“Who is more biting than a prophet?” Martin Luther September 30, 2008
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“It is true, I have, by and large, sharply inveighed against ungodly doctrines and have not been slow to bite my adversaries, not because of their bad morals but because of their ungodliness. Of this I am so unrepentant that I have resolved to continue in this burning zeal and to despise the judgment of men, after the example of Christ, who in His zeal called His adversaries a generation of vipers, blind, hypocrites, children of the devil (Matt. 23:13; 17:33; John 8:44).
And Paul calls the sorcerer a child of the devil full of all subtlety and all mischief (Acts 13:10); and some false apostles he calls dogs, deceivers, and adulterers of the Word (Phil. 3:2; 2 Cor. 11:13). If these sensitive ears had heard this, they would probably say that no one could be more biting and immoderate than Paul. Who is more biting than the prophets?
But nowadays, of course, our ears are made so sensitive by the mad multitude of flatterers that as soon as we find that we are not praised in all things, we cry out that people are vicious; and when we cannot ward off the truth under any other guise, we escape from it under the pretext of the snappishness, impatience, and immoderateness of its defenders.
What good does salt do if it does not bite? What good does the edge of the sword do if it does not cut? Cursed be the man who does the work of the Lord deceitfully!”
–Martin Luther, What Luther Says: An Anthology, Vol. 1, comp. Ewald M. Plass
Rejoice!! Give Glory to God September 23, 2008
Posted by Jeremy in ASU, Lazarus, Lees-McRae.2 comments
So it’s Tuesday night which means I am at Lees-McRae leading my bible study there. I’ve been doing this now for three weeks. The group is still fairly small but they keep coming back 
. This night we were looking at Luke 2. One of the things that we talked about was the interaction between the shepherds and angels mainly how they told them that the Savior was born. We then spent a good amount of time talking about the claims of christianity, namely that Jesus is our Savior and how that is offensive because it’s means it not about us. The bible study went great, though there were only three students who came out (tomorrow they don’t have classes, which didn’t help the numbers any). The excited part happened after the small group.
This guy, Mason, who has been coming for the past three weeks stayed after like usual and helped me clean up and we started talking. We have been talking for a little while about where he is spiritually, he doesn’t think of himself as a christian but grew up in a christian home and started coming to the bible study to honestly meet girls. He know about Jesus but doesn’t know him personally. Well he does TONIGHT. Mason and I talked for about an hour or so after small group and the Spirit ripped through him heart and in Mason’s words said “I want Him in my life”, he was broken. We spent probably 10 minutes praying and talking to God and confessing our need for him in our lives.
Then I told him we were going to go celebrate. He looked at me a little weird and said “okay”. I asked him what was still open in Banner Elk. He laughed and said Food Lion. So, we went to Food Lion, bought a box of donuts and a 6-pack of Cream Soda and sat in the parking lot and celebrating God’s work in his life. It was so sweet.
It was so awesome seeing God work in his heart tonight. We’ve been talking about the same thing for the past three weeks and God chose tonight to break into his heart and breathe life into him. Praise God for his mighty saving work in our lives.
Jesus of the Scars September 16, 2008
Posted by Jeremy in Thoughts and Theology.add a comment
Below is a poem I came across and spent some time reflecting on today. It was written by Edward Shillito (1872 – 1948). In it Edward reminds me that I have a God who was wounded on my behalf. That He is a personal God who know what it means to suffer. He isn’t a God removed in the clouds but a God who knows what it means to suffer. He came as a man and experienced what we have, being tempted in every way but never sinning.
If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow;
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.
The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars we claim Thy grace.
If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know today what wounds are; have no fear;
Show us Thy Scars; we know the countersign.
The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.
What does it mean for you today to know that you have a personal God who know exactly what you feel and what it means to struggle?
Lees-McRae September 10, 2008
Posted by Jeremy in Lees-McRae.add a comment
I’ve started my ministry on the campus of Lees-McRae. For those of you that don’t know. I am also the campus staff for Lees-McRae college (LMC). We are planting a chapter there so I’m completely starting from the ground up.
I was on campus last Tuesday night for an interest meeting and had 4 freshman girls come. I got emails from about 6 or 8 other people who were interested in getting involved but couldn’t come to the meeting. It so happened that there was audition for the schools drama team and a bulk of the students were at that. I brought some drinks and snacks for everyone and we spent a bit of time introducing ourselves and talking about why they were all come out. Then I spent some time explaining what InterVarsity is and what my vision for the campus was. They were very excited about me being on campus and starting this up. I told them that we were going to start a bible study every Tuesday night and I would be leading it. I also encouraged them to spread the word and bring other folks.
Last night I had my second meeting at LMC and I had 8 people show up (I doubled in size!! ), one guy and 7 guys. 50% of the people were minority which got me very excited as most of you know that I have a heart for racial reconciliation (as does InterVarsity). We played some icebreaker games, the m&m game and also went around the room saying who the most famous person you ever came in contact was. Then we started our bible study. I picked the book of Luke for us to begin going through. We only went through the first 4 verse but it was really sweet. Everyone was very involved in the discussion of the passage.
Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves a lot and several of them made it a point to tell me they would definitely be back next week. I got to talk to one of the folks after our time and had a great conversation about his faith and were he is at right now. We are going to start meeting each Tuesday for a time of discipleship.
I’m excited to see what God is going to do on this campus and through me!!
Justification September 5, 2008
Posted by Jeremy in John Piper, Thoughts and Theology, puritan prayers.1 comment so far
I’ve been going through this book called Justification Vindicated by Robert Traill. It’s been a good read and has actually been challenging me a bit on various points he makes throughout the book. It’s a pretty short read and broken down well. Here a little snippet from a chapter I recently finished.
Context
The chapter is called Advantages of the True Doctrine of Justification. In it he has several subtitles that he then elaborates on. The one I wanted to share with you comes from the subtitle called ’It (justification) is that doctrine only by which a convinced sinner can be dealt with effectually’. In it he is explaining an interaction you might have with a person who asks the question “what must I do to be saved”.
Quote:
“If he should say, ‘What is it to believe on Jesus Christ?’, I find no such question in the Word. All did in some way understand the notion of it: the Jews that did not believe on him (John 6:28-30); the chief priests and Pharisees (John 7:48); the blind man (John 10:35). When Christ asked him, “Believest thou on the Son of God?”. he answered, ‘Who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him?’ Immediately, when Christ told him, verse 37, he does not say, ‘What is it to believe on him?’ but, ‘Lord, I believe’, and worshipped him. And so he both professed and put into practice faith in him. So the father of the lunatic (Mark 9:23-24), and the eunuch (Acts 8:37). They all, both Christ’s enemies and his disciples, knew that faith in him was a believing that the man Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, so as to receive, and look for salvation in his name (Acts 4:12). This was the common report, published by Christ and his apostles and disciples, and known by al that heart it.
If he still asks what he is to believe, tell him that he is not called to believe that he is in Christ, that his sins are pardoned, and he is a justified man; but that he is to believe God’s report concerning Christ (1 John 5:10-12), and this record is that God gives (that is, offers) to us eternal life in his Son Jesus Christ, and that all that with the heart believe this report, and rest their souls on these glad tidings, shall be saved (Rom. 10:9-10). And thus he is to believe that he may be justified (Gal. 2:16).”
Here are some videos that are along this same line.
