Lately I have been trying to listen to audio books while driving to and from school. Sometimes I can even listen to them while at work. I recently finished listening to Homer’s Iliad.

As you may know the story involves three predominant character groups; Grecians, Trojans, and Grecian gods. Most of the story involves the Grecians attempting to invade the city of Troy, but the gods are constantly causing mischief. Zeus and Apollo seem to be helping Hector (leader of the Trojans), while Poseidon and other gods favor Achilles, who is with the Greeks.

As I listened there was one particular line that caught my attention. Perhaps it simply stood out because I had heard it used multiple times. In conversation to a fellow warrior, Hector says, “I am not afraid of Ajax nor of any man, but this I know. That Zeus gives victory now to one and now to another. This only do I fear and this only, to go against the will of Zeus.” I could not help but listen and think at the same time how much different this god was from Jehovah. I was reminded of the verse in I Corinthians 10:13.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (ESV)

Simply put Zeus was fickle. Jehovah is faithful. Zeus may give victory depending on his whim. Jehovah has always provided a way of escape. He will give you the ability to endure it. In essence He has guaranteed you the victory over sin. Jehovah is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Rev. 13:8). We know that God’s will for us as revealed in His Word, and we don’t have to be guessing whether His is on our side today or against us tomorrow. He will never abandon us!

more than just a student

so i graduated from Northland Baptist Bible College and am now studying at Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary. however i still find time to spend with my family. just because i continue studying doesn't mean i can't have a little fun, and to prove it...watch this. click on the following link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7741189600027404794
the only thing i ask is that you laugh with us and not at us!

D. Edmond Hiebert

I Peter 5:11 - To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
"The expression of our praise to God will only be appropriate in time and eternity."

lessons learned

last week i went to visit a lady who i knew was only a short time away from meeting her Savior. we were headed to her home to just visit and sing some songs with her. i wasn't really sure what to expect. we entered her room, and there she lay. it was a tough sight to swallow. cancer had taken over her body, and she now looked like someone you would see from a nazi concentration camp. her doctors had told her it was only a matter of weeks. as we spent a few minutes talking with her and singing to her a few thoughts came to mind. to be honest the thoughts have really been working in my life.

as she lay there listening, i couldn't help but think how fitting death is as punishment for our sin. sure, it's cruel in that it may cause pain to you and others, but spiritually it is completely just in how it works. we know that "the wages of sin is death." it is only just for God to pay us back for our sins with this fitting end. death is like capital punishment in that it detours. capital punishment detours crime. death detours sin. once you are dead you will never sin again. thus it is a just end.
however, we know there is hope. here is one of the sweetest words in God's Word that we can cling to. the word "BUT." "but the gift of God is eternal life." "but" granted her so much hope. she had received the gift of God and would soon be enjoying it to its fullest extent. i couldn't help but want to trade places with her. today she is home with our Savior rejoicing forever more. she is experiencing the beginning of eternal life. i knew her for no more than 15 minutes, but her life has left a lasting impact on mine.

correct me if i'm wrong!

truth is absolute. but is it to an unbeliever? is truth relative to an individual who has not experienced The Truth...Jesus Christ. i have often had conversations with individuals who believe that truth is not absolute, instead it's relative to what each person thinks. as christians we know and should agree that God's Word is truth and thus absolute to us. however, my question is whether to an unsaved person it's absolute? the unsaved are blinded. they are dead in their sins and trespasses. they do not know to do right, but rather do what is right in their own eyes. Christ even said while on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." does this then mean that truly to an unsaved person truth is relative? we can argue all day with them by using semantics to prove to them that they are "absolutely sure" that there are no absolutes. thus they contradict themselves in their relativism, but never win the soul for Christ. is right and wrong relative to an unbeliever while absolute to a believer?
granted, i'm trying to look at it from both the unsaved individual's and the saved individual's perspective. correct my thinking on this?

God's Creation

God is an amazing Creator

coach

coach wehry has had one of the biggest impacts on my life while at northland. he is more than just a sports coach. his heart is in discipling...aka coaching. one phrase has stuck with me from the only class i took with him. "the only thing that matters in this life is God, the Word of God, and souls of men." he may be the dean of students, but everyone comes to his office just to talk with him, just to spend time with him. i don't know of any other dean that makes himself available like that.

sweet guys

three ra's, two sweet guys, and one assistant dorm sup. this was right after the banquet friday night.

bonfire

this was just after the banquet. we had such a blast just reminiscing four years worth of college life. God has given me sweet friends like these and more.
a few events were the following: tim burnt his foot, amy threw in her "twig of sin," and ida got marshmallow on her foot and was bitter.

