David, the faithfulness of Abraham) and think "I want that! Let's try that!" instead of "Why don't I have that? What is hindering me from that kind of ____ (faith, love, etc)" See the difference? One is all me, all my power, all my glory. The usual pride, as it were. The other is Christ centered. The other asks of the heart, of what sin and what lack of love for Christ are hindering these natural expression of love and faithfulness through us by Him.
This, though, is my favorite part. The demon respond through the man he's possessing, revealing something that's utterly amazing about God. "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about..." It's as if the demons know of all the trouble Paul is causing them. It's like "yeah, we've heard of him. He's raising ALL sorts of heck for us... damn Paul." How amazing is that? That Christ can use us to frustrate the enemy that much!
But then comes the somber warning: "...but who are you?" Then, the demon gives the man he's possessing some serious strength, and he "gave them such a beating". Just throwing this out there, in a 7 vs 1 battle, the 1 shouldn't win, let alone beating them so badly "that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding." We need to take this seriously: if your heart is not with God, who are you to call on his name? You're playing with a fire that kills (see Leviticus if you disagree).
Yet here's the most critical part: the Gospel just explodes after this. Ephesus went from being the place were people 'spoke evil of the Way before the congregation', a place where a few (but not many) believed, to a place where genuine repentance comes to the hearts of many doing evil (Acts 19:19-20).

Final point: God's will is gonna happen, and either I'm Paul, an individual rejoicing in his communion with Christ and having the Holy Spirit do wonders, or I'm the sons of Sceva, and God will demonstrate his power and righteousness through my wreckage, humiliation, and destruction.
I'm praying I'm not the latter.

-jck

P.S. Merry Christmas everyone! Listen to some Celine Dion, which a perfect crescendo on what matters (let's see if you hear it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jr-2eyRtV4)

First Post

2011-12-23T22:51:00.000-05:00

So...
When I quit Facebook, I gain significantly more time. I also lost an outlet to share the things God's showing me to those around me, and even more, to show myself in times of trouble when I need to look back on His faithfulness in my life.

This is, in a sense, an external hard drive of how I've seen God's glory in the world around me, be it to teach me, to rebuke me, or to make me love Him even more.

Here goes nothin'

PS Note on the title: on of my favorite images for my Type A, over compulsive, stupidly prideful mind is Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
Sometimes, God just shuts my foolish mouth with His awesome, quieting love.