A Fair Article about Regent University!

From the Boston Globe, no less, comes this piece about the recent firing "scandal" in the United States Attorney General's office that has put a spotlight on my law school alma mater.

An interesting part of the article is that it points out the difference in the graduates even from the late 90s and more recent graduates like myself (as far as the academics, etc). The best thing that the article demonstrates, most surprisingly, is the struggle that a graduate from a Christian school has to endure when such a story comes out. The whole story is worth the read.

It's easy for the world to quickly say, "oh, you're from Regent." And they quickly discount what we would do or say--but as this article shows (and from a liberal paper!), we cannot all be judged by one person's actions, as if that person's quality/character is impugned to the whole lot of us alums.

(As a side note: I have not followed this story much, and would be incorrect in totally point ing blame at Ms. Goodling for her role in this "scandal" since there definitely may be more at work here--the point of the post is that for once, a liberal and secular newspaper treated the story appropriately and was most fair when most would use this as fuel for their fire to marginalize Christians as forces in the professional workplace.)

h-t: SW Virginia Law Blog

Being Prepared for Every Good Work

Last night I was reading in Titus 3, where Paul was giving Titus instructions on dealing with certain issues in the church. When I ran across the statement, "be prepared for every good work," I got to thinking, how are we to prepare?

For starters, we have to be in the Word daily and praying to the Lord. Joshua 1:8 states that we shall "meditate on it day and night, so that you are careful to do all that is written in it." Psalm 119:48 says, "I will lift my hands up toward your commandments, which I love and I will meditate on your statutes." To love God's commandments to us, we have to ask to Spirit to change our attitudes towards others. Have you not been in a certain mood when you get up that if you were confronted by someone that needed compassion, you would say, "not today! I don't have time for it." Even with worship on Sunday mornings we must fight against an attitude which says, "well, I've been pretty good about going, I'm tired today, I think I'll skip today--I'll be there next Sunday."

From the moment that our feet hit the ground in the morning, we have to pray to God that He will help us to serve others (a certain song comes to mind from Audio Adrenline, called This Day). Even as Christians, we must fight against our flesh that is self-centered and self-serving. My former pastor once told me that the opposite of this is finding your happiness in someone else's happiness, and this is most applicable in marriage--if both people in a marriage do this, their bond will grow stronger.

Now an objection will be raised, "hey, I'm saved by grace--you make it sound like these works are a requirement." The answer to both questions is yes and yes--God did call us by His grace to faith in Christ, justifying us by Christ's blood. But the next question is what did He call us to? A life that is closed off from others, a life that is comfortable where we only interact with other Christians? In James 2 and 3 where James, the brother of Jesus, writes about a hypothetical person showing him (James) that he has faith, but James has works, James is NOT saying that works are more important than faith but rather they are an outflow of the saving grace of Christ. This is why he indicated that faith without works is dead--a faith that has no desire to do such things, to share the grace that Christ has given, is not alive and perhaps not faith at all. In being born again, we are transformed in our innermost desires--we go from wanting to SIN all the time, to wanting to serve God (though the action can sometimes be long in following--Paul mentions this in Romans 7:15-19).

The natural consequence of true, genuine faith is a desire to do the works that Titus 3 is talking about--having a spirit of readiness to do good works that proclaim the grace and glory of God is all that is needed. (This means that once this post is read, it does not mean we are to instantly run out and DO as much good as we can--we pray that the Spirit would work on our hearts) There is no special skill set that the Bible speaks of that enables someone to do these works, but it only calls us to rely on Him. Please don't misunderstand--this does mean a requirement of serving on every committee at church as a matter of Christian duty. Overcommitting yourself for the cause of Christ to the detriment of your relationships, even to your personal time with God does not serve Him well at all.

I work in a building across from a shopping center, and I was going to get a bite to eat at a KFC in that center this past week, and God in His providence had me delay until a certain time, and I was able to help an elderly couple get their son, a 6 foot 6 war veteran who was quite disabled, back into their car. Did it take a little time out of my day? Sure it did. But these are the kind of opportunities that are out there that God can use to share His gospel--as fallen as the world is, even non-Christians can be surprised when someone does something good for them. When they ask why you did it, you state that Christ first showed you love and grace, and that He is the reason for your act.

So, read the Word, meditate on it, and pray that God will help you to be prepared for good works when the opportunity arises, giving you a humble and compassionate attitude. You may be the means of grace God intends to use in someone's life today. These acts in and of themselves do not save--but they are apart of our sanctification. God is gracious in giving us these opportunities by removing selfish attitudes and tendencies through these good works towards others.

Lord, help us to be more aware of the those who have needs around us.

A Great Weekend Ahead!

According to the weather, it's supposed to be sunny all weekend, which always helps with the rest and relaxation. I don't really know if I have much planned other than putting up a clothesline for my wife, which shouldn't take too long--although some spring "cleaning" might take place.

We went to small group last night, and we are continuing our study on the sacraments. We are studying baptism, and it will be interesting to hear the Presby perspective on it since I hail from a more Baptistic (and thus credo or believer's baptism) background. I'm trying to keep an open mind, and I'm sure both sides realize that this difference in doctrine certainly doesn't prevent fellowship in any way (since we agree on the core of the Gospel).

