When I consider my crosses, tribulations, and temptations, I shame myself almost
to death thinking of what they are in comparison to the sufferings of my blessed
Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Luther, Martin
Trials December 18, 2009
You Are Victory December 18, 2009
This is a song that a friend of mine wrote…I hope you find it as encouraging as I did…Personally, my enemies right now are finals, and fear about the future.
When I’m against the enemy
And I’m at my breaking point
Lord, You fight for me.
Lord, You fight for me.
When I’m on the battlefield
And I can’t protect myself
Lord, You lift a shield.
Lord, You lift a shield.
When the darkness is around me,
Lord You are still with me.
Though I cannot see You,
Let Your peace become true.
You are victory.
You are victory.
When the enemy draws near
And I feel all alone
Lord, You cast out fear.
Lord, You cast out fear.
When the darkness is around me,
Lord You are still with me.
Though I cannot see You,
Let Your peace become true.
You are victory.
You are victory.
And not death, not life,
No angels or demons
Not now, not then
No power or might
No depth, no height
Not anything else
Could take away
My victory in Christ!
When the darkness is around me,
Lord You are still with me.
Though I cannot see You,
Let Your peace become true.
You are victory.
You are victory.
By Miranda Bartolucci
God’s Priorities December 17, 2009
God hath but three things dear unto Him in this world, His saints, His worship, and His truth; and it is hard to say which of these is dearest to Him.
Goodwin, Thomas
The Problem with Holidays December 17, 2009
“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands!”
Psalm 100:1
The first verse of Psalm 100 just proves so stunning… it gives the reader no time to think but calls him to praise the Lord without reservation…the rest of the Psalm only builds on the exuberance of the opening verse. Read it. If you read it, and meditate on it, and then read more Scripture to reflect on God’s holiness, it will revolutionize the way you live and think. Slowly, life will become less of a pursuit of pleasure or personal achievement and will become a pursuit to please the Creator.
I am going to make this theme verse for the holidays…for reasons that I will outline below.
This fall, I was extremely disappointed over some things I saw during the holidays. Halloween was HUGE, thanksgiving apparently was non-existent except that it gave us a break…and let’s just say that Christmas has been going on for a very long time for the wrong reasons.
Boy, I sure had fun when I came home from fall break! On Friday night, the ballroom dance instructors dressed up as (you guessed it) ballroom dancers. Soon it was my turn because my roommate hosted a costume party/food fest/movie night in our room. On Saturday our hall had a party, a pumpkin carving contest, and a lighting ceremony. On top of all this, there was dorm-wide trick-or-treating! (Disclaimer: I did NOT go to all these events. I DO study 
Now I appreciated this for several reasons, the first being that I like a good party. It was fun to help my roommate plan her big bash, the food was good, and the fellowship was best of all. Plus, even if you are planning on studying it is nice to have a festive mood permeating campus. Finally, when I know that there is something going on, it is nice to plan ahead and take a study break. We never celebrated Halloween at home because we felt that it originated as and celebrated a satanic element in life. However, even in the town of Grove City, I was hard pressed to find any witches or tombstones. It was just a fun celebration of fall…and sugar.
Yet that was all it was: fun. Everyone made such a huge deal about the holiday, but it had no purpose but to give the students pleasure. It was not CERTAINLY not a Satanic holiday here at GCC, but neither was it Christian. While I am certainly not against fun in any way, shape, or form, perhaps we went just a bit overboard on the partying.
It went straight from flying pumpkins to falling snowflakes here on campus before Thanksgiving break. I guess people assumed that they would celebrate Thanksgiving at home because at the dorms, people were already anticipating Christmas. True, our cafeteria did a “Thanksgiving dinner,” complete with turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, but that was the only celebration that occurred. People were excited about thanksgiving because it meant free time, food, family…and, of course, the Steelers. In fact, it was commonly referred to as Turkey Day. Turkey Day?!?!?! Last time I checked, I think they had venison and popcorn on the first Thanksgiving, not turkey and cranberry sauce.
