Great Quote

So Rick asked me to post on the blog today... I did, just not till later...

I have been reading through Stott's commentary on Romans and have found it to be immensely helpful in my study of that book. Notably, his insight into the general themes found in the book, topics that I can have trouble finding, have been particularly helpful.

I don't underline, highlight, or write in the margins of any books that I own. Until I ran across this passage in Stott's commentary. Here Stott is talking about Paul's use of the phrase "The righteousness of God" in Romans 1:16.

"It seems legitimate to affirm, therefore, that 'the righteousness of God' is God's righteous initiative in putting sinners right with himself, by bestowing on them a righteousness which is not their own but his. 'The righteousness of God' is God's just justification of the unjust, his righteous way of pronouncing the unrighteous righteous, in which he both demonstrates his righteousness and gives righteousness to us. He has done it through Christ, the righteous one, who died for the unrighteous, as Paul will explain later. And he does it by faith when we put our trust in him, and cry to him for mercy."

Be encouraged by this faithful proclamation of what the Gospel of Christ is, and means for us now.

Clogged Hard Drives

D.A. Caron has a very insightful article on how we ought to do evangelism in our post-everything culture. Click here for the full article.

Dr. Carson essentially expounds how Paul evangelized to the Athenians in Acts 17:22-31.

excerpts:

Today we are dealing with a major worldview clash. People are not empty discs on which we seek to write new files of truth. Rather their hard drives are clogged with other files. There are some things they need to unlearn because the files they already have on their discs have so many bits that clash with the files (designed by Scripture) that we want to write on them. This communication process takes time and energy.

He goes on to say...

Paul at the Areopagus in Athens has established an entire frame of reference before he gets to Jesus. He has challenged the Greek worldview with his JudeoChristian worldview. If he had presented clichés like 'Jesus died for your sins' before he had established the appropriate frame of reference, people would necessarily have misunderstood what he was saying.

We too, today, in our biblically illiterate society need to establish this biblical framework. This might take five minutes, five hours or five years, but at some stage we have to do it.

The Mom Song!

So apparently this has been floating around for a while but I just found it and this is a creative video. JMac, I think you'll like this. Enjoy!

Good Poetry

This is a poem by Karsten Piper entitled Luke 18.25. I didn't understand it at first until I got to the last line, it brings it all together. Check it out.

rick

Big News!

This Monday I took Traci to New York City which was part of her Christmas present. We got off of the train in Penn Station and started the day with lunch at Serendipity 3. Then we started walking all through the city checking out attractions and stores along the way. Eventually we ended up in Washington Square at 5PM only to find that the whole park was in a shambles, they were doing construction on the park. This foiled my plans so quickly thinking on my feet I recommended we hop on the subway and catch the sunset over Upper New York Bay from Battery Park. It was there that I told Traci I loved her and proposed. She said yes! Below is a picture from the train ride back.

Rick



PS. I was originally planning on proposing in Washington Square and couldn't help but laugh when I saw that it was such a mess. I really think that God was laughing at me right then and I had no idea what I was going to do. Fortunately we made it there ahead of schedule so I quickly decided to catch the sunset from Battery Park. Everything worked out in the end and I was actually glad I did it there because it was less crowded. The moral of this story is that you should always have a backup plan when it comes to proposing. Guys don't be like me, take note now.

National Resurgence Conference: Text & Context

Live Video Streaming

University and Christianity

Ever wonder how you can stand up for the gospel and yet still pass your class when your teacher is openly hostile to Christianity. Here's an article by Gene Veith in Boundless webzine entitled Surviving A Hostile Professor.

You can defend your faith and pass the course. Assuming you want to do both, Veith tells you how.

CANCELED

Tonights Singles Meeting is officially canceled. Enjoy your Friday night a be safe. If you are looking for something to do you can organized a lot of people and try this.

Thrive

The newly named singles ministry of the church will be having it's monthly singles meeting tomorrow night at 7:30. Be sure to come check it out, Jared Mellinger is an outstanding teacher. This is a weather pending event so be sure to check back here for updates, I'll post tomorrow about it.

