Insightful Ramblings...

It seems like just yesterday...

2010-11-10T16:29:00.002-05:00

That I changed from Xanga to Blogger, now I am http://matthewrharding.wordpress.com

I love what God is doing...

2010-11-01T06:40:00.006-04:00

Like the title of this post says, I love what God is doing in my life right now. You may ask, "What exactly is he doing Matthew?" Well I'm glad you asked, he is convicting me and opening my eyes up to sin that has been in my life for a long time, but I have failed to notice it for what it is, sin. Praise God, He has brought me victory over one of my biggest sins (see last post). However, in my time in His Word and in through the conviction of the Holy Spirit he has opened my eyes to not only am I fat which is something I have known for a while, but He's opened my eyes to the fact that this is a stewardship issue.

The fact that this is a stewardship issue is something has never crossed my mind before. However, I was reading in 1 Corinthians 6 the other day and ran across this verse:

“[19] Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, [20] for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV)

Now, I've read this verse a million times it seems and because it is in a passage having to do with sexual issues, have either never put it together with weight loss and gluttony or at least never put those together with being a stewardship issue. This is not the only verse that there is, there is the one in Philippians that says:

“[19] Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”
(Philippians 3:19 ESV)

Now I can't speak for all fat people, (yes, I know that fat is not the "pc" term, but it's the truth, and our sugar coating it into terms like overweight and chunky or whatever term you want to use is what keeps us thinking it’s OK. Morbidly obese is a term that might be more helpful because it hits a little harder at the severity of the issue) but in the majority of cases I know and especially me, food became a comfort and therefore became an idol, not that life was terrible or anything, but it tasted good, and it was enjoyable and in that I found satisfaction and fulfillment instead of in Christ.

The reason this is an issue other than it being an issue of idolatry is like I mentioned earlier, stewardship. It’s important that we take care of our bodies, because if we do not then we cannot be the best representation of Christ possible. This is especially important for those of us in ministry. In 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 Paul says,

“[24] Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. [25] Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26] So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. [27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

(1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV)

In this passage Paul uses the analogy of an athlete training for a race and compares that to the Christian running the race of life. He says several key things in this passage. First, is that we should run to receive the prize. This means we should be like the ones in the front of the pack, not those who are content to run in the middle of the pack and just finish. We are not called to just finish, but to win. The next thing that Paul says that we should exercise self-control in all things, this is the key to it all. This is the key to the issue of porn and lust, this is the key to weight loss, and this is also the key to drinking, as he says all things. This ties in well with what he says in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “[31] So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV) It is very hard to do anything to the glory of God when it gets to the excess of drunkenness or obesity. This is one thing that has been lacking in my life for a long time, and while it is self-control it is very much a God thing. I can’t do any of this on my own, only through God and through a steady diet of His Word will I be able to control my diet.

Although all Paul says in this verse is important, the thing that hits me the hardest is verse 27. Ministers, it is only through our actions that we can give validation to our words. We can’t stand up behind our pulpits and preach about issues like idolatry when “our god is our belly”. This is especially bad in the South where we have perfected the art of the deep fryer and sweet tea. As this passage from an article recently published in the Texan shows we do not put as much emphasis on this as we should, for many of us it is indeed life and death:

“The harsh reality is that Southern Baptists tilt the scale as the heaviest denomination in the country as revealed in a study published in 2006. And random health assessments administered by GuideStone, the financial services and insurance provider for the Southern Baptist Convention, to a degree, validate that finding. During the SBC’s annual meetings, GuideStone personnel routinely staff the Wellness Center, offering a mini-physical that includes a series of questions about health habits and measurements of weight, height, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood-sugar levels. Of those who had the free screenings at the 2010 convention, 73 percent were considered overweight or obese by U.S. medical standards. That is compared to 68 percent of the general American population as outlined in a study published in the January edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.”

Men, as ministers and leaders of our churches and our families or in my case since I am single I have to think about my family one day, we have to get a handle on these vices. We can’t run the race if we can’t run at all. Paul said run, not walk. And as far as the issue I covered in my last post, to quote Perry Noble who is actually quoting Mark Driscoll, “it is incredible difficult to charge hell with our pants around our ankles…” I realize I am probably being crass there, but sometimes in order to get the point across you need to shock someone with the blunt truth.

