Thoughts on Disappointment

Well, the past few weeks have been rough to handle. It was all capped off today when it seems like things are hitting an all time low. It's a long story, and I'm sure you don't enjoy pity parties anymore than I do...

It's amazing how we can be so cenetered on our circumstances and forget one of the greatest promises of Scripture: 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.'

The more I pray and meditate on the Word, the more I am beginning to realize that it is my attitude about life that is disfunctional, not God's sovereignty. Nothing about Christ has changed...He is just as perfect, wonderful, amazing, as He was yesterday and will continue to be this way on in to eternity. So though today, I feel disappointed with the hand life has dealt me I can be confident that His mercies are new every morning...so with that, I look forward to waking up tomorrow morning to the same Savior I have for the past 9 years. For even when we are faithless, He remains faithful.

In These Changing Times...

It was astonishing to me to see history unfold before my eyes last night. I hope you all got a chance to participate in last night's historic election. It seems like our nation is in a drastic state of change.

In light of all that, I was encouraged this morning as I read Psalm 102:25-27:

"Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end."

What a word from the Lord! I am think of Daniel who reminds us that 'it is He who changes the times and epochs, who establishes Kings and removes them' (that may be a Julian paraphrase). Though our government may change, thought policies may come and go, though politicians may rise and fall from power, may we never forget that we serve the unchanging Ruler of the universe who is Lord over all authorities, goverments, and yes, even politicians. His will for us is clear. I can think of at least a couple of things:

'This is the first and greatest command...that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself''

'Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, and lo, I am with you even until the end of the age'

I see no reason not to continue in these things. So I encourage you: pray for your leaders; share the good news of Jesus Christ in your communities; invest your resources into the business of Christ, namely, making disciples; strive to fall more deeply in love with the Savior and allow that love to overflow into the lives around you; be reminded that in these changing times you serve and live for the unchanging Lord of creation, that His Spirit dwells within you and that in this, you can rest and be satisfied.

May He continue to get all the glory from our lives.

Beggars...

This was posted on Piper's blog yesterday to celebrate the start of the reformation.

Hopefully Luther's words will always echo true in our lives...that we always find ourselves begging for grace at the foot of the cross.

491 years ago today, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg.

He wanted to debate the sale of indulgences with his fellow university professors. So he wrote in Latin.

But a nameless visionary translated the theses into German, carried them to the printing press, and enabled their dispersion far and wide. Luther ended up with more than he bargained for, but he proved to be no coward in defending the discoveries he was making in Scripture.

First Thesis

The truth of Luther’s first thesis would reverberate throughout his lifetime, even finding expression in his last words.

His first thesis reads,

When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.

All of the Christian life is repentance. Turning from sin and trusting in the good news that Jesus saves sinners aren’t merely a one-time inaugural experience but the daily substance of Christianity. The gospel is for every day and every moment. Repentance is to be the Christian’s continual posture.

Last Words

Almost 30 years later, on February 16, 1546, Luther’s last words, written on a piece of scrap paper, echoed the theme of his first thesis:

We are beggars! This is true.

From first thesis to last words, Luther lived at the foot of the cross, where our rebellious condition meets with the beauty of God’s lavish grace in the gospel of his Son—a gospel deep enough to cover all the little and massive flaws of a beggar like Luther and beggars like us.

You're All I Need

So...Aaron, Mike, and I got together tonight to record a little tune we wrote over the past weekend. The inspiration for this song comes from Mark 1, the story of Christ healing the leper. Oh how we need His healing hand to touch our lives. Give it a listen. Hope you are encouraged.

Clarity

One of the most amazingly relieving feelings is when God, after allowing me to wait on Him, makes His will so clear and evident in my life. All of the sudden, I know exactly which direction to walk and now I can walk that direction with conviction, confidence, and passion knowing that God has made Himself clearly known. I praise God for His word, His Spirit, and the brothers and sisters He puts in my life to do this."Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path."Continue to acknowledge Him, and let Him direct the path. He'll make your path more joyful and more satisfying than any other path you would have taken on your own.

