An opportunity for the gospel to be given!

So my last day with UPS was December 30th, 2009. For the last 2 months, the Spirit has really been at work, in breaking my heart over the people I have been working with at UPS. There have been a few times, here and there, where I have had opportunities to give bits and pieces of the gospel to some of my coworkers at UPS. Recently, God opened some doors at the Seminary and provided a full time job status through radio and video productions. Now this is a huge deal for me because I am very passionate about sharing the gospel through media! Therefore, since I have been given this opportunity I had to leave UPS. I wanted to have the opportunity in sharing the gospel with each every person I worked with at UPS, so I typed out a personal letter with the gospel planted in and personally handed them out to each and every person I worked with in my Posi area. A Posi is just a term for a specific location established for certain destinations for packages to travel to at UPS. It was really cool because each every person that I handed a letter to with their name on the envelope was super excited to receive it! There is just something about a personal gift that communicates so well with people. I ask that you pray with me as the letters are read within the next few days! I appreciate your prayers for these people and remember that there are always opportunities to share the gospel at any given time. You just have to stay in prayer and keep your eyes open and be ready to share with whatever avenue the Lord provides you with!

For His Kingdom,

Twiga

A Look through Genesis

I have decided to go through the book of Genesis right now in my quiet time with the Lord. It is absolutely Amazing to read through and envision God speaking the World into existence! Piece by piece, Day by Day! Not even moving a finger but speaking this universe, this World into being! Creation being set forth by the mighty power of the voice of God! I love how the Bible reveals that God didn't just say World exist and everything at the same time came forth! While reading Genesis 1, verse by verse the Holy Word of God reveals the awesome display of God! Light, Darkness, Water, Land, Birds, Beasts of the fields, the stars in the galaxies, and Man! If I were completely honest with myself, then I would have to confess that I do not take every second of the day as I walk outside to stop and recognize His glory and awesome display of creation! I pray that this very view and outlook of life would become even more real as I read through the Book of Genesis! I love to think about the relationship that Adam and Eve had with God up until the "Ultimate Fall and Depravity of Man". Chapter 3 presents the "Ultimate Fall" of man, as the serpent, cunning and sly, directs Eve into believing that God was trying to keep her from knowing "ALL" just as God did! Then Eve eats and Adam follows the pattern of disobedience and thus the State of Depravity takes root! As I read the passage where God banishes Adam and Eve out of the garden, I can't help but tear up because of the truth of our separation from God; however, when we read the gospel, we can be encouraged by the sacrificial Lamb and how he cleanses us when we acknowledge our true, evil condition, repent and by faith, receive Christ as our Savior and Lord! From there, God curses the serpent, man and woman from then on out! The Fall continues to get even worse when Eve gives birth to Cain and Abel! I will get into the 4th chapter tomorrow. I will also talk a little more about the origin of Satan, which is suspected to be The King of Tyre. Until then I encourage you to take time during the day and behold His Awesome Display of Creation! Praise Him for it and take joy in His beauty!

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

John Wall

Only 8 games into this 09-10 Basketball Season and John Wall has already begun his world wide domination! First, John Wall begins by sinking a 15 foot Michael Jordan style jumper to win a game against Miami Ohio at the buzzer. Need I remind you that this was his college debut!



And just 2 days ago on Saturday, Wall made North Carolina's guards look like elementary ball players! Anytime Wall had the ball he either made sure the ball went into the hole or found someone else with an insanely easy bucket! This kid is for real! I imagine that Coach Calhoun is watching film for hours in order to get his guards ready for the Cats on Thursday, as Wall and company come into the Madison Square guardens to play the Huskies! Stick around this season and enjoy the show because John Wall is going to be spectacular!

Matt Chandler Preaches at Southern Seminary Chapel

Thanksgiving and Finals

Hey everybody! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! I was completely blessed for having the opportunity to be with my family even if it was for a short period of time! I was so happy to get the opportunity to spend time with my niece and nephew for a few days! Both Emma and Elijah are growing so much! On Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving I was holding elijah and playing with him and he grinned ear to ear! Hahaha.... it made my day to see that handsome child smiling and being so happy! Both Elijah and Emma have been blessed with wonderful godly parents! I have so many things to be thankful for that it might not be possible to conclude this blog if I did! First, I am so very thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for me so that I might have life when I deserved death! I have been saved now for 17 years and I am amazed by all the wonderful things God has taught me and has transformed me up till now! I am also very thankful for my family! Moving to Seminary has been a big transition for me and a big step in faith as well! My family has supported and encouraged me every step of the way! And If it weren't for the Holy Spirit guiding me, I would be completely under water by now! I am very thankful for friends as well! I have had many friends encourage me financially, prayerfully and through their words of encouragement! Since I have arrived to this Seminary, I have learned so much about faith, love, ministry and diligence! I am so blessed to be at a place where the Gospel of THE Bible is at the core of all that is taught! I am so thanful for the Spirit's guidance and direction in my studies of the Greek language! I have learned so much and I pray that I would only continue to absorb more to understand how to read the Bible to its full entirety! Not so I can boast about knowing a particular language but to effectively preach the Truth of Jesus Christ and His sovereign reign!

Speaking of Greek! I took my Greek Final Exam on Tuesday morning! I was a little anxious about the exam to say the least, only because I have taken in so much of the language within the entirety of the semester! However, I feel very confident in my performance on the exam! I plan on taking next semester off and staying on campus while working two jobs. I am learning a lot about my diligence in how I handle my money in the Biblical sense! I feel like it has been one of the weaker points in my life as a Christian and I am blessed to have a Great God, who would reveal this to me!

