Student Life Recap

Instead of trying to rehash all the talks and sort them out in my head (because I didn't take notes and it all blends together)... I figured I could just steer you to Student Life's page so that you can read about it yourself.

Check it out.

Our Enemy is Working Overtime

I hope to put some of the notes from Francis Chan's talks at Student Life on our blog soon so be patient. But, one of the things that he pointed out in one of the talks is the spiritual warfare that we are unfortunately unaware of.

He said rightly that our Enemy does not want us to get, understand, or apply the messages that were delivered last week. This is so true. It seems that when advancements are made that Satan is always ready to counter attack.

Since we have returned I have heard news from several of our students that Satan has been handing out crippling blows right and left. Let me give an insight that I hope will be extremely helpful in the battle and it is from Isaiah 6 where Chan started our week.

"In the year King Uzziah died..." That is the beginning of Chapter 6 from Isaiah and it is easy to gloss right over what that meant... I was telling a student today that it would be like turning your radio on and finding out that the president had been assassinated. Imagine that for a moment. Imagine if you heard some huge news like our president had died. Now multiply that news because kings don't change office every four years. It is a lifetime agreement in most cases. Uzziah had reigned 52 years. So this was an extremely crippling blow... throw up your hands. Israel is in mourning. Who knows what will become of things? Take a moment and try to place yourself in the shoes of a citizen from that nation. The King is dead.

But, "in the year King Uzziah died [Isaiah] saw the Lord." The world is falling down on Israel but Isaiah gets to see a glimpse of what is taking place in heaven... The Lord is on His throne and the train of the robe is filling the temple. Do you see the magnitude of verse one? Isaiah is saying that when everything has fallen apart the Lord is reigning on His throne in heaven. You may fret and mourn but the King of Kings is not dead. You may wonder what may come but be certain of this... He Reigns!

As our enemy attacks continue to look on the King of Glory. Continue to fix your eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith. He is in heaven preparing perfect justice. Do not doubt His supreme rule. Do not lose trust in Him. Stay focused on His glory and the circumstances, no matter how severe, will pale in comparison to Him who sits on the Throne. Fight the fight by knowing that Jesus is supreme and He rules. Satan may have authority for a little while to reek havoc but his days are numbered. He may have ability to cause you much grief now but he has been defeated by our King. As the crippling blows come (which they will) fix your eyes on Christ. You will gain perspective at the cross that enables you endure.

What are You Reading?

Valley of Vision

This thing is incredible! The prayers in this book will lift up your soul and cause you to pray more. And when you pray you will desire to pray the way these amazing men have laid out before us... no more wimpy wish lists. Let us pray with God-centered content.

On Being A Pastor by Derek Prime and Alistair Begg

Great book on the practicalities of pastoral ministry. This book has helped very much with sorting through the many pitfalls of being a pastor.

Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Holy smokes! This man knew something of what it meant to follow Jesus no matter the cost. For those of you that do not know Bonhoeffer was imprisoned for preaching against idolatry (See Foreword) and specifically the idolatry of Nazi Germany. He was a young man that was engaged to to his beautiful fiancee when imprisoned (so his words have a special weight to me). And, at age 39 he was promoted to glory as a christian martyr. This book will wreck you as Bonhoeffer unpacks what it truly means to follow Christ.

The Cross of Christ by John Stott

John Stott is one of my favorite authors and this theological book on the cross is becoming one of my favorite books. Stott is crystal clear in his logic and explains things in a way that is very understandable and compelling. I skipped to the chapter entitled "Suffering and Glory" to help prepare for an upcoming sermon and that chapter alone is worth purchasing the book.

The Call to Reformation: Priorities from Paul and his Prayers by D.A. Carson

Carson is another of my cherished authors. I try to read a lot of his works because they are aimed at those in pastoral ministry and his insights are very helpful. This book explores the prayers of Paul and unpacks the beauty of allowing your prayers to be shaped by scripture. This has been particularly helpful in preparing for our current series on prayer.

Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians by D.A. Carson

Preparing for our Philippians series in the fall... I must admit I have yet to crack this book. Carson in other places when teaching on expository preaching encourages to read, re-read, re-read, and re-read before going to any other sources. In fact, Carson sites a pastor who reads a book of the Bible 100 times before beginning to preach on the text. I think I have only read Philippians 3 times recently so I have some ground to cover before opening Basics for Believers.

The Curse We Place on our Kids

So, I had this rogue thought bouncing around in my head last week while attending the Student Life Conference which, by the way, was phenomenal! My renegade thought however was not so awesome. There are only a few times during the year where I am surrounded by the youth ministry culture and that causes me to make a few observations. This particular observation is unfortunately negative...

It has to do with the unfortunate trend in our culture and in our churches which has been termed "adultescence". The issue is that kids no longer grow up. They extend the adolescence years well into their adult lives and therefore never really grow up. The Rebelution has written much on this topic and I encourage you to read up on it here. Now here is my plee for youth workers; Grow Up.

Why is it that the ministry to students attracts kids in grown up bodies? Why are churches willing to let their youth pastors act more childish than some of the mature jr high students? So, instead of acting like a kid to gain cool points I beg that more youth workers would act like men and women of God that students can look up to and emulate. Wouldn't it be crazy to see our students desire to take up jobs, to be committed, to be mature, to have loyalty, and do all this to the glory of Christ? That is my desire. Please pray for those working with students to "man up."

