"Since, then, Your Majesty and Your Lordship desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason--I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other--my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me" -Martin Luther when questioned by the Archbishop of Trier.
I'm so excited to get out of high school. To go to college and devote more time and energy into studying for Biblical counseling. what could be more exhilarating?
haha i used to think that i would never find a major that i could work in and not grow tired or restless, but--God is so good!--He has pointed me in a direction that i will never grow weary of, will never exhaust my wonder and joy.
Standing on the promises of God, His word and His precepts. Though Martin Luther faced banishment and even a potential death sentence, he never wavered in his absolute assurance in God and His Word.
The more I spend time in the Scriptures, the more I want to meditate on God's ordinances. To allow God's truth to revive and restore my soul.
I want my conscience to be "captive to the Word of God", to answer "without horns and without teeth" to this fallen generation that my hope is in Jesus Christ.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
echoes of His excellence
-"It was good of you to look for Quentin."
-"Good!" she exclaimed. "Good! O Anthony!"
-"Well, so it was," he answered. "Or good in you. How accurate one has to be with one's prepositions! Perhaps it was a preposition wrong that set the whole world awry."
Charles Williams
I've been reading John Piper's Desiring God, and his insight just blows my mind. The whole book describes what he calls "Christian Hedonism" (in a sentence: The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.)
He frequently quotes C.S. Lewis and this particular quote impacted me. It is from Reflections on the Psalms: "I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation."
i love this concept. That God created us in such a way that we HAVE to declare His glory to the world. Because in our praise, our joy is complete in Him.
"God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking his own praise is the ultimately loving act. For him, self-exultation is the highest virtue. When he does all things 'for the praises of his glory,' he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longing. God is for us! And the foundation of this love is that God has been, is now, and always will be, for himself."
John Piper
"The climax of his happiness is the delight he takes in the echoes of his excellence in the praises of the saints. This praise is the consummation of our own joy in God. Therefore God's pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in him are the same pursuit."
John Piper
-"Good!" she exclaimed. "Good! O Anthony!"
-"Well, so it was," he answered. "Or good in you. How accurate one has to be with one's prepositions! Perhaps it was a preposition wrong that set the whole world awry."
Charles Williams
I've been reading John Piper's Desiring God, and his insight just blows my mind. The whole book describes what he calls "Christian Hedonism" (in a sentence: The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.)
He frequently quotes C.S. Lewis and this particular quote impacted me. It is from Reflections on the Psalms: "I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation."
i love this concept. That God created us in such a way that we HAVE to declare His glory to the world. Because in our praise, our joy is complete in Him.
"God is the one Being in all the universe for whom seeking his own praise is the ultimately loving act. For him, self-exultation is the highest virtue. When he does all things 'for the praises of his glory,' he preserves for us and offers to us the only thing in all the world which can satisfy our longing. God is for us! And the foundation of this love is that God has been, is now, and always will be, for himself."
John Piper
"The climax of his happiness is the delight he takes in the echoes of his excellence in the praises of the saints. This praise is the consummation of our own joy in God. Therefore God's pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in him are the same pursuit."
John Piper
Monday, January 18, 2010
He is most glorified through me when i am most satisfied in Him
wow. These past few days have been crazy/ridiculous/amazing!
I just got back from a four day retreat at my church. It was so neat because i felt that God had revealed so much to me not through the speaker or the music, but through the personal worship time and just meditating on scripture. The theme of the week dealt with Worship and on Sunday, our youth group split into six sub-groups and each group went to a different church to experience different styles of Worship. There was a "Cowboy" church, a "Black Gospel" church, a Contemplative ("Hippie") church, David Crowder's home church, a Greek Orthodox church and "Church Under the Bridge" which was literally under the highway overpass. No group knew where they were going until they arrived there Sunday morning (the drivers were given directions and addresses, but no names). The night before, one of the leaders listed all the different churches that we possibly might attend and the moment she mentioned the Church Under the Bridge, i thought, oh dear, i hope i don't go there. and then i knew that THAT was where i would be going. i can't exactly explain how i knew, except that, with the conviction of the holy spirit telling me my attitude was COMPLETELY off and the first-hand knowledge that God often asks for the things we don't want to surrender, i just KNEW that i was going there.
It really bothered me that i felt that way, i mean it is not as if i had never participated in street missions, but i knew that i would feel uncomfortable in that setting. But then, church is not supposed to be comfortable.
The whole night, i struggled with why i had this strange aversion to the idea of spending my Sunday morning with the homeless. After all, Jesus came to minister to the brokenhearted and the weary and the homeless. The next morning during my quiet time before we left for the church, i prayed for God to work in my heart and change my attitude. No matter where we went, i wanted to be focused on God and uninhibited by my surroundings. We got in the car and thirty minutes later, sure enough, we pulled up to the Church Under the Bridge.
We got out and were handed bulletins to pass out to the people there. They had a stage set up and about three hundred folding chairs. There were tables with hot food available all under the highway. It was quite a sight to behold and i can whole-heartedly say that it was one of the most incredible worship experiences i have ever had.
