Well, the new students arrived last Monday, and everything is beginning again. It’s a lot different this time around, because rather than being in session all day, I only have one class in the afternoon and I’m studying or doing something else during my time.
God is taking me into a season of focusing on His Word. He is guiding me and daily teaching me new things I had never expected to learn before. The key to Biblical study is indeed hard work, but it is a joyful labor, as the farmer who sows seed and delights in his harvest.
All the new students are incredible to me. Many of them are starting this semester very strong, but no matter spiritual maturity, they are all focused on one thing: Jesus Christ, and His glory. I am especially amazed by the men (I say men, despite young ages, for they truly are becoming men). They are already interceding and praying for all the girls on the campus, something the summer students didn’t start until later. God is pouring out His Spirit and moving mightily in our midst.
One thing I’ve been doing for a class is an intense study of one book of the Bible. This past week, my group did the book of James. When you sit down with one book and read it multiple times a day, God reveals wonderful things to you. I’ve never done something like that before, yet many famous Christians have done very intense studies, Charles Spurgeon, for example. These type of men don’t just pop out of nowhere; they are groomed by the Word and Spirit of God.
Currently, I am engaged in serious warfare. Not that we live in a land of peace, mind you, but God has commissioned us with a specific battle to fight. The orphan choir from Haiti is trying to come over to America, but the strongholds of the enemy are quite strong (that happens when your national religion is voodoo) and the government is quite unyielding. However, we press on in prayer, knowing that whatever God begins, He finishes. If you want to find out more, visit www.hislittlefeet.org
Indeed, the Lord is wonderful. Though hardship comes, we endure by the grace of God. I look forward with great expectancy to the rest of the year.
Many blessings
Your fellow sojourner upon this earth,
Nik
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
The Costly Gospel
This is a report I did on Eric's sermon "The Costly Gospel." Enjoy!
I remember one day flipping through a Christian magazine when I saw a small side portion with the words “Do You Know Christ as Your Savior?” in big letters.
Interested, I looked into it. I don’t remember exactly what it said, but it was to the effect of this: If you want Jesus in your life, simply pray this prayer… Dear Jesus. I am a sinner. I know you died for me. Thanks. Amen. If you pray this sincerely, then congratulations! Jesus is now Lord of your life.
A feeling of shock fell over me. Is this all the gospel is today? I thought. Looking back at my life, I began to remember instances when there was an opportunity to “be saved.” Quickly, I began to realize that this message – say this prayer sincerely and you’re saved – is the gospel that is prevalent in Christianity today. I’ve heard the Sinner’s Prayer recited over and over at summer camps, church events, winter camps, even once when one of my teachers was worried about my class of homeschoolers.
We have truncated the gospel so much it has become entirely worthless and even dangerous to many who trust in a prayer, and not God.
In Mark, it is recorded, “And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she broke the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint
my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” (Mark 14: 3 – 9)
Jesus said for this story to be told every time the gospel is preached. Every time.
Yet, I have never once heard this story given with the gospel, save once at Ellerslie. Why would Jesus say that if it was not important, if it didn’t mean anything?
Perhaps we are afraid of its implications.
In another gospel, it is said that the box of spikenard was worth a year’s worth of wages. To us, that is at least twenty- to forty-thousand dollars. To Mary then, it was what she put her trust in. If there was a famine in the land, she could easily sell this alabaster box and she would be set for a year. It was this very precious box that Mary broke and poured out upon Jesus’ head. That is a picture of what we are called to do.
Christ must take us through a season of stripping down everything we put our trust in. We may think these things are important, even essential, to our very existence.
However, once we see Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, we realize all we’re holding on to is a handful of pebbles. That is our life compared to the glorious life of Christ we get in exchange. When we see the cross and what it means to our souls, we, like the merchant of pearls, gives everything in us to find this.
So what does this cross mean to our souls?
When Jesus died, He didn’t just set us free from condemnation and Hell. That’s where most people stop today, and they go on frittering away their life in misery. Christ purchased so much more than only justification. He has set us free from the power of sin over our lives. We don’t have to be a slave to it anymore! We can live free of all sin.
But it doesn’t end there. For we step out of the cage of sin, breathe in the fresh air of freedom, and there, Christ offers us the ultimate invitation: to become a part of His glorious Kingdom. Not just as sons, though, for we were once rebels, but Christ has brought us near to the Throne to become sons and daughters of the Most High.
That is incredible. As the infomercials always say, however, “But wait! There’s more!” Not only are we made sons and daughters, adopted through Christ, but we are now commissioned by Christ to go and spread freedom and life throughout all the nations as the ambassador of the King of Kings.
That task is an impossible one. There is only one way to complete it, and God always completes what He begins: death to self and the impartation of the life of Christ within, the Holy Spirit. The very life of God inside of you! Do you realize what that means? That is utterly amazing, that the Lord of Lords, the Majestic One, the Christ, would come and dwell within men!