I ask that you would pray for me as I work diligently on seeking out wisdom from the Holy Spirit and striving to do my best in this area for the glory of God! I am humbled by this area that needs work in my life and yet joyful in seeing just another way on how I can honor God in the best way possible! When I finally chose to realize the need of a regeneration of my heart in this area of my life, I was very discouraged but then I thought about Romans chapter 8 and where it says for those who are in the Lord, Jesus Christ, they are more than conquerors! As a people under the authority and power of God we must understand His promises, and believe in them, because if not then we fail to recognize who God is completely! I pray that every word you read in His holy Word leaps out of the page and fills your heart with unspeakable joy and a longing to grow deeper!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understandings. Acknowedge the Lord in all your ways and He will direct your path." -Proverbs 3:4-5

For His kingdom,
Twiga

For no one can be saved by Works but by Faith!

I realize more and more that people hold to so many different types of religion and beliefs for what is to happen in the afterlife and where they are bound for eternity! One of the most common that I run into is the belief in people's good works resulting in their hope in entering heaven! This isn't going to be a long post at all! I just wanted to share something that I had read through in Romans chapter 3, primarily verse 20. I would like to use verses surrounding around this primary verse as well. Here is what Romans chapter 3 states directly from the Apostle Paul, given by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. "Now we know that whatever the law says speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God's judgment. For NO flesh will be justified in His sight by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:19-20

Now this is what I want you to meditate on! Why would God place His son on the Cross on our behalf if we were able to uphold the law! If we were able to uphold the law then we would not offend God by our sinful natures! According to the Old Testament, the law was established by God as a covenant! The law is given so that we might know how we can please God and how we displease God! This is a very plain and simple process really! We fulfill the law, we obey God! And if we break the law, we disobey God! So why was the law established by God? The answer is simple! We as a sinful people need to know what God requires of us and how we are commanded live our lives unto Him! That in itself is even a measure of grace from God! Think about it! What if we walked around not knowing what is right or wrong all the time! Romans chapter 1 verse 20 states that God has clearly given His invisible attributes to all creation, therefore we are without an excuse when it comes to whether we know what is right or wrong! He has written His law on our hearts! We have a conscious that reveals right between wrong. Science even reveals the truth of our conscious! So, now that we have reviewed the law that God established in us, lets get to the issue at hand in how we are not saved according to our good works!

Romans 3 states that NO flesh will be justified (made right with God) in His sight by the works of the law because through the law comes the knowledge of sin! Okay let me break this down! What this means is because there has been a law established, we must come to understand that this law has been established because of our depravity of sin! Because once again, if law has been established, there must reason behind it! Because we have sinned before a mighty and holy God! Now I know so far this seems to be bad news! And well it is if I were to stop there but this is why we as children of God call this "Good News"!

The Good News! Here it is.... God established the law because of our separation resulting from our sin to Him. God graciously gave us His law so that we could have a covenant relationship with Him! This is a key emphasis to the Old Testament but not the main emphasis! God's establishment in His law to us wasn't His ultimate means to an end! The very law that He established with us is the key to revealing His Righteousness and Love by what we call Grace! The bad news is that because of our sin, the law was established and because of the law being established we are condemned to eternity separated from Christ forever! This is where the Cross comes in and sheds light to the best News in History! God sent His son to the world, Jesus Christ, who lived a pure life, free from Sin and was placed on the Cross so that our Sin, which is condemned through the law would be rescued from Death through a perfect and blameless propitiation (The shedding of Christs blood)! It is the Sacrifice that God, the Father made in order that we might have life! You see it is not by our works because when we compare ourselves to the law in where we spend eternity then we are condemned! Romans 8 verse 1 states, "For there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." And then verse 2 states, "For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the Law of Sin and death."

Okay, so it ended up being a lengthy post hahaha... I can't help it! You know when you have such "Good News" to proclaim, it is hard to keep it so short! I pray that this word would encourage those that believe that their good works will result in eternity spent with God, to read more into Romans! It is by Grace through Faith we are saved! Not by Works! Essentially it comes down to our surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit to show us the True way to life and knowing that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life and there is no other way to the Father except through Him! Praise God for His grace and salvation to all men that repent and believe!

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

Job Updates, Evangelism opportunities and Prayer Request

Hey everybody! So it has definitely been a few weeks since I last posted a blog. My apologies on negligence! I have definitely been very very busy! With 2 jobs and Greek class I have felt quite overwhelmed as of late! We only have 2 weeks of classes left here at the Seminary! I am actually stunned by how quickly this semester has passed! I have been a little passive towards my Greek within the last week! I have allowed an excuse to working a lot to resort to way too much laziness! I am still making a high grade in my Greek class but I am not interested in just making an A in the class. God has been moving within my heart as of late to press me towards diligence to understanding His Word better! Not so I can boast about how much more I know than the next guy here at the Seminary but so that I can preach the gospel more soundly! When I evangelize to others, I don't want to have a confused facial expression because I have not been diligent enough in my practice of Greek and the study of the Holy Word! I ask all that read this blog to pray for me! Pray that my heart would continue to be convicted so that I might be the light to the darkness!

As for my job status! There have been some shifting if you will. My last night with Target was actually this past Saturday! I will continue to work for UPS because of how much assistance I receive in my education funds! I have been trying more and more to be involved with Highview and the members within the body of the church! I have been attending a campus church through Highview, which is based on the University of Louisville. I talked with the pastor of the campus church about being involved with the media ministry at the campus church. Dan, the pastor at the campus church recently offered me a media staff position at Southern Seminary! For this I am so excited, I am without words! Because of this opportunity I will have access to resources I need in order to create media resources to aid the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I am most certain that God has me at this campus church for a reason! God has already weighed my heart heavily for the students on campus!