Another key element, to success for both of these issues has to be accountability. Because, while we may be in total agreement with scripture and what others have said and shown in research if we don’t have someone continually calling us on it and helping us with it, it is easy to fall back into our old ways. Luckily I have accountability in my community group at my church here at seminary. I’ve got guys praying for me in both areas, but more than that I have guys who are willing to come into my life and help me fight both issues.

I hate to rip into a topic like this without giving some sort of hope, so here it is:

[12] Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. [13] No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. [14] Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

(1 Corinthians 10:12-14 ESV)

Please know that as I mentioned in my last post, I by no means have conquered these areas of my life so I too am a fellow struggler on the road to where God calls us to be. Feel free to email me: thomsontennis@gmail.com or leave a comment I would love to get some feedback.

How Great is our God!!!

2010-10-27T23:50:00.007-04:00

***DISCLAIMER: this blog is going to be of a more personal nature then some of my past ones, it covers a very specific sin that the majority of if not all GUYS struggle with, if you are a woman, you may not want to read this. Of course, if you do that is OK too. I promise it gets better toward the end. ***

For years now, I have struggled with the sin of lust and all that the other sins that that entails. This has worked itself out at first with racy pictures, but still clean, but it slowly digressed into reading stories online that got my mind wandering, to eventually struggling with porn.
For years, this has seemed like my unconquerable sin, that one that just sticks with you, like Hebrews 12 says that sin that so easily entangles us. In the same verse it also calls the sin a weight, which is what it felt like. It is definitely something that will weigh you, even drag you, down and many times it feels like it buries you.

When you are struggling with a sin consistently you end up feeling guilty because you know it’s wrong, but can't seem to beat it. This ultimately ends up affecting your time in the Word, in fact in my case it was one of the first things to go. This was simply because I didn't feel like I could read it rightly; it became kind of mundane, and became something that I was doing because I knew I should, not because I wanted to. I have always known to fight sin and knew what I needed to do as far as that goes, but there would always be some sort of chink in the armor that I was using to fight it, and any chink will be found. This is because I was relying on myself instead of on God to deliver me from this, yes, I would pray for deliverance from this and occasionally read the Bible, but in the end it was about me keeping me from looking at it so that I would not feel guilty for sinning.

When battling I would end up doing several things that were temporary fixes. I knew of the need for accountability, but when you are all struggling with the same sin or you don't meet regularly for accountability then it does not help. The best thing that you can ever do especially if your struggle is online (and most today are) is to get a program that will block websites and will send reports to your accountability partner. I recommend both, because if for some reason your accountability doesn't keep you accountable then you still have the blocker, or if you set up your accountability software and know the password then you control when it is on and off and it does no good. There is the option of programs that just report to partners what you look at and don't block anything, but this still is gives you free reign and if you aren't held accountable it doesn't do anything to stop you. I haven’t looked at many of these programs but Safe Eyes is the one I am using and it is working wonderfully, but only because I have a group of guys that are getting reports on what I look at, and they will hold me to it.

The scariest thing about this time in my life for me though is the fact that I have had "mountain-top" experiences before and felt really good about fighting sin and such. I pray that this isn't one of those times. I don't really think it is though, because, in all of those times my success in not struggling with porn or stories or what not was either because I was on a trip and didn't have internet access or because I felt bad about it so I stopped, but it was a struggle to not do it and the desire was still there. So far, this seems to be different, now, I desire the time in the Word more and porn is becoming repulsive to me, not like I'm not straight anymore or anything, just that there is something I desire more than that instant gratification. This has been a slow process, but what has happened is what Thomas Chalmers calls "An expulsive power of a new affection." I now desire my time in the Word and desire Jesus more than I do that gratification form masturbation that is so finite. The fact that I have this new affection is what is so crucial in this sticking, it is Christ and only through Christ that victory can be found, now I am writing this like I have been free of this for months, but it has literally been less than a week, so pray that this isn't a mountain top experience and I am just deceived right now.