However, like Mary, we must give our whole life to Him in order to gain this new life. We must go to the cross.
Are you willing to give everything to find Christ?
I remember one day flipping through a Christian magazine when I saw a small side portion with the words “Do You Know Christ as Your Savior?” in big letters.
Interested, I looked into it. I don’t remember exactly what it said, but it was to the effect of this: If you want Jesus in your life, simply pray this prayer… Dear Jesus. I am a sinner. I know you died for me. Thanks. Amen. If you pray this sincerely, then congratulations! Jesus is now Lord of your life.
A feeling of shock fell over me. Is this all the gospel is today? I thought. Looking back at my life, I began to remember instances when there was an opportunity to “be saved.” Quickly, I began to realize that this message – say this prayer sincerely and you’re saved – is the gospel that is prevalent in Christianity today. I’ve heard the Sinner’s Prayer recited over and over at summer camps, church events, winter camps, even once when one of my teachers was worried about my class of homeschoolers.
We have truncated the gospel so much it has become entirely worthless and even dangerous to many who trust in a prayer, and not God.
In Mark, it is recorded, “And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she broke the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint
my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” (Mark 14: 3 – 9)
Jesus said for this story to be told every time the gospel is preached. Every time.
Yet, I have never once heard this story given with the gospel, save once at Ellerslie. Why would Jesus say that if it was not important, if it didn’t mean anything?
Perhaps we are afraid of its implications.
In another gospel, it is said that the box of spikenard was worth a year’s worth of wages. To us, that is at least twenty- to forty-thousand dollars. To Mary then, it was what she put her trust in. If there was a famine in the land, she could easily sell this alabaster box and she would be set for a year. It was this very precious box that Mary broke and poured out upon Jesus’ head. That is a picture of what we are called to do.
Christ must take us through a season of stripping down everything we put our trust in. We may think these things are important, even essential, to our very existence.
However, once we see Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, we realize all we’re holding on to is a handful of pebbles. That is our life compared to the glorious life of Christ we get in exchange. When we see the cross and what it means to our souls, we, like the merchant of pearls, gives everything in us to find this.
So what does this cross mean to our souls?
When Jesus died, He didn’t just set us free from condemnation and Hell. That’s where most people stop today, and they go on frittering away their life in misery. Christ purchased so much more than only justification. He has set us free from the power of sin over our lives. We don’t have to be a slave to it anymore! We can live free of all sin.
But it doesn’t end there. For we step out of the cage of sin, breathe in the fresh air of freedom, and there, Christ offers us the ultimate invitation: to become a part of His glorious Kingdom. Not just as sons, though, for we were once rebels, but Christ has brought us near to the Throne to become sons and daughters of the Most High.
That is incredible. As the infomercials always say, however, “But wait! There’s more!” Not only are we made sons and daughters, adopted through Christ, but we are now commissioned by Christ to go and spread freedom and life throughout all the nations as the ambassador of the King of Kings.
That task is an impossible one. There is only one way to complete it, and God always completes what He begins: death to self and the impartation of the life of Christ within, the Holy Spirit. The very life of God inside of you! Do you realize what that means? That is utterly amazing, that the Lord of Lords, the Majestic One, the Christ, would come and dwell within men!
However, like Mary, we must give our whole life to Him in order to gain this new life. We must go to the cross.
Are you willing to give everything to find Christ?
Friday, October 1, 2010
Return to Ellerslie / Majesty Lost
Well, I'm back here in Colorado now. So far, some incredible things have happened. We had a group from HomeschoolAlumni.org, or HSA, come and help us with some projects around campus. I saw concrete poured for the first time ever. It was pretty awesome. All the people who came were from all over the United States, but we were all of one accord in seeking after God. Eric came and did a "bonus" session for the HSA group to give them a taste of Ellerslie. He actually did "Majesty Lost", which was a sermon, so if you want to hear the sermon, it's on the Ellerslie website. It is a very incredible message.
Also, with the Ellerslie Advanced Leadership Training (EALT), I'm doing a bunch of reports on various sessions. I may end up posting quite a few on here, but we'll see. Here's the first one I did on the sermon "Majesty Lost" -
Something is deeply wrong.
After returning from Ellerslie, I began attending my church and youth group as once before. However, something was different this time. I was not happy with anything that I saw.
It is important to note that I am not a typically critical person.
After listening to my pastor preach on Sunday, I felt empty. It wasn’t that the sermon was necessarily full of outright lies, but it was weak. Unwittingly, I found myself comparing my pastor to Eric. It’s not a “style” thing – yelling versus calm speaking – it is an “unction” thing. Eric is not the only preacher with power in his words: Steve Gallagher, Paul Washer, Paris Reidhead, A.W. Tozer, David Wilkerson, even Corrie ten Boom, to name but a few. They all have something in common: a life yielded to Jesus; a vision of the glory of God upon their eyes. This heart yielded to Him comes out in the way they speak and in what they speak. It was the difference between having a steak dinner and a bowl of skim milk. There was no substance in my pastor’s preaching and I could have lived in flagrant sin and not felt convicted during his message.
