I rise today...

St. Patrick's Breastplate
Celtic Christian hymn influenced by the ministry of St. Patrick
(460s-560 A.D.)

I rise today
With a mighty power, calling on the Trinity,
With a belief in the threeness
With a faith in the oneness, of the creator of creation

I rise today
With the power of Christ's birth and baptism,
With the power of his crucifixion and burial,
With the power of his resurrection and ascension,
With the power of his return for the final judgment.

I rise today
With the power of the love of the cherubim,
In obedience of angels, in service of archangels,
In hope of the resurrection and reward,
In the prayers of the patriarchs, in the foretelling of the prophets,
In the preaching of the apostles, in the faith of the confessors,
In the innocence of the holy virgins, in the deeds of righteous men

I rise today
With the strength of the sky, with the light of the sun
With the splendor of the moon, with the brilliance of fire,
With the blaze of lighting, with the swiftness of the wind,
Witht he depth of the ocean, with the firmness of earth,
With the strength of rock

I rise today
With the power of God to guide me
With the strength of God to raise me,
With the wisdom of God to lead me
With the vision of God to see for me
With the ears of God to hear for me
With the words of God to speak for me
With the hands of God to protect me
With the path of God before me,
With the shield of God to guard me,
With the friendship of God to keep me safe from
      The contriving of demons, the temptations of sin,
      The inclinations of my nature, and everyone who wishes me harm
       Far and near, alone and in the crowd.

I summon today all those powers to protect me
Against every cruel force which may attack my body and soul
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the evil laws of unbelievers,
Against the false laws of heretics,
Against the subtle temptations of idolatry,
Against the magic of women (witches), blacksmiths (who were thought to have supernatural powers in celtic society) and druids,
Against every knowledge which corrupts body and soul

Christ protect me today
From poison and burning, from drowning and wounding
So that I might gain an abundant reward
Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ below me, Christ above me,
Christ to the right of me, Christ to the left of me
Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit, Christ where I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye which sees me,
Christ in every ear which hears me.

I rise today 
With a mighty power, calling on the Trinity
With belief in the threeness,
With faith in the oneness of the creator of creation.

Church Planting

This is hilarious. Enjoy! 

Greek Participles & Sanctification

The last two weeks of Greek have been tough. The material hasn't been too difficult, but I've just been really bored. I think it's because I've been so caught up in the grammar that I've not taken the step back to remember the reason why I am learning the Greek language to begin with.

While learning about present participles tonight, though, God reminded me why I'm taking Greek. One, to know his word better that I might know Christ deeper, and secondly to one day share the deep riches of His word with the church and the world around us. The following is a quote from my Greek textbook about the importance of a participle in II Corinthians 3:18. You don't have to be learning Greek to benefit from this quote, and I hope it will inspire you as it has inspired me to grow deeper in my knowledge of God's Word.

"At the heart of the Christian experience is a radical transformation from what we were by nature into what God intends us to become by grace. Nowhere is that transformation stated with greater clarity than in 2 Corinthians 3:18. And at the heart of this verse is a present participle that reveals the secret of Christian growth & maturity."

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:18

"What this verse tells us is that a wonderful change is taking place in the life of the believer. Although a veil remains over the mind of the unbeliever, that veil is lifted for those who are in Christ. They are being changed into the image of Christ, from one degree of glory to the next.

The secret of divine transformation lies in the participle 'katoptrizomenoi.' It comes from a verb which originally meant "to look into a mirror." Then it came to mean "to gaze or upon" or "to contemplate." Taking the participle in the instrumental sense we read, "We all are being changed into the image of Christ by beholding the glory of the Lord."

Transformation into the likeness of Christ is the inevitable result of gazing upon his glory. We become like that which dominates our thoughts and & affections.

Note that the participle is present tense. It is a continual contemplation that effects the transformation. As the participle is present tense, so also is the finite verb "are being changed" The transformation keeps pace with the contemplation. They are inextricably bound together. By continuing to behold the glory of the Lord we are continually being transformed into his image."
-Robert H. Mounce

Persecution

Persecution isn't something I think about on a daily basis. I'll read a book such as Heavenly Man and it will temporarily open my eyes to the persecution that is going on in other countries. But overall, persecution seems to be far removed from my life.

