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Senior Send Off
STS Senior Sendoff
Now that you have clicked on this funny dog video read this short thought before you embark on your college journey.
Many people are going to offer new opinions, philosophies, and agendas as you venture out into the world of academia. You are going to meet unusual people with strange views and weird habits. You will likely be approached by representatives of every club and group offered on your schools campus. A friend of mine who went to Georgia Tech told me about a student who had set up a sales stand where he sold cups of cereal and milk. I can recall being asked to join the outdoor club at my college every time I walked through the student center. The fact is you are going to be surrounded by folks with interesting agenda.
Brian, Jen, myself, the STS staff, and your parents have all given you words of wisdom and advice. The purpose of this blog is not to overload your “information inbox” or prepare you for your next phase of life. However, I wanted to let you know how proud we are of each one of you. Congratulations on completing high school! Best of luck to you on your mission to achieve a college degree and to further prepare yourself for future opportunity. We have been so blessed to walk alongside you and witness God work in and through you. Please keep in touch and know that the STS staff will always be interested to hear what God is doing in your life. Please keep in touch and come back to visit when you are at home.
Fifty Reasons Why Christ Suffered and Died – Part 3
31 – So That We Would Die to the Law and Bear Fruit for God
32 – To Enable Us to Live for Christ and Not Ourselves
33 – To Make His Cross the Ground of All Our Boasting
34 – To Enable Us to Live by Faith in Him
35 – To Give Marriage Its Deepest Meaning
36 – To Create a People Passionate for Good Works and Costly Love
37 – To Call Us to Follow His Example of Lowliness
38 – To Create a Band of Crucified Followers
39 – To Free Us from Bondage to the Fear of Death
40 – So That We Would Be with Him Immediately After Death
41 – To Secure Our Resurrection from the Dead
42 – To Disarm the Rulers and Authorities
43 – To Unleash the Power of God in the Gospel
44 – To Destroy the Hostility Between Races
45 – To Ransom People from Every Tribe and Language and People and Nation
46 – To Gather All His Sheep from Around the World
47 – To Rescue Us from Final Judgment
48 – To Gain His Joy and Ours
49 – So That He Would Be Crowned with Glory and Honor
50 – To Show That the Worst Evil Is Meant by God for Good
Fifty Reasons Why Christ Suffered and Died – Part 2
16 To Give Us a Clear Conscience
17 To Obtain for Us All Things That Are Good for Us
18 To Heal Us from Moral and Physical Sickness
19 To Give Eternal Life to All Who Believe on Him
20 To Deliver Us from the Present Evil Age
21 To Reconcile Us to God
22 To Bring Us to God
23 So That We Might Belong to Him
24 To Give Us Confident Access to the Holiest Place
25 To Become for Us the Place Where We Meet God
26 To Bring the Old Testament Priesthood to an End and Become the Eternal High Priest
27 To Become a Sympathetic and Helpful Priest
28 To Free Us from the Futility of Our Ancestry
29 To Free Us from the Slavery of Sin
30 That We Might Die to Sin and Live to Righteousness
Fifty Reasons Why Christ Suffered and Died – Part 1
(Taken from John Piper’s Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die)
1 – To Absorb the Wrath of God
2 – To Please His Heavenly Father
3 – To Learn Obedience and Be Perfected
4 – To Achieve His Own Resurrection from the Dead
5 – To Show the Wealth of God’s Love and Grace for Sinners
6 – To Show His Own Love for Us
7 – To Cancel the Legal Demands of the Law Against Us
8 – To Become a Ransom for Many
9 – For the Forgiveness of Our Sins
10 – To Provide the Basis for Our Justification
11 – To Complete the Obedience That Becomes Our Righteousness
12 – To Take Away Our Condemnation
13 – To Abolish Circumcision and All Rituals as the Basis of Salvation
14 – To Bring Us to Faith and Keep Us Faithful
15 – To Make Us Holy, Blameless, and Perfect
Snow man
Snow…Snow… and more Snow… that is pretty much all we have heard about this past week. And if you are like me, you are probably pretty tired of the snow. But the interesting thing is that the snow, which is actually still on the ground in many areas, accumulated only for a couple hours Sunday night, but it is still on the ground! So where does this snow come from? Well, the simple answer is it comes from the sky, but who is in control of this snow?
