Hey everybody sorry for not have posting anything new recently, but time is at a premium right now. Last week at church or pastor preached on the filling of the Spirit and the baptism of the Spirit, and I thought he did an excellant job so I though I would post it for yall to check out. Enjoy.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
New Sermon Series At Our Church
I am really excited about a new sermon series we started at the Summit last week on the Holy Spirit. If you have questions about the Holy Spirit, how He works, or anything else check them out. New sermons will be posted every week at http://sermons.summitrdu.com/
Monday, February 20, 2012
The Gospel and God's Story Pt .2
The gospel is "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures."(1 Cor. 15) We must put this good news in the context of the bigger story of the entire Bible, which again has four major plot movements: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Last week we saw that God created a perfect world for humanity to live in where they would live in perfect harmony with God, the creation, each other, and with themselves (Creation). Then we saw how this harmony was destroyed by Adam and Eve disobeying God's word, and so now everyone is separated from God and headed toward both physical and spiritual death(The Fall). And we left off asking, "Where is the hope?"
Redemption
In the face of the bad news of the Fall God begins the work of bringing humanity back to him through the promise of a Savior that is to come. The first time we see this promise is in Gen. 3:15 where God promises that one of Eve's children will smash the head of the serpent, but as you read the Old Testament we constantly see promise of this Savior that was coming. But who is this Savior?
The Savior is none other than God himself! God came into history 2,000 years ago in the person of Jesus Christ. Unlike the rest of humanity Jesus lived a perfect life never disobeying the Father's commands, and his death was a substitute for us to rescue us from sin and Satan. See Jesus voluntarily died on a tortuous Roman cross where the Father poured out all of his anger on Jesus for our sins in the most beautiful display of grace and mercy. Jesus took our place on a cross that we deserved to pay for sins we have committed and will commit against God.
The news just gets better because the grave could not hold Jesus and he rose from the dead fulfilling his mission on earth. On the cross Jesus defeated sin by crushing the head of Satan, and then by raising from the dead he defeated the power of death on us all. Forty days after his resurrection Jesus returned to heaven where he reigns as King of all creation.
Restoration
The good news does not end there though for those who trust in Jesus as their Savior, because God has promised that he will make all things new. God will rid the world of sin, their will be no more pain, no more sickness, and no more death! The best news though is that we will be with our Savior who created, loved, and died for us for all of eternity. Rev. 21 captures it best, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
All you have to do to be a part of this story is to put your trust in Jesus as the only way that you can be saved from your sins and the punishment we all deserve. By doing this you become a son or daughter of God, and He is now your Father and your King. Those who do not put their trust in Jesus are also a part of this story, but they will have to take the punishment for their sins separated from God in Hell.
Well, hopefully now you have better understanding of the gospel and why it is such great news for everyone who puts their trust in Jesus. If you have any questions please let me know.
Sources:
The Story
Ashford, Bruce. Theology and Practice of Mission: God, the Church, and the Nations. Nashvile: B&H Publishing, 2011. Print.
Friday, February 17, 2012
The Gospel and God's Story Pt. 1
Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is how Christians hear their pastors or authors say stuff about "the gospel"all the time, but they hardly ever make clear what they mean when they say "the gospel." So, in the next 2 blog post I am going to do 2 things:1. Define the gospel
2. Tell the story of the Bible.
We are going to start by looking at what people are talking about when they say the gospel. The word gospel simply means good news, but this definition begs the question of what is the good news? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that the gospel is,"that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures." There is a problem though, this statement just leaves us with tons of questions like, "Who is Jesus?"and "Why is it good news that Jesus died?" This is where the second point of the blog comes because the gospel does not make any sense if we separate it from the God' s Story.
The Bible contains tons of stories from Abraham and Isaac to Paul at Mars Hill, but as you read the Bible closely you begin to see that all these stories are really just parts of one big story. This big story tells where we came from, what went wrong, what out hope is, and finally what the future holds for all humanity.
