Unworthy Me

Behold the lamb whose blood was slain

Upon the cross, where death and pain

No longer rules, no longer grips

My soul, but promise eternal bliss

My God, my Savior, hangs on that tree

Thy will be done on calvary

My sin is punished, but not unto me

Thy wrath poured out on my Savior Christ

Absolute justice is satisfied

My God, my Savior, hangs on that tree

The power of Christ made to be gained

In the form of Life my King obtained

The empty grave filled with Thy grace

The curtain torn reveals Thy glorious face

My God, my Savior, my Lord, my King

My soul preserved, my life is bought

The privilege of sons whom God adopts

No power of Hell can remove me

For Christ has won eternal Victory!

My God has saved unworthy me

With my First…

With my girlfriend, I want to…

-watch the sunset at the beach together
-take spontaneous roadtrips together
-hang in ATL together
-go shopping together
-eat food we cooked together
-go to Waffle House at 4 in the morning together
-go jogging together
-attend church together
-sing praise on the rooftops at night together
-have Bible studies together
-get married to each other
-have children together
-grow old together
-get buried together
-reign with Jesus together

…but may I never forget my first Love

Matthew 22:37-38
“Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

Christian…Perennialism?

This is an e-mail that I wrote to my Religious Studies professor on the possibility of a Christian Perennialist (a Christian who believes that other religions are true). I write this mainly so that you can read this and be ready to have an answer when you come across a similar situation:

Professor ____________,

This question has been weighing in my mind this whole semester since we started Religious Studies 110: How can a Christian be Perennialist (all religions are equally true)? I myself hold an indiscriminate exclusivist view (only one religion is true, all other religions are false). Most christians would agree that Jesus is the only way (John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”). Your argument was that in the original greek translation, John 1 says, “In the begining was the Word (logos), and the Word (logos) was with God, and the Word (logos) was a God.” How then do you reconcile the next verse, which says that, “Through him (Jesus) all things were made; without him (Jesus) nothing was made that has been made.” I interpret this whole passage as talking of the Trinity, that Jesus was with God and WAS God.

Verse 14 also says that, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” From this verse we can assume that Jesus was the One and Only and that there WERE no others!

So staying within John, I can’t understand how a believer can believe that there are OTHER ways to salvation; Jesus Christ said so himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes through the Father except through me(singular).” I highly doubt that when Christ said “me”, he meant the greek term logos.

You specifically mentioned the head of Religious Studies as being a Christian Perennialist. Please show him this message if you’d like. With all due respect to the whole religious department, I become uneasy when I hear of other Christians holding to other religions as true, as the definition of Christian means believing Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the only way to salvation.

With all sincerity and all concerns,
Peter Kim

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” ~John 1:12

To the Only God

The setting: Man has fallen from initial perfection into a state of total depravity. Redemption is necessary.

Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) proposed, “I will tell the people to meditate with great fervor. I will tell them to free themselves of all pain or pleasure. By doing this they will reach a state of Enlightenment”

Vishnu said, “I will tell the people to perform good deeds and live a righteous life to improve their karma. If they succeed, then they will be reincarnated into someone great”

Mohammed insisted, “I will tell the people to follow 5 pillars of faith. I will tell them to recite a creed, pray five times a day, give to the needy, fast, and make a pilgrimmage. By following these, they will enter Heaven”

Yet another stated, “These people only have one life. Why not tell them to enjoy it and live for themselves with their time?”

All these ideas were shown to Man, and Man followed all of them, but to no avail.
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Then a man named Jesus came. He said, “These people are lost. How can they do anything good when they themselves are evil? I will go down to the earth and offer them salvation. I will impute my righteousness in them and carry the burden of their sins on my shoulders. That way, they can come to know God. All I require of them is to believe in me.”

These very Men whom Jesus came to save, killed him. And he cried, “It is finished…”

Three days later, his Father in Heaven replied, “It is finished, indeed.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxX3kEJT88g

Calvinism : Sovereignty :: Biblical Supplication : Prayer

The aspect that God is completely sovereign is evident. This means that God Almighty dictates all things on Earth and in Heaven. Nothing goes ungoverned past God. In other words, God will have his way. And nothing we do will deter Him from that. This is one teaching of Calvinist doctrine. Sounds good so far.

According to John Piper, “prayer causes things to happen that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t pray.” Supporting Scripture would be James 4: 2, “You do not have, because you do not have” [ESV]. Does this contradict God’s sovereignty? In a way, are we able to move God’s will to fit our own prayers?

Starting with biblical instruction, we keep in mind that the Bible is completely true, it is the absolute Word of God, and God-breathed. So where do I find the balance between Calvinism doctrines so that it fits and matches the Bible? The answer is this: to have a core of Truth so that whenever you come across Christian doctrines, you will stand firm on what the Lord commands. And the core should be this: God is infinitely passionate for His glory, and EVERYTHING is done primarily for His glory, including the sending of Jesus Christ to die for our sins.

So the problem lies with us. John 16 says, “I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” And insert God’s passion for His glory. Are our prayers God-honoring? Do we have in mind God’s best interest instead of our best interest? Unless we have the same desire as God in making His name glorious, our prayers are meaningless.

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above (God’s will), not on earthly things” [NIV, emphasis mine]