a simple reminder

this morning i was reading a few more chapters of Living the Cross Centered Life, and the plea was to share that which is so vital to christian lives…the Gospel. in the previous chapter it spoke about telling yourself about the cross/Gospel. now it hit home on being willing to give to others what God has given you.

this afternoon i was sitting at the commons desk working, and i read a sign for the blood drive. it read, “THE GIFT OF LIFE RUNS THROUGH YOU. GIVE BLOOD.” though the appeal was to give blood, it reminded me of the necessity to give what truly is running through every believer. the gift of life is eternally in us through the spilt blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. this is the Gospel, and it is our duty to give to those who do not have this gift of life.

is this gift of life running through you? if it is, then it should be given to others as well. if it isn’t, then there is no better time than to accept it now.

it has been a while

running around trying to get projects in, balancing RA responsibilities, filling out graduation invitations, and attempting to have some fun have been the order of the last couple weeks. i have still been learning from I Peter. it's just that i'm reading about wives submitting to their husbands, and, well i'm sure you see the problem. but God is still working in my life and in the lives of the guys in the dorm. i went around tonight asking guys what they had learned in their devoes this morning. it was encouraging to see hear how God is working in their lives. each reading from a different passage, and yet God is molding us into the same image...Jesus Christ. some of us are rougher around the edges than others...therefore a little more conforming is necessary, but God is working in all our lives. i feel at times like a bonsai tree getting clipped here or there, being twisted into some weird shape. the pruning and shaping hurts, but not without purpose.

Life is War

"...let us cleanse oursleves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit..."

life is war. we are in the middle of a spiritual warfare, yet we do almost nothing about it. we sit and wait for sin to attack us. we wait and listen to our flesh talk to us instead of telling it what to do. we don't "cleanse oursleves from all filthiness of the flesh." we don't “renew our mind.” we don't “redeem the time.” we don't “mortify the flesh.” we don't “put on and put off.” we don’t “abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” if this is the case then you are loosing the battles. actually, you have yet begun to fight. "hedges of protection,” those defenses that we so often talk about, do us absolutely no good unless we actually try to fight. we know the ins and outs of our own defenses, and our flesh is smart enough to work around them. so we are faced with the question. how do i fight? you know the answer. you are just waiting for a quick fix. you want the three step solution to the problem! hear is the answer in short…FEAR GOD! if we feared God like we should we would not sin. fearing God implies knowing more about Him...His character. He is holy…separate form any form of evil, impurity, SIN. thus He hates sin. He has a righteous indignation toward it. and sin is what we so often do. daily, actually! when we sin we do not fear God. we do not care about His holiness. on the contrary we care more about our self gratification. stop loving yourself! FEAR GOD.

II Corinthians 7:1 “...perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

John Owen

I was reading from John Owen's book "Overcoming Sin and Temptation," and there was a line right in the beginning of the second chapter that stood out to me in light of doing battle against our own flesh. He said,

"Be killing sin, or it will be killing you."

Internal Civil War: 1 Peter 2:11

I'm convinced that in battling sin the most difficult combat takes place within us. We can live within some sort of compound that creates a bubble from the world, and we can set up accountability after accountability, which in some way hinders Satan, but we can never get away from our flesh. Our flesh is with us 24/7…relentless. Peter begins this challenge by first addressing the believers of that day with a key word… “Beloved.” It is an endearing term, but filled with meaning. It is a term that describes those who are objects of God’s love and therefore will obey Him. “Beloved, I urge and encourage you.” Those who do not have the father do not love Him and are not loved by Him either (1 John 2:15), and therefore will not be willing to obey.

Peter then gives two more descriptions of the believer. They are marked as aliens and strangers. This was a reminder to them that “they are in this world, but not of this world.” While in this world, they will also be marked as weird, strange, backward, and any other term that goes along with being different…set apart to God. Peter understood this and tells them that even though you are viewed this way, abstain/withhold from our fleshly desires. With the help of the Holy Spirit and a conscious decision, we have the ability to withhold from fleshly lusts. Though we are believers, it doesn’t mean we aren’t rid of the flesh that is attached to us. As believers we now have another longing and this is toward God…being holy (1:17) and glorifying Him (2:9). Therefore we have a conflict within us, and we do battle against it.