Now, just to share a little more about the situation at Target! I am no longer an employee obviously but I was surprised by how much of a connection that God has planted from me to others that I worked with at the Target store! I was only at this store for no more than 2 months and yet when many came to understand the news of my leaving the store they were unhappy with my decision to leave. I can only resort to the essence of the power of the gospel in this instance! For I will be blunt in saying that because of how busy I was at Target, I was honestly not given many opportunities to really sit down and talk about the Lord with others! Therefore, I conclude that the Spirit of Christ was heavily at work within me during my time at the store! Moreover; I am pressed to visit the store when I am able to, in order that I might continue to share the gospel with these employees at the store! Praise God for the work of His gospel to men everywhere! Would you please, also pray for these employees as I search for more opportunities to reveal the gospel to them!

This next request for prayer is of high value! I am in utter despair over my coworkers at UPS! Not that it is a surprise to me but I sense a very supernatural darkness while working with the coworkers in my area! This fact causes me to have a bit more hesitancy in how I present the gospel! I must be honest in saying that I have taken very little efforts in sharing the good news with these people! I truly beleive that this is cause by the spirit of timidity by the devil himself! I feel more and more frustrated with myself when I leave my job at UPS! Its not that I have the power to save these people! I know that this an obvious statment but I know that God has placed His sovereign hand over this situation and that I am called to be within this particular mission field! I truly want the people I work with at UPS to see the gospel in me! Please! Please! Pray for these people and for this evil power of timidity that is at work within me to be vanquished and that I would have more and more opportunities to share the good news with these people!

I sincerely thank everyone for their prayers and encouragement! God is at work in the city! I can see it more and more! I pray that I can only die more and more to myself in order that Christ and Christ alone is seen and I fade away!

For His kingdom,
Twiga

The promise of our being made righteous in God!

τον γαρ μη γνοντα αμαρτιαν υπερ ημων αμαρτιαν εποιησεν ινα ημεις γινωμεθα δικαιοσυνη θεου εν αυτω - 2 Corinthians 5:21

So I was reading in the Psalms the other day, specifically the 92nd chapter. There is no surprise that it starts with the writer expressing his praise in God. The writer then moves to distinguish the difference between the man kept in righteousness through God and then the fool who places his hope in himself. When I got to the end of the chapter it was such an amazing thing to think upon! It basically says this:

"The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him."

I mean this wasn't a new concept for me but it was so good to read the words and meditate on them! When I read that last phrase: "there is no unrighteousness in him." I immediately meditated on what 2 Corinthians 5:21says.

It says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

How in the world, a people like us that are so corrupt and selfish could ever be made righteous before the one True God! I am completely amazed by the Cross and the power of Jesus Christ's Death & Resurrection! How we as a people can ever be ungrateful towards God by any means is absolutely absurd and unheard of! What an amazing promise as the children of God we have! I hope this is encouraging and challenging as well on where the condition of your heart is towards the God who has promised us eternal life. I would like to leave you with a passage from Romans chapter 8 verse 18.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time, are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

For His Kingdom,

Twiga

Seeing the Gospel at Work and A little catching up!

So its definitely been a while since the last time I've posted. Seeming how the Lord has blessed me with two jobs, I have had limited time for blogging hahaha..... Greek class is consuming a lot of time but I am trying to be diligent in my studies and get out with an A! I plan on posting more small Greek lessons soon! I've only posted one but more will come and soon! Most probably this weekend! Both jobs at UPS and Target are pretty rigorous and straining! I plan on finding something to replace my job at Target with. Hopefully, something on campus so that I can save money on gas and also have something that isn't quite as rigorous as working in the backroom. I had an opportunity to share a little about why I attend Seminary to this lady that works at a Chinese Restaraunt that I recently went to for lunch after Church on Sunday! I am planning on going back this Sunday because she was clearly interested in moving forward in the conversation but the restauraunt got busy and she had to get back to work. I pray that she will be there Sunday and that the Spirit continues to work on her so that she will be open to the presentation of the gospel! Oh yeah! I recently joined with a church body. I am now a member at Highview and I attend one of 7 campuses in the Kentucky/Indiana locations which is the Fegenbush campus. There is an outreach that the church is a part of that is located on the campus of the University of Louisville. Highview has a campus church placed on the campus located at what they call the Red Barn! First of all I think that it is so awesome that the Lord would open the door for the gospel to be preached at one of the Universities buildings! Praise God for His provision and mighty power to work things out such as an incredible opportunity as this one! It is a pretty low number in attendance and I know that their are a lot of students on campus so I ask that everyone pray along with me for this campus church plant! I plan on getting involved by creating media for the church campus and distributing it to all the Highview church locations and also use it for the advancement of the gospel on the campus of Louisville! I am a bit weary because of working a whole lot and studying Greek at late hours but it is wonderful thing that God would choose to use someone like me to be a part of the advancement of the gospel! I'm very fortunate to be at School where many other students and professors are so passionate about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I cannot thank the Lord enough for His provisions and His blessings! I mean, yeah, sure there have been rough times leading up to this point in the semester but God is teaching me to rely more and more on Him! He is teaching me to be a better steward of my time! He is showing me that brokenness is very appropriate in my relationship to Him! And I am especially learning that there is an incredible depth of Spiritual Warfare among this Seminary campus! Satan does not like what is happening on this campus and he has been and will continue to find ways to interrupt the teaching of the Gospel! This has also helped me understand how crucial prayer is! I pray that this is something that both you and I can think upon and truly search our hearts on where we are in our relationship with the almighty Creator! I pray this blog entry encourages and challenges all that read it! Until next time keep your eyes on Him and be ready to give an account to the gospel at all times!

