First let me start by asking for your prayers. I have an AP exam in one week from tomorrow, in a subject that i havent had since mid-january. i have a paper to write this week, other classwork to do, an sat subject test on saturday, work, and keeping up with normal life. i would appreciate it if you would pray that i can calmly and efficiently and effectively prepare for all that i have to do. thanks.
This past weekend i was at a conference on “The Word: Above All Earthly Powers.” It was at tenth pres. church in old city philadelphia. i was sure to get there early on friday to secure a seat. the service started with the singing of “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” Most of the people in attendence sang sans hynmal. People were singing so loudly that i could not hear my own voice while singing as loudly as i could. There are no amps or anything like that there- just voices. It was a great preparation for what was to come. R.C. Sproul gave a message on “the true Word.” I’ve been thinking about how to solidify the message so i can tell you all about it, but before i get to the serious point, let me tell you a few of the humorous ones:
Sproul: “you’ve all heard the addage ‘if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Well the contemporary version of that is ‘if a man says something and a woman is not there to hear it, is he still wrong?'”
Sproul: “i was on a train, and you know how they seat you in assigned places. well i sat down at a table with a little old lady and a young girl. the old lady started to ask this girl about her life over dinner. the young girl said that she was returning from a new-age convent after two years of being away from home. the lady then asked ‘what have you learned over these past two years?’ the girl then said ‘i’ve learned that i am God.'” at that point, sproul said to us that he put a big piece of chicken parm. in his mouth so as not to get involved. the lady said “oh that’s nice. what do you think of that?” looking at Sproul. “well to be honest with you i never thought i would be sitting next to God” the girl laughed. Sproul at that point on friday night was leaning on the pulpit on his right arm, getting ready to deliver the punch line. He said “you dont really believe that, do you?” the girl said “no, not really.”
on a more serious note, the topic of the weekend was that the Bible is the inerrant, unfallable, sufficient word of God, which is true, for it “spells out” what truth is. i hear a few incredible lectures, namely Dr. Carson’s exegesis. He just blew me away. On sunday morning, however, he was a little more…simple with his sermon. The one thing he said that i found really poignant was about suffering. apparantley one of Carson’s friends has a daughter who lost her best friend to cancer at the age of 14. Eventually Carson said something that i wont easily forget: “we here on earth may be angry at God for why he either causes or allows such awful things to happen. We didnt have anything to do with this 14 year old girl’s death.” Carson then said “But God had everything to do with His Son’s death. you think it’s hard being innocent in your daughter’s death? just try and imagine what it was like for God to send his Son to the Cross.”
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
to you that for refuge to Jesus have fled?
“Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed!
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
the rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
for I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
my grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
the flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell shall endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake.”