I can honestly say though that I feel freer than I have in a long, long time. It is like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. This is a definite answer to prayers that I have prayed, but it is one that has taken a long time to come. I am finding a deep satisfaction is my time in the Word, one that is lasting much longer than anything giving into my temporal passions has produced.

Please don’t read this and hear me tooting my own horn about conquering this. It was by no means me, IT WAS ONLY THROUGH CHRIST THAT I WAS ABLE TO AND AM GOING TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO CONQUER THIS. Without him, I am nothing. This is by no means to say that I am perfect, as I John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

God has convicted me recently of how sorry of a steward I really am, not just with my money, although that is true, but also with my time and my body as well. Anyone who looks at me can tell I am overweight, fat even. However, it was just recently that I realized that it’s not about losing weight because that is healthy, but because it is bad stewardship of my body which is a temple. My next blog post will expound on this more. These are just a few of the ways that I have been convicted, but God is bigger than all my sins, Christ covered them on the cross, and I am living in the freedom therein.

Soli Deo Gloria

Piper on Lust

2010-09-03T00:20:00.002-04:00

John Piper’s Biblical Antidote to Lust

October 10, 2008

John Piper rarely gets starker than he does in the following quote. His biblical remedy for lust? Well, it’s simple really. Understand that unless you are one of those who fights lust with all your heart, you were never truly saved. The quote begins with a question from someone who heard one of his sermons:

“Are you saying then that a person can lose his salvation?” In other words, if Jesus used the threat of hell to warn about the seriousness of lust, does that mean that a Christian can perish?

This is exactly the same response I got a few years ago when I confronted a man about the adultery he was living in. I tried to understand his situation and I pled with him to return to his wife. Then I said, “You know, Jesus says that if you don’t fight this sin with the kind of seriousness that is willing to gouge out your own eye, you will go to hell and suffer there forever.” As a professing Christian he looked at me in utter disbelief, as though he had never heard anything like this in his life, and said, “You mean you think a person can lose his salvation?”

So I have learned again and again from firsthand experience that there are many professing Christians who have a view of salvation that disconnects it from real life, and that nullifies the threats of the Bible, and puts the sinning person who claims to be a Christian beyond the reach of biblical warnings. I believe this view of the Christian life is comforting thousands who are on the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13). Jesus said, if you don’t fight lust, you won’t go to heaven. Not that saints always succeed. The issue is that we resolve to fight, not that we succeed flawlessly . . . if we don’t fight lust we lose our soul. The apostle Peter said, “Abstain from fleshly lusts that wage war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11).” The stakes in this war are infinitely higher than in any threat of World War III. The apostle Paul listed “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed,” then said, “it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come” (Colossians 3:6). And the wrath of God is immeasurably more fearful than the wrath of all the nations put together. In Galatians 5:19 Paul mentions immorality, impurity and sensuality and says, “Those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21).

John Piper, Future Grace (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1995), 331. Available electronically from Logos Bible Software.

More From John PIper on Fighting Lust

October 18, 2008

A week ago we shared an unsettling quote from Dr. Piper about the vital need for us to fight lust or face an eternity without God. Since that fight is so critical to our well-being, I thought I would share another quote in which he goes on to explain how this fight can be won.

Suppose I am tempted to lust. Some sexual image comes into my mind and beckons me to pursue it. The way this temptation gets its power is by persuading me to believe that I will be happier if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier. No one sins out of a sense of duty, when what they really want is to do what’s right.

John Piper“Another reason I am eager to focus on the new birth is to help you know what reallySo what should I do? Some people would say, “Remember God’s command to be holy (1 Peter 1:16), and exercise your will to obey because he is God!” But something crucial is missing from this advice, namely, faith in future grace . . .

How then do you fight lust by faith in future grace? When the temptation to lust comes, Romans 8:13 says, in effect, “If you kill it by the Spirit, you will live.” By the Spirit! What does that mean? Out of all the armor God gives us to fight Satan, only one piece is used for killing—the sword. It is called the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) . . . The Word of God cuts through the fog of Satan’s lies and shows me where true and lasting happiness is to be found. And so the Word helps me stop trusting in the potential of sin to make me happy. Instead the Word entices me to trust in God’s promises.