“10 The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. 11 He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. 12 At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them” Job 37:10-12
God is in control of the snow; every snow flake! To do an illustration of this, I took some time Sunday in CROSSWALK to make my own snow and see how good I was at creating snow. For this experiment, I purchased a retro snow cone maker, and two bags of ice from the gas station. I then began to create snow with the snow cone maker as fast as I could! After about 45 minutes of snow making, and the silly faces from everyone that walked by, I accumulated a little square of about 2 inches of snow… Not very much…
After this I asked two students to make snow men out of my snow. The picture to the left is the result. As you can see, it was hard to make a nice snow man with the snow I made: the snow began to melt because of the room temperature, it was little softer than I would have liked, and I wanted more to make a larger snow man! To compare these 
snow men to a real snow man, this picture to the right shows a snow man Megan and I found after only an hour of snow. Big difference!
There is one simple lesson I learned from this experiment: Man cannot control the weather. As much as we try to manipulate the roads to make them melt, create more rain when we need it, stop a storm in its tracks, it is impossible for us to control the weather. But as we see from the bible verse above, God is in control and He is sovereign over His creation — no snow flake can fall without His activity and design. As I thought of this, it reminded me of humans in general, and how hard we often try with good works to save ourselves. We create these tiny snow men and think that we are good enough, when in fact God wants to work something far larger by saving us in His sovereign grace; He alone is the one that seeks and finds us. As an example of this, if you are a 5th and 6th grader, I want you to find the hidden snow man on the STS website. The hidden snow man will have something hidden on his stomach. Look around on the STS website and see if you can find him, when you do, email me a description of the image that is on his stomach to tfaulk@apostles.org, and the first girl and boy to complete this task will get the candy bar of their choice Sunday morning! Hurry up and start looking for the snow man!
Text Message Q/A #6 -Why Worship?
If God has all of heaven to entertain Him, why does He care if we sing to Him?
“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” –Psalm 9:1-2
We’re going to correlate the word sing used in this question with worship, as singing is a form of worship. (Worship doesn’t equal singing and singing doesn’t equal worship, however, a lifestyle of worship is our response to God’s amazing grace.) With this thought in mind let’s look at a simple question: “What is the purpose of worship?”
In our “me, myself, and I” culture, we tend to focus on us, don’t we? We invest a majority of our time and efforts in the people and things that give us a sense of comfort and identity. (I mean, who cares about focusing on me as long as I’m not hurting anyone else, right?) Not exactly. We have to remember that this isn’t about us; it’s about God. Focusing on ourselves robs us of a life of fulfillment and causes us to miss out on the purpose for which we were created. When we realize this we see the beauty and purpose of worship.