Here is where we find the internal, civil war. Our fallen condition is prone to sin, and it wages battle against us every single day. It is a relentless, malicious aggression to cause us to fall and disobey God. “Wage battle” means to hold a long-term military campaign against. In other words, “buckle up.” Don’t give up; fight it! What better way to win the battles then to have the instrument that can help you win every time. Kind of like having Excalibur in your hands. As long as you have this sword, you will never lose. We have the Two Edged Sword. But if you don’t use it, then what good does it do you? Every morning you get up make a conscious onslaught against this enemy that lies within. Take an offensive and win the battle by getting into His word daily. Only this way can we defeat our fleshly lusts. By the way fleshly lusts don’t just refer to sexual immorality. It is more than that. Read Galatians 5:19-21 and find a list what these fleshly lusts are.

Claire and I

one of my spring break activities was going to watch claire during her ballet practice. no, i didn't try any of the ballet moves that she performed. i think i would hurt myself if i tried. claire did a fantastic job! that evening i also watch geoffrey practice lacross! i think i could handle playing that game.

Corner Stone - I Peter 1:23 - 2:6

Christ is the corner stone! He is the foundation that is living, enduring, and imperishable. All of us are to be stones leading off of the corner stone. So many times we read the metaphor of being founded in the Word of God or even the metaphor of Christ being our foundation. Well, here we read yet another metaphor dealing with Christ as the corner stone within the foundation. We are to take our measure from Him, draw a line from this square and perfect stone. We are to make sure we are square coming off of Him. We so often hear the saying, “point others to Christ.” Though we may be dull, rough stones, we are living stone in the wall, and we should be leading other’s eyes toward the choice and precious stone, Christ. And with every rough talent we have, we are to point everyone to Christ.

He is truly precious and choice (vs. 4). We have tasted the kindness of the Lord (vs. 3) and the truths from God’s living, enduring Word, which has hewn us from this world (vs.25) and set us on this wall (1:23). Therefore put aside all of those things in verse one and be the living stone that points to the Christ!

So tomorrow how can you be the living stone that will point others to Christ? What in your life may lead others to believe you are a living stone placed in the foundation next to The Corner Stone?

I Peter 5:12

Let me tell you a story about a sixteen year old Jewish girl that lived almost two thousand year ago. Her name is Denisa. Her family had left the land of Palestine during her grandfathers time and were now living in a Roman province. The Roman empire was thriving. It was during this time, though, that she had heard the great and changing truth of Jesus Christ. Her entire family was flourishing with excitement because of this truth. He, Jesus, had only died a few years back during her grandfather’s time. Grandfather had even told her about this Messiah. But this Messiah wasn’t dead, He was alive. He was the only one to defeat death, and because of this she too could experience eternal life. This was a truth to cling to! A truth to fight and die for! She had just heard this from someone. Maybe it was in one of those evening meetings her family went to regularly.

Well, soon a commotion arose in the city Rome about a group of people setting fire to a large portion of their city of. Those accused were people like herself who believed in Jesus the Messiah. It was rumored that Nero, the emperor of the day, was taking those who believed in Christ and killing them in the cruelest ways. The search for these Christians spread throughout Galatia, Capadocia, and even more distant lands. Denisa didn’t believe it until the Praetorian Guard showed up at their home one evening. The Praetorian's question was piercing. “Are you a so called Christian?” The reply of her father was something she had heard before. “I stand firm in the grace of God! Christ is my Savior!” Immediately the whole family, including Denisa, were taken away. They were all placed in a darken cell within the Praetorian fortification. Fear gripped Denisa’s young heart, but her father’s words echoed through her mind. “I stand firm in the grace of God! Christ is my Savior!”

That evening Denisa’s father and brother were taken away…there was only one reason why they would be taken way. Morning came and her mother was hauled off too. Finally Denisa sat down by herself in the dark cell. She realized she would never see her family again. The only thing she had left on this earth was the grace of God. Again those words echoed through her mind. “Stand firm in the grace of God.” Then she remembered where she had heard them for the first time. It was from that letter from Peter. Oh, the truth that came to her mind from that letter! A smile broke out on her face, and she began to hum a tune. The guard soon heard it and walked by to see where this soothing sound came from. The sound was a starch contrasted from the screaming and yelling from above. Soon he found the source of it, and asked her. “Why do you smile? Why do you hum?” The reply came without blinking. “I stand firm in the grace of God!”

Denisa’s mind raced to those sentences written by Peter. Oh the truth of standing firm in the grace of God. As she thought about it she realized that only because she had trusted in His saving grace did it bring so much to her: the peace, the hope, the inheritance! The only thing she could think of doing was singing one of those songs about the Messiah.