When faith has the upper hand in my heart I am satisfied with Christ and his promises. This is what Jesus meant when he said, “He who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). When my thirst for joy and meaning and passion are satisfied by the presence and promises of Christ, the power of sin is broken. We do not yield to the offer of sandwich meat when we can smell the steak sizzling on the grill.

John Piper, Future Grace (Sisters OR: Multnomah Publishers, 1995), 334. Also available electronically from Logos Bible Software.

Both of these are from Adrian Warnock's blog www.adrianwarnock.com

The dawning of a new era.

2010-08-20T23:58:00.004-04:00

Well,
Its been a little under two years since I wrote about what my plans were after college. As I said in that post, I did move home after graduating from Shorter College, now Shorter University. Once I got home I began applying for jobs and eventually got hired on at Lifeway Christian Stores in Augusta. I must say that Lifeway was one of the best work environments that I have ever worked in.

Throughout my time back home I made a couple of different trips up to Wake Forest, North Carolina to visit the campus of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. While I had checked out several other different seminaries I had many friends who went to Southeastern so I thought that I would check it out and see what it was all about. So I set up a trip to visit on a preview weekend, when I did I absolutely loved it, but had at that point begun to get rooted back into my home church and had started helping out with several ministries and did not want to leave.

Then one day I had lunch with one of my best friends and a guy I look to as a mentor, David Walker, you should check out his blog at davidwalkerblog , while at lunch he asked me what it was that was keeping me from going to seminary, at that point I didn't really have a straight answer for him, but as I began to think of it the only thing that I was able to think of was that I did not have the funds to go. While not having the funds is and still is a big issue I still decided that God was sovereign and if I was supposed to get into seminary, then I would and God would provide for me, so I applied to SEBTS for this fall really just to see if I could get in, considering it took me five and a half years to graduate college and because it did I my GPA was not the greatest, so I didn't really think I would get in. However, God surprised me once again and I got in and accepted and as of August 19th am officially a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

While the next step that God has become clear there are still a lot of things that I am unsure of, but I am sure that God has called me to this point for this time and if he take care of the birds he will take care of me. While I know that God has called me here it would be irresponsible for me to assume that he will make money appear out of thin air so that I am able to continue to study here, with that being said I am currently looking for jobs around town and in the Raleigh area, hopefully I will find something that will be able to cover my expenses and be able to give me a little spending money.

PS. I want to say thank you to my home church First Baptist Thomson for the financial assistance that they are giving me by way of a seminary scholarship that the church has set up. It will be put to great use.

I'm a Christian and I'm Sorry.

2010-03-23T22:23:00.002-04:00

WOW! It's been over a year since I've written on here, maybe more like two. So much has happened not the least of which is I graduated from college, but I'll have to update later. Hopefully this will become more of a regular thing, but if youre reading this don't hold your breath. Right now though I have a poem that I heard the other day by Chris Tse who is a poet from Canada I believe. It's pretty good and worth a read or a listen, or both. WARNING: Tse does drope the "F" bomb two or three times, and while probally not needed does get the point across. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I would love to hear what you have to say about this so please comment. I originally heard about this from ragamuffinsoul.com which is Carlos Whitaker's blog there are some great conversations going in the comments there that might be worth a look as well.

I am a Christian.
I’m sorry

I’m sorry for the way that I come across
So fair and fake friendly and full on my self so judging your spiritual health by the words that you say and the way that you dress and the things that you do
Or maybe just judging you

I’m sorry for the way that I live my life.
So confident of my own beliefs that I would never think to think about thinking about yours

I’m sorry for the wars
Iron clad crusaders mounting steeds and drawing swords with such spirit
but if the spirit spoke they wouldn't hear it for you see the sword of the Spirit was not a sword
but the word was with God and the word was God and they preached this as they marched on the holy land.
Singing and praying
And killing and slaying.
And purging and healing
And raping and stealing.
It’s ironic that they lined their pockets in the name of God
Just like the priests who lined their pockets in the name of God.
Just like the people you can’t stand because they always raise their hand and spread their faith and hate and judgment in the name of God.
I’m sorry that I take the God's name in vain – or rather I’m sorry that I stain the name of God. Defending my selfish actions and selfless actions pertaining to the will of God.