But that is not the point. Thanksgiving originated as a time of fellowship between the Pilgrims and the Indians. And contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims actually set the day aside to thank GOD, not the Indians (although I would assume that they did thank the Indians on that day as well). They were expressing the joyfulness of Psalm 100 because God had preserved them in their venture in the Americas. They were thanking him for their LIVES, not just looking for an excuse to party. Among the student body, Thanksgiving deserved more attention than it got. And in the future, we really do need to start celebrating it as THANKSGIVING rather than “Turkey Day.”
So many books and speaker expound upon the True meaning of Christmas, so I won’t repeat that. But seriously, the day that we got back from Thanksgiving break, Christmas was in the air. I will rephrase that. Snow and Santa and elves and presents and BREAK were in the air. My roommate made an origami manger scene and wrote on a poster that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” but I haven’t seen much more than that.
Do you have a favorite holiday tradition that is rather secular in nature? KEEP IT! I, for one, love lights and Christmas trees. Celebrate Halloween! Enjoy your parties!!!
But above all, remember Psalm 100 as you celebrate. Make sure that Jesus really IS the reason for the season and you aren’t just saying that. Make your New Year’s resolution to celebrate because of HIM.
Merry Christmas!
Unto the Pure are all things Pure November 4, 2009
“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
Titus 1:15
People often accuse me of being naïve. I certainly know that I am. People say that if you look hard enough and are aware of what is going on around you, you can find drugs, alcohol, the party scene, and questionable Greek initiation activities. So far, I haven’t found them. I am not culturally literate, and I know it. I don’t hear obscenities in songs (I don’t even know most of the songs), I am gullible and don’t often catch sarcasm, and I obviously don’t have the quick wit that I need to converse with many people.
I am often ashamed of it. Even on a Christian campus, I am so different than others, and it can get lonely. I am so grateful to have a Christian environment because in a pagan university environment know that I simply won’t survive. In many ways, I feel that this has to change. While I don’t want to be absorbed by it, I SHOULD be more aware of what is going on in my culture.
At the same time, Titus 1:15 comforts me. So what if I don’t see the bad in everything? Who cares if I am trusting and don’t discount everything as a lie or a joke? Why SHOULD I be cynical? Why shouldn’t I take people seriously? In many ways, this culture has lost its earnestness and we can no longer trust anyone or anything. We read into things and see sin, even if it is not really there.
So I do need to become more involved in my culture. But this verse comforts me by showing that maybe I am not quite as far off the mark as people think.
Parents October 20, 2009
What a mercy was it to us to have parents that prayed for us before they had us, as well as in our infancy when we could not pray for ourselves!
Flavel, John
A Comparison between Christianity and Islam October 20, 2009
Contrary to common conception, Islamic belief corresponds closely to Christianity in many ways, particularly in regard to its portrayal of God. The Qur’an frequently speaks of Allah as compassionate and forgiving, saying, “Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful” (Qur’an, Surah 2, 199). Likewise, passages and stories in both the Bible demonstrate Christian belief in a loving, forgiving God. Numbers 14: 18 clearly states that “the Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression.” However, both religions make it equally clear that no one may take Allah or the Christian God lightly, for both are holy, just, and intolerant of sin, according to Numbers 14:18 and verse 196 in “The Believer’s Duties.” Finally, verse 197 of Surah 2 tells pious believers that Allah knows all of their good deeds. Likewise, Jesus tells his audience that God has numbered the very hairs on their head (Matt. 10:28).
Moreover, “The Believer’s Duties” spends a great deal of time explaining the direct, authoritative inspiration of the Qur’an and the consequences of distorting it or taking from it (Qur’an, Surah 2, 174-176). Saying that Allah refuses to recognize such perpetrators and will send them to an agonizing punishment in hell, the passage reminds the Christian of some of the last verses in the Bible which say that “If any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:19). The striking similarities between the Qur’an and the Bible validate the fact that Muhammad saw his message as a continuation and correction of the Old and New Testaments.
However, even this short passage in the Qur’an exposes many differences between itself and the Bible, particularly, the New Testament. Perhaps the most striking example lies in the teaching, “One who attacketh you, attack him in like manner as he attacked you” (Qur’an, Surah 2, 194), in contrast to Jesus’ teaching to “turn the other cheek” and “love thy enemy” (Matt 5: 3, 44). Furthermore, the Qur’an reads much like the law of the Old Testament, setting forth commandments regarding diet and fasts and pilgrimages. In contrast, the New Testament makes it clear that God has replaced the law with the covenant of grace (Acts 11:9, Heb. 9). As a result, much of what the Muslims see as foundational to salvation, today’s Christians would condemn as legalistic, illustrating Islam’s emphasis on man’s holiness and Christianity’s stress on God’s forgiving grace.
