Money Is Not The Most Important Thing

It never ceases to amaze me that the same people who complain about having no money this week, went out to eat multiple times and saw a movie last week. Let me be clear, I know that sometimes something can happen that no manner of savings can fully rectify the situation. However, being wise with your finances in the good times will create stability in your family during the hard times.

Money (along with everything else) Ultimately Comes From God

In reality, money is an issue of the heart and stewardship. What we choose to do with our money declares what is in our hearts. In other words, our checkbooks reveal our priorities and what is truly important to us. We must learn that we are stewards of the gifts that God has given us. As the Apostle Peter states, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10) God has given us everything we have, so, in reality, we own nothing. If we can live in this reality, then it easy to give back to God what he has given to us.

The True American Dream

The original American dream that was envisioned by our founding fathers was the right of the pursuit of happiness. In today’s culture, happiness is equated with comfort which is obtained by owning lots of stuff. Everyone wants the latest this or that. This is the true American dream that is born out of envy and jealousy.

One of the most important principles to financial stability is contentment. The author of Hebrews makes this point clear, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” We must forsake the American dream and run to Christ for our purpose and identity.

Wise Finances

Lastly, I would like to speak about practical and Biblical financial wisdom. First, everyone should have a budget. This is not a option if you want to be financially successful. Every viable business has a budget and you will not be able to function effectively and wisely without one. Proverbs 21:5, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”

Second, comes the tithe. Please understand that I believed and practiced tithing long before I was a pastor at Deep Roots Fellowship, so I am not asking for your money. The tithe is not about how much money the church gets, its about your relationship with God. How much do you trust God to take care of your finances? No one can say that they are an obedient Christian and not tithe.

Thirdly, you must also save for those raining days. Laura and I just had to have both of our cars repaired in the same week. When it rains, it pours. We have had savings built into budget and this helps us prepare for the situations that we can’t see. Proverbs 6:6-8, “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. 7 Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.”

Hopefully, if you have been budgeting and saving then you will not have to go into unnecessary debt. What happens if your car brakes down or you have a water leak in your house? Going into debt is not wise, especially for small amounts of money. Proverbs 22:7 states, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”

In conclusion, keep Christ the Lord of your life and not money. View everything, especially your money, as a gift from God and learn to be content with what God has given you. Manage the resources that God has given in such a way that you honor God and take care of your family.

Prayer…Just Do It.

A.W. Tozer stated, “The key to prayer is simply praying.” It seems that Americans are so “How to” centered that we must have the latest “…For Dummies” book. This line of thinking has bled over into the Christian community. For just about anything related to Christianity, there is a book somewhere to tell us how we should act or think. Prayer is one of most fundamental acts for a Christian and should be one of the most organic and fluid. However, it seems that most people have read more than they should and are too smart for their own good. A. W. Tozer was correct. We need to just pray and not worry about a formula. I’m not saying that it is bad to take advice about prayer, but just don’t get all caught up in formalities. The Lord’s Prayer spoken by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13 is so simple a child can understand it. Why do we complicate and formalize something that is meant to be simple, flexible and organic? There is no special formula for praying, just pray and actually have a conversation with your heavenly father.

Religion Saves Book Review

About two months ago, theResurgence.com hosted a contest to receive a free copy of Mark Driscoll’s latest book Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions . Contestants could enter by simply giving their name and blog address. The publishing company is hosting a blog tour for Religion Saves. My blog, along with 79 others, were chosen out of the hundreds that were submitted. As you can see, my blog isn’t much, so I am grateful to have had this opportunity.

Religions Saves is part of the of Re:Lit Series. Click here for more information about Mark Driscoll.

Below is my review of Religion Saves. You can also download the book review in a PDF format.

Introduction

In order to be completely transparent in my opinions about Mark Driscoll and his affiliations, let me begin by making it clear that I am a fan of Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll. I have been listening to Mark Driscoll via podcast for the last three years and own almost all of his books. Additionally, I am a frequent visitor to theResurgence.com and enjoy many of the resources available. I am also involved with a church plant that is pursuing membership with Acts29 Church Planting Network (http://www.acts29network.org/). I appreciate the teaching and resources made available by Mark Driscoll.

