T-Shirt

So in talking to a friend about some evangelism ideas, I went online and created / ordered this shirt. When I get it (10 days), I will just wear it around, go sit at Starbucks with a small sign that says "prayer requests?", etc. If any of you have any other ideas, that would be fantastic. I have the link saved if anyone wants to buy one for themselves.


My vacation has been going great. My family comes back into town in just a few days, and that is going to be an amazing few weeks. Hope all is well with you all!

In Christ

Potential Classes For Fall 2009

I went through the Fall 2009 course catalog yesterday and found a few courses that I can take. Given my schedule, I will be taking once course at the seminary, and one course online. This is obviously not my first choice, but I am rolling with the punches here. I will probably end up taking one of the history/heritage classes and one of the testament classes. Or perhaps even both of the history/heritage classes. We will see. As I said earlier, I can not register for 3 more weeks. I have listed the potential courses below with a brief summary of what the course will be.

Church History I - A general survey of the history of Christianity from the New Testament to 1500 AD.

Basic Old Testament I - An introduction to the ancient Near Eastern background and the canon of the Old Testament and the contents of Genesis-Esther with emphasis on historical issues, theological interpretations, and contemporary applications.

Basic New Testament I - An introduction to the Jewish, Greek and Roman backgrounds, the canon of the New Testament, and the contents of Matthew-Acts with emphasis on historical issues, theological interpretations, and contemporary applications.

Baptist Heritage - A survey of the historical basis of Baptist thought and practice from its inception to the present. Under consideration shall be the major theological issues addressed by Baptists, Baptist ecclesiology, and leading Baptist figures. Special attention shall be given to the Southern Baptist Convention and its cooperative program and agencies.

Biblical Hermeneutics - An introduction to the nature of the Bible, the definition of and need for hermeneutics, a survey of historical and contemporary hermeneutical approaches, the principles of a healthy interpretive approach, and case studies of biblical passages which illustrate the principles. Preferably taken during the first year.

Seminary Update: Acceptance

There is a definite need to update again today. I have been accepted by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to enter the Master of Divinity program in the Fall of 2009.

The next steps will not be attend one of the orientation sessions (none of which occur during my vacation, ha) and I will then be able to register for my classes. Classes with commence on August 20, 2009.

Thank you for your prayers, I am looking forward to the journey.

Glorious, Chris Tomlin

We lift our hands in praise to You
We lift in our hearts in worship to You, Lord
We lift our voice to You and sing
Our greatest love will ever be You, Lord
You, Lord

Glorious
Over us
You shall reign
Glorious

There is a King that we adore
With humble hearts we bow before You, Lord
There is a place we long to be
Face to face we long to see You, Lord

Majesty and power
Are Yours alone forever

Wisdom

As humans, we have the highest level of intelligence on this Earth. We can use our intelligence for the greater good (and sometimes destruction) of just about every aspect of this world. If Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom and was blessed, one could deduce that Solomon was one of (if not the) wisest men our Earth has seen. My question to you all is, “Where does knowledge stem from?” Solomon’s answer to our question is fear if the LORD. When you read below, I want to note that step 2 is actually the first step. However, unless we seek and find said fear, we cannot begin our journey of knowledge. Also note that there is more to knowledge than the first three chapters of Proverbs (where I obtained this information), but I just want to get you thinking and started. I hope that you will dive into it further on your own.

1. Seek understanding like silver, and search for it as hidden treasures.
2. Fear the LORD.

I think the true fear is proof of your belief. It is then that you understand the true power of your Creator. However, your fear is also simultaneously comforted by the compassion, mercy, and grace of our God. Once you reach step 2 above, you gain the following.

Then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity. Guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

We now reach a third stage in our search for wisdom. We are not just stuck in fear of the most powerful entity in the universe. His arms are wrapped around us. However, as you can see from the bold highlights above, you have to reach the third step, and only a certain type of person gets there.

3. Gain comfort in Wisdom.

So now I ask you, once you gain this great wisdom, do you have the power to evaluate and make decisions using your own knowledge? Nope, sorry, I would advise that you not try to do this. This brings me to step 4.

4. 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.

Now that the right decisions are being made, because you are making them with the Lord, you are to pay tribute.

5. Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

I remember when I was 18 years old and started my first “real” job that was not based upon bagging groceries or any of the other various roles I worked in over the years at a nearby grocery store, a wise man (my dad) told me that he did not think I would have success in business without paying my tithe. Having grown up in the church, I did believe in God, so I began to pay my tithe. I want to avoid going into the whole “Prosperity Theology” fiasco, but I will say that I feel that he was 100% correct. I think that I have arrived to where I am today not because of what I did myself. I did not have a 3.75 GPA or even a degree from one of the top universities like most of my coworkers. So looking back, I see me entering my firm as an act of following God and his blessings rather than my own success.

Finally, I think there is one more step in this whole process of wisdom.

6. Do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

The path is narrow, as we know, and difficult. The sins of our former life were fun. The problem with being born-again is that our minds are not erased. Please do not throw stuff at me for using this as a metaphor, but when unplugged from the Matrix, you know both worlds. You know the matrix (old you) is wrong and not real. But keep focused on your walk. Do everything you do in the name of Jesus Christ. Do not wish to satisfy the flesh is Paul calls it, but push forward to satisfy the desires of your God who loves you.

For those of you that are hurting and seeking to be cleansed of something in your life, I have a task for you. Now, you can’t tell anyone you are doing this though. If you have to work, you can do this as your work through out the day. I invite you to have a day of fasting and prayer. It is hard, but I am a big fan of it. Remember, do not tell anyone else what you are doing. If I am doing it, I just tell people I had a big breakfast or lunch depending on the meal that I am explaining why I can’t go grab a burger with someone. If you can, get somewhere and be alone. Turn off all electronics. Just sit there with your bible and read / pray for however many hours you can get away. If you have to work, then do it when you get home. If you have a family to take care of, do it after they go to sleep. No mater how you do it, get alone with God with no distractions. Remember though, this is a secret. This is time that you are giving to the Lord alone.

Endorsed

Not that there was ever any fear that it would not happen, but the very last step in my application has been completed. My church has voted and endorsed me to attend Seminary. I also spoke to the new pastor of my old church, and he will be sending the form in tomorrow as well.

I feel like I am ready to be set loose. I met with one of the minister's at my church today and discussed different opportunities that were available based upon my calling. It looks like I will either end up working with a small group with high school students or working to expand the singles ministry. Either way, I'm ready to get going with serving and seminary. Granted, my own person battle is keeping me plenty busy, but I'm ready to start working with people to start theirs.

Christian History in America

As many of you know, people attend university to gain a higher level of education. Those that attend college learn that their bachelors degree more or less enhances their ability to learn. That is why we have masters programs, so that we can dive into the major and become more apt to mastering our trade.

As you enter into your studies at the ripe age of 18, you convince yourself that you have learned the new way of thinking. Your eyes have been "opened up". Many young matriculates find politics. Within their new found study, they believe they have reinvented the wheel. A lot of times, they want to express their newly found freedoms. Freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and freedom of religion. Religion is soon found to be a crutch of the weak minded. We as Christians are said to not have the capacity of the higher level thought, so we are forced to rely on a non-existent God. Perhaps this theory dates back to the Greeks. Science to them did not exist in the way it does for us today, and gods were used to describe why things happened. For example, a wind god caused the winds, or related gods for rain, the ocean, the sun, and victory in battle.

Ultimately, we are told that our morals cannot dictate the lives of Americans. I know this is not the best source, but Wikipedia shows that 76% of Americans claim to be Christian. If a certain class owned that much of a company, they would dictate what the company does. However, if 76% of the nation is Christian, yet our laws are not Christian, how does that work?

According to Gary De mar, America's Christian History:

The early constitutional framers were convinced that there was an intrinsic connection between morality and good government. In practical terms, this means that non--Christians are not exempt from God's moral law. An atheist, for example, cannot appeal to his atheism and freely live as an ethical anarchist. While the State certainly has no jurisdiction over his believes, it does have something to say about how he acts. This moral and civil authority remains an irritant for many in our day. All people, however, answer to some standard of behavior. The question is this: In a religiously diverse society, what ethical standard should the civil magistrate use to make moral judgments about civil activity? This question is the essence of the debate about a "Christian America."

So my question to American is a curiosity of if the majority of Americans are in fact Christians, why do we have such a mass of immoral values that are making their way through our society. This is something that I would argue is new. In the early 1900s, Woodrow Wilson, and many other figures still held on to what our founding fathers knew, which is Christian values. Maybe it was in the 1960s or 19760s that we began the feel good stage. Whatever it is, and however it happened, I think America is going down a dark path.