What: Singles Meeting
When: 7:30PM, Friday Feb. 22
Where: Auditorium at Covenant Fellowship Church

The Heart of the Gospel

I just recently heard a sermon by Shai Linne (yeah, the hiphop artist), called The Heart of the Gospel. This was an expository sermon on Galatians 2:15-21 preached at Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia.

Click here to access sermon.

Excerpts:

God by His grace, when we come to him through faith in Jesus Christ, He empowers us to walk uprightly before him. And we praise God for that. But what we have to understand is that our walking upright before him, is not the basis by which he accepts us, even though we are called to walk upright before him. You see the balance – it’s a tricky balance.

Shai continues

We want to walk that fine line between I’m saved by grace, through faith, in Christ. Because I’m saved by grace, through faith, in Christ - I’m now endeavoring to walk uprightly before God, not in a way that would save me, but in a way that would demonstrate that I’m saved. That’s Christianity. That’s what Paul is calling us to. He’s calling us to the freedom of grace. How freeing is it to know that God is not up in Heaven grading us on our performance, because Christ has performed it!

There are so many reasons to obey God; to walk uprightly before him. There is so much joy in obedience!

The Atonement

Hip Hop artist, Shai Linne, recently released his new CD entitled The Atonement. I just bought the CD and it's outstanding. My favorite track is 15, Atonement Q & A with Stephen the Levite. In this Shai explains the atonement in lyrical theology.

If you don't know Josh or any of the guys at Lamp Mode Recordings they are worth your time. Their new slogan, We Rock Truth All Up In Your Stereo, tells the truth about their music. So hit up the website, buy a CD, and find out how much you actually love hip hop.

Rick

Church Based Campus Ministry

This is a very helpful sermon from NA 2004.

It will give you Compelling Reasons to take the Gospel to the Campus!

It's very practical.

Men Stand Up

Mark Driscoll on church planting and specifically men in the church. Watch this.

What To Look For In A Spouse

Carolyn McCulley on her Radical Womanhood blog references John Piper giving great advice on theological differences and marriage. The article is entitled Should I Date Someone Whose Theology is Different.

Here's a small excerpt:

Q: Should I date someone whose theology is different?

A: Don't ask the minimalistic question. If you only want to know how little you have to agree on together in order to move forward, then you're asking the wrong question.

There should be a robust and common enthusiasm and joy about the gospel. You should also have a similar understanding of the gospel so that you're not always tricking each other by your words. You want to make sure that you have the same definitions for the words that you use.

Accountability Anyone

This is a great article on accountability, it's purpose and failures. A great read for anyone seeking to grow in holiness.

(HT:JT)

rick

(maybe we'll get a post from Zac next week.)

Top Ten Excuses For Sleeping On The Job

Here's some Friday fun. Look for a post from Zac later.

10) ''They told me at the blood bank this might happen.''

9) ''This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in that time management course you sent me to.''

8) ''Whew! Guess I left the top off the Wite-Out. You probably got here just in time!''

7) ''I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm.''

6) ''I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance.''

5) ''I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Do you discriminate toward people who practice Yoga?''

4) ''Dang! Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem.''

3) ''The coffee machine is broken...''

2) ''Someone must have put decaf in the wrong pot...''

1) ''.....in Jesus' name, Amen.''

Second Saturday

A morning of service, mercy & evangelism

Second Saturdays are monthly mornings of outreach, packed with various community service, mercy, and evangelism opportunities. Show up and join in an outreach, or fill out an Outreach Work Order online to create an outreach of your own!

WHEN
This Saturday Feb 16th

HOURS
9:30 AM to 1:00 PM

WHERE
Meet in the church lobby

There’s also a free pizza lunch at 1:00 pm in the lobby.

Looking for a Wife, READ THIS

I just found a great article on www.boundless.org, a website dedicated to providing godly resources to singles. The article is entilted. What Girls Wish You Knew?, by Suzanne Hadley. Suzanne does a great job of calling men to biblical action. See the brief clip below and then check out the whole article.