Creation: Where We Came From
The story begins with God speaking all of creation into existence including earth where he made a beautiful garden where the masterpiece of his creation man and woman would live. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God to reflect him, and their purpose was to worship God and enjoy a perfect relationship with him forever. God also tells them to be fruitful and fill the earth in other they are to have kids who worship God so the entire world would be full of people worshipping God. God's Creation was absolutely perfect,and Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God, each other, and themselves.
The Fall: What Went Wrong
Although God had given Adam and Eve all authority on earth he gave them one rule, which was that they could not eat the fruit from one tree. One day God's enemy a fallen angel, Satan, came to Adam and Eve and deceived them into thinking God was not good, and that he did not have their best interest in mind when he told them to not eat of the tree. Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command and ate from the tree, and in doing so changed creation and history forever.
Adam and Eve's sin had horrible consequences for all of creation. It's through their sin that pain, suffering, and death entered the world. The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve's sin passed down to all of humanity, and we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). If everyone looks into their heart they see that they are sinners, and the Bible tells us that the consequences of sin is both physical death and spiritual death. So, the ultimate destiny for all of humanity is eternal separation from a loving God, in total misery, and unhappiness. This leaves us asking... What can be done? Is there any hope for humanity?
Well, God gives us a glimmer of hope in Gen. 3:15 when he tells Satan that one of Eve's descendents, "shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
Next post we will look at the hope, and the future for all humanity...
Sources:
The Story
Ashford, Bruce. Theology and Practice of Mission: God, the Church, and the Nations. Nashvile: B&H Publishing, 2011. Print.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Sweet Carolina
I wanted to use this post just to update everyone on what has been going on in Laura Ashley and my life since we have moved up to North Carolina. We moved to North Carolina in May of 2010 for me to attend seminary at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. We moved here with the plan to be here 4 to 5 years for me to get my Master's degree with the hope to take a job as a pastor wherever the Lord took us. In our minds there was no way that this would change but it usually when you feel like you have your plan that God changes everything, and that is what has happened in our life since moving here in May.
Shortly after moving here we began to attend the Summit Church (www.summitrdu.com), which happened to have one of its many small groups meeting in our apartment building. Some things that really attracted us to the Summit was its focus on planting churches, reaching out to the community we live in, and finally the pastor J.D. is an excellant preacher. So, after a month of attending the Summit we joined and have really enjoyed getting to be part of the community of believers at the Summit. In the last couple months we have had the opportunity to start a small group which has been an awesome, and we are very glad God has seen it fit to bless us with this responsibility.
Our first summer flew by and it was time for me to start school, which is when all of our plans for our life began to change. Every Tuesday and Thursday we have chapel here at the seminary and usually the 2nd chapel service is called the "Great Commission Chapel," the great commission is found in Matt. 28:18-20:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The chapel service usually consist an update on what the seminary is doing in missions across the world, and then a sermon on missions. At the end of this particular chapel they challenged everyone to grab a map of the world from the back of the room and to begin to pray for the people in the world who had not had a chance to hear about Jesus. Laura Ashley and I thought this would be something good to do, and so we bought a book that had info about missions in all the countries of the world and began praying for a country a night. As part of this time we also told God that we would be willing to do whatever he wanted us too and would not let our plans get in the way of his. After a few months of praying for different countries and for God's will I looked over to Laura Ashley and told her, "We are going to go." Laura Ashley I think had known this for a while but just wanted me to say it to her so I wouldn't feel pressured. (What an awesome wife I have!) So, the next week I change my degree program to what is called 2+2 program, which means I will take classes here for 3 years and then we will be going oversees to live as missionaries for 2 years where I will finish my degree. To answer those questions in your mind:
Where are we going? We wont know until May or so.
When will we leave? Next Summer or Fall.
Finally, WHAT ABOUT HOLLAND?
As much of you know the biggest change we have had in our life since we came up to North Carolina is the birth of our beautiful daughter, Holland Grace Harper. I would be lying if changing our plans did not cross our mind with the birth of Holland, but God has defiantly not changed his plans so we have chosen to follow him. Why? One reason is when I look at Holland I see a baby that is blessed beyond belief. She was born in a safe environment where she has everything she needs, she has family surrounding her that loves her very much, and finally she will hear about Jesus over and over again and by God's grace will some day become a Christian. It breaks my heart to think that there are million upon million of Hollands around the world who have absolutely no hope of hearing about Jesus and will spend eternity in hell if no one goes and tells them about Jesus. See Holland is not a hinderance to going she is a motivating factor in going some where else in the world to share Jesus with parents, children, and people have no hope without him. Finally and most importantly we are still going because of the unbelievable grace and love we have received through Jesus' death and resurrection, and also because Jesus is our KING who we will follow anywhere and we will do what ever he tells us.