The free thinking and perversion of our laws is becoming rampant in my opinion. We try to give labels and excuses for criminal acts. We are too busy tiptoeing around the important issues to avoid any social faux paus. If we do not stop the train that is heading forward without breaks, what kind of society will our children grow up in? Nude billboards on our roads and commercials such as they are in europe? We have our work cut out for us.

Back to Normal

Well that was a crazy week. I am now on vacation and will be for the next 4 weeks! Getting ready for it was insane though. There were many 2:00 am nights in order to get everything done that needed to be so that I could get away.

However, it is all done now and I can enjoy my vacation. My goal is just to relax and hang out. If anyone has any good reads that they would recommend, please do so!

Seminary Update:

I ended up having to go to my previous church to get their endorsement as well. I sent it last week, and I am not sure what stage it is in. Also, my current church is voting on Wednesday night, so very excited about that. Hopefully my application with be completed and approved soon to allow me to register for the classes that I want.

Quick Update

I had to work late tonight, so I do not have a grand post to bring to you. My last reference arrived to the seminary today, so the only thing that I lack at this point is for the seminary to receive my church endorsement. The endorsement is to occur next Wednesday, 6/17/09, at the business meeting. I imagine the form will be sent the next day. That would mean that my application could be fully complete by 6/19/09, and could potentially render my acceptance the follow Friday!

Oh! a praise! In all of this, I was a little worried about asking my work for permission to be able to leave at 5:00 (ha, what normal people get to do) two nights a week during the semester. The question was well received, and I was given permission to be able to be absent one night a week. That works out great, because I can supplement the other class that I would have taken by taking advantage of the online course offerings. I am not the biggest fan of online courses. During my masters, I utilized them as well as in my CPA studies. They are good in that if I want to study or do a lecture at 1:00 in the morning, that option is available to me. To answer your question, my sleep schedule gets messed up from work, and quite frequently I get a second wind around 11:00 or so and can typically get a good 3 hours of work in.

Everything seems to be falling into place. I do want to add something new to the blog. Prayer is a strong tool that we have in our arsenal, and if there is anything I can pray about for you, please email me. My email should be listed in my profile. I will add this note to the side as well so it doesn't get forgotten as I add more posts.

God Bless

Christian Economics

I came up with this a few years ago. I'd like to discuss / correct anything on it if anyone disagrees. This chart is what I would propose to be the economic representation of our giving as Christians. The DG on the y-axis represents Difficult Giving. The giving does not necessarily mean monetary. This ranges from your tithe and involvement in your church body to the sacrifice of giving your life to His ministry. The B on the x-axis represents the blessings that God gives to us. I want to note that the graphs are not mapping the ratio of God’s blessings to our giving. I understand that we receive all that we will ever need of God’s grace and blessing at DG = 0, because that is simply given to us, and we can not earn it. There are different variations that I will talk about, but this first graph, in my own opinion, is charting Christians as a whole.

The blue line represents our market giving, and is simply a supply curve. I believe the line would be more of a curve (instead of the straight line that is presently showing), and probably in a manner that the ratio of Difficult Giving to Blessings is very low, because we can not out give God. For our graphical purposes, I have made the line positive, because by giving more, we ultimately receive more (I do not mean monetary exclusively, this is not supporting giving more so that we can have that fancy SUV or $1 million home)

The red line represents the individuals in relationship to the market, or entire body of Christians, of our giving. As you can see, the dotted line is connecting the red line to the blue line. This is not a coincidence, and I did not just make it up – it is a derivative of individual and market economic theory that remains to be disproven by the great minds of John Forbes Nash and others. The dotted is linking the market to our individual supply of giving. I would like to note that some will give more, but overall, according to the economic theory, we are only going to give up to the point of (P*,Q*). You will also see that the market or red line is a flat line. This is because we are willing as a whole to pay one price. This one low price is the amount that we would pay regardless of the amount that God is willing to bless us with. This is our sin. Due to our sinful nature, no matter how many blessings God is offering us, we are not changing and giving more. This thought is proven on a daily basis, for God has offered the world the ultimate blessing through the ultimate gift. However, we will never be willing to give at the point that God demands.

The green line represents the demand of God. The first thing that you should be seeing is that our willingness to give is only (P*,Q*), and that we are falling short of God’s demand. God wants us to be giving where the blue and green lines cross. A triangle is formed from our lack of giving. The triangle consists of the dotted line as a base, and the blue and green lines as sides to the point that they meet. This area should be viewed as a loss to God. Not that He could ever lose anything that he wanted, but it represents the area by which we fall short to God’s demand. This amount, if ever quantifiable, is how much more we owe Him.