Today in History of Christianity we talked about the persecution of the early church but also the persecution that takes place today. The fact is there has been more Christian persecution and martyrs in the past century than in any other century. This fact is troubling besides the obvious reasons, because I am living my life oblivious to a lot of it.

International Christian Concern keeps pretty up to date account of reported persecution. I feel convicted to know what is happening to the church around the world.

Heart Knowledge

It's Sunday afternoon. The house is a complete and utter wreck. If you came knocking on my door I would probably turn you away. Or, I would have you wait 5 minutes so I could shove the overwhelming amount of dirty laundry in the closet, give a disheartening glance at my kitchen, and close the second bedroom door. The bad news (and the good news) is that this home is not getting cleaned today. Our afternoon will be spent reading.

Seminary reading is something that you hear a lot about...any graduate program, for that matter, is filled with horror stories of the amounts of work that is required. Two weeks into seminary and I know that I have barely scratched the surface. Perhaps it's my naivety speaking, but, I am really excited about a Sunday afternoon dedicated to reading.

I am so excited, so thrilled, to have the opportunity to be attending Reformed Theological Seminary. And you know what? The reading is really, really interesting. Not only does the reading material challenge your intellect, but it speaks to your heart. Everything I am learning is not just knowledge, it is applicable to your life. In my Hebrews-Revelation class I learned not only about I Peter, the setting, authorship and intent of the letter, but I learned a deeper truth about being a submissive wife. In Systematic Theology, I learned not only about the sovereignty of God and his control over all things, but my human responsibility in the active pursuit of the salvation of others. 

We are always learning. Hopefully, the knowledge we are gaining isn't just staying in our heads, but it is transforming our hearts. What have you learned recently that's deepened your heart knowledge and not just your head knowledge?

Top 5 Reasons To Go To Seminary With Your Wife

5. You meet twice as many people and make deeper relationships with more people than you would be able to on your own.

4. It just looks cool to walk to class with someone that wears a feather in their hair.

3. When studying together, you get to hear the highlights of your wife's classes without doing all of the work. About every ten minutes you'll hear things like "Hey baby, listen to this," or "John Frame figured out the problem of evil" or "Chuck Hill solved the tension between Paul's theology of faith and James' theology of works."

2. Everyone knows who you are very quickly because you're the guy who's married to the girl with all of the pink stuff.

1. Seriously though, It is an awesome privilege to learn about the Love of your life alongside the love of your life. She pushes me to be more like Christ more than anyone else on earth and I'm lucky to have her beside me on this new journey for our lives.

Waiting...

Wednesday afternoon is my "reading" time. Bradley has a class in the afternoon and I do not, this gives me a couple hours to get some reading in. I like to spend this reading time in the bookstore, a happy place where I can get coffee from "Calvin's Coffee Contraption" (it squirts shots of flavor and deliciousness into your coffee so it tastes just like Calvin's coffee during the reformation) and buy york peppermint patties for a mere 15 cents.

Today, during my reading time I am writing this blog, texting, wishing I was taking a nap and contemplating the amount of pink I bring to class everyday...my pink Vera Bradley bag, pink computer cover, pink Bible and pink notebook....at what point does it become too much? Does the pink cardigan push it over the edge?

In the midst of all this I did manage to get a little reading in. "With One Voice" by Reggie Kidd (one of my professor's) had a quote that stood out to me. Kidd is writing about a college student who is influenced by her professor's opinions of the Bible. She is influenced not because of the facts presented but because she hasn't been shaped by gospel influenced people. Kidd says, "Arguably the chief icon-maker of her day, Walt Disney, taught her to "wish upon a star" but not to pray to a living God."

How sad it seems to me that the God of the universe seems dull compared to Disney. The Disney "fairy tales" when compared with the ultimate drama of the Bible are boring! I believe, it is so important to tell the stories of the Bible. The story of the unbelievable love of God, the battle of good and evil, the mission to the world, the hope that we have and the promise of our inheritance that is to come. If that college student knew that story, would she be influenced by every passing whim?

How should we take the message of Christ, this unbelievable story of Love, and share it with our culture?