Exam Time!

Hey, y'all,

The end of the semester is here! I am now in my final week, cramming in 7 papers and trying unsuccessfully to catch up on reading. The weather here in Philadelphia is less than desirable, too. Being cooped up in my room while it is grey and gloomy outside begins to wear on a person, and loneliness readily creeps in. But, applying a Biblical principle, I press on looking toward the goal. Thank you all for your prayers; please keep me in prayer this week as I finnish out my semester, and in the ensuing weeks as exams approach.

I am coming home, God willing, at the end of this week, and will be home to study for a week before I have to return for exams. I would love to see you all, and am already looking forward to taking breaks in my study days just to hang out if you are available. (You will be able to reach me at my folks' place or Rebecca's ;-)

A special thanks for the wonderful book that Cole, Lucas, and Isaac made for me and mailed to me here in Philly. What an awesome surprise! I love you guys!

'Just a thought'

"If our conversations do not help people become satisfied in God through suffering [italics mine], then God will not be glorified, Christ will not be honored, the church will be a weakling in an escapist world of ease, and the completion of the Great Commission with its demand for martyrdom will fail."

"God has ordained that our conversations become deeper and more winsome as we are broken, humbled, made low and desperately dependent on grace by the trials of our lives."

John Piper
Counseling with Suffering People
The Journal of Biblical Counseling
winter 2003, pp. 19; 24

Too Busy?

Sorry to those of you who check it regularly to see how I am doing. Things are getting busier and busier, and with final papers due in just a few weeks, I am starting to feel the stress level rise. This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the CCEF annual conference, just a half hour from where I am living in Roslyn, PA. The highlight, of course, was the Rebecca came down for the conference, so I got to see her 5 days in a row! Others from the Vineland area were down, too, and it truly was a blessing to have them here for dinner last Saturday- welcome to my world!

However, what goes up must come down, and if not for the pressing business, life would seem rather lonely- actually, at times it is, but the business makes up for it. I realized today that I have a God who is so accessible, and so willing to enter into relationship with me that He sent His Son do die on the cross to make the possibility of such a relationship a reality- and by my actions I demonstrate that I really do not appreciate Him for that.

I suppose that I am not alone in this, because even here in the seminary, many people admit that their devotional time is not up to snuff. Myself included. I can spend hours and hours on the phone with my wife-to-be, but spend so little time getting to know my Bridegroom-to-be. Foolish, huh?

I am immersed in gospel truths day in and day out, and I complain because it becomes burdensome. I wonder if God feels the same way about me. Does He weary of calling to me to return to Him? To spend time in intimate communion with Him? To tell him how my day went and to thank Him for the glorious truths about His person that He reveals to me and with these enthralls my soul?

Pray with me that He will as our faithful Father continue to reveal to us in new and special ways the length and width and depth and height of His love for us. I believe it was Spurgeon who said, Imagine yourself alone at the foot of the cross. See Jesus hanging their in pain-wracked naked shame, and ask yourself: "Who did God love more?"

Please remember me in the coming weeks, with papers and exams due. But most of all, pray that I will take the time to spend in holy communion with the Lover of my soul. If there are specific ways I can pray for you or your loved ones, please let me know via email- it will help hold me accountable to join with you in prayer. Blessings.