I’m starting to get pretty excited.  In less than two weeks, I’ll be in Charlotte taking my first on-campus seminary class.  Yeah, I’ve already got one class under my belt and I’m half-way through another (both are history classes), but those are both online lecture classes.  This one will be in an actual classroom with an actual professor and other students present.  In other words, I don’t expect it to be anything like my online classes.  The class itself is a week-long intensive on Apologetics (defending the faith).  It’ll be lectures Monday through Friday, and then I go home to write a paper and take a final exam.  I can’t wait to get started!

I haven’t been in a college classroom in nearly 10 years, so that’s exciting.  I loved college, but this is different.  This is seminary.  I can’t wait to meet the other students and see what they’re like.  Some of them are probably seniors, which means that they may be pastors at this time next year.  That’s so cool.  It’s also intimidating… what will they think of me?  I know it’s silly to think that way, but it’s hard not to.  I can’t wait to participate in the class discussion, and I hope I don’t make an idiot of myself!  I can’t imagine I will, but do tend to open my mouth quickly and say things before I think them through completely.

I’m not really worried or nervous.  I guess I’m just full of anticipation for a situation that’s a complete mystery to me.  I’m thankful for my pastor who basically told me to go and enjoy myself and learn at the feet of Jesus.  That’s exactly what I’d like to do.  And soon!

Amidst the complexity life as of late, I have been a bit preoccupied with the thought of leaving for seminary next year.  I have a variety of mixed feelings on the matter.  It seems that my heart and mind are both in states of conflict.

Let’s start with the mind.  On one hand, logic tells me that it makes no sense to remove myself from my current ministry involvement, which has seriously ramped up in the past four months.  I’ve gotten heavily involved in some really exciting areas where I see God at work, and I’d like to be doing more of that and not less.  On the other hand, I know that I have a lot to learn to be properly equipped for pastoral ministry.  Since our local churches are not particularly prepared to develop a pastoral candidate, I recognize benefit/need for seminary.  I also know that RTS is a wonderful, renowned, and reformed school, and that there’s really no place I could go to be better equipped.

Now to the heart, which I see as at least equally important to the mind.  My heart aches for leaving my friends and family behind in Cleveland.  I am going to miss them dearly, especially those with whom I have been serving the Lord.  They have taught me so much, and I love them deeply.  My heart aches for my wife because she has to face those very same heartbreaks.  We have already begun grieving, as have our closest friends.  Our hearts are conflicted, though, because we are also extremely excited to discover what the Lord has in store for us in North Carolina and beyond.  We are very excited to move, to get the necessary training, and to live in the state that we’ve loved for over 10 years.

Ultimately, I must simply remind myself to trust in the Lord.  He’s in control.  He knows where we’re headed, both short-term and long-term.  In the moment, it’s hard to see the big picture, but as we step back and try to look at things through God’s eyes, the path seems to get clearer.  I must stay attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and be constant in prayer.  Whatever the destination, the one thing that’s certain is that we’re in for a ride!

I’m not sure what sort of readership I have on this blog, but I thought I’d document this link to an audio recording of my testimony given to a group of twenty-somethings last week in case anyone is interested.  It’s a bit personal, but at this point, I guess I need to get past the need to be private.  Let’s face it… pastor’s lives are lived in the public eye.

Anyway, this is a story of where I’ve seen God at work in my life.  I shared particular areas of sin in my life, my growing understanding of a need for a savior, and the transformation that ensued after I truly met Jesus.

Here’s the link: Generation Talk 12/10/09

With all the busyness of life lately, I really haven’t had much of a chance to update things on the blog.  Clearly, I am never going to be a regular blogger.  At least, not anytime soon.

Right now, life seems to be stuck in fast forward.  So many things tug at my time, and often it’s difficult to discern how to manage my schedule.  I have a full time job with a business that I own (though that makes it highly flexible), I have an internship at my church, I have seminary studies to accomplish, I have a house that needs to be prepared to sell, and I have a family that I dare not neglect.  Thankfully, I have realized along the way that I’m not in control of my life, and that has made a world of difference.

