Another Good Read

An eye-opening and convicting article by Albert Mohler.

Link

The Past Few Weeks

The past few weeks have been rather uneventful as I wait for my beetle job to start at the beginning of February. Fortunately this waiting period has not been wasted. God has used this time and especially the past week to convict me of the sins in my life that have negatively impacted my relationship with God. Sermons at church have focused on how we as believers and the church need to reflect the grace of Christ given to us to those inside the church and to those outside the church. My Bible study at church has started reading the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges which focuses on seeing and repenting of the sins which may not seem to be a problem but are significantly dishonoring to our Creator. The sermons and the book directed me to the Scriptures regarding sin and to the Scriptures regarding believers being a new creation in Christ which have greatly humbled me.

I have been ignoring and justifying several sins in my life that fortunately I now feel strong conviction over and the need to repent thanks to the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. Among other sins, my speech has not honored God, my prideful actions have not honored God, and my bitter thoughts have not honored God. I have been blessed through the conviction of sin but now I must repent. After hand-writing the sins that I knew of and reading Scripture that affirms I am a new creation in Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24), I am humbled by God as I pray for God to give me strength to repent and to convict of other sins that are hidden from my sight.

As God humbles me through convicting me of my sin He also encourages me. He encourages me through convicting me of sin showing His love and saving grace in my life. He loves me enough to save me and sanctify me. God also encourages me through His Word with passages regarding regeneration, that believers are created new, reborn, in Christ and that the power and dominion sin holds over a person has been defeated through the death and resurrection of Christ.

Romans 6: 1-7

⁽¹⁾ What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? ⁽²⁾ May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? ⁽³⁾ Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁽⁴⁾ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁽⁵⁾ For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁽⁶⁾ knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁽⁷⁾ for he who has died is freed from sin.

Praise be to God for His saving work. Christ’s death and resurrection has defeated the power and dominion of sin over me. Although I still sin because I am in the flesh (1 John 1:8,10), He is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9) and will continue to conform me to His likeness (Ephesians 4:24).

New Year Update

I moved back to the Clemson area just after the beginning of the new year. My beetle job will start in February but until that time I have been looking for part-time work which I’m hoping will be successful. Also accompanying my move back is a change in my Clemson experience. No longer am I surrounded by the campus life but instead surrounded by the peacefulness and tranquility of a quite neighborhood which has been great. I look forward to these coming months.

Christmas Break

I graduated over a week ago and am now enjoying Christmas break before my job as a beetle breeder begins with the Clemson University Entomology Department. To begin the break my roommate from Singapore and his family visited for a few hours with our family. This was followed by my Australian roommate staying with my family for a few days.

During Christmas break my family usually attends a local Christmas-Eve candlelight service at a local church which brings about the traditional wax-burning skin incidents. Only one person in my family fell victim this year which was my dear brother.

My brother and I received a joint Christmas gift from our parents this year- a trip to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, TN. Everything from driving through the mountains, freezing during the game as snow fell, watching Clemson win the game, and thawing out over the next day from the game made the trip a blast. Christmas break has been fun and a nice little break before I get to become the Beetle-Man.

Good Article

An interesting article regarding the prosperity gospel: article

Last Week as a Clemson Student

Finals week is approaching which means that I will only be a Clemson student for one more week. After 3 ½ years I am greatly looking forward to leaving the stage with diploma in hand, turning the tassel, and turning the ring. Next year I will be in Clemson working with the Clemson University Entomology Department while saving money before attending seminary.

I have enjoyed my time as a Clemson student. The friends and memories that I have made during this time I will always cherish. Whether the memory is sleeping in a tent for a week for basketball tickets, eating a 50 piece McNugget in 29:30, living with three international students for a semester, or having friends ice my foot down after another ankle sprain, Clemson has been a very memorable and special place for me. As graduation approaches I am ready for the next step while grateful for all that has occurred.

My most important memory of Clemson though will be God’s work in my life. As I think back through my time here since the beginning of freshmen year, I am amazed at how God has brought me into a relationship with Him and sanctified me. I was not a believer when I arrived and now God has me desiring to serve Him through full-time ministry. God has opened my eyes and heart to the truths of Scripture and has strengthened my faith during times of trial and need. He has provided a church for me, Crosspoint Church, which centers its teaching and ministry on Scripture and the Gospel while demonstrating the need for community and unity in the church. Overall my time at Clemson is dear and special because God has sanctified me so that I may worship and serve Him more faithfully.