For His Kingdom,

Twiga

Catching up!

Hey everybody! It has been at least a solid week since I have posted a blog. I am really sorry that it has taken that long since the last time I have updated everyone! I wanted to update everyone on the job/s situation and how things are going here on the campus of Southern Seminary. First of all, I have been looking for a job and many doors opened then closed, opened then closed. It was getting a little frustrating but God is Faithful! I recently got a job with Target working in the back room with the merchandise. Today I will finish up my training and next week I will be hitting the ground running with the responsibilities that were given me. I am very confident that I will be able to perform the duties that have been asked of me and look forward to how God chooses to use me in displaying the gospel through different avenues to my fellow team members. God has really given me vision in locating the lost and dark areas of where I work now. I look forward to building relationships with these people and revealing the gospel to them by any means! I have also been qualified to work with UPS! This is a BIG blessing! UPS has a program called the learn and earn scholarship/reimbursement plan. When you work with the UPS company, as long as you pass your classes with a C or higher you will receive a 1500 dollar reimbursement for your education. Plus you also get money for books. I consider myself very blessed and fortunate to have been given this position because it will really help out financially as I pursue my Masters here at the seminary! So, that is what's going on job-wise. Now this week has been just pivotal in providing just what kind of awesome God I serve! I have been visiting a church here in Louisville called Highview which has 7 different campus locations, with a few located across the state border to Indiana. I have been attending the Fegenbush campus. I recently sat down with the Music Minister over the Fegenbush campus and after having a long conversation over lunch with him, Dan stated that he would love to see me on the Creativity Committee for the Media ministry. Now if you know me at all, you know why this is such an exciting opportunity! For anyone that hardly knows me I have a huge passion for displaying the gospel through media to Students around the World. I hope to do this when I finish up my Masters here at the Seminary! I cannot express how incredible of a week this has been for me! Financially, I have now been given two jobs to support myself while I get a solid, Biblical education. Family-wise, Elijah is here and I couldn't be any happier to see his beautiful face and hear of his healthy arrival as well as Erin's safety through the birthing stage. Church, I have an incredible opportunity to use my gifts and talents at a church that is Theologically sounded and family oriented. Ministry-wise, I have an incredible opportunity to share the gospel with the people I work with at Target and soon at UPS! Education, I am at a solid A in Greek class, which if you have taken Greek you know how big that is! God IS Sovereign and He is so GREAT! He provides us with what we truly need and desire. He is the Alpha & Omega, The Provider, Our Refuge and Strength, Our Father and The Savior of the world! So if you wonder why it is I serve the one and true God. Well, I think I've pretty much summed it up. May your walk with God be ever so stronger as each day passes and if you don't know Jesus, then I pray that you would recognize how desparately you need Him and surrender your life over to Him. If you're confused to how that works, you simply admit to your sin and depravity, believe in the death and ressurrection of Jesus Christ by His dying for our sins on the Cross, and simply ask Him to SAVE YOU! God bless!

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

My nephew is Here!!!!!!

Okay I should have already posted this one! My nephew was born at 10:45 a.m. on Wednesday, September the 23rd. He is Awesome! I mean the kid is a stud. Jason and Erin named him Elijah Bailey Engle. I love that name! I was so excited to hear the news that I totally forgot that I had a blog to post about it hahaha...... You can see some pictures of Elijah along with the post. Plus, for those of you that might not know me well; Jason, my brother and his wife also have a precious little girl named Emma Claire Engle. They took some pictures of both Emma and Elijah together and they are the sweetest things you have ever laid eyes on! I hope you enjoy the pictures. I will most definitely post more pictures of Elijah as they come. I get to see him on Thanksgiving Day, which can't come soon enough aaaggghhh! Nonetheless, I will definitely be posting pictures of myself and him whent that day comes around. Once again enjoy the pictures and remember that God is soveriegn and is in Control!

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

I got a JOB!

Hey everybody! I just wanted to quickly update everyone on the job situation. I really appreciate everyone's prayers for the last several weeks! I got a call from Target this morning and found out that I have orientation on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. Please continue to pray as I get situated at the store and also that I would have many opportunities to be light unto the darkness with the ones that I work with in the future. I also have an interview with UPS on Wednesday. I am hoping to gain this job as well because of its benefits and education reimbursement plan at the end of each school semester. I will update more on that opportunity as time passes. Once again I really appreciate everyone's prayers and encouragement during the season of patience that God has called me to. I will continue to update everyone on how things are going at the Target that I am working at and fill you in on the different people I work with. By the way, just to give you an idea of what I will be doing. Target will start me off by placing me in the back to scan products and help out with inventory. I'm sure opportunities to move up will present themselves. I am so thankful for God's provision in my life right now! I have found certain days difficult as I had several doors close shut on me but I am thankful nonetheless for God's work in my life to help my faithfulness grow to a more mature level! I pray all is well with everyone and may God's grace remain with you in all things.