Draw Near, Be Close

This is a song a wrote a while ago. Not one of the more produced ones, I never even really played it with the band. It's definitely special to me as the words take us to the sweetest and safest place we can be when life seems to weigh heavy, that is, near to Jesus. If you get a chance, give it a listen as this is probably one of the most important songs I've ever written. It truly reflects a heart that is so desperate that it knows nowhere else to go but to the only One who will hold it in His sweet embrace.

Don't know the title yet...maybe you can help!

Wonderful, my Matchless King
On a cross, salvation brings
In my blindness called to see
And fix my eyes only on Thee

Walking wholly in the dark
Without purpose for my heart
Until Your light shined gloriously
And fixed my eyes only on Thee

Oh precious Savior, Friend of mine
The wretched, bought by love Divine
And when my heart is wandering
Lord fix my eyes only on Thee

And when the face of earthly fame
Has drawn my heart to walk astray
Lord, bring me near my All to be
And fix my eyes only on Thee

When days of darkest dark may fall
To rob my joy with shadows tall
You're here amongst my suffering
To fix my eyes only on Thee

Oh precious Savior, Friend of mine
Though wretched, bought by love Divine
And when my heart is wandering
Lord fix my eyes only on Thee

And in a moment faith is sight
Swept up in glory’s final flight
And with eyes fixed only on Thee
I’ll sing Thy praise eternally

Abide WIth Me

This song has ministered to me in so many ways. Hopefully it can minister to you as well:

Abide with me fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide
When other helpers, fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, abide with me

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile
And though rebellious, and perverse meanwhile
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left thee
On the close Lord, abide with me

I need thy presence every passing hour
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, abide with me

I feel no foe with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, tears lose their bitterness
Where is thy sting death? Where grave thy victory?
I triumph for Thou dost bide with me

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies
Heavn's morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee
In life, in death Lord, abide with me

Here's the plan...

I'm gonna do something for myself for the first time in a very long time. I don't know what it is yet, but it's gonna be for me.

Walk with Jesus Again

I'm unceasingly amazed at how easily I forget the simple pleasure of walking with Jesus.

With so many things to draw my attention elsewhere I find myself too often lacking in the solidarity of focus to keep my eyes on Christ. The temptation is always to look around for other amusements - friends, jobs, family, even ministry. These things are not in and of themselves bad, in fact, they all have potential to cause me to walk more closely with Christ as they have consistently in the past. But these things are not Christ. And the replacing of Christ in my life with these things is nothing short of adultery against the only unfailingly eternal lover of my soul.

So again I'll ask the Lord to once again change the way I praise. That I might be diligent to draw equally near to Him on Monday morning as much as Sunday morning. That I would renew the investment of my affections in Christ on a daily basis. That I would rejoice daily in my salvation and in the One who gave all to gain it. That I might surrender daily to living a life of Worship that glorifies Christ. There is no greater calling than the calling to walk with Jesus.

"Whom have I in heaven but You, and there is nothing on earth I desire besides You. Though my flesh and my heart may fail, God is the strength of my life and my Portion forever."
-Psalm 73:25-26

Over the Summer...

What do you say about one of the most life-changing summers or your life?

I think of something interesting I read in the Word about Joseph in Hebrews. Many biblical characters are recognized in Hebrews 11 for their feats of faith in the Lord. When it gets to Joseph he is recognized in this way - "By faith Joseph, when he was in his last days, gave instructions regarding his bones." I know...I was equally confused at first. Joseph could have easily been recognized for so many things. Perhaps, were I the writer of Hebrews, it would've gone something like this:

"By faith, Joseph trusted the Lord when his brothers sold him into slavery. By faith, Joseph grew in favor with the captain of the Egyptian guard. By faith, Joseph trusted the Lord when he was thrown into the Egyptian prison. By faith, Joseph rose to the highest place in Egypt."
So many other things that could have been recognized about Joseph's faithful service to God. But the writer of Hebrews points out Joseph's last will and testament. How could this be?