Meet Joe. Joe is your average single Christian guy. Joe is frustrated. He feels like he's doing all the right things to secure a godly woman of noble character, but women just aren't responding. Joe believes women are hung up on some image of the perfect man — part J. Crew, part Jesus Christ — that simply does not exist...As Joe cultivates these characteristics, women will notice. And Joe may realize they're not looking for J. Crew Jesus after all — they're looking for Jesus in him.

rick

With Gifting Comes Resposibility

Over the past couple of days I have been reading a book entitled "The Making of a Leader," by Dr. J. Robert Clinton... not to be confused with those who lived in the white house... Anyways, one of the major themes of this book that has been impacting my life has been Dr. Clinton's emphasis on how God uses tests throughout our life to help to evaluate our integrity as Christian's, and help us to see where we need to grow.

As I began to think back on my own life and how God has given me the privilege of spending the entirety of my life (up till this point in Covenant Fellowship) in a church that keeps my focus on the cross I became overwhelmed with gratefulness. The Lord was working in my heart even as the heart of Alas and Did my Savior Bleed cries, "Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt my eyes with tears!" All those trials, however painful, and all those blessings were being used to change me and set me apart so that I might glorify God all the more!

In these wonderful moments of spiritual closeness to God I can often times find myself content with merely dwelling in the feeling of the moment. However, I felt God's prick of conviction calling me to apply this view of gratefulness to my life.

Immediately, my mind was drawn to places that I tend to presume upon the Love of the Lord. I began thinking of the opportunities that God has given me in my past through conversations, leadership opportunities, and simple things like temptations to bend the truth. In all of these areas I often times haven't been dissolved in thankfulness of heart in my response. I need to view these events as blessings from the lord and callings to glorify God, rather then chores.

One specific area that I was challenged in is the area of music. I was reminded of how any talent that I have has come to me from God, and He calls for a response. Sadly, there are more times then I can count when I have wished that I could give up music. But this is just a fruit of my wayward heart. Something that I have been telling myself is that it is the Lords will that I want accomplished, not my own. In my life I am now called to use the portion of talent that has been allotted to me to Glorify God to the best of my ability.

And the same goes for you. When God foreknew you who are musically interested before you were born and allotted to you the musical gifting that you have he did not bestow this lightly. With gifting comes responsibility. If you love to sing, use it! If you love to critique music, seek to serve the worship band by giving them valuable feedback! If you love to worship (as you should), then worship with passion! For those of you who love to lead worship in small group settings, why not try to write worship songs, even if they are only for yours and the Lords benefit?

And for those of you who (Somehow) don't relate with anything that I have said, apply these things to a different area that you are interested in your life. God calls us to respond to Him in any opportunity or gifting that He gives us.

Now, do not get what I am NOT saying. Not everyone is called to serve on the worship team on Sunday morning (even if you are the next Rosella Washington!), but everyone has an obligation to pursue in wisdom the gifting that our Father has so generously given to us all to HIS glory! Our church is filled with people that serve heroically in the area of music, people like John Reilly and Caleb Komoroski come to mind... I could go on but Rick told me to keep this short and I'm failing miserably!

But, this doesn't mean that the rest of us just sit around and watch them serve. By no means! Let’s follow those who are older then us and seek to lay our gifting at the feet of the one who originally gave it to us. Lets seize the opportunities that God has given us to sanctify us into His image and seek to lead more effectively in the area's that God has given us. Let us follow Dr. Clinton's advice as he calls us to see these times of our lives as integrity checks that will reveal our true character. Or as Peter puts it in 1 Peter 1:6-7:

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved with various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious then gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Some steps to aid in your application of this are as follows:

1. Review your testimony. What are some times in the past that it is obvious that God was using to change you? How did you respond to these trials/blessings?

2. What are some of the area's that God has given you to serve/lead in? Where are you gifted?
      *Ask a friend that knows you well if you’re having                trouble finding areas.

3. Now that you have some areas identified, choose an area that you are going to:
     *include in your prayer times every morning.
     *bring a friend in on to keep you accountable.
     *plan to be proactive in for the next two weeks.

For me this means that I will apply myself to finishing a song I'm writing in the next two weeks.

Devotions, anyone?

So something that has been on my mind a lot lately is this:
I have been so aware of where I consistently fall short, and not so much on the grace of God to cover every one of those shortcomings. I am so grateful for this teaching series on Grace, because I need the reminder that Jesus paid it all, and that is all I need. In worship on Sunday, Dan Welch prophesied about our standing before Christ, and how we can come boldly before the throne of grace! We are not qualified by what we do for God, but by what He has done for us!