Psalm 19:1 says: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Why? Because that’s what they were created to do, and that’s what we were created to do! It’s not that God needs our worship; He desires it. Does our worship make Him more worthy? Does it make God feel better about Himself? No. God knows who He is and He doesn’t need us to remind Him. He graciously gave us Himself through His son, and provided us with the incredible opportunity to worship Him. So, why is worship important? Well, this brings us to our next point: we’re in a constant battle for our worship. Whether we realize it or not, the enemy seeks to hinder our worship. What’s up with that!? I’ll tell you, Luke 10:18 tells us that Satan was focused on himself and continues to deceive others. He’s in the business of altering focuses. You may be thinking, “What? I didn’t choose to battle with anyone, nor do I plan on falling for some silly trick; I’m going to live my life and look both ways before crossing the street.” You can be as cautious as you like, but avoiding temptation is not an option. Matthew 4:1-11 reminds us that even Jesus was tempted. In his final attempt, Satan tried to steal Christ’s worship. However, Jesus overcame temptation by keeping His focus on His Heavenly Father. So what does this mean for us? It means we need to realize we’re like silly sheep. As great as we think we are, we can’t trust ourselves. We’ll follow anything that looks interesting unless we’re guided. Think about it like this: a good shepherd is always looking out for his sheep and calls them unto himself so they can know him. Sound familiar? Jesus is the ultimate Shepherd! He knows us, guides us, and gives us the opportunity to know Him. Worship is a unique part of our relationship with God! It’s an opportunity to draw near to Him and acknowledge Him for who He is and all He’s done. You may be thinking, “Why me?” Well, because there is no other you! The Creator knows you by name and wants a relationship with you! He loves you and delights in you! (Psalm 149:4)
It’s also important to remember that whatever we choose to worship, we will most likely become. For example, if we worship money, we’ll become greedy. If we worship stuff, we’ll become materialistic. Putting the things of this world on a pedestal jeopardizes our worship. If we want to be more like our Heavenly Father we have to spend time with Him; in His Word and through a lifestyle of worship. So how do we worship? Well, the Bible tells us that God is looking for worshippers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) It’s not about how great of a singer you are or if you enjoy singing, it’s about your heart; whether you have a personal relationship with God. It’s about your joy in spending time with Him, and the testimony you are to others. Yes, God is surrounded by praise, but is that a license to opt out of worship? Well, it’s less about convenience and more about allegiance. It’s about giving back to God the praise He is worthy of. It’s about living a life committed to Him and bringing glory to His name.
I’ll close with this: I was in Asia a couple summers ago. One of the fondest memories I have of this trip is a little church filled with people. There were so many joyful faces! Everyone was eager to soak up the Word and proud to praise their Redeemer. This particular area in Asia is under surveillance and freedom to worship is uncertain. Did this stop anyone from worshiping and singing to God? No. People were packed into this church! Some people listened outside and others piled into the basement to listen through a wired audio system. No one budged during the message, and when the time came to sing, they sang! They didn’t care who was watching because they knew God was listening. It was a beautiful reminder of what matters. (What would life be like if singing was a threat? Would we come to church if our comforts were removed?) Maybe sometimes we take for granted the freedoms we have.
Life is a gift, and Jesus paid the ultimate price so we could be reunited with our Heavenly Father. Worship…why not?
The Problem of Evil – Text Message Q/A #5
“If God is in control of everything and everyone, why doesn’t he make us better people by making us want to reach out and do good things naturally?”
This question is stated as the number one opposition to the Christian faith. To sum up the question the ultimate problem is this: ‘If God is all powerful and good why does he not make us all good and eradicate evil?’
Logically this is how the problem goes:
- God exists
- God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good, so He can, knows how, and should want to eradicate evil.
- Therefore, if God exists and is truly all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good, than evil should not exist.
This is a problem for the Christian faith. But luckily many great minds before us have wrestled with this question. First of all, in order to answer the logical problem above, one must understand God’s omni-benevolence (perfect goodness). Although it is true that God is good it does not mean He would eradicate evil, and this is because God must have a good reason for allowing evil. Now, it might be impossible for us to completely understand why God would allow evil to exist, or know exactly why, but some great Christian philosophers have given several reasons to why God in His goodness would allow evil to remain.
The human will argument
The human will argument is this: The reason God allowed evil to remain is because He saw that giving humans the choice to do wrong was of greater value than making them do what is right without their consent. For example, one would rather have his wife give him a gift because the wife loves him, not because she was forced to. Consequently when Adam and Eve were given this choice between God and sin, they chose sin, which made original sin, or the sin nature, enter humans, which resulted in an evil world. According to Augustine evil is the “perversion of the will turned aside from God.” Therefore, in his argument, the absence of God is evil, God created man with the capacity to turn away from Him, and man in his will turned away and created evil.
