Worship

I listened to a sermon two days ago on 1 Peter 1:3-5. In hearing that God caused me to be born again and that He will keep me a Christian made me truly in awe of God's grace. The story was told when Jesus tells Peter that Satan demanded to have him in order that he might sift Peter like wheat (hoping to destroy his faith). But Jesus tells Peter that He has prayed for him, so that his faith would not fail. And He tells Peter WHEN he has turned again to strengthen his brethren.

As I was driving and listening to all of this, it hit me. I am in the same position as Peter. On my own strength I will deny my Lord over and over again. But because Jesus is my great Intercessor, I will stay a Christian. Also, I began praising God for even having mercy upon me in the first place to make me believe. If He had not in His sovereign, electing mercy changed me will, I would surely have continued on the road to destruction. Oh how these truths produced a humbling joy in me that day (and continually), and a longing for others to know this gracious God.

London

My recent trip to London was a great experience. I went with the global outreach pastor from my church. We met up with two girls getting involved in United World Mission, the mobolization coordinator for UWM, and a 20 year missionary through UWM living there outside of London. This is a picture of us in a pub near Tower Bridge.

And in case you didn't know, this is what Tower Bridge looks like. Doesn't it look cool?

Most of our time there was spent meeting different leaders of different ministries and churches. We met up with a pastor with Hillsong London. We also met up with a pastor named Jonathan, who is at a megachurch comprised of mainly Nigerians. He's got a great story as he was once a Muslim who became a Christian in college. His church is in the borough that contains the highest number of Muslims in London.

We also visited a church that was really doing a great job at reaching out to the younger generation called Soul Survivor (where Matt Redman led worship for a while). And they actually got a license to serve beer (on tap) at various outreach events! They've found out that students are more willing to have meaningful conversations if they have a glass in their hand. Hey, whatever it takes to win the lost.


The highlight of the trip for me was to the city of Colchester. The city is full of history. The first Augustinian priory church was here. Also the first church in all of England was here. And many centuries later, a young lad named Charles Spurgeon was saved in small church here under the call to "Look unto Me, and be ye saved." Spurgeon soon after became one of the most amazing preachers of all time. His wonderfully reformed view of Scripture has opened my eyes again and again to God's splendor.

There's also a university campus here with 40% of it's students being international. God's beginning to do a great work here in the city, but the laborers still are few. And as I think about the need and the ripe harvest, I can't help but think that maybe God will lead me there one day...or maybe one of you...

Desiring God Conference

Briefly stated, this past weekend was great. Much enjoyed time with friends and much truth spoken. For those who didn't attend, I'll briefly sum up my thoughts on the conference. But, they are quite inadequate, so I highly recommend going straight to the sources. Pay particular attention to Piper (Joy), Keller (Gospel), Bauchem (Truth), Driscoll (Church), and the conversation with the pastors. You won't be disappointed.

The weekend was all about the supremacy of Christ as we live in our postmodern world. There is much thought going on in our world today, most importantly in the church, that is trying to downplay doctrine and theology and concentrate more on friendly relationships. Our postmodern worldview that we live in constantly feeds us the lie that Truth is relative to the person. And this idea has come into the church more or less stating that a high view of God's inerrant Word will not allow for relevancy and love among people.

Driscoll's talk summed up in a lot of ways our role as Christians in this world. There are two hands. One hand must be tightly closed around timeless, biblical Truth. We are to contend for things like the Sovereignty of God, substitutionary atonement, doctrine of hell, and the exclusivity of Jesus. These ideas are all being thrown away by many in the church. This hand must not waver. But our other hand should be open and willing to change with the culture (timeless ministry). It is the hand of contextualizing the gospel. To be seeker sensible, not seeker sensitive. To be relevant, not relative. We are to become all things to all men. These two hands work together to bring the Truth of the supremacy of Christ to a lost world.

So much is lost when we began to downplay theology and doctrine, for the sake of being relevant and friendly. I have had many conversations recently with fellow believers about setting aside theology in order to love people. We must fight this incredibly postmodern way of thinking. We must fight for a biblical worldview by soaking ourselves in the richness of God's revealed Truth in the Bible. If we bring our finite brains to the Bible and try to shape the Bible in accordance to our own thoughts, we lose. We can't truly see the beauty, majesty, sovereignty, and benevolence of God. Therefore, we can't effectively be used as an empty vessel to bring God's love and grace to others. So, join me in the fight to know the God of the Bible and fight for Truth. And as we see Him, our hearts will beat with Jeremiah saying "if I will not mention Him, or speak any more in His name; there is in my heart as it were, a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I am weary of holding it in."

...off to London for the week...