I have so much going on right now, with so many unknowns and so many potential stress burdens, that my mind could easily explode…  that is, if I hadn’t relinquished control of my life to the One that knows infinitely better how to handle it than I do.  I know that this life I’m living is all part of His plan, and I am eternally thankful for that.  I pray that the Lord will continue to bless me with just enough time and wherewithal to get through the day.

The last day of October means different things to different people.  It is an especially difficult day for Christians to discern how much to involve themselves (and their families) in the Halloween festivities.  Many of us Christians also fail to realize or remember that October 31st is also Reformation Day, the day that in the year 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses, thus contributing significantly to the beginning of the Reformation.

For me, Halloween has become increasingly more difficult to swallow, due in no small part to my son’s annual, months-long obsession with all things Halloween.  He is especially interested in “spooky things”, namely ghosts and skeletons.  Granted, he’s only six years old, and he prefers the “cute ghosts” to the more sinister ones you might find elsewhere.  My problem is, as a responsible Christian parent, how much should I allow before I put an end to it?

I’ve already taken a few approaches to this issue, and I’m afraid I might have to tackle it head-on before long.  For example, I have explained to my son that it’s good to enjoy the good parts of the fall season, even Halloween, including pumpkins, bats, spiders, leaves, and anything else that God made.  Of course, my son is getting older and smarter, and he now reasons that “God made skeletons too” and that “God is a spirit!”  Of course, I had answers to those, but still.  For now, I have formed a plan that involves a healthy dose of God talk to (hopefully) counteract the Halloween obsession.

Ultimately, I plan to spend October 31st with my family, giving thanks to God for the opportunity to spend quality time with them doing something they enjoy (trick-or-treat).  Meanwhile, I will certainly spend some time contemplating Luther’s 95 Theses and the reformation in general.  I’m thrilled with some of the changes born of the Reformation that allow me the great privileges as a Christian today.  The privileges I’m most thankful for are the ability to own and read the Bible, to ability to understand and hold biblical doctrine, and to have married clergy (huge importance to me)!

Whether you recognize October 31st as Halloween Day, Reformation Day, or simply the last day of October, I hope you have a good one, too!

I just thought I’d share that I finished my first seminary course a couple weeks ago, and I got the grade in today.  I got an A.  Praise God!

Up next is History of Christianity II (the Reformation through the 20th century), which is an online course.  Also coming up soon is my first on-campus class in Charlotte which will be a week-long intensive course on Apologetics in January.

I thought I’d share a quick story about earlier today when I received my grade for my midterm I took a couple weeks ago.

So, I was sitting in my car and getting ready to hit the road after having stopped for lunch.  I received an e-mail from RTS on my phone informing me that I got a 96% on my midterm.  Cool, huh?  Well, I was feeling pretty good about myself and I decided to head out to my next appointment with a smile on my face.  It wasn’t more than 5 seconds later that my visor clip fell from above me.  This is what it says on the visor clip…

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Oops.  I had forgotten to thank the Lord for his providence.  I think he wanted to remind me to acknowledge him, don’t you?

Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement, and thanks especially to the Lord!

News is spreading that, lately, Christians in Nigeria are being killed for upholding their beliefs.  Militant Muslims are demanding that these Christians should convert to Islam, and those that reject such a notion are being put to death.  Several pastors have been martyred, as have hundreds of others, including women and children.  Christians in Nigeria deserve our attention and especially our prayers in the face of such a horrible persecution.

In America, we’ve become very complacent with our religious freedom.  We are able to come and go from churches and other religious functions without any scorn, ridicule, torment, or bodily harm.  This is not the case throughout much of the world, especially overseas where Christianity is spreading the fastest these days.

If we choose to study church history, we may read about similar persecutions ever since the church was in its infancy in the first century.  There were scores of famous martyrs that witnessed to Jesus Christ as their lord and savior, only to pay the ultimate price for their testimony.  These stories of our brave and vigilant forefathers went a long way to assist in the spread of the gospel during the first few centuries after Jesus’s ascension.  A martyrdom, and to stand up for what we believe in the face of  death, is a powerful testimony.