One thing I often struggle with is my devotions, and it can turn into a mentality of "what can I give to God?" rather than, "what has God already given to me?" The cycle goes like this: if I've had a devotion, I feel great! But if I don't, I feel as though I am somehow less deserving of God's grace. But God has recently been showing me that it is in my weaknesses that He is most glorified! His grace is not dependent on my faithfulness. I should not be condemned by my inability to pursue God, but rather rejoice in God's faithfulness to pursue me IN SPITE of my weakness!

This morning I read in 2 Corinthians 11:30:

"If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."

Let me just tell you, that is not my attitude most of the time =) I want to boast about my successes, not my weaknesses. And that is why I also love 2 Corinthians 4:7:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."

We were never meant to glorify ourselves, we were meant to glorify God. We are those clay jars! Fragile and weak, and yet that is how God shows His all surpassing power! For the praise should go to God alone.

So as we eagerly pursue communion with God on a daily basis, let's remember that we don't do it because of any great strength in ourselves, we do it by the grace of God, and we do it because we are weak and need the help of our Savior! And I pray that I would become more content with weakness, so that I can run with everything that's in me to the strength that Jesus offers!

Sarah

Poll

For those of you how did or didn't notice, there is a poll on the side of the page asking how many days a week you read your Bible. This is for Chris, he's looking to write a post on college students and Bible reading. So vote your answer to help him in his post.

rick

Mercy and Evangelism

I attended the Vital Life course on Saturday entitled Mercy Ministry, Not Mercy Fatigue. Doug Hayes spoke and did and outstanding job of not only giving a biblical view of mercy but also answering many questions I had related to evangelism.

I have to confess that mercy ministries are not typically the type of areas I like to serve in. I think there are two reasons for this. The first is my experience with liberal protestantism today. I've encountered too many people who preach only a social justice gospel and either attribute mercy as the only acceptable way to share Christ with others or they straight up deny that Jesus death on the cross was necessary for salvation and only see his life as a model for ours. In this case my tendency is to rebel against mercy ministry because I associate it with this type of Christianity. The second reason is that it's tough, not always strategic and often requires more sacrifice. Neither reason is an acceptable excuse for not doing what God has called us to do.

Here are some of Doug's main points. Mercy is something we are called to do as Christians. God's greatest gift of mercy is the giving of his son for the forgiveness of our sins so we should desire to share this and see it as an act of mercy. We should not see evangelism as the gauge of success. It is easy to become fatigued in mercy ministries when we only see evangelism as the goal and become discouraged when it doesn't always occur. Mercy in and of it self is good and reflects something of God's character. We can rejoice in God's common grace as well as his saving grace.

These are just a jumble of a few points that Doug made but I hope they help to communicate not Doug's, but God's heart for us in showing mercy to others.

rick

Blooper

The Fruitful Life

I just started reading the book, The Fruitful Life, by Jerry Bridges. My community group is going the book together and I'm anticipating it a lot. Here's a small portion from the preface about why the book was written.

Another reason for revisiting the fruit of the Spirit is that I often hear a certain possessiveness today about "my spiritual gifts." Certainly, we can be thankful that in the last generation there has been a thriving literature on spiritual gifts. But, again, sometimes there is a self-focus for the gifts. We use "assessment instruments" to nail down what our gifts are and seek to uses them in a way that can tend toward personal fulfillment. The danger is that gifts of the Spirit will be separated from the fruit of the Spirit. This can lead to prideful ambition rather than humble, loving service. Sinclair B. Ferguson writes that the fruit of the Spirit "should be distinguished from the gifts of the Spirit, but ought never to be absent in their exercise. For without love, and the humility which accompanies it...the purpose of the gifts of the Spirit is thwarted."

Why Church?

This is a great short article on the NA blog about three reasons why people don't commit to a church and a response to those reasons.

Vital Life

Vital Life Classes are happening this Saturday. You should all try and sign up if you haven't yet. Technically registration has closed but if you email Charity Campbell (ccampbell@covfel.org) and beg she may let you sign up still. The classes cost $5 and go from 9-12. Check it out and sign up.

rick

Pray the Cross

One question that I often get is, "How can I have more effective prayer times? I find myself getting distracted."