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

The perishing bodies that surround us

As I was reading through some devotional studies this morning and I came across something that I thought would be good to share with everyone. I was reading in the book of Mark where the people brought the paralytic man to Jesus by lowering him through a roof of a house. It presented a question to me on how concerned and devoted we are to bring the lost and broken to Jesus. This scripture in Mark is such a beautiful description of how faith is coincided with our passion for the lost! How far are we willing to tread, no matter how difficult the circumstances and obstacles are in life to bring the lost to Jesus? We will drive hundreds of miles in order to attend a football game or pay a vast amount of money to get to a concert we desire so much to attend! How easily do we give up at the first sign of adversity while dealing with lost souls? Now obviously we have no power to save people but that is all the more reason it is crucially important for us to go to lengths to bring others closer to the Savior of the world! Now maybe the question is, how do we do this? Well, I would venture to say that it may take a long travel to reach a soul in need of Christ or a sacrificial gift in order to show someone how serious we are about the condition of their soul. How many perishing bodies sit out in the midst of the sinful pits of death, while we sit in our comfortable rooms? If we claim to be in a passionate pursuit after God then shouldn't that affect our desire for the advancement of the gospel to others that are without it? While reading this devotional, a great parallel was made which said, "If hunger for bread can break through stone walls, surely hunger for souls is not to be hindered in its efforts." How deep does our pursuit for lost souls reach? How urgent is our zeal to present the gospel to those that we know are lost and hopeless without Christ? I pray that if we have to, we will carry them to the roof and lower them in before the Almighty Savior even after considering the cost! I challenge you as myself to open our eyes to the perishing bodies that surround us and bring them to Jesus.

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

A Panel Debate over N.T. Wright's view on Justification

Hey everybody! It has been a few days since I have posted a blog. Things are going pretty well here! I am enjoying my Greek class and so far I have Aced all my quizzes except for one, which its no biggie cause we are allowed to drop the lowest 3 quiz grades at the end of the school semester. Dr. Plummer scheduled two quizzes for this week so I have been a little more occupied with studying and getting prepared for those. We had the first one this morning and the other one is tomorrow. Next week we will have the first of four midterms on Friday. So I will be digging hard in the books this weekend! And just a quick update for everyone. I had an interview with Target this past Tuesday and I will be going through Orientation this coming Tuesday. I will probably check with UPS on Tuesday as well but unless something else comes up I will go ahead and pursue this job opportunity. Anyways, I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on how things are going.

Now onto the actual reason of this post. Southern Seminary had a panel debate over N.T. Wright's recent book "The New Perspectives of Paul". I can only speak as a person informed on the issue and not with a personal critique or knowledge on what he wrote in the book, well because I haven't read the book myself. So as I discuss this understand and know that I am only revealing what I took away from the panel debate. So now you know.

The reason for the Panel discussion was - N.T. Wright and the Doctrine of Justification

Dr. Albert Mohler was the moderator
Men on the Panel:
Dr. Denny Burk
Dr. Tom Schreiner
Dr. Mark Seifrid
Dr. Brian Vickers

All of these men have a crucial role at the Seminary in teaching the New Testament to Seminary Students with Sound Theology! First of all it might be a good idea to give you the issue that is at hand. Basically, N.T. Wright presented a different view of the way justification works according to what was revealed by the panel. Wright believes that we are justified through Jesus at first but then he also believes that in the end we are justified by our works. Now there are places in scripture that talks about works like in James which says, "faith without works is dead" and other places such as Galatians but by what was presented by the panel it seems as if Wright's view is found outside of the tradition of the view of justification that many Southern Baptist have beleived for a long time! By the way the panel presented Wright's view and theology within the confines of this book which seems to point that its not really about our sin against God but our injustice to society. The panel also discussed Wright's view on God's judgment and how he often compares it to the actual court of law in our society. The idea that is presented by Wright would seem to point out that within our court of law, the judge's duty is to hold firm to justice and present the sentence with no structure of grace. Well, that would be correct. That is how the system of justice has been established for a long time obviously! But my question is, how could anyone ever compare God's way of Justice to something as corrupt as our worldly system. Now do not get me wrong! God is a just God! There is no doubt in that statement and truth, but we have also been given the gift of grace and love by way of the cross. Now please do not misread me here! The panel was not set up in order to have a "bashing session" on N.T. Wright. In fact the panel was very satisfied with a lot of N.T. Wright's views on the history of the church and the life of Jesus. The panel was even extremely impressed with the presentation of the Ressurrection of the Cross by Wright's works. However, even though Wright has presented a great foundational history of Jesus, we have to view every lense by way of the gospel. And now I will get to the point of the issue here. I really had to toil through this and that is why it took me a while to post the blog for the panel debate. Here is the question I came up with. If we are justified by our faith in Christ and yet separately justified by works in the end, then how does that point to the full weight of what was done at the Cross? I mean I agree that when we have been justified by God, we are then being changed and comformed to His image through the Spirit. Therefore, fruit is revealed through our lives but not by OUR work! From what was presented this morning, Wright has established a Man centered justification. That is NOT the Gospel! Now one of the professors stated that Wright, only a few years ago spoke at a church throughout the course of a week during Easter. The specific professor on the panel stated that N.T. Wright only spoke on the Crucifixion, Ressurrection and then of course the defeat of death but never presented the Gospel! There was no grace offered to the church! Now wait a minute! If someone claims to present the Gospel to others, then how is it Good News if there is no element of grace presented. Now once again this is what was told to everyone attending the panel session at the chapel this morning. I was not present for the sermons given by Wright at that specific church but for a professor to make this claim, especially one that has been rooted in the Word of God for such a long time, I can't imagine that he would go so far to make this claim and not fully research and investigate it before presenting such a claim. I plan on acquiring Wright's book and reading it for myself so that I can be more informed. I just wanted to talk about what was said in chapel this morning and inform everyone of this issue at hand. I will say this and finish up the blog because it is already becoming pretty lengthy. If the Cross ONLY stands for an image of restoration and that's all then we are in a lot of trouble! If this is true then we have completely obliviated the glory of God and will never be saved from our depravity! The Cross is what we hold firm to and have hope in. What was completed by Jesus through the way of the Cross is the very essence of our hope and Life in Christ! We have been bought by the His blood and can have confidence in our assurance of salvation! Now maybe N.T. Wright believes this truth to a certain point and that is what encourages me to read the book, but the panel discussion was a perfect example of how easy it is to get strayed by new revolutionary ideas! I cannot say with a 100% that I know this whole thing to be true because my lack of understand and reading of the book but I have really come to appreciate and respect the Proffesors and scholars of the Word. I believe that these professors are very firm in their understanding of the gospel and theology, therefore; I am very concerned in what I have heard earlier in chapel this morning! John Piper actually wrote a book refuting Wright's view on Justification and that was also discussed. This will also be another book that I plan on attaining. I am most certain that this blog will get some comments and that is totally fine! In fact I hope to get a hold of N.T. Wright's book myself so that I can be more informed and better acquainted with the text. I really wish I would have taken notes in chapel so that I could have been a little more thourough but I was so fascinated by what was going on that I just sat and listened. Well there you go! I'm sure that this will be discussed in many places and people believe certain things of how this book should be interpreted and not interpreted but I for one am glad that I have been informed of the situation and now I will inform myslef more on the issue at hand.