In light of my opinion of Driscoll, I will try my best to create the most unbiased review of his book, Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions. In addition, I want to thank theResurgence.com for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Religion Saves, in my opinion, was a result of a social experiment. Before the book was written, Driscoll preached a series from which this book is based. Mars Hill Church opened up a section of its website where anyone could post and vote on questions. “And in the end, 893 questions were asked, 5,524 comments were made, and 343,203 votes were cast.” (page 11) The top nine questions were answered and became the series, Religion Saves. The sermon series was then made into a book, in which each sermon in the series became a chapter in the book.

Book Review

This book contains a wide variety of topics. Of course, the nature of the book is dependent upon the the way the questions (chapters) were gathered. For the sake of brevity, I will simply take a chapter by chapter, straight-to-the-point approach. Because I believe that the more concise the book review the better.

Question 9: Birth Control

The book’s opening chapter asks, “Is birth control biblical?” Since there is no Scripture verse that directly addresses the issue of birth control, Driscoll begins by building a biblical worldview by listing sixteen truths pertaining to human life, sex, gender, and children. After the biblical worldview is established Driscoll gives a brief history of the use of birth control, followed by the levels of birth control. In order to organize the many different kinds and methods of birth control, Driscoll develops five different levels of birth control, which range from no birth control to abortion. Each level is explained and evaluated at length. Driscoll spends a significant portion of the chapter discussing the many arguments against birth control and their counter arguments.

The chapter focuses on whether or not a Christian can sin with the usage of birth control. Driscoll makes it very clear that he can not declare whether a Christian is sinning at any level of birth control, excluding level five. Since the Bible clearly teaches that life begins at conception, the real concern is whether or not a fertilized egg is destroyed with the use of birth control. Ultimately, every married couple should research various forms of birth control and prayerfully consider what God desires for them. Driscoll does a great job of organizing all the different types of birth controls and all the issues surrounding them into a condensed chapter.

Question 8: Humor

At this point, Driscoll’s use of sarcastic humor in his sermons is questioned. To introduce this chapter, he gives a brief summary of how humor is used throughout the Old and New Testaments, and then specifically how Jesus used humor in his ministry. Following this, Driscoll outlines ten ways that humor is helpful and then lists ten boundaries, or guidelines for the use of humor.

As with other topics, Driscoll incorporated Scripture and developed relevant guidelines for using humor in all aspects of life. I often enjoy Driscoll’s humor in his sermons but have, at times, felt that he overstepped my own personal boundaries for the use of sarcastic humor. Overall, this chapter helped to shed light on how humor can be used in a sanctifying way for the glory of the Gospel.

Question 7: Predestination

The most lengthy chapter in the book, “Predestination,” discusses the question, “Does God predestine some to be saved and others to be damned?” The main focus of the chapter includes the differences between Arminianism and Calvinism. Driscoll also spends a significant amount of time on the evaluation of Romans 8:28-10:1. He concludes the chapter by answering a series of questions and objections related to predestination.

This chapter was, by far, the weightiest chapter in Religion Saves. Considering that volumes have been written on this subject, Driscoll succeeds in explaining the basic  precepts of this topic in a single chapter. Even though Driscoll does not clearly state what he believes about predestination, he does so in his sermon from which this chapter is based. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this chapter and would recommend it to anyone searching for a basic overview on the topic.

Question 6: Grace

This topic, unlike the others, was the answer to the question personally appointed to Driscoll, “Of all the things you teach, what parts of Christianity do you still wrestle with? What’s hardest for you to believe?” Driscoll’s answer was “Grace.” Driscoll shares his testimony about how God’s grace saved and transformed his life. He goes on to distinguish common grace from saving grace. The majority of the chapter describes the thirteen experiences of grace.

I find Mark’s answer to this question to be true in my own life as well. The more I learn about grace, the less I understand. I liked Mark’s definition of grace, “Grace is God the Father in love doing good for ill-deserving sinners through God the Son by God the Spirit.” My favorite part of the chapter was reading about the thirteen experiences of grace, which helped me better appreciate God’s saving grace.