Otherwise, we are breeding more adult kids. And, adult kids are not going to advance the gospel. They are too busy being distracted by childish things like if mom did the laundry.

Let me also add to this discussion that this doesn't mean that I am advocating for men in suits who never grin or never have fun. God created fun and laughter and sarcasm, etc... so we need to engage in fun and do it to the glory of God. But, we also need to be responsible, contribute to society, have long term goals, be committed, display loyalty, and the like. So grow up and have fun. It is possible.

Acts 14- Seeing That He Had Faith

Acts 14:9b-10 "And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, 'stand upright on your feet.' He sprang up and began walking."

How many times have we went about in life without even looking intently? There is a tendency for us to race through life without taking notice of others and definitely not to look intently at them. So, first I would just like you to take a minute and think through how many people you have passed by today. Remember that those are God's workmanship. He created them and they each have a significant story. God cares about people and those of us that are Christ followers should most certainly care about people. Let's not cruise by others without thinking or noticing them. Let us look intently...

But this is a particular looking. Because with natural eyes I am not certain that we could ever notice faith... Faith isn't a badge that is worn on the outside but rather a condition of the heart. So, Paul must have perceived with Spiritual insight that this man had great faith. This is a huge wake up call for us to move about guided by the Spirit and aware of His leadings. We need to pray that God would help us to see and perceive the spiritual things that are going on around us. I hope that we are not oblivious to what God is doing and to the nature of those we come in contact with.

God open our spiritual eyes to see those around us. Help us to not be so busy as to pass by others or worse to be more concerned about ourselves than them. Help us to look intently and perceive what you see. Then let us be faithful to act out your promptings. Amen.

Acts 14- Testifying to the Word of Grace

Paul and Barnabas "spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed" (vs 1). After the city was stirred up they fled to a different city... "and there they continued to preach the gospel" (vs. 7). Here we have two men captured by the grace of God. They are changed men that are in love with their savior. They are called to be proclaimers of the gospel. And, that is what they are doing wherever they go and to whomever they go to.

I know that Acts 13 teaches us about the special calling of Paul and Barnabas for frontier missions. They have a special task of helping people come to know Christ by traveling and preaching, but we all receive at least the first part of that call when we recieve Christ as savior. The elders that were left behind in chapter 13 also had the responsibility of proclaiming Christ like Paul and Barnabas. The difference was travel.

So, we should learn from Paul and Barnabas to be single minded about Christ. We need to decide to know nothing other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2). Then our words and actions should be about Him no matter where or what is going on.

Is your life singularly focused on Christ? Is your day timer plans for the day reflecting that Christ is preeminent? Are they reflecting that Jesus is the most important thing to you? Does Jesus come up in conversation? Do you testify about His grace? The message is no less exhilarating for you today than when you were saved.... maybe even more! I need Christ to free me from bondage to sin and to liberate me today and it excites me to think that grace is mine! How can I not share it?!?! So, take a moment to refocus and set your heart your mind your being to proclaim Christ in word and deed today. Make Him known.

What's The Deal With a Stopping Point?

I have not blogged on Acts in many moons... I think there is something about Acts that Satan doesn't want people to know... I believe there have been several prominent preachers that have stoped in the middle of an Acts series. And John Piper did as well. My family's bible study also gave up on Acts a few years back. We made it to about chapter 13 or 14 and called it quits.

That makes me realize that we must be missing something monumentally important in the second half of the book. There must be some truths that we desperately need to hear and our enemy is fighting like hell (literally) to make sure we don't get to those chapters. I apologize for slacking... let's get on with it!

What I am Learning

Prayer is awkward and simple... Don't think too hard on prayer. The more I try to figure it out the more it befuddles me. The fact of the matter is that we learn to pray like we learn to talk... we hear others do it and we imitate. God made us with mouths and the reason he gave us mouths was to communicate with Him and secondly to communicate to His creation (other people) how incredible He is. So, prayer should be natural. But prayer should be informed by Scripture. This summer we are exploring some biblical prayers and seeing if ours line up with the prayers of scriptures. For me I am finding that my prayer life sounds more like a Christmas wish list than a model of say Paul's prayers over the Thessalonians.

Hopefully, God will convict and lead me into deeper communication with Him.

Here are some great resources on prayer:

The Valley of Vision

The Summer I Learned to Pray by DA Carson

So Many Blessings Available

It is crazy how blessed we are these days... I am downloading free seminary courses that I can listen to in my car while cruising to Minnesota next week with my beautiful soon to be wife Ashley... I am excited... she might need ear plugs;) But, I just feel so privileged to have so many resources available to me... At any moment I can log on to some superb websites that teach me to plumb the depths of God. I can sit under the counsel of hundreds of Godly men with the simple click of a button. It just blows me away.

I can also read scores of books and articles online, while checking my email, and updating facebook... but I have one concern. Sometimes interacting with people is so much more important! I just drove a friend to the airport this morning and getting to chat with her about God and her journey was so incredible. I hope that technology doesn't bury us in the mundane. I hope we sore above the trite as we interact with real people.

Trying not to become a robot,

Cory