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

Why Pride and Future Grace cannot exist with one another!

I'm reading a book called Future Grace by John Piper. It has really helped me in my personal walk with Christ and my transition to stepping out on Faith by coming to Southern Seminary. Piper talks about how easy it is to trust God in the grace that He has already given to us in the past but when it comes to our future, how much do we really trust in His grace? I love hearing about people's testimonies on how God supplied them with grace in specific situations and areas in their lives, but what I'm not used to hearing as much is how people are rejoicing in the things to come. If you really stop and think about it, how many times have you heard certain people say they are incredibly overjoyed in what God has in store by the grace that will be given. I mean don't get me wrong its not completely absent but its not always a constant theme. Our pride is very dangerous to our Christian lives! Piper points out that humility isn't the most sought out thing in this world. Even within the confines of the church there can be a sense of haughtiness and prideful hearts! "Look at what I have done Lord!" A congregation member comes up and compliments on how well the worship was and before we know it we get a big head and take credit for it. We preach in front of a congregation of 500 to 1,000 or teach a Sunday School class and we walk out of the church thinking of our own strength and how well we did. Even when we walk out wondering how well we presented a sermon or lead a worship service, can take away from God's glory. Now don't get me wrong we want to yearn to present the Truth to its fullest and lead a congregation to the Throne of God in complete adoration and praise! But that also has a lot to do with whether or not our hearts were clean and pure before we step foot in the church. If the answer is yes to our hearts having been cleansed then we move to how focused we have been in Christ and how deeply rooted we have placed our lives in the Lord. Finally, when both of those things are true, we then must move to the investigation of how much we trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to work through us! Okay so I might have gotten off track a little bit but those things are crucially important! Now back to our pride. Romans chapter 8 verses 1 through 17 talk about the battle between our flesh and The Spirit.

Piper quotes a local newspaper that published the following words.
"There are some who naively cling to the nostalgic memory of God. The average churcgoer takes a few hours out of the week to experience the sacred... But the rest of the time, he is immersed in a society that no longer acknowledges God as an omniscient and omnipotent force to be loved and worshipped... Tody we are too sophisticated for God. We can stand on our own; we are prepared and ready to choose and define our own existence."

Piper goes on to reveal that this very published article proves that the atmosphere we breathe is hostile to humility. Our humility and brokenness is essential to the way we live our lives unto God. If I can just be honest and I know that this is a local newspaper but even so, if that kind of statement is made about the church, which claims Jesus to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then that breaks my heart! The world embraces a Prideful and Haughty spirit but we are called as the church of Christ to be set apart from the world! Piper defines pride as a turning away from God specifically to take satisfaction in self. So in reality, pride is a specific form of unbelief because we are not placing our hope and trust in God; therefore, proving we do not trust in His promises and grace!

Piper uses Deuteronomy Chapter 8:11-17 to reveal what God warns us about pride
"Beware... lest, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart becomes proud, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery... In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.'"

In the book Future Grace, Piper makes the statement, Future grace, not military force, is the final hope of kings and warriors-and everyone else.

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His loving kindness... He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name." (Psalm 33:18, 20-21)

So the question we need to think upon is this, Where do we place our boasting in? In ourselves or in Christ? As a child of God, cleansed by the blood of Christ I would like to answer by claiming Jeremiah 9:23-24.

"'But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and rightousness on earth; for I delight in these things,' declares the Lord."

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

Acts Chapter 3: Our Expectations are Way too Low!

So I have now officially been a citizen in Louisville, Kentucky for 2 weeks! Last Sunday and today I have visited a church by the name of Highview Baptist. The church has 7 different locations and I have visited the Fegenbush campus both weeks. Dr. Russell Moore teaches at this particular campus and I have really enjoyed it so far! Dr. Moore is so good at preaching the Word of God! He presents it with such authority, clarity and victory. In service today we focused on all of chapter 3 in Acts. I'll just set up the scene for you.