After 3 ½ years my time at Clemson University is coming to an end. I am not saddened that it is over but grateful that I had the opportunity which God used to completely change my life and focus.

God’s Greatness

During the past few weeks I have been reading On the Incarnation by Athanasius written in the 4th Century. Reading this has been a blessing and a growing experience because I am seeing with greater understanding the greatness of God.

The greatness of God and the greatness of the Gospel can never be comprehended. We will spend an eternity in heaven and never fully comprehend the majesty of our Lord and the Gospel. By God’s grace though we can begin to understand it. I have lately seen His greatness in regards to our sinful nature and His perfect atonement.

From the beginning of our lives we were evil. “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5, NASB). This has been true of all people since the fall of Adam with the exception of Christ who was born of the Holy Spirit and not of Adam. After Adam’s fall, man was completely wicked in his heart. My heart and your heart were filled with only evil intentions and thoughts. We were corrupted to the core and have been since birth.

Reading this passage should leave me greatly saddened. We as God’s creation have fallen away from intimacy with Him and only live to satisfy ourselves before His coming judgment upon us. Fortunately we see in Scripture as Athanasius explains that God has reconciled the corrupted to Himself. Because God is a God of mercy He would not let His creation perish. If He did let creation perish by His judgment, justified though it would be, He would deny His mercy. God though is also a God of justice. Sin must be atoned for and blood must be shed. God cannot tolerate the existence of sin. To not punish sin, much like denying mercy, would be to deny justice. If God were to deny either one, justice or mercy, He would deny His own attributes. God though in the preordained plan sent Christ to satisfy His mercy and justice.

Through Christ God’s mercy was satisfied. We who deserved to die because we are entirely corrupt were allowed to live because Christ lived perfectly and died for us. God’s justice was satisfied because sin did not live and was defeated through Christ going to the cross and rising again. The resurrection of Christ defeated sin. Sin had been atoned for and defeated.

Through Christ, faith and repentance through Him, we may not be defeated by sin but have eternal life. God is truly great. He defeated Satan and sin by overcoming death. Christ defeated death and through Him has allowed us to live eternally. Christ defeated the ultimate end giving us hope and glorifying Himself. Truly He is great.

The work of the Cross did another amazing work for us. In order that we may believe we must repent. A repentant heart sees sin, hates it, and runs from it and to God in humility. Our hearts though were fully evil from our birth with evil thoughts and intentions (Genesis 6:5). How then can that which is completely darkened see the glory of Christ for darkness does not understand the Light (John 1:5)? In order for us to repent we were regenerated, created anew, by the Holy Spirit. The saved soul, the person who has received eternal life, has not just been forgiven but has been completely changed and born again allowing him to be saved (John 3:5-8). Through Christ, the person who once was evil has died and now a new person walks in newness of life with Christ (Romans 6:1-7). Behold the power and greatness of God and the Gospel.

We will never understand the greatness of God or the power of the Gospel. God is too great for our minds to understand Him. Creation will never fully comprehend the Creator. By His grace though He gave us the Word so that we may know Him. Through His Word we can begin to see the greatness of God for we can see it no other way. Christ defeated sin and death through His death and resurrection. That which could not be overcome, death, was then rendered powerless. Those that were corrupted from birth and since Adam could now be saved due to the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit. Truly God is great.

Trip to Lake View

This past weekend I traveled to Lake View to visit my grandmother with my brother. Unfortunately in the coming weeks my family will be putting her in a nursing home as her memory continues to fade.

After my last class Thursday I packed my bags and traveled to Mt. Pleasant to stay with my brother, Andy, for the night. One valuable life lesson I learned in Charleston on that Thursday night is to never mistake “smoking sauce” for “smoky sauce” at the Kickin’ Chicken. The sauce was so spicy and hot that nothing could quell the burning sensation spreading through my lips and mouth for a few minutes. Fortunately after about 15 minutes and drinking a large amount of milk the burning sensation began to subside. If you ever visit the Kickin’ Chicken I beg that you not make the mistake that I made.

