March 3rd, 2009 Some good quotes... "I honestly do not understand how anyone can say "I believe the Bible is the Word of God" without being passionate about that confession. I love the Trinity, justification by faith, the Resurrection, and sola scriptura. I do not pretend to be dispassionate about these things, and, as such, I stand firmly on this assertion: Christian scholarship that lacks passion about the truth is not worthy of the name Christian to begin with. If dispassion and detachment are necessary attributes of scholarship, then I do not seek the appellation. I cannot comprehend dry faith, arid confession, or mere mental assent." - James White, from Scripture Alone, p.10 "A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling 'darkness' on the wall of his cell..." -C.S. Lewis The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to a deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less. -Tim Keller, "Reason for God" p. 181 March 5th, 2009 So we didn't end up going to DC afterall, but went camping in a cabin in Blackville, SC and took a day trip to Charleston. It was a lot of fun and really refreshing to take some time away from school. Now back to "real life". March 6th, 2009 This is an email Lars sent me that is an interview of Voddie Baucham on choosing a worship leader for conferences etc. He read it and thought I would appreciate it. I did and now I am passing it on to you guys: Q. Why do you place so much emphasis on Who leads worship at the events in which you participate? A. I have a very high view of the role of the worship leader. I view leading worship as a sort of pastoral responsibility to which one must be called, and for which one must be equipped. Unfortunately, we live in a time when every kid who knows five chords and ten songs thinks God has called him or her to be a worship leader. Hence, there is a flood of young, inexperienced, untrained, and often biblically illiterate worship leaders who have done nothing more than learn the top songs off of a few worship CD's. This is a travesty! These guys go on to steal songs from men and women whom God has anointed and gifted to write songs, and use them to make CD's of their own. All of this is done in the name of having "product" to sell on the road, or to promote ones self as a worship leader. Imagine John Mayer going into the studio and saying, "forget the hard work of producing an original album, lets just take the top ten songs from last year and put them all on my new CD this year." That would be unthinkable! Nevertheless, that is what is happening every day with so-called worship leaders in this current generation; and they think that paying someone a few cents per copy makes it ok. I would rather not be a party to that. I also do not think it is a good idea to work with people with whom I do not share a ministry philosophy, or theology of worship. I do not think that a worship leader and a preacher should just be thrown into the mix together because they are both "good at what they do," and they both "love God." That's like putting a wishbone quarterback on a run-n-shoot team and expecting him to do well because he has great athletic ability! A good voice and a love for God is not the sum total of a worship leader's qualifications. Nor is it the ability to "move a crowd." There is the question of the depth of one's theology and how that depth is communicated in the songs one chooses to use, and how one chooses to use them. There is the ability to choose songs that are appropriate for the given audience and occasion. There is the ability to sense where God is leading and moving during a service, or a series of services (I.e. choosing response songs that suit the manner in which God is calling people to respond to what they've heard). These are just a few things that must be taken into consideration. Unfortunately, they rarely enter into the decision of whom one will invite to lead worship. Often, the only questions asked are, "does he do the songs our people like?" and "does he sing well?" That is the type of shallow, carnal approach to ministry I try to avoid. March 7th, 2009 Another good quote: "Worship is increasingly becoming a spectator event of visual and sensory power, rather than a verbal event in which we engage in a deep soul dialogue with the Triune God." - Sinclair Ferguson March 8th, 2009 Congratulations to my pastor Matt and his wife Kristin on the healthy birth of their newborn girl Abigail Mei, 7 lbs 10 oz, 21 inches born this morning at 10:10AM. I love you guys! March 24th, 2009 Shelly Moore Band came to BSU tonight and played. It was great! Thanks again you guys for coming. It was really great to catch up with them and talk afterwards. I am really really praying for BSU to grow and be glorifying in the upcoming semesters/year. A lot has changed in the two years that I have been here with BSU, and a lot is still the same or worse. It is sad and frustrating all at the same time. We are sinners and in need of a savior. We do not merit anything apart from the finished work of Christ on the cross. We need to take our sin and our lives seriously. The gospel is crucial to repentance and to true salvation. I mourn over people I see day to day who just do not "get it". The apathy towards God is heart breaking. I honestly hope that the work I have done here in Pembroke, with the band, and with individuals through discipleship will not be in vain. I pray that the Holy Spirit will change hearts and open eyes to the goodness of the gospel. We need to passionately pursue being more like Christ every day and live our lives worthy of the gospel of Christ. I want others to know the surpassing goodness of knowing Christ. True happiness cannot be found in significant others. It cannot be found in X-Box 360 or Guitar Hero. It cannot be found in drinking and partying. These things will pass away (Isaiah 40:8). Truth cannot be found anywhere other than through Christ and His Word. Philippians 3 keeps coming to mind as I right this. "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 ". I pray that students affections may be awakened on this campus, and at BSU, and that lives would be changed. "Oh great King, you awakened this heart of stone. You brought light to where there was none before. You have revealed what you made me for, O great king!" March 26th, 2009 Jesus, Savior, pilot me Over life's tempestuous sea Unknown waves before me roll Hiding rock and treacherous shoal Chart and compass come from Thee Jesus, Savior, pilot me As a mother stills her child You can hush the oceans wild Boisterous waves obey Thy will When You say to them, Be still Wondrous Sovereign of the sea Jesus, Savior, pilot me When at last I near the shore And the fearful breakers roar Grant me and the peaceful rest Then, while leaning on Your chest May I hear You say to me Fear not, I will pilot thee March 31th, 2009 "If his enemies were admitted to be so free with Christ in persecuting and afflicting; if Christ, as it were, yielded himself wholly into their hands to be mocked and spit upon, and that they might be as bold as they would in deriding and trampling on him, and might execute their utmost malice and cruelty to make way for his friends enjoyment of him; doubtless his friends, for whom this was done, will be allowed to be as free with him in enjoying of him: he will yield himself as freely up to his friends to enjoy him, as he did to be abused by his enemies, seeing the former as the end of the latter. Christ will surely give himself as much to his saints as he has given himself for them. He whose arms were extended to suffer, to be nailed to the cross, will doubtless be opened as wide to embrace those for whom he suffered. He whose side, whose vitals, whose heart was opened to the spear of his enemies, to give access to their malice and cruelty, and to let out his blood, will doubtless be opened to admit the love of his saints." - Jonathan Edwards, Miscellaneous Observations; on Heaven,” Banner of Truth, Vol. II, 629. The Happiness of Heaven: What makes heaven heaven? "The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honour and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the " river of the water of life" that runs, and " the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God." The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will for ever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what shall be seen of God in them." - Jonathan Edwards, "God Glorified in Man’s Dependence," A Sermon.