Peter and John are making their way to the temple for prayer and discover a lame man begging for alms in front of the Beautiful Gate. This lame man had several people carry him to the gate every day because it was a place where a huge crowd would make their way to every day. This lame man would beg for gold and silver, you know material things that seems to bring significance in many people's lives. So, as Peter and John make their way to the gate they take notice of the lame man and makes eye contact with him. The two disciples of Jesus even calls out to the man saying, "Look at us." The lame man looks at Peter and John and automatically expects a gift of the form of materials. However, John reveals to the man that neither of them have any gold or silver to give him. Now before I move on and share the rest of the scripture with you lets meditate on what's going on here. Here is a lame man looking for help because he obviously needs it but the man is looking for help in such insignificant ways! I mean the gold and silver that he might find himself recieving from day to day is only going to get him so far. His mind can only grasp so much spiritually! He obviously limits his expectations to currency and materials. The man is obviously not expecting the biggest need which is to be able to walk and move. Now why am I pointing this out? Because what happens next is such an incredible event that even the one's witnessing it are completely stunned! Now back to the story. John looks at him and tells him that he has no gold or silver but what he does have is way more! "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" And then John takes the lame man by the hand and helps him up. The lame man finds himself completely whole again, able to walk, even dance!

How often do we find ourselves in the same situation. Spiritually, we find that we are in desparate need of help. While we look for help by way of material and things offered by the world, Jesus is right there in front of us offering His hand showing us that He is all we need! Many times we find ourselves becoming prideful, stubborn and content in our flesh and all of a sudden our expectations become way too low! Oh how the offer of Jesus' hand is so much more. Why do we depend on things that do not last! How unfaithful we can become while we have such an amazing and providing God calling out our name filled with grace and love.

Back to the story. John and Peter take the lame man into the Beautiful Gate where many people could see the glory and splendor of God. Now what doesn't suprise me, is that the people look to the disciples as if it were done by their hands alone. Peter then asked the people why they were giving all the credit to him and John. Peter goes on to tell the people that the mighty work was done by the very man that they placed on the cross! Well its really best just to quote the scripture from here!
"God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness."

Peter also reveals, that by the name of Jesus, which by faith in that very name, has made the lame man strong to whom the crowd has been made witnesses to.

So much had been offered and yet the crowd didn't want to have anything to do with it or Him(Jesus) in that matter. Jesus came to offer life and they chose things! They chose death instead of life. We all chose death through the one man Adam and completely deserve death and yet Jesus offers Life! My prayer over this specific scripture is that we would all examine our life and ask where we exclude Jesus from because our expectations are so poorly low. Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has everything we need! Why would we lower our expectations in money, fame and possessions when God gives us all things we need according to His knowledge and grace! I pray that this encouraged and challenged you. May we live fully in Christ and completely die to our wicked and depraved states.

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

Greek Lesson #1

Hey everybody! I attended my first Greek class this morning. We covered the syllabus and then the Greek Alphabet. I thought that I would give you a little insight on how the Greek alphabet works. I don't know how to post the actual Greek alphabet on the blog, so I will just write out the pronunciations okay!

The Greek Alphabet
Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Delta
Epsilon
Zeta
Eta
Theta
Iota
Kappa
Lambda
Mu
Nu
Xi (Prounounced ksi)
Omicron
Pi
Rho
Sigma
Tau
Upsilon
Phi
Chi
Psi
Omega

Well, there you have it! From Beginning to end. I will enlighten you on how it works a little deeper as we continue through the class. Hope this blog has been a little educational for you now. I will try to figure out how to place the actually alphabet on the blog.

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

Dr. Mohler, A Spades Card Game & Greek Class

So last night I was playing Spades with some of the guys I live in the dorm with. I am very competitive, so me and my spades partner cleaned house to say the least. It was loads of fun. The dorm I live in is called Wittsit and it is connected to the Manly dorm. We have all already connected so well. So, as we were playing Spades, I felt something brush up against my leg and it startled me! It was a dog. Now the real interesting part was the person at the other end of the leash. None other than Dr. Albert Mohler! It was like 10:30 p.m. and Dr. Mohler was just taking his dog out for a walk and thought he would check up on everyone in the Male Dorms. He only stopped to chat with us for a few minutes but we were all a little startled to say the least! I thought it was really cool though. I have heard a lot of people talk about how accessible the Professors make themselves to the students here at Southern Seminary. I for one am estatic about that! This morning started the new fall semester at the Seminary. I am only taking one class and that would happen to be Greek. I am very confident that I will do well because I have already been in the process of learning Greek on my own within the last 3 1/2 years. Of course there will be times where the class will bring difficulties but nontheless, I am looking forward to understanding Greek in a much more developed way! Tomorrow around 1:30 p.m. I will be meeting with a Christian Radio Station about a job opportunity. The HR director sounded pretty confident that they had something to offer. Well I just wanted to give a quick update on how things were going. Plus, I thought it was pretty funny that the President of the Seminary showed up at our Spades Card game last night! May everyone rest in the grace of God and abide in His love!

For His Kingdom,
Twiga

Southern Seminary Orientation

Hey again everybody! I wanted to separate the job opportunities blog from the Seminary Orientation blog. So, we had Orientation at Southern Seminary this morning. We had an incredible time of Worship. I tell you, there is something about hearing several hundred men singing to the Lord in worship that gives me the chills! We were also introduced to Dr. Mohler's wife this morning which was awesome. She layed out the opportunities for all the wives and ladies on campus. I think my favorite time in chapel this morning was most definitely Dr. Russell Moore's preaching on Ephesians 5. Without hesitancy I do believe that his presentation of Marriage and the family was so impacting, I had to rethink my overall view of what I have conceived family life entails when it comes to the Gospel. I am obviously not married or even dating right now in my life but I walked away with an incredible insight to what it means to Love your wife as Christ loved the church! Dr. Moore challenged us to really meditate on how much we even love the church. He mentioned that many people love the idea of what a church should look like but the fact is that they don't really love the church; flaws and all! Obviously the message he presented was not giving the okay to accept heresy when it is presented by others but more on the lines of We are called to Love the Church! He also made the statement that Marriage is formed after the model of the church. Paul wrote to Ephesus, "Husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church." Jesus poured His life out on the foundation of the church (His disciples). Do we pour our lives into the church? How much do we focus on tearing down the body of Christ rather than building it up in Love? How much do I do that? I'll tell you. The message really convicted me! Dr. Moore was not building this line that says we should accept false Gospels or lies that cover God's truth. He was trying to point to the example Christ set for us in His ministry to the foundation of the Church. I was really challenged and I hope this challenges you as well. I pray that we examine more carefully the call Christ has given us to Love the Church! I pray that I will examine myself more carefully the call Christ has given me to Love the Church! I pray God's grace will pour into all of you and then overflow into others!

