This is Michael Servetus. Just as a little background on the picture Servetus was deemed a heretic by a council in Geneva and was burned at the stake. Prior to his death he was opposed by John Calvin. I tend to be a fan of John Calvin so I found this humerous. ENJOY!
I have been listening to Mark Driscoll’s sermon series on 1&2 Peter lately and it is amazing. No matter what your opinion is on Driscoll you should listen to this sermon series. Enjoy
GRACE AND PEACE
Jeff
I very recently had the opportunity to help a friend or at least attempt to help a friend through a difficult time. She has told me her story and I have attempted to give her godly advice as best as I can. After our conversation I was on my way back to my apartment and I was thinking about a phrase that has stuck with me ever since I first heard it
CHRIST IS BETTER!
This has bombarded me for the past few hours and I pray that I will believe that which I am writing about. Through this situation I have been extremely encouraged and I pray that Christ has been shown through me but more than that I hope that we as Chrstians will never lose sight of the fact that the phrase Christ is Better is full of so much truth.
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:7-8 (ESV)
I have used that verse numerous times and will continue to use it because I think that it can be summed up in the phrase Christ Is Better. As we live our lives we should constantly remind ourselves that no matter what we can do, or who we can come in contact with, or what we can accomplish none of these things can equal what it is worth to know Christ.
This was just a little rant/thought that has been running through my head lately and if you are struggling with something in your life or helping a friend through a trying situation never lose sight of the fact that CHRIST IS BETTER!
GRACE AND PEACE!
A commanding officer in the military gives an order to a soldier during battle to deliver extremely important instructions to soldiers on the front lines. This is a very important mission and the instructions on how to succeed are very specific and are not to be altered in any way. And if the instructions are not followed to the letter then the assignment will not be a success. This is a very appropriate scenario to go along with how we are to handle Scripture.
Paul’s letter to Timothy addresses this very issue:
13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 1 Timothy 1:13-14 (ESV)
As the Scriptures say we are to “follow the pattern of sound words”. We have been given specific instructions in God’s Word that we are to follow. We are supposed to follow these instructions in faith and love as verse 13 points out. In addition to following these sound words that we are given we are also called to properly handle the instructions that we have been given (2 Timothy 2:15). As we move into verse 14 of this passage Paul then tells Timothy to “guard the good deposit entrusted to you”. This is a very important task that has not only been given to Timothy but to everyone who is called to preach the gospel. As proclaimers of the gospel message we must realize that what we are entrusted to guard cannot be guarded properly in and of ourselves. The only way to protect what we have been given is through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Even though the Scriptures say this Christians today seem to look over this passage and make the “gospel” mean and say what they feel is going to suit their own passions (2 Timothy 4:3) instead of staying true to the text and preaching the gospel for what it really means.
To many Christians today our faith is more about us and how we want to express ourselves than actually about preaching the gospel. We think that the number of people we have in our churches and how big our building is are essential and we neglect the instructions that are given to us to preach the Word (2 Timothy 4:2). The church today so waters down the gospel and to quote James McDonald “that even the non-elect can’t reject it”.
The gospel is also turned into a Play-dough type message. We feel that is is necessary to come up with some new profound way to interpret the text, once again, to mean what we want it to say instead of what the text actually says. The gospel is twisted and formed to appease us and make us feel better about ourselves in many different churches around the world today. As we water down the gospel like this we fail to do what is said in verse 14 of 1 Timothy 1. We are not guarding what has been entrusted to us but instead we open up the Scriptures to be revised and edited into whatever we feel like we want it to say at that time. It is imperative that we realize that It’s not about us it’s but instead it is about the truth and how we are to handle the gospel.
Instead of looking at the gospel as play-dough we should treat the gospel as a precious diamond. This diamond has been given to us and we are so in baffled by the diamonds beauty that we want to tell everyone about it and show everyone just how valuable and beautiful it really is.
We have been entrusted with the unchanging truth truth of the gospel. God has called us in his word to rightly handle the Word of truth. We are not called to evaluate it and reinvent instead to preserve and protect it. With that in mind we go back to the illustration of the soldier entrusted with specific instructions. He was not told to make the instructions say what he wanted them to say but instead he was given the instructions specifically and told to tell the other soldiers this important information in its original unaltered form.
After all of this has been said I leave you with one last thing to consider: How do you handle the gospel? Do you mold it and shape it to whatever you want it to be or do you treat it as a precious diamond and desire to show everyone its beauty?
GRACE AND PEACE!
By: Thabiti M. Anyabwile
So I have just picked up a new book for anyone who is interested. It is titled What Is A Health Church Member? I have only had the chance to read the first chapter but so far it has been amazing. It is part of the IX Marks series which includes Dr. Mark Dever’s book 9 Marks of A Healthy Church. There are 10 different marks of a what a “healthy church member” should look like. This is sure to be a great book and I look forward to finishing it.
