Back Home Now

I've arrived home from Jamaica now, and I'm really happy to be back. I was able to speak to close to a thousand students one. The trip itself was a good one. The country of Jamaica though is poor. We were able to share the gospel with a large number of people, and we were able to see people transformed by the gospel. The thing that I enjoyed most about my trip was the group that was with me. From Nick, Daniel, Luke, Josh M., D'Ana, to Stephen and so on I really enjoyed getting to know those people better. Rooming with Nick while I was there was such an encouragement. He was one of the few guys that I new before I went down there. We had such a good time as a group. We really need to make t-shirts of all the hilarious quotes that were said while we were there. That goes from Daniel preaching, "if it's legal, smoke it" all the way to me giving a morning devotional at a school and saying, "Jesus bought the burger for you." Yes, Dr. Hunter added one to it also. The trip was a success and we all got back safely.

Things Work Out

Tonight I went over and had supper with the staff and the preacher that offended me this morning. He never apologized because I never let him know he offended me. I have this grand notion of the SBC as a place that all different people with all different fringe beliefs can come together in unity and serve Christ. However crazy that may sound, I think it's possible. It will take people living by the book they so dearly claim they want to live by though! I include myself in that. Tonight while at this get together, I went and sat down next to this man and just talked with him. I made small talk with him. I found out a little about his family and that he's a prof at a seminary. It's much harder not to like someone you know. It was so easy for me this morning to write him off even though he really had no idea of who I was. He really is a nice man that does love the Lord. I'm not excusing what he said from the pulpit this morning, what I am doing is following my own advice though. If I am griping about the example from the pulpit, I need to set the example away from the pulpit. What was said really hurt me, but insead of getting mad I should let it show me the need to be more sensitive to others.

Why Can't We All Get Along?

I was sitting in church this morning, listening to a preacher go on about how every one is wrong but the old-time Baptists. I'm very proud of my Baptist roots, but I'm proud of them for different reasons than the preacher this morning was giving. I'm proud that as Southern Baptist we are a very giving people as a whole. We have a cooperative program that works to bring the gospel to the four corners of the world. I'm proud that, even though we are a convention, we have churches that are independently governed. I find that very biblical! I'm proud that as a denomination, we've been able to hold differing positions on certain theological issues but still unite on what we agree on. I'm beginning to wonder if that is beginning to change. This morning as a whole in church (sunday school and worship) I felt attacked because I may not hold the middle of the road Baptist positions. That makes me sad. I hold no position that is heretical, and I for that matter do not believe that anyone that I disagreed with this morning is heretical. Why can those people not see the same thing that I do? I'm very worried that what I believed about the SBC is changing and I'm starting to wonder if I fit into this "new SBC." People will probably react to this post by saying, "you're overreacting." I don't think so. I'm also not saying that I'm gonna rush right out and leave the SBC. I don't want to leave the SBC, but what I do want is for people to respect each other. This morning the preacher referred to a type of theology as "foolish theology." I would love to ask him to one by one tell me the early church fathers that are "foolish." There is no reason to say things like that from the pulpit! I don't care if you believe it to be true or not! Scripture is not explicit enough for either theological camp to begin insulting one another from the pulpit. I now know why many people around the world hate Baptists! Some Baptists give us really bad names by providing bad example from the pulpit!

Answered Prayer and Noah

I want to start this blog out by sharing an neat answered prayer that happened in my life that I want to encourage you with. I was driving to Dallas on Monday headed to school when I started praying. I simply asked God to renew to me the call that He has placed on my life to be where I am right now. I have the knowledge that there is nothing done that God does not will. I cite Isaiah 46 for that. Well when I got to class that day my professor did a little house-keeping in class and then he proceeded to tell us that he would be lecturing today about knowing the call of God on your life. The whole class session was a complete encouragement to me. When my professor said what he was going to be lecturing on that day, I was typing on my computer in class and I immediatly stopped and started to laugh at the majesty of my God. God has a way of answering prayers in ways and times that we just don't expect.
I read in Genesis today about the story of Noah. I found it to be an encouragement because it paints the picture of God electing to show mercy and grace on Noah and his family. I know that in my life, God has shown mercy and grace to me. I am just as depraved as the people in Noah's day, yet God has willfully chosen to bestow saving grace to me in the same fashion that He did to Noah and his family. That is just an amazing thought! What a gift I have that I am not always entirely thankful as I should be.
I will say more about this on another blog.

First Thoughts of the O.T.