I’m sorry for being intolerant.
For trying to talk down to you, for trying to talk over you, for not letting you talk.

I’m sorry for not walking the walk. For being a hypocritical critical Christian. Criticizing your pagan lifestyle while my own lifestyle styles itself like the televangelist’s hair. All slick and sly and slippery its a silver syllable slidethat wait until you hear well seebut that’s my greatest fear.
That the steps I take won’t match the words I speak so when I speak all you hear of me is a weak hypocritical critical Christian. Doing one thing and saying another. Loving my friend but hating my brother – it’s a show.

I’m sorry I get drunk on Saturday’s and go to church on Sunday’s to pray for my friends who get drunk on Saturday’s.
And on that note I’m sorry for making the church about the pews and the cross and the walls and the steeple, because the building is not the church; the church is the people.

I’m sorry that I hate you because you are gay.
I’m sorry I condemn you to hell because you’re gay instead of loving I jump to hatred. Mouth open and tongue preaching, eyes open but not seeing that you are the same as me just a F****** human being.

I’m sorry that I only hang out with Christian friends and we only do nice Christian things like pot luck dinners and board game nights. While in the night a man beats his girlfriend again. Another homeless man dies again. Is this the that my own pride has been but here I am with my same friends again but see what I always forget is that Jesus didn’t come to hang out with the priests and the lords, no. He hung out with cripples and beggars and whores.

Love.

I’m sorry for history. For native tribes wiped out in the name of the church. Lodges burning. Stomachs churning and yearning for justice as mothers, screaming and bleeding, pleading for their young ones are dragged away to church schools where they were abused.

I’m sorry for the way that I refuse to learn your culture, instead I just came to spread the gospel - and the plague.

I’m sorry that I stand at the front doors of abortion clinics screaming at fifteen-year-old girls as they enter instead of waiting at the back door to hug them as they leave.

I’m sorry for taking my wars and my faith to your lands when historically your lands is where my faith was born. And in the face of the storm I realize that if God is Allah and Allah is God then why are we shooting instead of sharing? Why are we launching instead of learning? Why are we warring instead of walking together? Why are we taking instead of talking together? Why are we bombing instead of breaking bread together as brothers? You see I think God looks down and He’s sad. And from His right hand throne above, Jesus asks “where is the love?” And if it takes Wil.I.Am and Justin Timberlake asking the same question for us to start asking the same question then where the f*** are we headed?

So I will take this stage to be my chapel and this mic to my confession booth, and in the presence of God and of you, the blessed, I confess I am a Christian. I’m sorry.

- A poem by Chris Tse

Christmas Giveaway

2008-12-16T01:37:00.002-05:00

Trevin Wax has a great Christmas giveaway going on over at his blog Kingdom People. In this giveway he is giving away his Top 10 books of the year and an ESV study Bible. Although I haven't heard of a lot of these books the first book on the list Tim Keller's Reason for God is on my to read list and is worth the entry into the contest itself, and if that is not then the ESV Study Bible Definitley is.

My next step...