Heres my answer. Start praying by thanking God for his gift of salvation to you. I find that my most effective prayer times are when I start by simply recounting God's redemptive plan and how the salvation which I receive came at the cost of His Son bearing my sin on the cross.

I think one problem we often have is that we view prayer as a mere formality and therefore approach it without emotion or joy. Really it should be a time to engage God, finding joy in what He's accomplished through Christ. It is hard to recount all God has done through Christ and not be affected and amazed.

A note on getting distracted...I find it helpful to pray out loud.

rick

I Am Your Brother!

Wayne Grudem What?

This is a hilarious video about Wayne Grudem. After watching this video I feel compelled to catch up on my Systematic Theology reading.

(HT: Jill Prater)

Prayer and Gratitude

I've recently been reading 2 Corinthians. This book always confuses me so I'm trying to read it slowly and thoroughly. There is a short passage at the beginning of the book that has been making me think a lot lately.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. -2 Corinthians 1:11

In this section of the text Paul is asking for the Corinthian's prayers so they can give thanks to God when they receive blessings. I often have a narrow ungrateful view of prayer. When I'm sick I pray that God heals me but by the time I'm healed I usually think of it as sickness running its course, not God healing me. Rather than simply seeing miraculous prayers being answered as from God, Paul is looking to rejoice in God for any blessing he receives through prayer.

I think that all of us can grow in our gratefulness to God by taking note of prayers and rejoicing when God answers them even in small unastonishing ways.

Rick

Some Fun

These guys crack me up.

Sola Gratia: Only One Gospel

This past Sunday, Jared Mellinger kicked off our new sermon series called Sola Gratia (grace alone). It will be an expository series going through Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia (the book of Galatians).

Jared started the series by preaching through the first ten verses of chapter one, while also giving an overview of the whole letter and what was to come in the series.

At first glance, we think this letter does not apply to us, because we don’t believe we need adherence to the Jewish law for salvation; we do believe in salvation through grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. However, as Jared pointed out, the book of Galatians does apply to us. Jared said,

God gave us the book of Galatians because the foolish galatian tendency to drift, from grace, is in every single one of us. If the Christians in Galatia were vulnerable to this drift and if Peter and if Barnabas were vulnerable to that drift, then I think it’s good for us to acknowledge that every one of us is vulnerable to that same exact drift away from a Biblical understanding of God’s grace.

He then referenced the famous hymn, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing saying,

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;

Personally, I know that I am prone to wander – I know that I am prone to leave God. We must actively flee from our good works; flee from that subtle drift away from grace. When God calls us to flee from something – it is always to flee to something else. We must flee to the Cross of Christ!

Aren’t you glad that, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing doesn’t end there, but continues?

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

God, in his mercy, will take our hearts and will seal them for his courts above!

Application Questions:

1. In what ways am I tempted to subtly believe that my acceptance before God is based on something that I do rather than what Christ has done?
2. Am I growing in my understanding and the appreciation of the Cross? Do you find yourself more amazed by grace the more you advance in your Christian walk?
3. Am I enjoying the privileges that we have in Christ?

The Shambles?

I've decided to start a blog. I'm sure some of you are asking why do we need another blog and what is the shambles anyway. First I hope this serves as a wealth of information for all that's going on in the college age ministry at Covenant Fellowship Church. I'm not very good at sending out emails as reminders so this is my personal attempt to bring organization to my life. Also I'll be posting with some other guys who I've invited to join the ranks of my blog team. Be sure to check each week for posts on what God is doing in our lives and on what is being read in Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology as well.

To answer the second question now...why the shambles? Well, when things are in shambles they are in a state of disarray. I figured that this word most accurately described the lives of most of the college students I know. It also helps to describe the eclectic nature of posts that will be occuring. Leo is also part of the blog team...enough said.

Last, my favorite part of this blog is probably the calendar at the bottom. Check it out, read the instructions, and keep updated on what's going on. Make sure to pass this site on to any college students you know. I'll start posts tomorrow.

Rick