I read through Genesis 1 yesterday. I must confess that I was incredibly tired due to a lack of sleep the night before. Well obviously at first glance in Genesis 1 we see the Creator creating the creation. Ha. I love using words like that! If we take just the surface writing here we would find that God created everything in 6 days. That's just the basic idea being given here. However, I would like to offer simply an observation that blew me away.
God created in a completely ORDERLY way. God by no means created by the "seat of His pants" so to speak. There is tremendous planning involved. Just read through the text and you will get this picture that God had all this planned out. To me this is a view into His sovereignty. Also speaking to the order of things, God issued the decree that the living beings reproduce "after their own kind." I never realized how many times that is used in this scripture. The writer was really attempting to express to us that God had ordained for beings to procreate within their own kind. Again this just adds to the feel that God was orderly in His creating.
Could it be that we've been so caught up in trying to find out how long the days lasted that we totally missed the message of the text? I really believe that the message of the text is that an orderly, all-powerful God created what we see out of nothing. Could it be that Moses is not trying to give us the totally incompassing information about the formation of the universe, but is attempting to show us something rather about the Creator?
On a more theological note, I find it interesting that in Genesis 1:26 God speaks of Himself in the form of plurality. "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...." Is that an early reference to the Trinity?

Our Choice in Justification

I posted today on the Founders.org web blog that I disagreed with a statement that said that the Bible teaches the God predestines and we choose. I still hold that position even though I removed the comment from the website. The reason I removed it was because I felt like it caused more problems than it helped. I was trying to start a conversation about "choice" but I realized that was probably not the proper setting.
I still maintain that we do not make a choice in justification. A choice implies that there is more than one option. Here is specifically in detail what I mean. God predestined us before the foundation of the world. I mean that to say that God specifically chose the elect before He began creating anything. When the time comes for a member of the elect to become justified, God through grace regenerates that person and that person responds to the regeneration. That response could be called a choice. However, I would like to assert that it is in fact not a choice. God implants faith into the person and through that faith that is imparted that person believes in Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:8-9) When God regenerates a person, that person has no other option but to become justified. (John 6:37) So I don't believe this to be a choice.
I can see how this can be seen as a choice to be justified, so don't misunderstand what I am saying. The person is making a choice, but not a choice to be justified rather a choice to be sanctified. The person is making the choice to leave the sinful life behind but not making the choice to be justified. I believe that once we are regenerated that makes us justified. That's tough to argue but I think I can support it. I believe that the choice we make after is one of sanctification rather than justification. Let's go back to the Ephesians scripture (2:8-9). It says that we are "saved through faith." I believe that faith is imparted to us at the time of regeneration. Therefore that is my support for being justified at regeneration. I believe even Romans deals with this in (4:4-8) "but to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness..." I believe that once we are regenerated that God looks at us with the blood of Christ covering us so that He would not refer to us as "ungodly." So that leads me to assume that God justifies us at the time of regeneration and gives us faith at that moment. Then we make the choice to repent of our sinful ways and become more like Him. Believe me I know that I am for the most part arguing from silence however I am simply trying to put it together. Please know that I am seeking to give glory only to the Lord for my salvation. If anyone disagrees with me, which I'm positive some will, I don't think this is a fellowship breaking point. Let's unite under the banner of exalting the glory of Jesus Christ and the grace that His Father has bestowed upon us.

Conviction That I Lack O.T. Knowledge

I am convicted that I lack knowledge of the Old Testament. God saw fit to give us a historical account of His dealings with Israel of old. I have heretofore made an unconscious decision in the course of my sanctification to minimally study the O.T. There are so many treasures that abound in the O.T. Just recently I listened to a message by Matt Chandler where he defended the total sovereignty of God out of a text in Isaiah. (Isaiah 46:8-13) Why is it that I have so neglected such a rich blessing that God has given us?

Why I'm a Nano

Tonight I'm preaching that in our lives we should give up control of every area of our lives over to God. That is so hard to do! I struggle with giving everything to Him. Not that I have this thought that secretly God has my demise in mind, but I struggle with the unknown. I like knowing in advance what God has in store for me. That's not always how He works. I'm beginning to get more comfortable, at least it seems, with Him being in control of some new areas. Even though daily I fall to the temptation to take those areas back. My prayer is that He will continue to renew the wretch that I am to one day be like Him.

Why a Blog?

I have always hated the idea of putting my life on the internet for all to read about. However, I have been reading The Confessions of Augustine and it has opened my eyes to the possibility that God can use my journey to know Him better in order to help others know Him better. That's why it will be my goal to post my thoughts about my Lord, whatever they may be, on this site.