In the end, this is not a cutting edge thought or a new discovery. I just think it is a great representation of our sin, our giving, and God’s demand.

Fellowship and Truth

I have not been writing in this blog for very long, so I sincerely appreciate the comments. The New Testament read by James Earl Jones is starting to prove to be very handy. I am getting to where when a pastor or Sunday School teacher talks about a particular passage, I already know where they are going. It is definitely a great experience, and I hope that you are all finding creative ways to get into the Word...especially if you are finding it hard to have the time to stop and do it. I have roughly 2 hours of commuting, so it gives me a nice beginning and end to the work day.

The topic of the day is Fellowship.

1 John 1:5-10 (ESV)
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. [6] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Immediately when I read this passage written by John, my mind goes to the Full Armor of God that I have written about. John is hitting on 2 very important topics: 1. Fellowship and 2. Honesty. Keep in mind that I am just writing on opinion here, and not necessarily from an educated theology standpoint (haven't made it into seminary yet).

Fellowship and Honesty go hand in hand. They relate both to the Shoes of Readiness and the Belt of Truth. Fellowship helps us be honest, and being honest helps us in fellowship. This passage seems to be specifically talking about fellowship with Christ, but the idea definitely branches out to our need to be with other Christians as well. I think that this concept of being honest and asking for forgiveness in our sins is of paramount that separates a believer from a non-believer. A person that truly believes in Christ knows when they have committed sin and feels the need to ask for forgiveness. The lack guilt would in fact then have to stem from lack of belief in what the Word says. If you do not feel the desire to repent, then the old you has not died.

Let's step back now and go back to the relationship of honesty and fellowship. We all need to have much fellowship with other believers. Consider yourselves addicts. You are addicted to the old you. Whether you are a new Christian who has just made the decision to follow Christ, or a 40 year veteran, your Earthly desires and temptations are still present. We can find great comfort in fellowship to help fight these temptations. Do not try to fight the War against evil on your own. While you have the potential in yourself to do it, it would be wise to fight it as a team.

If you are not going to a church, find one. If you are already going to a church but are not plugged in, find a group. If you are already in a Sunday school class, start to find ways to have fellowship outside of that class. As I said earlier, if you only do the Sunday meeting, you are only covering yourself less then 2% of the time.

My goal for this week is to start meeting with my class outside of church. After the bible study on Wednesday night, I am going to meet them for dinner. That will work for a short term goal, but my long term goal is to start a bible study. Maybe I will bring that up this week when I meet with the group. We shall see!

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. I hope to have a complete application in after next week, and then I can start thinking about my classes / schedule! I would like to add to my prayer list here, and that is for the people who are unable to find jobs in this economy. Times are tough, and despite the fact that work is rough right now, I do still have a job that pays the mortgage. I have also been praying more on my calling, and I am not sure if this is how it is working, but I get the feeling that God is not showing me yet what the next step will be. This is as if He is telling me, "Take care of seminary first, prepare yourself financially, do the work for what is planned for you now. Then, I will move you on to the next stage."

God Bless

An Example of Excitement

I am reading the Introduction of an Old Testament text book, and I wanted to share this one segment with you. This is a great example of why I am very excited to study in seminary:

Imagery

Although images are found throughout the Bible, they occur with more frequency and intensity in the poetic portions. Imagery contributes to the compactness of poetry, because it allows the authors to communicate their message using fewer words.

Imagery is an indirect way of speaking or writing, Unlike direct statements, an image compares something or someone with another thing or someone else. For instance, not the Song of Songs 1:9

I liken you, my darling, to a mare
harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.

In this verse the speaker draws a comparison between two things: his beloved and a mare harnessed to a chariot of Pharaoh. The difference between the two objects in comparison draws our attention and sets us thinking. The next step is to identify the comparison. In this particular case, some historical background is necessary to understand the impact of the compliment. Research makes it clear that the chariots of Egypt used stallions, not mares. The presence of a mare would sexually excite the stallions. Israel knew of a battle tactic that called for the release of a mare among the enemy's chariot horses to divert their attention.

How many of you at first glance would think that it was a more love based statement? As if to say that I follow you wherever you go, or we go together, or something of that nature? I know I did.

Powerful stuff.

Failure

On Thursday, I failed miserably. I made the post (maybe even the day before) about acknowledging who you work for as a form of developing peace in hard situations at work. In my business, it is all about billable hours. From those billable hours, we have future schedules which determine our potential utilization from the year. Up until this past week, I has #3 out of 33 people in terms of future billable hours potential. That being said, I did not do anything to necessarily deserve that over them, but it made me safe from layoffs.