The glory argument
Some object to God allowing evil by saying, “If God is in control of everything, why did he not just create everyone good so He would bring more glory to Himself?” But to answer this question one could say that God allowed sin in His sovereign will in order to extend more grace and bring more glory to Himself through the cross. If God did not allow sin to enter the world, then the story of the cross, and Christ entering the world for our forgiveness would not be needed. So it actually brings more glory to God and more joy to believers to allow sin and bring justification, reconciliation, forgiveness, and grace than it would to just create a perfect world. We could never know what forgiveness is if we had nothing to forgive, we could never experience grace if we did not need it.
Evil actually proves God
Although the problem of evil is actually an objection to the Christian faith, the odd thing is that no other religion or worldview has any answer to why evil exists. Eastern religions say evil is an illusion, and atheist say there is no such thing as right and wrong, making evil non existent. But as C.S. Lewis said, “A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.” What C.S. Lewis is arguing here is that the knowledge and desire in man to eradicate evil proves that there must be a standard or law that people think the world should live up to, and if there is an absolute law then there must be a law giver, which is God, because that absolute standard and that idea of justice could not come from nowhere.
So the problem of evil is actually not a problem at all, but a defense for the existence of God.
-Ty
Knowing God’s Will
How do you know if you’re walking in God’s will? I have a big decision coming up, and I want to do the right thing.
God’s will is God’s word. Reading the word until you see a clear answer is the best way to be certain that you are fulfilling God’s plan for your life. To go a step further, I like to consider two things when seeking God’s direction.
1. Am I motivated by the love of God or is my decision about me alone and what I stand to gain?
2. In the end will God be glorified by what I plan to do?
These two ideas are a great way to see if your heart is in the right place in pursuit of God’s will.
One of my favorite verses that I’ve come across this year indirectly deals with walking in God’s plan.
2 Corinthians 2:17 “Unlike so many we do not peddle the word of God for a profit. On the contrary, in Christ, we speak before God with sincerity like men sent from God”.
When our lives are about the love of Christ before serving a selfish interest it becomes easier to be more sensitive to the Spirit of God.
“Speak before God with sincerity like men sent from God”. As servants of the Lord we need to put more faith in the fact that God is watching and we are sent by Him with a purpose. We should plug this perspective into our decision making equation.
~ Rand
Text Message Q/A #3- Annoyed?
“How do you deal with someone who annoys you?”
Psalm 145:8-9, “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”
This is a great question! You’re not alone if you know someone who annoys or irks you. We’re not perfect, but the good news is we know the Author and Perfector of our lives and He knows just what we need in order to be instruments of peace.
The best way to deal with someone who annoys you is to love them. It’s not always easy, but it is what we’re expected to do. The first step in learning this is to remember that people will never be what we expect them to be. They are who they are, and you have the choice to help bring out the best or worst in them. Some people may not be people we consider “pleasant”, however, they will always be people God has called us to love. Choosing to love someone despite their annoyances is discussed throughout the bible. We are to show mercy, (Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”) extend kindness, (Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”) and forgive without expectations or ultimatums, (I Peter 3:9 “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”). I know, I know! This is unheard of in our culture today! How can you love someone who keeps on gossiping about you? How can you love someone who never has a kind response or is a constant Debbie Downer? Well, the answer is quite simple: you can’t, but God can. If you ask the Lord for wisdom, and pray for a heart of understanding, He will begin to show you how to see someone the way He seems them. Your focus will shift from their flaws and inconsistencies, to a life that needs a lift or dose of encouragement. You will begin to see a change that is unexplained by the world, because it’s not of the world, it’s of Christ!
The second thing we have to realize is that the enemy loves to wreak havoc in our lives, and he’s not happy when we choose to use God’s formula instead of his. The enemy says: “Get even! Prove yourself! Gossip!” Those are all recipes for disaster and the enemy tries to pour his ingredients into our lives every day. Don’t let him get the best of you! James 5:16 reminds us to pray for one another. This is an important part of learning how to deal with someone who annoys you. We have to remember to take our cares, worries, and concerns to the Lord in prayer, and pray for each other. When it comes to our “annoying friends,” we may not see the results we want immediately, but trust in the Lord; you are doing what He has called you to do and you are planting seeds that will continue to grow. Sometimes we just have to do our part, (which in this case is choosing love) and trust God with the rest. When we choose love, we free ourselves of the enemy’s trickeries and echo encouragement into the lives of others.