This rather humorous moment was just the beginning though to a great weekend. We left the next day for Lake View about 2 hrs north of Charleston. During this trip I was able to talk with my brother from everything to religion to musical preferences which is always refreshing. We arrived in Lake View at about 3:00 and spent the next hour and a half spending time with my grandmother and my aunt who is caring for her. Talking with my aunt and my grandmother was great. We were able to reflect through going back over photographs of when my brother and I were growing up, remembering humorous moments from out childhoods.

As we were leaving Lake View and heading back to Dillon to travel back to Mt. Pleasant, I thought about some of the dear memories of my grandmother. When I was around three or four years old, I stayed with her everyday while my mom and my dad worked. While at her house she would watch the same movie with me everyday, Godzilla vs. Megalon. I really did watch this everyday and I don’t know how she watched it considering that it really is a bad movie. While she would make my lunch I would stand in the kitchen with her just watching and counting cars on the road through the large window in the door. As I grew older, when I visited with her I would often get vanilla Breyers ice cream in the morning and when she made my cereal she would put sugar in my Frosted-Flakes, a habit that I still carry today.

As we were leaving she told my brother that even though her memory was fading she would remember our visit, looking and making sure the note my aunt made referring to our visit was still on the kitchen counter. Grandma was and still is one of the nicest and polite people that I know. She kept to herself mostly yet cared for those around her. I am very thankful for my memories of her and how much she loved us.

Another great part of the visit with my grandmother was talking with my aunt. I am very thankful that I was able to catch up with her and talk with her. As we left I realized all the work she did in caring for my grandmother for which I am very thankful.

While in Dillon, before leaving for Mt. Pleasant, my brother and I visited with an old family friend which was a lot of fun. We went back to Charleston that night and hung out. The next morning we played each other in basketball making me wish for about an hour that I was a few inches taller. After watching the Clemson game I left to go back to Clemson. This weekend was definitely the best weekend of my senior year thus far.

Summer LINK Reunion Weekend

I’ve done Summer LINK for two summers and both summers were incredibly fun and great times of growth. This past weekend was our Summer LINK reunion weekend. Most of us who attended the trip were able to return for the reunion which included great BBQ, good tailgating food, and above all great fellowship.

One of the greatest parts of Summer LINK is the tight-knit friendships that are made on the trip that last after the trip. Most of us see each other on a weekly basis whether in church or just hanging out with one another. The reunions though offer an opportunity to see how God made us grow not only through the summer but since the summer. They are a time to rejoice and to praise God for not just what occurred over the summer but also for a relationship with Christ that has grown deeper and stronger.

The program is such a blessing because my faith in God and my relationship with Him have grown much stronger after returning from both trips. I am amazed at how what we learn throughout the summer becomes an actual lesson that we experience once back at school. During the reunion weekend I saw that others had experienced the same thing. The lessons God taught them through the summer they experienced once back at Clemson. I am forever grateful for this trip because our growth in our faith and relationship with God doesn’t end the morning the trip ends but continues once we are far-removed from our trip location.

Cultural Exchange Community Experience

Last semester I decided that I would live in the Cultural Exchange Community (CEC) for my last semester of college. After hearing about the opportunity, I reasoned that this living community would be in my best interest due to my growing interest in international missions. I thought that if I would probably being going overseas for an extended period I should attempt to live with others from different parts of the world as a preparation of sorts.

The CEC through most of my time at Clemson was the last thing I wanted to do. I had grown complacent with living with great Christian roommates for the two years prior to this one and never thought of myself as one who was very good at meeting and interacting with those from different parts of the world. Oddly enough though I had (and still have) intentions of doing overseas missions. Fortunately I realized I needed to take a step of faith, be a man, and go live outside of my comfort zone.

As we are now over half way through the semester, I realize that living is the CEC was and is a tremendous blessing. I have three roommates all from overseas representing the countries of Singapore, Australia, and Belgium. Through interacting with them and learning of their cultures, I have been better prepared for what I hope is a future in international missions.

Although I’ll be writing in more detail about my experience in the future, I’ve just realized lately at how blessed I’ve been to be a part of this program and my room in particular. Whether through watching TV or discussing everything from cars to politics to the Gospel, I’ve greatly enjoyed interesting conversations and times of learning from them. I hope that any Christian at Clemson with an interest in international missions would seriously consider the CEC program and the opportunity to know and befriend international students.