In addition to that book I think there is a great Biblical example for what a healthy church member looks like.
12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. -1Thessalonians 5:12-22 (ESV)
This was the passage that my pastor spoke on this morning in church. As I was reading it I was convicted and have been smacked in the face yet again by the Word of God. This is a great passage to base your life around especially as a church member. There are so many people today who look over passages such as these and forget that we are to encourage one another constantly and lift each other up. There are too many people who call themselves Christians today who tear other people down and this is contrary to what a healthy church member is to look like.
Well there you have it my little book review/passage for what a healthy church member is straight from the Word of God. I hope that you take the time to think about these things and evaluate your own life through prayer and Bible study to determine if you are a healthy church member.
GRACE AND PEACE!
So obviously it’s been a while yet again since I’ve blogged. Anyway this was definitely blog worthy. This is just one of the many weird things that can happen in the name of research. Tonight Allen Murray and myself had the grand opportunity to travel to the NC State library. We got there to find out that the power was out and upon discovering this our grand adventure began.
We then decided to go the St. Augustine College’s library since we are both fond of church history and St. Augustine sounded cool and Catholic. We then proceeded to drive around downtown Raleigh looking for the alleged St. Augustine College. After about 15 minutes of driving in circles we finally saw the beautiful lights of St. Augustine College. And if you think this is the end that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Upon arriving we quickly discovered that this was not a Catholic college but instead a school of Liberation Theology. We surveyed the library and when we concluded there was nothing there that we needed we got in the truck again and left.
The drive back to Wake Forest began. As we drove we saw the usual sights of downtown Raleigh such as houses, street lights, Neil’s Mom and other things. And then there it was. It stood out beautifully like a Calvinist at a Free Will Baptist Church. Yes ladies and gentlemen I am talking about Krispy Kreme. Of course we had to stop and get the wonderful phenomenon that has swept the nation: The hot Krispy Kreme doughnut!
We then began the usual drive down Capital Blvd. like good Huguenots do and shortly arrived at Sheetz to purchase something to quench our thirst. We each got what we desired and then drove back to SEBTS.
Ok so I say all that to say all this is possible because by the amazing providence of God, Allen Murray a punk who called John Piper a heretic almost got his face pounded in by Jeff Everett at a Harvest Crusade over a year ago. Had this event not taken place and we had not met this would’ve never happened. But that is not the best part of what I’m talking about. We are currently involved in a church plant and attempt to “lead worship” in church until we get our new musician.
Anyway I guess this is just a rant of how it blows me away that two people from two different parts of the state met and now are involved in a church plant together as well as building one another up and just encouraging one another with Scripture. God is awesome and obviously has a sense of humor.
GRACE AND PEACE
Ok! So I have decided to start a new blog. I have no other reason to start a blog other than I never used the last one so this is sort of like my New Years Resolution in the blogging world. So I guess my resolution is to attempt once again to blog regularly. Anyway without further ado I am now beginning my new blog:
Today I had the opportunity to attend First Baptist Church of Woodstock. There was a song that they played and while they played it there was a video clip of Christ on the cross and for whatever reason I started thinking about something: “Why are we ashamed to tell people about someone who gave their life for us?”
As you read throughout the Paul’s Epistles we can see that he gave us an amazing example of not being ashamed of the Gospel. Obviously the verse that comes to mind is Romans 1:16:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (ESV)
We are called not to be ashamed of the Gospel. The Gospel is centered around Jesus Christ and the love he showed us by dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. The Gospel however, must not end with the death of Christ but what ultimately matters is his resurrection from the dead. Without that we would not have the hope that we do have in Christ and our faith would be in vain.
So with that said the question: “Why are we ashamed to tell people about someone who gave their life for us?” As I thought about this question I played the scenario over and over in my mind that if someone took the place for something that I did wrong which required them to give their life for me I would not hesitate to tell everyone about what this person had done. If Jesus Christ sacrificed his life and everything he had for us so that we might be able to have that relationship with him why are we so scared to tell people about what he has done for us? The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) states that we are to make disciple of all nations which requires us to tell people about what Christ has done for us. I know that I fail in this area on a daily basis but something about that video clip spoke volumes to me.
In addition to not being ashamed and telling others about Christ we are also to live for Christ. We are required in Luke 9:23 to daily take up our cross and follow Christ. So this post is without a doubt something that I need to work on. Why do I act ashamed of Christ day after day by failing to tell people about him as well as failing to live for him? It is my prayer that I continue to conform more and more everyday to the image of Christ.
GRACE AND PEACE!
