because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Hebrews 10:14

I could talk to you all day about all my problems.  I could tell you how my life isn’t where it should be.  I could tell you of all the things I struggle with and need to improve in a big way.  I don’t know what my life looks like to you, but it’s not daisies and flowers.  But at the same time…

Through Christ I’m perfect.

I’ve been made perfect.  Wow.  This is a concept that it hard to get my mind around. God is making holy the people that Jesus through his blood has made perfect.  Those two can happen at the same time.  Thank God for mercy that goes beyond what we can fathom and that we don’t deserve.

Some totally non-related pictures:

These girls are quite awesome.  :)

Two-stepping it up. Along with some cutesy pictures of Ryan and Caitlin.

Senior pictures of Karis, featuring a bike.  Also, our favorite Canadian friend Kallum, who was a great addition to the house.

And finally, our second favorite Canadian, Lucas, who struck this guy out and had a pretty great two-innings as a pitcher.  The end.

~ Jon

I recently listened to a sermon/lecture by Matt Chandler entitled “God and Sex.”  It really hit home to me and in turn, I feel like I need to pass it on.  However, I have some things that I want to say first:

• This is not a casual listen, it’s extremely blunt.
• This isn’t your muzing section.  This isn’t a feel-good message.  This is serious, down to earth stuff.
• I would recommend you listen to this when you’re in the right mindset to take stuff in.
• This kinda goes with the previous point, but  this recording is about two hours long, so be aware of that too.
• I would recommend not listening to it with someone you aren’t completely comfortable with.
• Different guy and girl… functions are mentioned without hesitation, if that’s a problem–it’s blunt.
• The rest of the disclaimer at the beginning of the recording, and you can also read Mitchell’s disclaimer.

so, here it is:

• God and Sex, by Matt Chandler.

I wouldn’t consider this a guy-only talk, but I hope that it isn’t offensive to anyone.  There’s a whole lot of good stuff in it, and here’s one of my favorite parts.  It got a big amen from me.  :)

Matt Chandler in God and Sex: (this is 1hr:11mins in)

I think that a lot of the problems of dating in evangelical circles is the girls.  I’ll tell you what I’m talking about; you guys will tolerate some flirty idiot, flirting and romancing you without serious pursuing you.  And I promise you, you hold the ace of spaces of maturity for some of these idiots.  Where you would go, “Quit flirting with me and grow up.” I promise you,  they will lay in bed that night and go, “ughhh, I need to grow up.” But because you put up with it and let it feed your insecurities, it just perpetuates it.  And so you keep getting your heart broke, you keep getting your heart broke, you keep getting your heart broke because you’re not willing to tell a man–a little boy, really–”I tell you what, I think you’re cute.  You make me laugh.  If you would act your age and grow up, we might be able to talk, but as for now, you need to get out of my face.”

…until then, when they can get away with [everything], there’s no one pressing on them, except me–and all I do is stand up here and call them idiots.

I sure hope I’m not ever being that guy aka being hypocritical.  Thanks to Mitchell Carter for posting this first.  I hope that I didn’t offend anyone by posting it, unless it’s in a good, life-changing way.  ;-) God bless,

~ Jon

Some of you know that I’m a big fan of John Piper.  The way he teaches through the scriptures in wisdom is very encouraging and challenging.  Today I read a blog post by him about his coming leave from all his current responsibilities because “a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit.”  I’d recommend the read.  It got me reflecting about my own life.  I’ve been doing ‘alright’ in my walk with God, but not to a point that I see if fully guided by the Holy Spirit.  There’s always so much that we need to let go of to experience the kingdom of God more.

“I know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.  However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the job the Lord Jesus has given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible and goes along with what I’ve been thinking about.  So many times things come up in our lives that take too much of a spotlight, pulling us away from what matters most.

The sermon today at Downtown church was about God’s pursuit of us, and our response to His pursuit.  The response that was highlighted on was fasting.  This, along with some other things that have been going on around campus have kinda brought to light the importance of fasting in my life.  Whatever it is that you fast from, make sure that the space is filled with growth and time with God.

