Baptism (part 1)

Today at my church, Grace Church Louisville, we had a beautiful service. It was very exciting, humbling, and wonderful. It was similar to almost every service there I’ve witnessed except for one major thing: We had two baptisms today.

Two men, John and David, made public confessions of faith in Jesus Christ as their LORD and Savior by participating in believer’s baptism.

One of the last things Jesus Christ told His disciples before returning to heaven to reign at the right hand of God the Father was “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18b – 20 ESV

David is a man who lives at the Salvation Army Shelter in Louisville. A few of the guys at Grace Church go to the Salvation Army every week to preach the Gospel and David got to know them there. They invited him to church one week and he’s been coming ever since. He’s been faithfully attending Grace Church for quite a while now.

He was raised in the church and was baptized when he was young but now admits that he had no idea what he was doing. He began asking about salvation and baptism and his walk with the Lord, and he and Pastor Mark reasoned from Scripture that he wasn’t truly baptized before, so he got baptized today.

John is a man who just recently started coming to Grace. He actually overheard Pastor Mark talking with someone in a coffee shop. Pastor Mark noticed that he was paying attention to the conversation so he approached him. John soon started attending Grace Church regularly. He grew up attending Catholic school and when his parents separated, he lived with his father. Soon after the separation, he began to get involved with drugs and alcohol. At this point in his life, he was an atheist. He admittedly had contempt for God and anyone who believed in Him.

After his life was getting more & more deeply involved with drugs, he sought help through a rehabilitation facility. He quickly learned that depending on himself was not going to work. His resentment toward God soon turned to openness which soon turned to trust. Recently John was at The Abbey of Gethsemane, a local monastery, where he saw a statue that represented Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion. He thought to himself “Jesus, what can I do to make my life right? What can I give you to make up for everything I’ve done?” It was at this point that it dawned on him that he had absolutely nothing to bring. He was completely undone and dependent on the grace of Jesus Christ to save him.

It is so wonderful to welcome these two brothers into the family of God; into the body of Christ. Luke 15:10b says “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (NASB) How joyous a day it was today that two publicly proclaimed their utter dependence on the grace of God! We all rejoice when another soul is brought into the body! All glory and honor and praise to His name! Amen.

Grace & Peace
CRH

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" 1 Peter 1: 3 NASB

First Semester of Seminary

As the end of my first semester at Southern Seminary draws nigh, I figured I’d share a few thoughts about how it has gone so far. If I had to describe my attitude in one word, I guess that word would be “thrilled.”

I’m thrilled by many things here.

I’m thrilled to be in a place where each class begins with reading Scripture and prayer. Coming from a secular university, I’m definitely not accustomed to that.

I’m thrilled to be in a place where Gospel ministers go out each day and tell people about Jesus.

I’m thrilled to be in a place where the future of the Church is being shaped by the leadership of so many brilliant and godly men and women. The professors here are among the most gifted in the world and the students here are examples to me.

I’m thrilled to be a part of something so important in God’s creation. It’s humbling to know that God has the ability, grace, mercy, and love to use someone as flawed and sin-loving as myself to accomplish things that glorify Himself.

I’m thrilled to be a part of a body of believers which meets together to truly worship Jesus Christ and proclaim His love to the community around us as well as the entire world. I love my church.

I’m thrilled to learn so much. I sincerely hope and pray that I can retain much of what I learn here. Every class meeting seems to be better than the one before and I’m learning so much.

I’m thrilled to know what terms like Soteriology, Eschatology, Infralapsarianism, Hermeneutics, and other smart-sounding theological words mean. I do realize that I don’t necessarily need to know what they mean in order to know Jesus, but they do help me to know Him better.

I’m thrilled to make new friends…friends who I know will be there for support, fellowship, wise counsel, and accountability for years to come as a minister. I have already met so many people here whom I love and respect.

I’m thrilled to just sit at the breakfast table with a good friend and have a deep and meaningful conversation about Jesus. It makes me think of what the new Creation will be like after Christ returns. We will constantly be worshipping Him. That doesn’t mean it will be one big long choir practice. Rather, it will be more wonderful than anything we can imagine because sin won’t be holding us back and we’ll be in the presence of Christ Almighty, the Savior.