There was such a sense of community among the people and the leaders of the church emanated incorruptible love to everyone. There was a homeless man there who was "not all there" and he was adamant about playing with the worship band, so the pastor took a cardboard box and a tambourine and told the man that he could play that tambourine as much as he wanted to as long as he stayed in the box (it was obvious that the man would have run through the crowd with it), so the man took the instrument and played his heart out.
We sang songs and the pastor talked for about half an hour about diversity and how we can encourage ethnic and economic diversity in the church and then we broke up into groups of about six or seven for communion. We talked in our groups and prayed for each other and then took communion from dixie cups and a loaf of bread. Then the pastor had the whole group hold hands in a huge circle and sing "We shall overcome" all together. it was the coolest thing ever. I honestly felt like God had sent me to the most exciting church ever. Hahah Maybe God is calling me into urban-streets-mission-ministry! :) Anyhow, it was such a great blessing to be there! God is good!
I just got back from a four day retreat at my church. It was so neat because i felt that God had revealed so much to me not through the speaker or the music, but through the personal worship time and just meditating on scripture. The theme of the week dealt with Worship and on Sunday, our youth group split into six sub-groups and each group went to a different church to experience different styles of Worship. There was a "Cowboy" church, a "Black Gospel" church, a Contemplative ("Hippie") church, David Crowder's home church, a Greek Orthodox church and "Church Under the Bridge" which was literally under the highway overpass. No group knew where they were going until they arrived there Sunday morning (the drivers were given directions and addresses, but no names). The night before, one of the leaders listed all the different churches that we possibly might attend and the moment she mentioned the Church Under the Bridge, i thought, oh dear, i hope i don't go there. and then i knew that THAT was where i would be going. i can't exactly explain how i knew, except that, with the conviction of the holy spirit telling me my attitude was COMPLETELY off and the first-hand knowledge that God often asks for the things we don't want to surrender, i just KNEW that i was going there.
It really bothered me that i felt that way, i mean it is not as if i had never participated in street missions, but i knew that i would feel uncomfortable in that setting. But then, church is not supposed to be comfortable.
The whole night, i struggled with why i had this strange aversion to the idea of spending my Sunday morning with the homeless. After all, Jesus came to minister to the brokenhearted and the weary and the homeless. The next morning during my quiet time before we left for the church, i prayed for God to work in my heart and change my attitude. No matter where we went, i wanted to be focused on God and uninhibited by my surroundings. We got in the car and thirty minutes later, sure enough, we pulled up to the Church Under the Bridge.
We got out and were handed bulletins to pass out to the people there. They had a stage set up and about three hundred folding chairs. There were tables with hot food available all under the highway. It was quite a sight to behold and i can whole-heartedly say that it was one of the most incredible worship experiences i have ever had.
There was such a sense of community among the people and the leaders of the church emanated incorruptible love to everyone. There was a homeless man there who was "not all there" and he was adamant about playing with the worship band, so the pastor took a cardboard box and a tambourine and told the man that he could play that tambourine as much as he wanted to as long as he stayed in the box (it was obvious that the man would have run through the crowd with it), so the man took the instrument and played his heart out.
We sang songs and the pastor talked for about half an hour about diversity and how we can encourage ethnic and economic diversity in the church and then we broke up into groups of about six or seven for communion. We talked in our groups and prayed for each other and then took communion from dixie cups and a loaf of bread. Then the pastor had the whole group hold hands in a huge circle and sing "We shall overcome" all together. it was the coolest thing ever. I honestly felt like God had sent me to the most exciting church ever. Hahah Maybe God is calling me into urban-streets-mission-ministry! :) Anyhow, it was such a great blessing to be there! God is good!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
remember my chains
Paul writes to the Ephesians: pray "...also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which i am an ambassador in chains, that i may declare it boldly, as i ought to speak."- Eph 6:19-20
Chains couldn't stop Paul from sharing Christ with others. i know that, in America at least, Christians do not face the threat of prison, but too often we are hindered from declaring boldly the gospel to those who so desperately need to hear it.
In Colossians, Paul writes: "Remember my chains." I take this as a challenge. God uses Paul despite his physical chains--Paul never ceases to speak out for God's glory, even in his difficult situation. I long for the courage to declare the preeminence of Christ in everything i do, in everyplace i am in. God knows my limitations, my "chains" that the world would use to hinder my witness, yet He will grant me the strength to speak the gospel "with love incorruptible" .
Chains couldn't stop Paul from sharing Christ with others. i know that, in America at least, Christians do not face the threat of prison, but too often we are hindered from declaring boldly the gospel to those who so desperately need to hear it.
In Colossians, Paul writes: "Remember my chains." I take this as a challenge. God uses Paul despite his physical chains--Paul never ceases to speak out for God's glory, even in his difficult situation. I long for the courage to declare the preeminence of Christ in everything i do, in everyplace i am in. God knows my limitations, my "chains" that the world would use to hinder my witness, yet He will grant me the strength to speak the gospel "with love incorruptible" .
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