The guard listened to Denisa for a long while as she explained to him how she wasn’t afraid. How she had hope from hell and death and hope in heaven. How she would see her Messiah. How she couldn’t wait till He returned. Soon Denisa was taken out of her cell. She was marched through dark hallway. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light. The noise grew louder and louder. Then the guard thrust her into a small opening, and only a small stream of light could be seen from ahead. The whole time Denisa’s mind raced to the passages regarding the grace of God. Her body stood upright as the words from Peter’s letter gave here comfort. “Stand firm in the grace of God.” Without warning the doors swung open and light poured in with the sounds of the crowd…

Will you stand firm in the grace of God, come what may?! If you read the letter of First Peter you will see what Denisa saw, you will take comfort in all that she took comfort. I Peter 5:12 "Stand firm in the grace of God."

O Great God

This is a song based on the classic book of Puritan prayers, The Valley of Vision.

O great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resist Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore

I was blinded by my sin
Had no ears to hear Your voice
Did not know Your love within
Had no taste for heaven's joys
Then Your Spirit Gave me life
Opened up Your Word to me
Through the gospel of Your Son
Gave me endless hope and peace

Help me now to live a life
That's dependent on Your grace
Keep my heart and guard my soul
From the evils that I face
You are worthy to be praised
With my every thought and deed
O great God of highest heaven
Glorify Your Name through me

cheeze please

cheeze was the one to break through last night. we had two tunnels going, and i wanted to be the one digging when we broke through. cheeze had the honors. we could hear each other digging at one point. it was so funny doing this. chan was making everyone laugh. nate could barely fit through the tunnels. weston headed up the mission. even dorm sups and student body presidents should up, oh and even a few girls came.

Narcotics

what a sweet kid. he dug like a mad man. exhausted from work, he takes a break.

the igloo

well, last night after the soccer games, we went out to dig in the snow. there were huge mounds of snow built up by the plows. about 15 to 20 guys stayed out last night working on the biggest igloo ever created by mankind. we worked core and getting this thing done. more than thirty feet long. inside it would reach to to four feet height and maybe 10 feet wide. we all took turns digging and taking out snow. what a blast. who says there is nothing to do up at n-land. so we got campused. well, you figure out what to do next.

snow and more snow!

who needs a refrigerator when you have weather like this. we got a good foot and half of snow this week. it made for some fun times.

Random Pictures

A Militant Hope on Future Fact

future fact...sounds almost oxymoronish, but it really isn't. 1 Peter 1:13 was a huge challenge to me. it speaks of the culminating grace of God. God's grace begins at salvation, vs 2, and completes with the unveiling of Jesus Christ. vs 13 begins with therefore, which signifies application of all that peter has been saying. basically, "apply it this way." gird up or tighten up for a specific action or event. prepare your mind for this action. it begins in your thoughts in a militant form. we are to place our hope in a militant fashion on the culminating grace of God. hope is equivalent to faith yet different in that it focuses on the future. hope in this is on future fact. not on what i feel like today or will feel like tomorrow. what i feel is irrelevant to what i know of God's future grace. therefore i am to take a stand today for tomorrow. this "hope is an obligatory act of will and not based on emotional feeling. i am to have a militant hope on the future fact of God's culminating grace in my life when He unveils His final promise in Christ's return.

only the sweetest kids ever! though i didn't get to spend much time with geoffrey and claire, we got talk a little bit on the way to church. i can't wait to go back home just spend time with them.

all four

can you tell i lov e my roommates? bendo is the fourth roommate. the freshman/baby of the group. he is the musician that adds spice to our room. oh, and notice that cheeze no longer has a tan.

buti

yes, this is buti, and no he doesn't have cancer. it was actually a soccer thing last semester. he too is my roommate for two years. what a blessing it has been to room with him. i couldn't have chosen better roommates. God has blessed me richly. maybe one day i'll make to hawaii.

cheeze and i

well, this is my sweet roommate, cheeze and i. cheeze and i have been roommates for almost two years. it is sweet to see how much cheeze has grown in the Lord in the past two years. we have both challenged each other in many, many ways. it will be a sad day when i graduate and leave n-land.

the other day

here is one of my latest journal entry. i just got back from the leadership conference in lansdale... God's Word is so deep. this probably the overriding factor that i learned this week. there is so much to learn form His Word. we have barely skimmed the surface of the ocean of who He is and i have merely popped a bubble on that surface. in one respect it is discouraging because i will never attain a cup full of that ocean, but in another area it is encouraging to see the vastness and complexity of my Savior, Friend, and King. it's encouraging because i can trust him. yet there are so many that have yet to dip into this water that quenches. the girl last night on the plane, kate, merely views God as a removed being that can make her feel good. there are millions or rather billions like her that must hear and taste of this ocean. give me a passion for lost souls.