2008-12-06T03:53:00.004-05:00

I have wondered for a while what my next step after college was going to be. Was it going to be something like grad school, seminary, or the like; or was it going to be staying in Rome like so many of my friends from Shorter have done, or was it going to be moving back home like many other friends have also done. While I have thought about this and have wrestled with what was going to be the next step it was always a ways off and therefore while I am still wrestling with it there is no immanence concerning the need to make a decision. Of course, this was until the beginning of this semester.
The beginning of this semester I began to truly see the light at the end of this five and a half year tunnel that I have called college. Of course, tunnels are usually dark and something that you are simply focused on getting through without any fun along the way; this is by far not what my college life was like, but tunnel none the less. Anyway, at the beginning of this semester I was truly able to say these four classes pending I was going to graduate in December. Knowing that graduation was coming I began to seriously look at my plans for what I was going to do after college. Knowing that God has called me to ministry, and since my degree was in religion, I decided that seminary seemed to be the most logical step. So I began looking at seminaries and decided that while I did like New Orleans seminary, I was(am) still a little bit uneasy about moving to Louisiana to live, so I decided that I was going to apply to the seminary for the Extension Center in Atlanta and still live in Rome and work and go to school down there.
Well, as things seemed to progress closer and closer to today, while I was looking for jobs and would put in applications nothing ever came of my search and I was never able to find a roommate to live with after I graduated, so this put a huge damper on what my plans were post graduation.
This dampening of my plans left me with only one other option, moving home after graduation. Ironically, it seems like to my mom this was what was going to happen all along. However, as much as I love home, I feel like this is taking a giant step backwards on the independence scale and as far as seminary is concerned because while commuting is still an option 2 hours twice a week to school, not to mention home is really not an option at all. Unfortunately, there is not a seminary anywhere around home either.
So, I sit here at school just waiting for graduation to occur a week from today, and then I am moving home. I don't really think that this would be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that Rome had become a second home for me,even more so than Thomson in some cases. For the last several years, I have only gone home on holidays so I basically lived in Rome. This is where all of my really close friends are with the exception of a few. My friends here in Rome, have become like my family over the past five and a half years. I feel like I am moving on and leaving family behind.
A big part of the family I am leaving behind is my family at Three Rivers Community Church, this church has had such an impact in my life and has definitely helped to shape my thoughts on what the church is and what my calling as a minister can look like. There are several men in this church who have helped shape my thoughts on what it means to be a man, and what it will someday mean to be a father and a husband.
Youth for Christ is something else that I am really going to miss. While I really started getting involved again this past summer I have truly enjoyed working with the staff and really getting to see God change the life of the kids and the families that we have a chance to minster to. The staff has really taught me a lot and my internship has reminded me of the joys of ministry are a lot of times in the small things.
So, right now I am taking the next step that seems to be there, no matter how much it doesn't feel like the right one. I am fully aware that God's plans are not our plans and neither is his timing our timing. In fact, this may be one of the most clear examples of both I have ever had. Until God shoots me in another direction which could definitely happen I am now planning on going home and working somewhere to save up enough money to move back up to Rome so I can start seminary. How long will that be, more, 6 months, a year,I don't know. If it is God's will it will happen, and evidently it is his will for me to move home now. Hopefully, he will give me a peace about it in the coming days.

Piper on the Supremacy of Christ

2008-04-10T02:27:00.006-04:00

THAT'S MY KING!!

2008-03-23T01:48:00.001-04:00

Why are we not dancing?

2008-03-17T14:22:00.011-04:00

A lot of my posts on here are going to be about interesting thoughts that were brought up because of Shane Claiborne's book that I just finished reading. At the end of one of the last chapters Shane writes:

"Joy and celebration don't usually mark progressive social justice circles, or conservative Christian circles, for that matter. But the Jesus movement is a revolution that dances. Celebration is at the very core of our kingdom, and hopefully that celebration will make its way into the darkest corners of our world--the ghettos and refugee camps, and the palaces and prisons. May the whispers of hope reach the ears of hope-hungry people in the shadows of our world."

So my question is: "Why are we not dancing?

Why are we remembering the suffering of the cross, but not the victory of the resurrection?

This passage that Shane writes in his book, is very true about Christianity. This truth should be evident to us all year long, but especially during this time of year, this Holy week. However, I am reminded more and more as I walk around my campus and run into Christians, including myself, that we don't seem to take to heart the truth that Jesus is Alive and that he has won the battle against sin. This is evidenced in Matthew 28 where it says:

12And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." 8So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. (ESV)

When we don't take to heart the fact that Jesus is Alive, then we forget the celebration and joy that comes with Easter. We tend to focus on the cross and not on the empty tomb. We tend to remember Friday, but we don't remember Sunday. When we focus on the cross, and understand that it was our sin that put Him there then we start to feel depressed and guilty because we did that to Him. When we focus on Sunday we realize that no matter how bad we are or could ever be Jesus still covered our sins when he died and rose again; and we realize that even the most horrible form of torture we could think up couldn't hold Him.