Question 5: Sexual Sin

Driscoll begins by analyzing sexual sin in Scripture and in today’s culture. He sets up the chapter by defining sexual sin before discussing strategies of breaking free from sexual sin. The majority of the chapter explains Driscoll’s eleven tips for “Christian men and women seeking to break free from the bondage of sexual sin.” At the end, Driscoll further discusses masturbation and pornography.

The subject of this chapter strikes close to home for me. Recently, I posted an article on my personal blog about battling sexual lust in which I referenced Driscoll’s book, Porn Again Christian. This chapter included a lot of the same content found in Porn Again Christian. Overall, Driscoll provides a solid biblical framework for us to begin removing sexual sin from our lives by the blood of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Question 4: Faith and Works

This chapter is devoted to describing the doctrine of justification and regeneration. Driscoll begins by refuting that we are saved by works and explains that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone and His death on the cross. After detailing the doctrine of Christ’s justification, he explains the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration. Driscoll distinguishes between justification and regeneration by implying the justification is God’s work for us and regeneration is God’s work in us. The majority of the chapter is spent listing the ten aspects of regeneration. In his closing point, Driscoll explains that Christians are not saved by good works but for good works.

Driscoll successfully defines the biblical definition of works. He clearly makes known that Christians are not saved through their works by any means but through Christ alone. In my opinion, this chapter could be used as a “Gospel 101” course. I appreciated Driscoll’s focus on the doctrine of regeneration. His ten aspects help to clarify and explain this glorious truth.

Question 3: Dating

Similar to the chapter about birth control, there are no Scripture references specific to dating in the Bible. So, Driscoll packs the chapter full of principles based on Scripture that will help guide dating couples. Within the chapter, Driscoll discusses co-habitation, singleness, sixteen Christian dating principles for both men and women. In addition, he presents seven dating questions specific to men and seven specific to women and concludes with some dating methods.

Overall, Driscoll’s principles are informative for guiding dating Christians. Dating situations can vary greatly depending on age, culture, socio-economic status, gender and race. Due to the complexity of dating situations, it may have been helpful for Driscoll to distinguish between principles based on experience (or common sense) and those based on Scripture. For example, we know that the Bible teaches that we should not have sex before marriage or that Christians should not date non-Christians. Since not every principle would be applicable to every situation, prioritizing the importance of the Scripturally based principles would have been helpful and beneficial.

Question 2: The Emerging Church

Driscoll seems to have an insider’s view on the most recognized movement of the emerging church. In order to help explain his view point of the emerging church, Driscoll begins by describing his involvement and affiliations. Next, Driscoll categorizes the complicated and murky waters of the emerging church into “four lanes.” The majority of the chapter’s focus is given to the last of the four lanes, “Emergent Liberals.” Driscoll claims that the major leaders of this lane in the emergent church are Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, and Rob Bell. One by one, Driscoll discusses the theological beliefs and view points of each of the leaders listed. To conclude the chapter Driscoll sounds an alarm by clearly stating that the “Emergent Liberals” are swiftly exiting the highway of missional christianity to pave another road away from traditional biblical orthodoxy.

Personally, this was the most interesting chapter. I believe the word “emergent” is used a lot in discussions about the church, but few really know how to define what it means. Therefore, I feel I am having to trust Driscoll’s evaluation, because it would be hard to refute what hey says due to the ambiguity surrounding the subject. Driscoll has a unique perspective of the emergent church due to his involvement in the emergent church movement. Because of Driscoll’s personal relationships with several individuals involved in this movement, he is careful not to attack them personally but rather evaluate what they have written or said about their theology. Driscoll brings clarity to the emerging church and its proponents with refreshing insight and discernment.

Question 1: The Regulative Principle

The majority of the chapter defines and evaluates the weaknesses and strengths of the normative, regulative, and missional worship principle. The principles mentioned all pertain to the elements of corporate worship or the worship gatherings of a local congregation at a local church. In an attempt to guide churches in their corporate worship gatherings, each principle attempts to state how much Scripture influences the elements included in these gatherings.

I had never heard of the regulative principle before I read this chapter. To be completely honest, I never really thought of the elements of a church service and whether or not they were biblical. As someone who is preparing to help plant a new church, I am grateful that I was able to read this chapter. I particularly enjoyed Driscoll’s invented Missional Worship Principle, which describes Mar Hill’s philosophy of ministry and life.

