A Wonderful Gift

(From “A Stained-Glass Window“.) Originally published in the Western Baptist College Student Manual for the 2004-2005 academic year.

I don’t remember his name, nor can I recall much about his appearance. I call him “Arthur”, and while he wasn’t in my life for more than one or two minutes, he was one of the most influential people God has brought into my life.

For as many days as the Lord allows me to continue living, I will not forget the words that I can still hear Arthur telling me. As he injected the IV needle he complimented my veins, a comment from medical professionals to which I’ve become accustomed, and we talked for a while as he was preparing the instruments for my procedure. He asked my name, where I was going to school, and what I wanted to do with my life. It was at that moment that he stopped what he was doing and told me one of the most profound and influential things anyone has ever said to me:

“Steve, don’t you dare lose God in your studies.”

He continued, telling me that he was so disgusted by the number of people who graduate from Christian schools, entering the full-time ministry or not, and yet they do not know God! His words shook me with an unexpected tremor. I have no memory from any of the events which followed, for it was not long before I was unconscious from the anesthesia, yet even now his words hang – firmly fixed – to the walls of my mind. As the week went on I began to think about what he had told me and warned about.

“Steve, don’t you dare lose God in your studies.”

Did I know God? I knew a lot about Him, about His attributes and what He has done both in the Bible and in my life, but did I know Him? God is a person; He is our personal Creator. It is through His hands that the very matter by which we are formed does not instantly unravel, it is through His hands that the earth does not spin out of control and self-detonate into space, and it is through His hands that the nails were driven, sending Him to a death which redeemed us from an eternity of solitude and suffering. Did I love Him? Did I pray to Him from my heart, read His Word with purpose and intention, and did I actually know Him?

Our relationship with God is more than books or words on a page; it must be real. It is easy to lose the reality of the relationship when we hear about Him in chapel, read about Him for class, hear His Word in church, and sing to Him almost every day of the week. It is so natural to let it all become academia, a macrocosm of knowledge, and forget the Person behind the pages. God gave me a wonderful gift that day in the hospital; the words of Arthur. To this day those words ring in my ears every time I forget about the reality of knowing God and knowing Him personally.

One better not dare to forget God while studying and learning Him.

Don’t study about Him or about His Word. Get to know Him.

A Lifesong of Thankfulness

(From “A Stained-Glass Window“.)

This is the manuscript from a sermon I wrote for my homiletics class. It’s based off of Colossians 3:12-17. There was a lot more I wanted to do with it, but it’s limited to 30 minutes so I kept it simple. It’s entitled “A Lifesong of Thankfulness”.

Our Ultimate Partner in Prayer

(From “A Stained-Glass Window“.)

This is the manuscript from my sermon last Sunday morning, though there’s going to be a ton of variance between this text and the actual sermon itself since this was just a guide. So here it is. Someday I might refine it and make its prose a little more poetical and smoother. This is anything but perfect, and please keep in mind it was written to be spoken, not read. I didn’t have the time to make it reader-friendly, but please do enjoy. It’s entitled “Our Ultimate Partner in Prayer”, from Romans 8:26-28ff.

Discipleship

(From “A Stained-Glass Window“.)

Yesterday’s chapel at Northwest Baptist Seminary was pretty incredible and probably one of the most convicting and challenging chapel messages I’ve heard in a long time. Dr. Leroy Goertzen spoke in regards to discipleship and some of our misconceptions about the concept and ministry of discipleship in the local church. If you’ve got some spare time or some time on the computer where you can listen and work at the same time, I’d challenge you to listen to the message. It’s around 30-35 minutes long, I’m not certain, but it’s well worth the time.

You can listen to the message by clicking HERE.

-in HIS strength,
Stephen

Excuses

(From “A Stained-Glass Window“.)

If you’re one of those people who are thinking that I have no viable excuses to explain my failure in updating this blog, you are correct in asserting such accusations. In all honesty there are no viable excuses. Truth be told, I have found more than a bountiful number of other tasks which have tarried my return, hence making posts more than a little past due. I humbly request that you accept my apologies, that is, if anybody even checks this any more. If not, I completely understand. Once again you will henceforth witness another attempt, from yours truly, to establish a regularly updated blog of “wondrous varieties” as I post personal updates, theological considerations, or just about anything else.

Perhaps in a couple days I will post another post and get to it again. How’s that for some horribly trite tautonymy?

-in HIS strength,
Stephen

The Endless Mercy of God

First, I’d just like to say that I don’t actually post these as “facebook” posts. If you’re reading this on Facebook it’s because I have my posts automatically mirrored from my real blog on wordpress, “A Stained-Glass Window“.

