Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Apologetics...do I have to say I'm sorry?
Good morning everyone! (or whatever time of day it happens to be when you read this) Life is going well here at the IMPACT360 campus in small town Pine Mountain. First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who has committed to pray for the upcoming Brazil missions trip and also to the ones who have given financially. Funds are continuing to come in, and I am overwhelmed by the extreme generosity. Thank you to everyone is has given and to those of you who pray for me regularly. I am truly blessed!
Secondly, I want to give you a brief update on the happenings here in the South. Last weekend we took a "field trip" to Charlotte, NC for the National Apologetics Conference (http://www.nationalapologeticsconference.com). Speakers from all over the US included James Dobson, Josh McDowell, Charles Colson, Lee Strobel, Mark Mittelberg, and Del Tackett, who is one of our guest professors here at IMPACT for a week in March. It was such a privilege to be able to sit in a session and hear these "big name" speakers talk about things they are passionate about.
During the afternoon we had different workshops that were available for us to go to. Two of the workshops that I went to were particularly meaningful to me. The topic for both of them was equipping youth to be disciples. For the past few months I have been noticing that God has been increasingly laying on my heart a passion for youth, more specifically high schoolers. A lot of differently instances have come up in the past few weeks that has just confirmed in my heart and mind that God wants me to do something in the future related to working with youth. As I went to these workshops, I got so excited when I would hear different ways to spread and apply the gospel to youth. It's been crazy and thrilling to see God ignite this passion in me, and also to see how my future career could be related to it. I'd ask you to be in prayer for me to know God's will in this area.
Just another quick item to mention before signing off, for those interested, is what books we have finished reading recently...
What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About
The Great Awakening by Jim Wallis
Truefaced by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch (we just finished this one)
1 Peter 3:15
"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."
Secondly, I want to give you a brief update on the happenings here in the South. Last weekend we took a "field trip" to Charlotte, NC for the National Apologetics Conference (http://www.nationalapologeticsconference.com). Speakers from all over the US included James Dobson, Josh McDowell, Charles Colson, Lee Strobel, Mark Mittelberg, and Del Tackett, who is one of our guest professors here at IMPACT for a week in March. It was such a privilege to be able to sit in a session and hear these "big name" speakers talk about things they are passionate about.
During the afternoon we had different workshops that were available for us to go to. Two of the workshops that I went to were particularly meaningful to me. The topic for both of them was equipping youth to be disciples. For the past few months I have been noticing that God has been increasingly laying on my heart a passion for youth, more specifically high schoolers. A lot of differently instances have come up in the past few weeks that has just confirmed in my heart and mind that God wants me to do something in the future related to working with youth. As I went to these workshops, I got so excited when I would hear different ways to spread and apply the gospel to youth. It's been crazy and thrilling to see God ignite this passion in me, and also to see how my future career could be related to it. I'd ask you to be in prayer for me to know God's will in this area.
Just another quick item to mention before signing off, for those interested, is what books we have finished reading recently...
What the New Testament Authors Really Cared About
The Great Awakening by Jim Wallis
Truefaced by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch (we just finished this one)
1 Peter 3:15
"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
God is Sovereign! His will be done!
Romans 13:1-7
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."
In honor of the election, I have chosen to focus this blog entry on the verse above. I am not here to tell you my political views (as a matter of fact, I am not even going to tell you who I voted for), but rather, I am writing to express that God is still in control, no matter who holds the presidential seat. No matter what your political views are, or who you voted for, be reminded that "there is no authority except that which God has established." The new man that now represents our country is who we are supposed to submit to, not because we have to, but because God commands us to. But we must also remember that we are not to submit to him if or when he does something contrary to God's word, but for the time being, he is the power that God has put over us, and we need to respect him and submit to him. We also need to pray for our president, whether we like him or not. Pray for God's will to be done in every situation and every decision. I know this may be hard for some of you to hear (and again, I don't know who some of you have voted for), but please bear with me and really search for yourself what the Bible has to say on this issue.
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."
In honor of the election, I have chosen to focus this blog entry on the verse above. I am not here to tell you my political views (as a matter of fact, I am not even going to tell you who I voted for), but rather, I am writing to express that God is still in control, no matter who holds the presidential seat. No matter what your political views are, or who you voted for, be reminded that "there is no authority except that which God has established." The new man that now represents our country is who we are supposed to submit to, not because we have to, but because God commands us to. But we must also remember that we are not to submit to him if or when he does something contrary to God's word, but for the time being, he is the power that God has put over us, and we need to respect him and submit to him. We also need to pray for our president, whether we like him or not. Pray for God's will to be done in every situation and every decision. I know this may be hard for some of you to hear (and again, I don't know who some of you have voted for), but please bear with me and really search for yourself what the Bible has to say on this issue.
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