I found out on Thursday that my hours were going to be reduced by half on my major client due to budget cuts from wanting to reduce the cost to the client. I think coupled that with people getting let go this week, and the fact that my other client might not even be a client due to the economy.

So I found myself looking at my schedule to find myself not #3, but potentially #30 if a few things fell the wrong way. I completely freaked out. I was scared, angry, insulted, confused, and the list goes on and on. This is exactly why that when if at anytime someone says something about me being a good christian or something of that nature, I feel the need to correct them. I know of other people that I feel that I can say are warriors of Christ, but I'm not there yet. I'm working on it though.

This also throws a wrench into the plans for the fall. My schedule is now wide open, so now I could get picked up on a client that requires me to work a lot in the fall. Ha, I guess it could also mean that I have nothing else to do but sit in the office and study.

I don't know if it is wise to think this way, but work is not going to stop me. All of the battles that I evolve or continue in fighting may make us want to lock ourselves in our rooms where it is safe, but we have to keep going.

I didn’t come lookin’ for trouble
And I don’t want to fight needlessly
But I’m not gonna hide in a bubble
If trouble comes for me
I can feel my heart beating faster
I can tell something’s coming down
But if it’s gonna make me grow stronger then…

Now, maybe you’re thinkin’ I’m crazy
And maybe I need to explain some things
‘Cause I know I’ve got an enemy waiting
Who wants to bring me pain
But what he never seems to remember
What he means for evil God works for good
So I will not retreat or surrender

Now, I don’t want to sound like some hero
‘Cause it’s God alone that my hope is in
But I’m not gonna run from the very things
That would drive me closer to Him
So bring it on

Bring it on
Let the lightning flash, let the thunder roll, let the storm winds blow
Bring it on
Let the trouble come, let the hard rain fall, let it make me strong
Bring it on

Who do you work for?

This is a pretty serious question. I think it is a question that we must all ask ourselves on a frequent basis. It is comforting when you know the answer.

I work for Jesus Christ.

That statement alone is what calms me when my firm is doing lay-offs, when I feel like I am being slighted on my evaluations, and in general thought of what is even the point of my job.

For almost a year now, my firm has been doing lay-offs on a quarterly-or-so basis. This has caused an uneasy environment with my coworkers, and with good reason. I have a few close relationships that I have built during my time at the firm. On top of the lay-offs, we also face very difficult hours. It becomes very easy to lose yourself to not only the job, but bring you down into a state of depression. In fact, I was talking to a friend at work who was nearly in tears the other day, and doesn't know what to do anymore. This all is not specific to my firm, but it is an impact that the current economic recession has reduced many of us to this lower state of mind.

So today, I asked her how she was doing. After the initial conversation pleasantries, I asked her who she worked for. Being a Christian, she responded that she physically works for the firm, but she spiritually works for Jesus Christ. An interesting statement! You see, I think she was half right. She does work for Jesus Christ on a spiritual level, but I do not think that the physical and spiritual employers differ.

For those of you that are working in Corporate America who think that your job is not serving Christ, you are grossly mistaken. In talking with my dad a few days ago, he explained to me that there are 3 levels of security in missions: 1) I'm a missionary, let's talk about Christ, 2) Yes, I am a missionary, but let's not make a big deal out of it, and 3) I am hear to study the language, but I am not very good at it, and it is taking me 20 years to do so. In a sense, you are all missionaries as well, and I would venture to say you are in a Level II security area. Your place of business does not necessarily care that you are Christians, but you definitely do not get to make a big fuss out of it.

You work for Christ both physically and spiritually, and I am telling you that it is in fact your very lifestyle and how you handle the stress and punches you receive at work that tell the world about Jesus. This form of lifestyle evangelism that I have been talking about on my blog is your job. Given the current economic state, the stage has been set for us. We have an amazing opportunity to shine like the moon and reflect the Son. It is easy to be positive and happy when times are good, but now is the time for us to really be an example.

The next time you are feeling frustrated and feel that things are not going your way, ask yourself who you work for. If you are serving Jesus, then you should embrace whatever outcome occurs, because by living in Christ, you are subjecting yourself to God's will. If we can somehow reduce everything to that level, then tomorrow is not going to be a bad day, but a day you will love the Lord, be comforted by the Lord, and be taken care of by the Lord.