I know this a long blog but as you can see a lot has happened since we have moved to North Carolina, and we cannot see what God has for us next...
Lee Harper
Our first summer flew by and it was time for me to start school, which is when all of our plans for our life began to change. Every Tuesday and Thursday we have chapel here at the seminary and usually the 2nd chapel service is called the "Great Commission Chapel," the great commission is found in Matt. 28:18-20:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The chapel service usually consist an update on what the seminary is doing in missions across the world, and then a sermon on missions. At the end of this particular chapel they challenged everyone to grab a map of the world from the back of the room and to begin to pray for the people in the world who had not had a chance to hear about Jesus. Laura Ashley and I thought this would be something good to do, and so we bought a book that had info about missions in all the countries of the world and began praying for a country a night. As part of this time we also told God that we would be willing to do whatever he wanted us too and would not let our plans get in the way of his. After a few months of praying for different countries and for God's will I looked over to Laura Ashley and told her, "We are going to go." Laura Ashley I think had known this for a while but just wanted me to say it to her so I wouldn't feel pressured. (What an awesome wife I have!) So, the next week I change my degree program to what is called 2+2 program, which means I will take classes here for 3 years and then we will be going oversees to live as missionaries for 2 years where I will finish my degree. To answer those questions in your mind:
Where are we going? We wont know until May or so.
When will we leave? Next Summer or Fall.
Finally, WHAT ABOUT HOLLAND?
As much of you know the biggest change we have had in our life since we came up to North Carolina is the birth of our beautiful daughter, Holland Grace Harper. I would be lying if changing our plans did not cross our mind with the birth of Holland, but God has defiantly not changed his plans so we have chosen to follow him. Why? One reason is when I look at Holland I see a baby that is blessed beyond belief. She was born in a safe environment where she has everything she needs, she has family surrounding her that loves her very much, and finally she will hear about Jesus over and over again and by God's grace will some day become a Christian. It breaks my heart to think that there are million upon million of Hollands around the world who have absolutely no hope of hearing about Jesus and will spend eternity in hell if no one goes and tells them about Jesus. See Holland is not a hinderance to going she is a motivating factor in going some where else in the world to share Jesus with parents, children, and people have no hope without him. Finally and most importantly we are still going because of the unbelievable grace and love we have received through Jesus' death and resurrection, and also because Jesus is our KING who we will follow anywhere and we will do what ever he tells us.
I know this a long blog but as you can see a lot has happened since we have moved to North Carolina, and we cannot see what God has for us next...
Lee Harper
Friday, February 3, 2012
Why I Started a Blog
Hey Everybody,I have been wanting to start a blog for a while but the truth is I could not think of good reason to start one especially since my wife does such a excellant job of keeping everyone up to date on our lives at The Harper's Bazaar. So, what is the purpose of the blog? The main purpose is to keep friends and family up to date on what I am learning in school, and what God is teaching us as a family. This does not mean that this is going to be some deep theological blog, but rather it is going to a place of practical things we are learning. So, if you are looking for mind numbing theological discussions about God you are at the wrong place. I hope to use this as way to encourage and challenge our family and friends to be disciples of the living God. Also, I hope this will be place for me to answer questions they have about God, Church, and etc. (of course all answers will be stolen from people a lot smarter than me) Hopefully I will write once a week but with school and a five month old that might not happened. Finally, I could not think of a good name for the blog so if you have any suggestions please let me know I would very grateful. Well thats really all I have to say so lets see what happens!
Lee Harper
P.S.
As you read the blog you are going to notice that 1. I have horrible grammer and 2. I skip words when writing because my fingers can not keep up with my thoughts. Just wanted to warn you.
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