We’ll see where this goes.  Grace, peace, and love be with you all.

~ Jon

From “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer:  (via)

“How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of ‘accepting’ Christ . . . and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him. This is set before us as the last word in orthodoxy, and it is taken for granted that no Bible-taught Christian ever believed otherwise. Thus the whole testimony of the worshiping, seeking, singing church on that subject is crisply set aside. The experiential heart-theology of a grand army of fragrant saints is rejected in favor of a smug interpretation of Scripture which would certainly have sounded strange to an Augustine, a Rutherford or a Brainerd.” (pp. 16-17)

This quote hits home for me because I’m one of the worst perpetrator of this.  I try to read and listen to things to hopefully make God more real in my life and reflect through my actions–different blogs, sermons here and there, chapel talks, devos, etc.,  BUT as far as me actually making spiritual food through my own research, my own reading, etc., I’m doing pretty bad.  Sometimes I feel like I expect Jesus to fix me without any effort on my part.  I need less of self and more of God.

My prayer for myself is that the Lord will break me and have His Way with me.

How does this apply to your life?

~ Jon

“This is what the LORD says—
your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the LORD,
who has made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,

On an unrelated note, I took some pictures of the prayer room the other day.  I’ll put it together into something better later, but for now here’s just a little panoramic.

The prayer wall of the prayer room.

Walk worthy of the calling. Eph 4.

~ Jon

A perfect man would never act from sense of duty; he’d always want the right thing more than the wrong one. Duty is only a substitute for love (of God and of other people) like a crutch which is a substitute for a leg. Most of us need the crutch at times; but of course it is idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs (our own loves, tastes, habits etc.) can do the journey on their own. (C.S. Lewis)

I don’t always think of the reality of this truth, but it is so true.  I find myself trying to be good so often, and trying to do what’s right, but when I’m doing that, things just don’t work out.  It’s like trying to be a Christian without Christ.  I still struggle with this, and sometimes I can feel good about doing good for a few days, but then soon it will catch up to me, and I just won’t enjoy doing good things or being encouraging to people.

Last semester I did a devo at one of the club mixers for PTP.  I still have the notes around here somewhere–I remember that it was about making the most out of your time here at Harding.  I told the story of how freshman year was mostly all fun, and sophmore year was a lot of the same thing, but then lately I had been realizing that fun things were good, but you have to make a difference and serve God with your life, your relationships, et cetera.

I still don’t think that I wasn’t leading people astray or anything, but I kinda disagree with that talk that I did way back then.  Life isn’t about earning your salvation or doing good things, it’s about having a relationship and love for God that far surpasses any love that you have for others, for material possessions, or for any feelings that you might be able to obtain.  Loving others like crazy and doing good will follow, but the way that you do it makes all the difference.  And this is why that quote means so much to me–it’s one of my problems.

Here’s the video: [found here]

Also, the other quote that John Piper mentioned…and I’ll leave you with this.

In reality Tyndale is trying to express an obstinate fact which meets us long before we venture into the realm of theology; the fact that morality or duty (what he calls ‘the Law’) never yet made a man happy in himself or dear to others. It is shocking, but it is undeniable. We do not wish either to be, or to live among, people who are clean or honest or kind as a matter of duty: we want to be, and associate with, people who like being clean and honest and kind. The mere suspicion that what seemed an act of spontaneous friendliness or generosity was really done as a duty subtly poisons it. In philosophical language, the ethical category is self-destructive; morality is healthy only when it is trying to abolish itself. In theological language, no man can be saved by works. The whole purpose of the “Gospel,” for Tyndale, is to deliver us from morality. Thus, paradoxically, the “Puritan” of modern imagination—the cold, gloomy heart, doing as duty what happier and richer souls do without thinking of it—is precisely the enemy which historical Protestantism arose and smote. [via]