When we look at it from the perspective of Sunday. Easter is a time of celebration, not a time for mourning. Christ has defeated death, and believe it or not HE IS ALIVE!! Not only is He alive, but he is at work in our lives everyday. So lets live like we are focused on Sunday. Live like we are celebrating the Resurrection of Christ.

Christianity, The War on Terror, and Redemptive Justice

2008-03-14T03:17:00.010-04:00

Lately, in the little free time that I have from reading for class I have been reading this book:

This is a book by a guy that I heard speak at Berry College late last semester. Up until that point i had no idea who he was or what he was about. There have been a lot of things in this book that have made me think. I am sure that I will write a lot more about things that I have read in this book because it truly is revolutionary.

The most recent thing that caught my attention is where Shane is talking about redemptive justice, also know as the "eye for and eye" mentality. In the book he talks about how some people feel like the world kills the good in them, one of them being a solider in the Gulf War who later cam home horrified, crazy and dehumanized. He would go on to do the worst domestic terrorist attack we have ever seen. Shane says, " He (did what he did) in hopes that complacent Americans could see what "collateral damage" looks like and cry out against bloodshed everywhere, even in Iraq."

"Instead of America seeing this, the government that had trained him to kill, killed him, to teach the rest of us that it is wrong to kill."

.

Is it just me or does that sound a little backwards. Shane goes on to talk about one of the fathers of the Oklahoma City Bombing who even though he lost his daughter in the bombing who although he first wanted the bomber to die remembered his daughter telling him "Execution teaches hatred."

Shane then goes on to say that,"God's love (and grace) extends to all losers whether:

Osama bin Laden
or

Saddam Hussein
or

Saul of Tarsus
or

Timothy McVeigh

or

Me

This is interesting because it is not very often that I put myself in the same group as these other four guys. Even Saul who eventually becomes the Apostle Paul, I would like to say I am like him and group myself with him but truth be told I can't even compare. However, I don't put myself in the group with the other three because I tend to think that I am not as bad as they are, I have not done things nearly as bad as them, but the truth of the matter is to God a sin is a sin no matter if it is lying or murder. So if this is the case then I am no better than anyone else even these guys.
In case you haven't figured out who Shane was talking about, he was talking about Timothy McVeigh. It is hard for me to think of doing anything other than retaliating at someone who does wrong to me. Yet I know that this is not what Jesus teaches in the Gospel. In Matthew 5 Jesus says:

38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

It seems to me that we have listened and read Jesus' words but we have not heard what He is actually saying. If we were actually hearing we would be doing as well. Instead we are still living by the eye for and eye mentality. Now I think mainly because it is such a foreign concept I can't even imagine not retaliating for September 11th or not using the death penalty for murderers such as McVeigh. However the only reason it seems foreign to us is because we forget what Jesus says about anger, and lust, and addictions, and so on. As Shane says in his book:

"When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people. In the murderers, we see our own hatred. In the addicts, we see our own addictions. In the saints, we catch a glimpse of our own holiness. We can see our own brokenness, our own violence, our own ability to destroy, and we can see our own sacredness, our own capacity to love and forgive. When we realize that we are both retched and beautiful we are freed up to see others the same way."

If we apply this radical thought of following what Jesus commands and try to see others as Jesus sees them then we would:

not only have not retaliated for the attacks on September 11, 2001 but we would also be doing something that says we love and more importantly Jesus loves the Taliban.
Have not gone to Iraq to start with, or if we did then we go not because we want to take out Saddam, but to show Saddam the love of Christ
Forgiven Paul for what he did when he was Saul (ok so most did, but it was a stretch considering he is not in our lifetime)
Not sought the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh and instead gotten him some sort of counseling and also shared the love of Jesus with him over time.

When you start seeing things as Jesus sees them then this whole notion of redemptive justice flies right out the window. I still have a hard time with this simply because it has become human nature to follow the lie of redemptive justice. However, Jesus calls us to live radically different than the world and this is a perfect example of how to do just that.