For the body of Christ,
Twiga

God's Faithfulness

Hey everybody! I just wanted to update y'all on job opportunities. Throughout most of the week every place that I filled out an application for never contacted me. A little unnerving, but God is faithful and we abide by His time and not ours! Today right after 5 p.m. I was contacted by all the places I am interested in and I am very excited. I am awaiting to here about an opportunity from Chick fila on Tuesday. The Christian Radio Station that I have been talking with for the last 3 weeks asked me to come in and chat with them on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. There is also an opportunity to work in the president's office area as a secretary to Special Projects on Campus, in which I will be taking a Clerical test on Monday to see if I fit in the description they are looking for. Please keep me in your prayers as all of these opportunities work themselves out throughout the next week. God is in control and He will open up the right doors for my needs to support myself through Seminary. I think it is always great when things work out in a speedy manor but It is always best when we have to completely and totally rely on God to open that door at the last minute. I am truly coming to know God more and more as my provider. As much as I need the finances in order to support myself through school, it is way more important for me to see the bigger picture. I think as the weak, miry people we are, it is so easy for us to worry about how things will be provided when The Provider is right here with us! I am learning to grow and trust in Him more and more each and everyday. Praise God for His kindness and His mercy, that He would even consider me to be a vessel for the advancement of the Gospel! He is SUCH a Great God!

For the Advancement of His Kingdom,
Twiga

Seminary Update #1

Hey everybody! So I was meaning to update earlier this week but I had to buy an ethernet chord in order to get connected to the internet. I have been really busy trying to locate a job and getting things ready for next week as classes begin next Tuesday for me. I'm loving Louisville so far. The city is beautiful and is definitely nothing like Atlanta. The layout of Southern's campus is really great and has got a great atmosphere. I have made a handful of friends so far in the dorm I live in and we have had some great conversations. I am getting a little tensed up about not finding a job as of yet but I am putting my trust in God and keeping my eyes on Him. He will Provide! Oh yeah in the last few days I have already passed Russell Moore and Dr. Albert Mohler in the Cafeteria. I thought that was pretty cool! I really appreciate everyone's prayers and support within the last few weeks! Trust me I can since the Lord's grace and peace raining down upon even though I haven't landed a job yet. I am learning to lean on Him heavely! I was reading the 1st Psalm this morning for my quiet time and felt it was quite appropriate for my circumstances right now!

"Happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers..... For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin."

I know that as long as I follow Him and stay in step with His call in my life, then He will guide and sustain me! Praise God that He takes care of those who call on His name and surrender in brokeness. I truly believe that brokeness is the only way to life, found in Christ. We obviously have victory in Christ but we cannot have victory outside of Christ. We have nothing to offer but our surrender and broken state.

Tomorrow is Orientation for the new students enrolling in the Seminary here. I trust I will make many more friends then and I am so looking forward to it! Accountability is such a crucial role in our Christian walk! Well that's all I have for you right now. I will continue to update as things progress. I am also looking forward to taking Elementary Greek this semester. I will take portions of what I learn in class and blog about what I am learning as I progress through the class this semester. It ought to be fun. I miss all the people I left in Atlanta and Maryville already! I am so grateful for friends that I have made throughout my life. This is a crucial time in my life and I have been blessed to have had such wonderful and godly friends at my side! Thank you all for investing your life into me. It will most definitely make an impact as I make my way through Seminary and as I plug into ministry opportunities here in the beautiful state of Kentucky. I will try to update everyone at least twice a week, if not three times. I love you all and I pray God's blessings on every single one of you! I would like to leave you with one exhortation and that is: Preach the gospel every chance you get and Live every moment for His glory!

In Christ,
Twiga

P.S. GO CATS!

Moving to Southern Seminary

So in about a week, I will officially be leaving for Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky! I am excited yet nervous because of the big move to Kentucky and finding a new job. I am looking forward to taking Elementary Greek the first semester. I have mentioned to many people that I am taking Greek this first semester and I have heard the same response from many: "Well, It's all Greek to me" I don't believe that line will ever die. Haha.... I cannot wait to get to the campus and start meeting new people. I have visited the campus and I am really impressed with the layout of the grounds. I will most definitely miss everyone that I have grown to love in Atlanta! I have already witnessed God's faithfulness by receiving support through other people's giving. I am so thankful to all the prayers and support that everyone has given me! Thank you so much and I know God will bless you for your love and support as I continue to make this transition in my life. I am still looking for job opportunities and a little nervous because I haven't found anything yet but God is faithful and He will provide! I would like to continue to ask for everyone's prayers. Please pray for job opportunities, peace throughout this transition, discernment in decision making and to be diligent in my studies as its been 2 1/2 years since college. I will most definitely present updates on any new job and ministry opportunities. Until my next blog, I pray that God would be glorified in all we do and say. Go in God's karis (grace)!