While there are so many things that thrill me (many more than I've mentioned here), there are also things with which I struggle daily…things that are embarrassing to me and, more importantly, are sins against God.

I struggle with discipline. This semester I took a class called Personal Spiritual Disciplines and it has helped show me just how little discipline I actually have. Lord inculcate me with the desire and grant me Your grace to pursue righteousness! "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:11b-13 ESV)

I struggle with discontentment. I’m not usually the type of person to get too worried about different situations but I’m quick to think things should be happening a different way and that my way would be the best choice. "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!" (Romans 11:33 ESV)

I struggle with lustful sins of the flesh. Being 32 years old and single, it’s a constant struggle to stay pure. Sin is so appealing and I’m so prone to wander. Please, Lord, cleanse me of all unrighteousness. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10 ESV)

Today I heard something I hope I am never able to forget. Every time I sin, I am personally thrusting a sword into the side of my precious Lord and Savior. Every time I sin, I am personally bringing about the suffering and death of Christ. Every new sin I commit is a new sword thrust into Jesus’ side. That’s beyond convicting, that’s heartbreaking. O God, please sanctify me that Jesus Christ would no longer suffer on my account!

I truly look forward to the rest of my time here and I'm excited to see how God will work in my life and the lives of others around me. I look forward to seeing people come to know Him. I look forward to people doing whatever they can to glorify Him. This is a thrilling and wonderful time and I long for Christ to be honored through His Church.

If you’re still reading this, and I hope you are, please know that God loves you so much He sacrificed His Son, Jesus Christ, so that you can be made holy in His sight. Jesus Christ loves you so much He was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross, for you. Please, please trust in Him. Please give yourself totally to Him.

I pray that my meager words might be used by the Holy Spirit to bring glory to God. The peace of Christ to you.
Casey

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." (2 Thessalonians 3:18 NASB)

Country Gone to Town

Between papers and tests for school, workin' at the Chick, and just plain procrastination at its finest, I've had plenty of reasons (a.k.a. excuses) to wait so long to post something. I suppose it's time to rectify that.

After reading some of the popular blogs around the blogosphere, I've learned that I should keep them short and sweet to get people to read the whole thing, so here goes.

A couple of weeks ago, Mama, Sally, and Nealbert came up to Louisville for a visit. The occasion was my birthday. I took a few days off work to entertain and we had us a big ole time. We did a few touristy things like the Louisville Slugger Factory and the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft, but we mostly just enjoyed the time together and tried a bunch of the local restaurants. We did get to drive through Cave Hill Cemetery and we actually found the grave site of Colonel Harland Sanders, of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame...that was pretty cool.

We had a chance to eat at several restaurants around town. I'd been looking forward to eating at a local place called Mike Linnig's. I've had several people tell me it's the best seafood place in Louisville and after eating there, all I can say is most people in Louisville have no idea what good seafood is. Turns out the best place to get fish is right around the corner from my apartment here on the campus of Southern Seminary. It's called Stan's Fish Sandwich and it's really good. Everything we had was delicious...and we made sure to tell them that they have Mike Linnig's beat! Now if I could just find a good Chinese place...

Anyway, we had a great time and it was good to get to see kin-folks for my birthday. Thanks to Mama, My Dear Aunt Sally, and My Buddy Neal for coming to visit!

Here are a few pictures from the visit:

In the cafeteria on campus:

Evidently, Mama didn't like her ice cream.

Ice cream dipped in some kind of peas probably isn't much better.

I thought we were going to be asked to leave.

Sally likeded hers.

A trippy mirror outside the Louisville Science Center

Hippies and their cars...
(I'm shaking my head in disgust)

Sally was making her selections in the Museum of Art & Craft.

My thought balloon: This is some overpriced JUNK.
Neal's: I wish I was half as cool as Casey.

Mama and Sally trying to figure out where the sausage biscuit booth went

I think I would have won. Neal's stance is all wrong.

That's a big bat.

Throwing pennies off the bridge to see
how long it took them to hit the water

Time to get off the bridge

My best Vanna White pose, showing off the tapestry thing I made
Vanna is jealous.

My birthday cake
Keshia is jealous.