Conclusion

Overall this book was a very entertaining book to read and review. It was evident that Driscoll was well-prepared and researched for each subject. I have always appreciated Driscoll’s organized style of writing. He has a gift for taking complicated topics and breaking them down into understandable systems and structures. Each topic was interlaced with entertaining and witty stories and examples. The most important characteristic of this book was the sheer amount of Scripture. I believe that Scripture probably consists of at least a third of the book.

Something to consider is that each chapter is a general (view from the sky) overview of a particular topic. Even though Driscoll does an efficient job of condensing the information into chapters, it is worth noting that I would not categorize this book as exhaustive. I would view each chapter as an introduction to that topic and for further study, consider other more in-depth resources. Personally, I would only recommend Religion Saves as a good casual read rather than a “must read.” At the same time, it makes for excellent casual reading.

Goodbye FBC, Hello DRF

Well, I sent in my church membership transfer letter this week, which will officially transfer my membership from First Baptist Church at the Mall to Deep Roots Fellowship. And no, no one made me mad or kicked me out of church. Leaving FBC is a bitter-sweet transition for me. I am excited about where God is leading me, but I am also sad to say good bye to so many friends and family at FBC.

If you can bear it, I will reminisce a little about FBC. FBC has been the one and only church in my life up to this point. I first attended FBC when I was twelve. Shawn Smith was the youth pastor at the time and by the age of fourteen, Shawn helped lead me to the Lord. I was baptized a couple of years later by Keith Hodges, the youth pastor at that time. I met many dear friends in the youth group and learned so much about who God was and what He meant. At the age of seventeen, at youth summer camp at Camp Kulaqua, I felt called by God into full time ministry. After graduating from high school, I served under the singles/college pastor, Darrin Brown, in the college ministry. I believe that is when God gave me several mentors and brothers in Christ who helped me deepen my passion for Christ. I met Laura Gorman in the college ministry, who would later become my sweet and beautiful bride. After we were married, we were taught by the leaders of two helpful, young-married, sunday school classes. In short, FBC has been a solid and vital facet of my life.

In summary: I was saved, baptized, and called to full time ministry at FBC. I also saw my mom re-dedicate her life to Christ at FBC. I was continually, spiritually fed at FBC. My first job came through a family at FBC. I met my wonderful wife at FBC. All of my groomsmen were friends from FBC. I was married at FBC. I attend seminary with five guys from FBC.

I explain all of this to say that I will truly and deeply miss everyone at FBC. But as the old adage goes, “As one door closes, another door opens.” Through much prayer and confirmation from God, I have accepted the position of Associate Pastor at Deep Roots Fellowship. DRF is a southern Baptist church plant in Winter Haven. We are still in the planning stages and plan to launch in January 2010. Laura and I will be looking for our first house in Winter Haven this summer. This is a very exciting time in our lives.

I didn’t want to write this blog post, because I didn’t want to seem narcissistic, but I thought it would be only fair to say goodbye to such an amazing church home. I wish I could see everyone who has impacted me at FBC (the list is almost endless) face-to-face and personally thank them. I wish everyone at FBC the best. I will dearly miss everyone, but I have hope, because I know I will see everyone again. If not in this life, then in Glory.

I “thank God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.” (Colossians 1:3-5)

Resources for Battling Sexual Lust

It seems recently in my life that there has been an increase in the discussion of men struggling with sexual lust. Consequently, the topic of lust has been on my mind and heart lately. In the hope that someone may be helped by my sharing how God has helped me fight lust, I am going to briefly discuss lust in my own life.

Before I begin, there are two disclaimers. First, I believe that the only true freedom and victory over lust comes from the empowering grace of God and the guiding of the Holy Spirit, which are made available only through Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus is the source of overcoming lust. Second, lust is defined as a strong desire or craving for something. In our culture, lust carries a negative connotation, primarily due its relation to sexuality. Furthermore, lust can apply to many areas other than sexuality. One can lust over power, position, cars, boats, good relationships, technology, etc… The point is that lust is not only associated with sexuality and can be just as sinful when applied to other areas. However, for the purposes here, whenever lust is mentioned, it refers to the strong desire of sex in a sinful manner.