My question is this: when faced with a similar scenario, would we American Christians make the same proclamation in the face of terminal adversity?  I would like to hope so, but I’m not so sure.  Something like 95% of Americans claim to be Christians, but I can’t imagine that number would hold up in the face of persecution.  Would would a realistic percentage be?  A better question is this: how many self-proclaimed Christians in America actually have a relationship with Jesus?  I wonder.

Jesus gave us the ultimate model of perfection as he endured shame and torture on the cross.  I sincerely hope that I’d be able to go to my death proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ.  No matter what perils I might face, I hope to be able to hold fast and strong to my Lord.  I pray that it won’t come to that, but if it does, I trust that the Lord would see me through it.

Whoa!  I have been so busy that I haven’t blogged in over a month.  During that time, I have learned a lot about something that’s not always pleasant to think about.  There is this whole other world out there, or perhaps it’s just another dimension.  I’m talking about the spiritual realm.  Most of us feel the forces of the spiritual realm from time to time, but for the most part, we tend to ignore it.

The spiritual realm is most apparent to believers, and possibly to those dabbling (or swimming) in the occult.  What most of us spiritual folks don’t realize is that there’s a massive battle going on all around us, all the time.  This is spiritual warfare.  It’s the classic good versus evil plot, except it’s real, and you and I are part of the story.

Nothing I’ve read (aside from the Bible) paints the picture better than The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.  It’s a fictional written dialogue between a junior demon “Wormwood” and a senior demon “Screwtape”.  We see an example of a purely spiritual discussion like this in Job 1:6-12, though that conversation is between God and Satan.  More on that later.  Anyway, The Screwtape Letters is a thought provoking, eye-opening example of the cunning, opportunistic, and ruthless nature of the enemy.  This book really helped me understand better the nature of the force we’re up against as believers in Jesus.  As I read it, I often found myself saying “wow, I didn’t imagine that the devil would do that.”  Well, he does… and his henchmen have been assaulting me relentlessly lately.  I’m picturing their strategy meetings… “Let’s attack that Jason guy, he’s been really stressed out lately.  Let’s make sure he has no time to pray and let’s see if we can get him to argue with his wife.  After that…”

Practically, what this means for us is that we need to be on guard. The enemy attacks in a number of different ways.  His classic target is, of course, our weak points.  He loves lies, anger, busyness, stress, fear, and despair.  The enemy also loves to bolster our doubt in God, our pride, our envy, and our insatiable need to succeed.  Not all of the enemy’s tactics are apparent, though.  Often he’ll use half-truths or he’ll give us a sense of false hope.  He’s the biggest fan of self-reliance… no doubt he invented the notion.  His method of attack can also vary greatly, more than we care to know.  He seems to have direct access to our minds, and he manipulates our thoughts.  Shockingly, he can also use our loved ones to deliver his lies (2 Corinthians 11:12-15).  That means that at some point, YOU were probably used to achieve the enemy’s agenda.  Scary, huh?  It’s anything to weaken our faith, especially if our faith is not very strong.  For this reason, new Christians should guard their hearts and be vigilant (see Romans 16:17-20).  The enemy has you high on his target list.

The enemy also loves to get involved when we go through the difficult times in our lives.  I can easily provide testimony to that effect.  These are the times when we must put our faith and trust in the Lord that His way is the best; His way is perfect.  If we’re not strong in the Lord, the enemy swoops in and sows the seeds of destruction.

The enemy, the devil, Satan, or whatever you prefer to call him, is an extremely powerful spiritual force.  He should not be taken lightly, and he (and his forces) should especially not be ignored.  It’s better to know what we’re up against and do something about it rather than to ignore our problems in hope that they’ll go away.  We do that a lot, don’t we?  The good news is that God is MORE powerful than the enemy.  Back to the Job reference… notice that Satan is conditionally granted permission to attack Job.  The Lord is indeed sovereign!  Nothing falls outside of the Lord’s control, not even Satan.  Thankfully, He has also given us the Holy Spirit to aid us here on Earth on this perpetual battleground (2 Thessalonians 3:3). Our greatest weapon in this battle is prayer.  The enemy HATES prayer.  All we have to do is to ask the Lord for His help, and He provides.  All things considered, it’s not even a fair fight.  God has already won, and He will continue to have His way with the enemy for the rest of eternity.

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.