Anyway, this week at work was not so bad--I didn't have any big mistakes, which is always good. And next week will be one of my lightest court weeks in a while (I only have court once because of a state-wide judicial conference that shuts down the entire court system for two to three days).

Enjoy His creation today!

The Virginia Tech Nightmare

What happened at Virginia Tech yesterday morning was nothing short of horrific. Many news stories have been written about the gunman and many more will be written, as more details are revealed. Much blame has been laid at the foot of the police and the administration of VT, but I cannot even imagine trying to shut or lock down a campus full of over 20,000 students and over 10,000 staff at a very PUBLIC university. But even these questions are for later, as we stop and think of those who have lost their lives in what has been called the worst such shooting in U.S. History.

What this should do for us as Christians is to make us aware that our next moment is not guaranteed, and that physical security on this earth is not guaranteed. To think that such security exists is to live in an illusion--because the same thing could happen somewhere else in another state, another school, building or workplace. People are sinful at their core, plain and simple. But for the restraining grace of God, humanity's fallen nature would result in many more instances of pain and suffering than already exist.

Today is the day of salvation, as the Scripture says--do you know Christ as your Lord and Savior, trusting in Him to be your righteousness, to justify you before God? And do others around you know this? Because if you haven't "gotten around to it" to think about it (or tell others about it), how do you know the next time you walk into the store, the gas station, the bank won't be the last? This is not to sound morbid, but a wake-up call that our lives are not our own, and we certainly don't determine how long our tenure on this earth lasts!

Pray for the families of the victims, for those who survived the attack, for the other students who will be affected by this, as well as the family of the shooter. Pray also for the support teams on the ground--medical and psychological personnel, as well as pastors and churches as they help to heal the physical, mental and spiritual wounds that this has caused.

Rough Weekend

Sleep seemed hard to come by this weekend--last night I had a combination of indigestion and a dog that was apparently too hot in his crate (he let us know ALL about it) that made for fitful sleep at best (an hour of straight sleep was welcome!). It is definitely by God's grace that I am even conscious and able to write at this keyboard.

Thankfully, there's a small weekend vacation coming up and perhaps a time to get away and relax. June will make a year here in the Valley, and while in some ways it has gone slow, in other ways it has gone fast. I have to be honest, though, that I don't really feel at home here, as if this is another temporary stopping place--much like one of many train stations along a run of railroad track.

We have found a pretty good church with the community atmosphere that we have been looking for (though it is Presbyterian and we would have some disagreement with them on some issues, though nothing that would prevent us attending or fellowshipping with them--the reformed doctrine is shared, for sure). Even with this and how time is moving, I feel like I am treading water, as if my life is in a holding pattern until I am able to move to the next stage or chapter. God in His infinite wisdom has ordained it to be so, but it doesn't make it any easier to understand!

I took my wife with me to get my car oil changed (yes, it took me only three weeks to travel 3100 miles) and the lobby was full of young mothers and their children. One couple who may have been younger or older than us, though not by much, simply gushed over their newborn--my wife remarked to me why it seems we were constantly bombarded with such experiences when we are having a very difficult time having one of our own. A few years ago, I might have come back with a very "spiritual" or even a truly Biblical response. Lately, however, I don't know how to respond because I feel so heartbroken by it--I know that God does not set out to torture individuals who, more importantly, are His children--saved and bought by the blood of Christ. But as each month passes and disappointment upon disappointment mounts (and we are surrounded by individuals who seemingly have no trouble at all), I cannot help at times but weep to God and plead for our prayers to be granted to have a child of our own. You start to ask yourself if your desire to have a child is somehow impure, or wrong, and wonder what it is you can do to convince Him that it is the right time. At other times I cannot pray at all, because I do not know how--it is too painful to contemplate. God must sustain us through this for otherwise we would physically perish under the strain and disappointment that results. For (seemingly) unanswered prayer, it would seem that David's cry in Psalm 13 of "How long, O Lord?" is most appropriate.

God, increase our faith and trust in You even we do not understand your purposes.

Easter Morning

Winter came and has visited again over the last few days, making it a rather cold Easter weekend. But it certainly does not change the fact of what we are to celebrate today. Some may argue that this was originally a pagan holiday, but this is the culmination of both Christmas and Good Friday. It must be understood that without what we celebrate today, the resurrection of Christ, we are, as Paul says in his epistles, the most pitiable of men. For if there is no resurrection, there is no hope, and no hope because Christ would have died as anyone else had and would not have triumphed over the power of sin and death. If this were true, then Jesus would only be a great teacher at best or a madman at worst, since he would have claimed things (being God) that were not true.

However, as there was a resurrection, we as believers hold to a glorious hope (that of course is not an uncertain hope but a faith in that which is not seen) that we will be raised with Him in the final day if we have faith in Him. Celebrate with other believers in the house of the Lord today, and praise Him for His glory that was shown through the resurrection.