I have struggled with lust since a young age. I viewed my first Playboy at twelve years old and saw my first X-rated film a couple of years later. I became a Christian at the age of fourteen but, even under conviction, still pursued sexual sin through multiple facets (though, by God’s grace was kept physically pure). It wasn’t until I was 18 years old that I received my first accountability partner through a college small group at my church. This accountability relationship changed my life forever and gave me my first glimpse of a biblical Christian community. I truly believe that one of the most crucial steps to sexual freedom is accountability. In addition to an accountability partner, I also installed accountability software on my computers. (My wife and other accountability partners still hold me accountable through this software today.) In my case, the internet was a gateway to much sin and I needed to guard that gateway. There are several options for internet protection:

• x3Watch (Recommended)
• Covenant Eyes
• Safe Eyes

Above all else, the Scriptures were the true agent of change in my life. Several scriptures that were particularly helpful to me include:

• 1 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.”
• 1 Corinthians 6:18-19 – “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
• Ephesians 5:3 “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.”
• Job 31 – “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?”
• Proverbs 4:23 – “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

One of the best illustrations that helped me visualize my battle with lust was a sumo wrestling match. You are in the ring with a sumo wrestler, who represents your sex drive, and you must win the match by pushing him out of the ring. You are thrown into the ring every time a sexual temptation is presented to you. The key to winning the matches is to starve the sumo wrestler. The sumo wrestler is only fed by the sexual sin that you allow into your thoughts. The more you avoid and stop lustful thoughts, the smaller the sumo wrestler will be. Essentially, you need to starve your sex drive of sexual sin so that temptations are easier to overcome. There were several things that helped me starve my sinful sex drive:

• Truly believing and holding on to 1 Cor. 10:13 (and many other promises in Scripture)
• Viewing my sin as God does
• A true desire to remove the sin
• Accountability with another godly guy
• Intentionally stop pursuing sexual sin
• Read books that offered practical advice

Tips to avoiding Sexual Sin:

• Know and stand on Scripture as the very Word of our great and mighty Creator.
• Repeat 1 Cor. 10:13 (or any other Scripture that you find fitting) when tempted.
• Bounce your eyes (you are not responsible for the first look, but you are accountable for the second one)
• Maintain an accountability partner that will actually ask the hard questions.
• Load accountability software on your computer. (I recommend x3Watch because it works and it is free)
• Realize your weak areas and purposely avoid putting yourself into situations that will exploit your weakness
• Read books

Some books that have helped me:

• Porn Again Christian by Mark Driscoll – This a short and blunt book directed specifically at guys. It is available as a free download.
• Sex is Not the Problem (Lust Is) by Joshua Harris – Harris evaluates the problem of lust for both men and women.

I am still tempted by lust in my thought life, but by God’s grace I no longer pursue it. My prayer is that you might also find freedom from sexual sin through Christ’s redeeming power and grace.

OCD Software for Mac

This is not really a spiritual post, but because I am nerd, I do like to write about technology.

I have been using a Mac for almost three years. And no, I am not one of those who believe that Mac is the best and Windows is the worst. Personally, I do enjoy the Mac experience more than Windows, but a Mac is by no means the perfect computer for everyone. Since Macs have recently become more and more popular, primarily due to the success of the iPod, iTunes, and iPhone, I thought I would express my thoughts on some Mac software that has helped me become organized. Hopefully, this will be helpful for my fellow OCD’s.

I am OCD, but I am not sure to what degree. I know someone who puts little name labels on each of their pens. Basically, when things are organized and neat, I am happy.

There are several activities and media that I enjoy keeping organized. I will list each activity or media with the corresponding application I use to keep them in order.

1. E-Mail – Mail

I have found Apple’s built in mail program to be sufficient for my e-mailing needs. I currently have six active e-mail accounts (Personal, Work, Church, School, Junk, and Online Accounts) and Mail seems to handle the traffic with ease. With rules and smart folders I haven’t found one operation I couldn’t accomplish with Mail.

2. Calendar – iCal

I use the default Apple calendar application, iCal. I have a MobileMe account that I use to keep my wife’s MacBook, my MacBook Pro and my iPhone all synced with our latest events and appointments. Using MobileMe with iCal isn’t a perfected system but has worked ninety-eight percent of the time for me.