My confusion led me to believe that this is worth further study. Interestingly enough, I read all the way through the story of Joseph in Genesis for the first time. When I finally arrived at the conclusion of his life I figured out what these instructions were that were referenced in Hebrews. Joseph, even though he was dying, wanted his bones taken to the promised land. Astonishing!!!! Here's why~

Joseph knew that the Lord had promised him a better place. That Egypt was not the end...there was something much better to come. So Joseph placed all of his faith in what he had been promised by God. Boy, do I have a lot to learn.

Though Joseph had accomplished so many things he never lost sight of what he had been promised by his God. That there was a promised land coming, that it would be glorious, that it would be all that he had confidently hoped for all those years. Joseph could have easily been satisfied with being delivered from his chains or becoming one of the most powerful and respected men in all of Egypt. But he refused. He was satisfied only by the promise that God had given him. Even in his last days, when it would've been so easy to despair, he remained confident in God's promised land.

So then, where is the hope? The hope is in the promised land. It's easy to feel as if we've already arrived when we hit these milestones in life - graduating college, getting that first job, getting married, whatever it may be. It's easy to lose sight of the best which is yet to come. At the same time, it's easy to despair when life is weighing so heavily upon you that you feel like your very bones may snap in half. Even then, we must not lose sight of the land that is promised to us. It is because of this prmise that we can say like Paul that 'I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day." It is because of this promise that we know that the highest of highs is only a small taste of the glory of heaven. It is because of this promise that in the lowest of lows we can say that 'though He slay me, I will trust Him' because He has promised me something that goes beyond death...that is the victory over death.

This summer has been truly amazing. I've served like I've never served before. I can only attribute this to an amazingly renewed sense of gratitude for the precious blood that bought the land which is now promised to me. I look back on the past three months of ministry with no regrets. The Lord worked mightily and I feel so privileged to be the jar of clay which held the all-surpassing glory of all that is Christ. So I walk away from this summer knowing again what it truly feels like to be in love with the Savior and to be loved by the Savior.

Tomorrow, I return to ministry. Monday, I return to work. Tonight, I sit and look up at the beautiful view of the stars from my backyard and am reminded of my redeemer, faithful and true, and look forward to some glad morning when this life is over when I fly away to a land on God's celestial shore. I'll know I've arrived when I meet my Savior face to face. What an amazing promised land.

~In Flux

As change rapidly approaches, I find myself strangely grounded and stable. Those who know me well, know that I normally don't adjust to change well. Routine and habit are comfortable, often making me feel centered and focused. Today, I fell centered and focused differently.

As I leave behind the California Maritime Academy the sense of dreading adulthood is surprisingly absent. Don't get me wrong, I will miss Cal Maritime, particularly the fellowship I've found through the CMA Bible Study. But I have always anticipated graduation with apprehension, as if something good was ending and something fearful was beginning. In the back of my mind, I've always felt so unready to leave that which I've come to know and love so well for the past 17 years. As the end approaches, however, there is a sense of peace that surrounds the flux that is my life.

As I begin my ministry at Campus Crossroads I feel excited as I dwell on the possibilities. I anticipated regretting my decision to leave the COV ministry. I must admit, there is a part of me that will always be in COV and I praise God for every brother and sister that has encouraged me to walk with the Lord in the past four years. I leave COV for Crossroads, however, with a strange confidence.

In a heart and mind like mine, one that fears and dreads change so much, this centrality and focus must come from somewhere else. I know it is not originated in myself.

"For I am the Lord, I change not..." - Malachi 3:6
"And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose" - Romans 8:27-28

I am apprehensive, I am afraid

He makes me centered, He makes me focused

Because He is unchanging, Because He is unfailing.