Nick Nolte and Jesus

2008-03-09T01:26:00.009-05:00

Well, Hollywood and Religion is a pretty vague topic that I could write for days on so I decided that I would just write about the most recent instance. So the most recent thing I have heard was just a short quote that got me thinking, but it came from a surprising source: Nick Nolte

Nolte was on some news show for an interview, for what I am not exactly sure, but he said something that caught my attention. He said,

"you know what ego stands for, easing God out, and you don't want to do that."

I had never really thought about that, and I don't know if that is really what the person who first used the word ego meant when they originally used it, but it makes sense.
If you think about what happens to someone when they get a big ego they do exactly that. They make it all about themselves and ease God and everyone else out. I think too many times, even in our Christian walk we get a big ego. We may have good intentions but we fall back to our human nature which is sin. This is the reason that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and the reason Sodom and Gomorrah occurred.

When we take God out of the picture and make ourselves the most important thing then we are taking the place of God. This may not be our intent and many time this happens without us even realizing it until we have already done it, but we have done it none the less. Jesus knew some people like this in the New Testament, they were called Pharisees and His harshest words were reserved just for them. These people were the ones who were self righteous, meaning that they did everything for their own glory and not God's glory.

I know for a fact that I don't have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I have done this. I say so much and give so much lip service to the fact that I want to live for God, but it sometimes seems like lip service is all I am doing. I don't know what exactly I need to be doing to do a better job at living for Him.Well, actually I do, I need to get in the word more and it will probably become a lot clearer. That right there is one example of how self righteous I am, I have all this time in my days and don't take any of it to get into the word. I, nor anyone else can expect to love God any more than the extent that we are in His word. This truth was taught to me several years ago, but as you can tell I tend to do exactly what Satan wants me to do and put it to the back of my mind and forget it until later. I don't know about anyone else but I am tired of Jesus, or at least His word's being on the back burner of my life. I am more apt to pick up a good Christian non fiction book than my Bible. As good as those books may be they really don't even compare to the Word of God, or they shouldn't. However, so many times I find whatever some human author has to say so much more that what God has to say. That is not to say that God can't use those books to speak because He does but ultimately He has given us sixty six books that tell us exactly what He wants us to know and so many times we don't even bother to pick up our Bible's much less open them up.
What a shame!

John Piper on the Prosperity Gospel

2008-03-08T03:04:00.005-05:00

This is a powerful video:

History has a way of repeating itself.

2008-03-08T01:41:00.005-05:00

Looking back over some of my old blogs I think it is interesting to see how I have grown up over the past couple of years but I also find it interesting how the same thoughts and feelings keep popping up and reoccurring when similar events occur. The best example I can give pertaining to this is looking at my response to friends or family passing away. I almost wrote in my other blog the other day only to realize that the same thing that I was feeling then was the same way I felt when I wrote about Dr. Wilkins passing away and thinking back on it the same way I felt when my dad died, etc.
I find it interesting that we can seem to grow up and mature so much over the years and still look back and ultimately be still experiencing and feeling the same way we were then. This makes me think that maybe we haven't grown up as much as we think we have, or maybe the feelings and questions that we have don't really have an answer or we won't know the answer to them until much later. I think this is kind of what Jesus is getting at when he talks in Matthew about worry. I don't know that it is so much worry that I feel as much as it is frustration. The words of the prophet Isaiah have never rang more true than they do in these moments:

8For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)

It is in these ways that I have to trust and I have to remember that it really is all about His glory and not my own or anyone else's and as He has shown me before I must remember that I do not have everything figured out, but that He does. And even with these times where I think that healing someone would bring Him more glory than taking them He knows whats best. And for that I am grateful because if it was left up to me there is no telling where I would be.

A New Beginning

2008-03-07T03:53:00.003-05:00

I have a blog that I have used in the past, feel free to check it out if you want to: www.xanga.com/thomsontennis

I decided to start one on here for a change of scenery and because several people I know have blogs on here and I want to be able to keep up with them.