A First…

If you haven’t been able to tell my posts (or lack thereof), I am a student.  Specifically, I am a student in seminary working toward a degree in Biblical Counseling.  That being said, I have plenty of problems.  I am a selfish person.  I am a lazy sometimes.  I am racist in some situations.  I am a legalistic person.  I have many places in my life where I desperately need to experience God’s grace.  However, I was allowed to eavesdrop on a very great conversation today.

I was in the library at our school today when I heard two people talking.  Through a combination of it being pretty close and being in a library, I could hear them clearly.  There was a man who had just gotten a new job he really needed.  He had, in spite of himself, been offered the job.  This man was so happy.  He was praising the Lord as he told his story.  It was great to see the joy in his face as he recounted how poorly he had done in the interview.  His joy was based, not on his performance in the interview, but on the fact that, through God’s grace, he had still been offered the job.  I know this isn’t a huge, earth shattering revelation, but it made my day to see two friends rejoicing over the grace God had extended to one man.

While this may not have been the first time I had ever seen two men in fellowship over something God had done in one of their lives, it was the first time in a long time that I can remember seeing genuine joy on someone’s face for a great thing that had happened in another person’s life.  Selflessness is something that has been lost in our day and time, and it was nice to see it today.

Praise the Lord for fellow believers!

World Evangelization Week.

This week I have been attending a conference about evangelism and missions.  It has been so incredible.  The keynote speaker has been Afshin Ziafat.  He has been really good.  There are some people that you can see doing things, and you know they were meant to do them.  Speaking in front of crowds is what Afshin was meant to do.  He is one of the more engaging speakers I have ever listened to.  He also has been bringing a great series of messages.  He has been preaching about following Christ and the cost that will be associated with it.  Afshin has an amazing story that illustrates the cost of following Christ.  He is from a Muslim background, and he grew up in a Muslim family.  As a kid he was given a Bible that he would read 10 years later that would cause him to accept Christ.  I’ll let you read the rest of his story for yourself, and it is well worth your time.  You can listen to the messages here.

Chapel: Psalms 32

Today in chapel, Tommy Nelson (Pastor of Denton Bible Church; author of the Song of Solomon marriage series) preached on Psalms 32. He explained how the first 5 verses are David’s testimony of his sin with Bathsheba. And the next 2 verses (6 & 7) are David talking to God about the refuge that he has found in Him. The last 4 verses (8-11) are God’s reply to David. He says, in verse 9, to not be like the bridled horse. In other words, “Don’t make me force you to do what I want you to do.” this was such a great message. Tommy talked about carnal Christians saying that they cannot live in sin, because they will fill like David did in verse 4 when he felt at odds with God that he said,” Your hand was upon me; my strength was sapped…”. He closed out with a story about a man who had gone very far from the Lord, and the last words he relayed to his son were, “the man who walks outside of fellowship walks on the edge of abyss.” meaning that being out side of fellowship with either God or fellow Christians is an extremely dangerous place to be!