3. RSS Feeds/Twitter/Facebook

I recently got a brand new application, EventBox, free in the MacHeist 3 bundle. Currently during the beta period, it is $15 and the price will go up to $20 with the final release. I can track different social networking accounts. I mainly use it for my Google Reader RSS Feeds and Twitter. Eventbox can handle Facebook, but I have found that there is too much activity for me to keep up with. I enjoy the smooth and organized UI of EventBox. I have full functionality of Twitter, which includes ReTweets, Replys (or mentions), DirectMessages, Profile Peeks and much more. It is nice to have one simple application to handle all my social networking and RSS needs.

4. Multi-Media Library Management

I have recently been using Delicious Library 2. It’s a program only for the most dedicated OCD’s. You can build your own library of just about all of the stuff you own. You can organize books, music, tools, toys, gadgets, video games, software, and movies. I have only built my book library but plan on updating it with all my DVD’s and electronics this summer. All book information is automatically downloaded from Amazon.com, which makes it easy and fast to build a library. Not only can I see what I have in my personal library, but I can also use the checkout feature to checkout a book or other media to one of my friends, so that I will always know what items are checked out and who they are checked out to. One of coolest functions is the ability to publish your library with only a few clicks. Since I have a MobileMe account I can publish my book library straight to my iDisk with no fuss or hassle.

I have really enjoyed using Delicious Library, but a wish list is one feature that is lacking. It also has a steep price of $40. I personally think this will turn most curious browsers away at first glance. I was able to get my library as part of a software package deal, which saved me a lot of money.

5. Document Organization

I have recently wondered what to do with all the PDF’s I have collected while at Seminary. I have a habit of reading articles I like and storing them somewhere for future reference. Unfortunately, this has left me with trying to manage and organize files and folders, which can get messy. I recently downloaded the evaluation version of Papers. It is basically a PDF organizer that centralizes and indexes your PDF documents. Editing the information for each document is nice but can become a pain if you trying to edit multiple documents.

I have only used Papers for a little while, but so far it works for me. It normally costs $42, but there is a student discount available, and if you can prove you are a student, then that brings the cost down to $25. Since I will be studying for the rest of my life, I will need some sort of document organizer. I do wish that Papers worked with other document types besides just PDFs (i.e., word, excel, powerpoint, pages, numbers, and keynote documents)

6. Music and Photos

For music and photos, I use iTunes and iPhoto, respectively. I have 5,400 songs and 4,200 pictures and both applications seem to have no trouble with the media. I can also organize and personalize my experience with ease. I couldn’t imagine using anything else.

7. Tasks Management

I am behind in this area and currently do not use a task management system. I have done some homework on OmniFocus and Things, which seem to be the best applications available. Both offer companion iPhone apps and great functioning interfaces. I plan on choosing and implementing one of these task management systems this summer.

Hope this has been helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.

My first post: Why I blog?

Well, I guess my first post should be about why I am blogging and the explanation the title of my blog.

Why Blog:

Psalm 102:18 states, “Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.” My hope is that what I write will bring praise to our Lord, Jesus Christ and help others to praise Him for generations to come.

Now as for my title, “Never Separated, Yet Always Searching.”

In Romans 8:38-39, the Apostle Paul declares, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rules, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This verse provides us with a promise that reinforces Jesus’ final words before his ascension back into heaven, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) These are just a few verses that give us promises that God Himself, through Christ, will always be with us.

On the other hand, the Bible also tells us that God is incomprehensibly beyond our world. Here are some verses that should make you and I tremble:

Job 28:24 “For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under the heavens”

Hebrews 4:13 “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Job 36:36 “Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years are unsearchable.”

Isaiah 46:9-10 “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”

Psalm 102:25-27 “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end”

Jeremiah 23:23-24 “Am I God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”

I hope you are catching a glimpse of God’s glory. Our God is eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere at once, holy, and righteous. That is why I will always be searching. I hope to discover new things about God for the rest of my life. I have found my hope and life in the cross of Christ and will spend my life and eternity praising Him. God is, at the same time, the closest and furthest thing from us. Because I am in Christ, I am never separated from his love, but because I am connected to an infinite God, I will always be searching.