Here is some great advice from Luke 6!
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
“Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
(Luke 6:27-28, 35-37)
Text Message Q/A #1
Ok guys…during our Text Me panel in STS two weeks ago you all asked some great questions. We are going to attempt to answer the ones we could not get to here on our blog. Remember, we do not claim to be biblical superstars and know-it-alls, we just enjoy digging through the Word and helping you guys do the same!
This is my attempt at one of them. I cannot claim all of these thoughts as my own, I used Wayne Grudem’s book, Systematic Theology to help me tackle this one!
Where was Jesus during the 3 days before the resurrection?
Many people have speculated or think that Jesus was in hell for those three days before His resurrection. The phrase, “he descended into hell” does not occur in the Bible, but the widely used Apostles’ Creed reads, “was crucified, dead and buried, he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead.” Does this mean that Christ endured further suffering after his death on the cross? Biblical evidence indicates that he did not. One surprising thing to note is that the phrase, “he descended into hell” was not found in any of the earliest versions of the Apostles Creed. It only appeared in one or two versions in around A.D.390. Rufinus, who first added the phrase in 390, did not intend for the statement to mean that Jesus descended into hell but, but understood it to be that Christ was “buried”. The Greek word used was the word “hadēs” which means grave, this is not same word for hell, which is a place of punishment. It was not until A.D. 650 that it was added to the Creed with the intension of saying that Christ, “descended into hell.”
Scriptures that may support Jesus’ “Descent into Hell”:
a) Acts 2:27 - The Greek word for death is used here, not the word for hell.
b) Romans 10:6-7 - The word Paul used for abyss is not the same word for hell or place of punishment, but rather a word to describe the realm of the dead that is unreachable and inaccessible to humans. Not a clear affirmation or denial of “descent into hell”
c) Ephesians 4:8-9 - This is referring to the Incarnation (birth of Jesus), God coming to “the lower regions of the earth”. This is speaking of a “descent from heaven” not a descent to hell.
d) 1 Peter 3:18-20 - the concept of Jesus preaching in hell is unlikely, especially that he would go to hell to specifically preach to the ones who didn’t listen to Noah. The Bible is clear that there is no opportunity for repentance after death (Luke 16:26; Heb 10:26-27). It is more likely that Peter is encouraging his readers to witness boldly to hostile unbelievers around them when reading the passage in its context.
e) 1 Peter 4:6 - This passage references that the gospel is being preached to the “dead.” In Luke 16, Hebrews 9:27 and throughout scripture, the concept of a “second chance” at salvation is not supported. This idea that Jesus would be preaching to the physically dead to give them a second chance at salvation would contradict what the bible teaches on the subject. This passage is more likely to mean that the gospel was preached in a past event while the unbelievers were still alive.
Scriptures that Oppose Jesus’ “Descent into Hell”:
a) Luke 23:43 – Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” This would imply that after Jesus died, his soul (or spirit) went immediately to the presence of the Father in heaven, even though his body remained on earth and was buried.
b) John 19:30 – When Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” it was a bold declaration that the wrath of God was satisfied and that Christ’s suffering was finished. This would also imply that Jesus’ spirit was immediately with the Father.
c) Luke 23:46 – When Jesus cried out “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” this also suggests that Christ expected the immediate end of his suffering and the welcoming of his spirit into Heaven by God the Father.
d) 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 – We know what when we are absent from the body we are present with the Lord as believers. As believers now, before the second coming of Christ, when we die our spirits are immediately with the Lord.
In summary, the Biblical evidence seems to support that Jesus in his death experienced the same things believers in this present age experience when they die: his body remained on earth and was buried (as ours will be), but his spirit (or soul) passed immediately into the presence of God in heaven (just as ours will be as believers). On the first Easter, Christ’s spirit was reunited with his body and he was raised from the dead, just as Christians who have died will be reunited to their bodies and raised to new life when Christ returns.