Then I returned to youth group. There are certain things in my youth group that I wouldn’t have thought twice about, but now I see as disturbing. The level of focus on fun is astounding to me. We run from hang out time and games, to a short dance party, to a funny video, to worship. Casually, we enter into the presence of God and sing a few lines. It is ridiculous, and a mockery. There is no reverence, no holiness and no stillness before our King. And when it is all said and done, what do we have to say for it? “Man, that video was hilarious.” No one could retain what was spoken. It wasn’t entirely their fault either, because the messages were weak like my pastor’s, except on the level of youth, likely degrading the truth even further.
Again, it’s not a style thing. There was simply no presence nor power in the words spoken. It was fluff, like whipped cream. It’s likely there are people in that youth group on their way to hell, and all we talk on is self-esteem and pointless things like that.
Something is deeply wrong.
A.W. Tozer writes in the preface to The Knowledge of the Holy, “The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping men. This she has not done deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic. […] With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence.”
Yes, the church has lost its greatest treasure: the majesty of God. However, we have been born in this time for a purpose. I will not go down without fighting for the glory of my King. This is war, and I will draw my sword. There is hope, but it does not reside in men or in most of modern Christianity. It resides in the person of
Jesus Christ and the return of His power to the church.
I challenge you to correct your view of God if it is low or erroneous. We need to see the glory of God return. He is so massive, so mighty, so grand, that our human minds cannot even fathom. He is the God who created stars and galaxies. He is the God who humbled Himself to become a man, so that He might die for us and set us free of all sin. He is the God who reigns then, reigns now, and will reign forever.
Give everything and follow hard after the Lord Most High.
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
Isaiah 58:8 (KJV)
Also, with the Ellerslie Advanced Leadership Training (EALT), I'm doing a bunch of reports on various sessions. I may end up posting quite a few on here, but we'll see. Here's the first one I did on the sermon "Majesty Lost" -
Something is deeply wrong.
After returning from Ellerslie, I began attending my church and youth group as once before. However, something was different this time. I was not happy with anything that I saw.
It is important to note that I am not a typically critical person.
After listening to my pastor preach on Sunday, I felt empty. It wasn’t that the sermon was necessarily full of outright lies, but it was weak. Unwittingly, I found myself comparing my pastor to Eric. It’s not a “style” thing – yelling versus calm speaking – it is an “unction” thing. Eric is not the only preacher with power in his words: Steve Gallagher, Paul Washer, Paris Reidhead, A.W. Tozer, David Wilkerson, even Corrie ten Boom, to name but a few. They all have something in common: a life yielded to Jesus; a vision of the glory of God upon their eyes. This heart yielded to Him comes out in the way they speak and in what they speak. It was the difference between having a steak dinner and a bowl of skim milk. There was no substance in my pastor’s preaching and I could have lived in flagrant sin and not felt convicted during his message.
Then I returned to youth group. There are certain things in my youth group that I wouldn’t have thought twice about, but now I see as disturbing. The level of focus on fun is astounding to me. We run from hang out time and games, to a short dance party, to a funny video, to worship. Casually, we enter into the presence of God and sing a few lines. It is ridiculous, and a mockery. There is no reverence, no holiness and no stillness before our King. And when it is all said and done, what do we have to say for it? “Man, that video was hilarious.” No one could retain what was spoken. It wasn’t entirely their fault either, because the messages were weak like my pastor’s, except on the level of youth, likely degrading the truth even further.
Again, it’s not a style thing. There was simply no presence nor power in the words spoken. It was fluff, like whipped cream. It’s likely there are people in that youth group on their way to hell, and all we talk on is self-esteem and pointless things like that.
Something is deeply wrong.
A.W. Tozer writes in the preface to The Knowledge of the Holy, “The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping men. This she has not done deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic. […] With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence. We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence.”
Yes, the church has lost its greatest treasure: the majesty of God. However, we have been born in this time for a purpose. I will not go down without fighting for the glory of my King. This is war, and I will draw my sword. There is hope, but it does not reside in men or in most of modern Christianity. It resides in the person of
Jesus Christ and the return of His power to the church.
I challenge you to correct your view of God if it is low or erroneous. We need to see the glory of God return. He is so massive, so mighty, so grand, that our human minds cannot even fathom. He is the God who created stars and galaxies. He is the God who humbled Himself to become a man, so that He might die for us and set us free of all sin. He is the God who reigns then, reigns now, and will reign forever.
Give everything and follow hard after the Lord Most High.
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
Isaiah 58:8 (KJV)
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