This paragraph is my preface; please don’t skip it! I learned long ago that in order to fully understand both the content and purpose behind what someone writes, one must read the author’s preface. What I’m about to write may very well be one of the most important things that I ever write. Probably all that will stand near or next to it in importance is my wedding vows, but then again, I could be wrong. Please understand that what you’re about to read is not meant to be a thorough and exhaustive theological treatise on soteriology, hamartiology or anything like that. Likewise, please take into account that I am not writing an apologetic defense of Scripture or the Gospel or the death and resurrection of Christ, nor am I attempting to do anything close to the sort. I’m been thinking about some things over the past couple days; this post is an attempt to put pen to paper, or keypad to pixels in this case, and explain some of the things that I’ve been thinking about. Organization may be lacking (or perhaps not, knowing me) but I hope good things come from it. I hope that you will be encouraged as you read this and that it will spur you on to know how wide, long, deep and high is the love of Christ and how inexhaustible the mercy of God truly is. In writing this I thank two people: I thank my pastor, Vince, because if it were not for God using this man’s compassion in a teen’s most desperate hour, I may not be alive today, and if I was I would not be walking with Christ. Secondly, I thank my girlfriend Amanda who has always prayed for me and has especially been fervent in doing so as my thoughts have been occupied by these things. One more warning: This is going to be a little long. Grab some hot chocolate or coffee, recline, and join me!

From the Ashes – Part One

Some people in my life have bugged me recently, or perhaps repeatedly over a multi-month span, concerning the fact that I never really update this blog. I know, I know, and I’ll readily admit to the rather sad lull within which this blog has found itself. Part of the problem, to be sure, is that so many things are going on in my life that it would be overwhelming not only to write about it all but for anybody to actually want to read it. With this in mind, I’ve decided to start blogging again and to start off with a series of updates. Each update will revolve around a particular topic in my life that bears updating people about. Let’s see what we can do about this blog, and perhaps with a little elbow grease and a few sprinkles of words, we’ll be able to raise this blog from the ashes.

Without doubt, the most exciting and interesting aspect of my life that has changed (particularly for the better) is the one that people want to hear about the most. That one…is my girlfriend!

Can we say, “Update sorely needed?” Agreed.

Wow, I was just reading this last post and I realized how long it’s been and how much has CHANGED since I last posted. I’ll have to write a post sometime… but with two seminary midterms coming up within the next seven days I can’t promise anything till they’re over. Soon, though.

Putting Some Thoughts to Pasture

Where does one begin? I suppose that question finds itself as an inherent ingredient in the struggle of blogging when one finds himself rarely flipping open the dusty and moth-eaten pages most commonly referred to as the “blogging dashboard”. Were I to open it and perhaps put “pen to paper” at least a teaspoon more frequently, I’d probably know exactly where to begin. Unfortunately, for my sake and perhaps yours, dear readers, there is an unfathomable quantity, an uncontainable herd of ideas and thoughts, which roam freely in my mind. This post will pose an attempt, and perhaps nothing more, at putting some of those thoughts out there.

I know…

Yes, I know. I’ve pretty much not posted anything ever for quite a while. Bad me. I know. I’ll post again soon, but for now, here’s a quick update for me.

-Work is going okay. I had my review today and now my boss and I are at an understanding concerning my future with the company, although I don’t think he realizes quite how soon my future with the company could become past tense.
-I started seminary a couple weeks ago! I’m taking a course called “Interpretation and Exposition of New Testament Narrative Literature.” It’s a class that teaches us how to approach the Gospels and Acts from a literary perspective, understanding them in their context as ancient Near-Eastern literature, and how to thereby study and preach them. It’s cool.
-I’ve almost reached my first target weight! My goal was to reach it only by running and working out my upper body. Then on to the second goal.
-Please pray for me concerning a couple things. There are a lot of uncertainties concerning my future financially speaking as I prepare to head into full-time seminary. Work is the biggest question; how am I going to finance stuff? Yikes. I’ll be painting with my dad in the summers, but other than that, it’s all up in the air.
-Oh yes, and please pray for me concerning my right shoulder. For years it’s made a funny pop when I twist it. Over the past two years a slight pain has developed when that happens. Over the past three weeks, it pops and grinds quite often and during more varied motions, and it hurts. It often aches now. I’ve always foreseen a shoulder surgery in my future because of this, and unfortunately I’m thinking – if it’s even necessary – it might have to happen sooner than I want. So if you see me randomly grab or rub my shoulder, that is why.
-All in all things are awesome. I need to stop procrastinating. I find it really hard to focus and just study, be it for school or for a sermon or lesson I’m preparing. I’ve become really unacademic over the past couple years and I need to get over that.
-I’m going to sleep. I’ll post soon.