Thus, “The Believer’s Duties” clearly sets out three main topics—daily devotion, fasting, and pilgrimage—based on shahada, salat, zakat, sawm, and hajj. While the passage reveals much similarity to Christianity and highlights many ways in which Christians could improve their daily walk with God, the five fundamental Islamic principles laid out in the passage also show the differences between the two worldviews. While Christians tend to emphasize, faith, belief, and God’s grace, Muslims place most weight on deeds, achievements, and rituals, making the Qur’an sound more like incomplete Old Testament law without the fulfillment of the New Testament. While claiming to complete the message of Christianity, the Qur’an discounts or at least deemphasizes man’s need for God’s grace, thereby actually detracting from the completeness of the latter. Thus, the study of “The Believer’s Duties” gives insight into both Islam and Christianity, demonstrating the unique comprehensiveness of the latter.
Prayer October 17, 2009
A saint is to put forth his faith in prayer, and afterwards follow his prayer with faith.
Powell, Vavasor
The Five Pillars of Islam October 17, 2009
The Qur’an has taught and inspired Muslims for centuries. Attributed to Muhammad, it claims to complete and correct the Christian scriptures. One section of this work referred to as “The Believer’s Duties” in this paper—Surah 2, verses 168 through 203—proves particularly powerful and useful. Not only does it define true Islamic faith and provide a basic guide for the pious, it helps those of other faiths to understand the basic message of the Qur’an and the nature of Allah. From this passage, scholars have been able to develop the “five pillars of Islam,” essential characteristics to which true Muslims must adhere. Moreover, the fact that the passage contains so many key elements of Islam allows one to compare and contrast Muslim and Christian belief in a simple but rewarding study.
“The Believer’s Duties” does not simply present a random collection of suggestions or statutes; rather, it lays its mandates out in a systematic, understandable way. The first distinctive section, running from verse 168 to 177, concerns general comments and guidelines for believers and unbelievers, beginning with a comparison between the pious and unrighteous. Throughout verses 172 and 173, the text outlines some basic dietary guidelines: “He hath forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and swineflesh, and that which hath been immolated to (the name of) any other than Allah” (Qur’an, Surah 2, 173). Next, verses 174 through 176 list the consequences of tampering with Allah’s inspired word, the Qur’an.
To conclude this first, general section, verse 177 addresses the true definition of righteousness by introducing three of the five pillars of Islam. The first essential—the shahada—involves proclaiming the Muslim statement of faith where the confessor acknowledges Allah as the one and only God and accepts Muhammad as an inspired prophet. The statement, “But righteous is he who believeth in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the prophets,” clearly points to this first pillar (Qur’an, Surah 2, 177). In a somewhat less obvious fashion, the passage indicates the second pillar when it mentions one who “observeth proper worship” (Qur’an, Surah 2, 177). This refers to salat, or the requirement of structured, formal prayer five times every day. Last, the passage exhorts the true believer to provide generous aid to the poor, an obvious reference to zakat, or the practice of charitable giving (Qur’an, Surah 2, 177).
Providing a distinct transition to the next topic, the words, “Oh you who believe!” mark the section dealing with social and legal interactions of the believer (Qur’an, Surah 2, 178). Verses 178 and 179 give guidelines for retaliation and justice while verses 180 through 183 seek to prevent misunderstanding and wrongdoing by setting out specific rules regarding wills and other legal transactions. The next large division, also beginning with the words, “Oh you who believe!” runs from verses 183 to 188 and deals specifically with the fourth pillar of Islam: the “sawm,” or fast, of Ramadan. Constituting the longest, most detailed section, verses 189 to 203 close the passage with a discussion of hajj, an obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca during a certain holy season.
Jesus Christ September 22, 2009
Jesus Christ demands more complete allegiance than any dictator who ever lived. The difference is, he has the right to.
Havner, Vance
