A few changes...

I have recently been invited to write for The Gospel for OC. This is an exciting opportunity because I believe The Gospel for OC is taking great strides in both uniting the Church and in declaring the one true Gospel within Orange County. For those who have frequently read my blog you know that this fits right inline with my desire for Christ's Church. I am looking forward to participating with these brothers and sisters in the very near future.

So, what does that mean for this blog? I am going to continue to use this blog to write, however these writings will be more of a personal nature. For the most part, any posts regarding theology, the local church, or the Bible will now be posted through The Gospel for OC. I want to thank everyone who has faithfully come to this blog over the last two years. I look forward to seeing your comments on the new blog.


For His kingdom,
Scott

10 Things That Forgiveness Is Not

Silly Preaching

Welcome to my brain

I just feel like writing. I am not sure why I feel this need to write. In all honesty, I don’t even know exactly what to say, but there is a strong urge to get the thoughts that are running in my head out. For those who know me well, they realize that this isn’t like me, I am usually a person with an agenda and a point to make – not this time. September was a month that stretched me emotionally and spiritually. I feel like I was put through the ringer, experiencing times of joy and difficulty – all of which lead me to Christ, in which my heart was exposed, reminding me how bankrupt I am on my own. I am grateful for this. I am grateful that Christ loves me enough to tear my heart open and reveal the black areas that still remain. I am grateful that he allows me to go through trials and exposes my idols for what they are – empty and destructive. This month I preached twice at church. God was so gracious to me. I love to preach, but it wears me out. It reminds me of my own depravity and strengthens me in Christ’s faithfulness. The Holy Spirit has been heavy upon me this week. I have found myself fighting back tears as I contemplate Christ and his love. Even now as I write this I find my eyes welling up – the guy next to meet at Starbucks probably thinks I am crazy. This is not normal, but I like it. I talked with a friend all last week who was struggling. I offered this friend comfort and reminded this friend of their worth in Christ and that because Christ shed his blood, they are the most valuable person on earth. I could use this advice for myself. I was comforted through my friends struggle. I was the one trying to encourage, but their struggle with self-worth brought me comfort because it resonated so much in my own life. I put a lot of hope into something this last week that didn’t pan out. This brought me a lot of disappointment, which I was not expecting. I still pray that it pans out one day but if not I pray that I will be satisfied in Christ. These are the thoughts that are running through my head. Not to worry, my next post will be back to defending doctrine.

Salt & Light

Had the opportunity to preach the other day. Here it is if anyone is interested.

http://www.folfcrc.com/2010/09/05/salt-and-light/

Are you preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ?

"The Church frequently is so concerned with trying to please, attract, and excuse that its witness against sin is obscured and all but lost. We may be so concerned with not offending others that we fail to confront them with their lostness and their desperate need to be saved from their sins. A gospel that does not confront sin is not the gospel of Jesus Christ." John MacArthur

What My Obedience To God Costs Other People

"They laid hold upon one Simon . . . and on him they laid the cross." Luke 23:26

If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If we obey God it will mean that other people's plans are upset, and they will gibe us with it - "You call this Christianity?" We can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid.

Our human pride entrenches itself on this point, and we say - I will never accept anything from anyone. We shall have to, or disobey God. We have no right to expect to be in any other relation than our Lord Himself was in (see Luke 8:2-3).

Stagnation in spiritual life comes when we say we will bear the whole thing ourselves. We cannot. We are so involved in the universal purposes of God that immediately we obey God, others are affected. Are we going to remain loyal in our obedience to God and go through the humiliation of refusing to be independent, or are we going to take the other line and say - I will not cost other people suffering? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but we shall be a grief to our Lord. Whereas if we obey God, He will look after those who have been pressed into the consequences of our obedience. We have simply to obey and to leave all consequences with Him.

Beware of the inclination to dictate to God as to what you will allow to happen if you obey Him.

~ Oswald Chambers ~

Evangelism and Christ

T4G 2010 -- Session 5 -- John MacArthur from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

The Battle for Biblical Joy

About a year and a half ago I posted a series entitled “What Robs Believers of Biblical Joy”. At the time, I was leading my Young Adults group through a study in Philippians and it was just a natural progression of taking what we were learning and blogging about it. To this day that series gets more hits on my blog than anything else I have ever posted. I am amazed when I see people from the US, Nigeria, Iraq, India, and all over the world go through and read each entry.

This amazement has led me to this realization – I’m not the only one that is longing for deep joy in my life and neither are you. This is a longing that is felt on every continent, every people group, and every generation. I also believe that this is a longing that can be found and had – Biblical Joy is obtainable and can flourish in our lives.

With that said, over the next 30 days (up until Easter) I plan on posting a series entitled: “The Battle for Biblical Joy”

Disclaimer:

1. I am no expert. Everyday I long to be more joyful than the next.
2. This is a community to discuss and help each other find joy. Leave comments, tell us where you are from, give us your thoughts and ideas, and encourage one another. (Even if the postings are over a year old)
3. Many of the ideas I am going to bring up are not my own. They come from the likes of godly men that I highly admire: John Piper, John MacArthur, CJ Mahaney, Matt Chandler, and so on.

Let's get started:

1. Do you ever feel like your desire to be joyful and God’s desire for obedience are at war with each other?
2. Must we always sacrifice our happiness to please God?
3. Does anyone else want more joy in their life?

The Prosperity Gospel

What is the Real Cause of Atheism?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine posted some really good thoughts on a quotation I had heard many times before.

The quotation was, "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

Here are my own thoughts:

I disagree with this statement. There is no doubt that Christians need to step it up when it comes to living holy and loving lives. However, to claim this as ones reason for disbelieving in God is utter foolishness. We deny God not because of others, rather because we are self-centered, self-glorifying, and filled with hatred toward the one true God who created us.