Is God's Desire Our Desire?

This morning I was listening to a recent chapel message from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary by Dr. Danny Akin looking at 1 Timothy 2:1-7. Upon hearing this message, one verse and theme of the message jumped out to me and caused me to dwell deeper into it. In verse 4 of 1 Timothy 2, Paul states that God "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth." It would be safe to say that the majority of Christians would back this statement and would even say that is their desire as well. Upon hearing this I was challenged and convicted with the question "Is this really my desire?" Do I honestly, truly desire that all men become saved? Do you? Before we can honestly answer that, we must first evaluate ourselves in some areas of our life to see if they match up with our "desire." The first aspect of our life is our we truly evangelizing those around us with the good news of the gospel? Are we seeking out opportunities to tell people of the truth of their sin and the grace and forgiveness that comes through Christ? Do we seek out people and take full advantage of our relationships and interactions with them in a way that says "My desire is for all people to be saved?" But there is also a second aspect of our life that we must look at, are we willing to give up all to see people saved, no matter who or where they are. Verse 4 states that God desires "all people to be saved." God doesn't just desire that people in your hometown, your school, or just in America be saved, but ALL people. This means that God's desire is for every person, regardless of race, location, or language to come to know Him and be saved through Christ. What we must truly grasp if our desire is to be that of God's is our role in people coming to salvation. We cannot save people, only God can do that, but we are the instruments that God has chosen to tell of His saving grace. Are we willing to give up everything, our hopes, dreams, careers, in order to take the gospel to all people that they may be saved. Are we willing to leave our comforts and our families to truly go? Does our life reflect that we truly "desire all people to be save," or does our life reflect that this is nothing more than a cliche phrase that we Christians like to use?

The Purpose of the Recession

As we enter this time of a financial recession we are all worried about what may be and wondering why this is happening. As believers we must trust in God and His Sovereignty, and seek His purpose in this. There is nothing better I can say than what John Piper said in his latest sermon. Here is the link to the message, I encourage you all to watch it.

What is the Recession For? John Piper

The Age of the Bachelor

My wife occasionally watches the popular TV show "The Bachelor" from time to time and when she does I watch it with her. The more I watch this show, the more I dislike it and what it reveals about our culture, and teaches about love and marriage. This show promotes that "love" is some emotion or feeling that you "fall" into and "fall" out of. It teaches that marriage is so nonchalant that you can chose the person you are going to marry by having an elimination challenge. This show is the epitome of how our culture views love and marriage. Love seems to be something we come in and out of frequently, and something that is solely based on what we want. Love and marriage are portrayed as something that should be catered to you and what the other person can give you. The entire message of this show seems to go against everything that the Bible teaches about love and marriage. These are not avenues for us to meet our desires, but rather an avenue to meet the needs of those we love. As Gary Thomas states in his book "Sacred Marriage," marriage is not so much for your happiness as it is for you holiness. Would we as Christians seek to find our view of love and marriage from God and not from the world, for as John says "God is love" (1 Jn. 4:9).