Back From the City of Austin

The roads were traveled once again. I got in tonight around 10:00 I guess. Classes are going extremely well. I'm reading more than I've ever read in my entire life! If you look at my reading list down there on the right, you'll notice that the same books are still there; that's because for school, I'm reading like a book a week. My reading for pleasure time has diminished immensely. In my Reading the Old Testament class, well, I really am reading the Old Testament. Go figure! Christian Worship and Introduction to Theology are great classes as well.

Lord, where do you want me??? What am I to do?
My family and I picked up and moved to Dallas for me to go to seminary. I get asked everyday, "Rick, so what are you going to do when you graduate?" I kind of laugh and answer, "Man, I have no idea."
The Lord brought me here, no doubt. He rearranged my life, my plans, my mind, and provided the way to bring me to my current place in life. But what does He want with me? I'm prideful; I'm terrified of speaking (I'm not eloquent, I'm slow of speech and of tongue!); I'm unorganized; I'm a slow reader; I'm not a comprehensive reader (I have to read every other paragraph over again); I struggle with the same sin over and over; but He still picked me to be here, serving Him, learning His Word, His ways, and His love. I just can't figure out what I have that could possibly be used in ministry. So I'm waiting patiently. Trusting. I know God chose me; or else I'd still be lost in my filthy flesh back in Louisiana. Patiently I'm waiting; so it's OK with me that I don't know what I will be doing in 2 years. The Lord brought me here today, and He'll bring me there tomorrow. And I praise Him for that! I praise God for choosing me! Praise God!

Exo 4:10-12 "But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue." (11) Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? (12) Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.""

2Ti 1:6-7 "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, (7) for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

2Ti 2:1-2 "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, (2) and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

Hurricane Shelter

If you have to leave because of the hurricane and need a place to stay, we are in Dallas and have some room; also, we know others who will be glad to open their doors; email me at wave_rider80@hotmail.com and leave me your name and number or contact info. I'll be checking email often throughout the next few days.

being shaped

They've carved me out of what once was before me. So I'm thankful for them all. Lives, deaths, screams, guns, rocks, grass, crystals, cops, acids, the letter x, wrecks, threats, promises, d, lies, truths, and all others. One by one, day by day, night by night, they placed in me grain by grain the pieces of sand that build the hill, slowly forming into a castle. Love, births, life and life, love, joy, peace, suffering, friends, love, joy, and peace, are used to sustain the building process.

Regrets don't exist. They've all shaped me; how could I regret any of them.

Psalm 139:16 "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."

To regret, well, that would be to doubt God.



I thank God for every day of my life. He has placed every one of my days before me. He is shaping me, and these are His tools.

It's all down hill from here...

I'm 25 tomorrow, my insurance goes down. Woo hoo! Then, later I turn 65 and get senior citizens discounts! Nice!

Travelin' Man
I am the travelin' man. As you know, I drive to Austin from Dallas (which takes me 3 & 1/2 hours one way) on Monday, and back on either Tuesday night at 7:00 or Wednesday morning; depending on how tired I am. Tomorrow, I'm taking off to Logansport, LA, to see some of my family. We're driving back to Dallas (home) Saturday evening. Gas is destroying my life! Not really, but it is high. This is my last trip aside from Austin for a LONG time.

I have so much on my mind, but I have no time tonight to put it into words. Right now, life is in 5th gear and the pedal is pressed to the floor. Those of you who have my number, give a brother a call. It's always good to hear from friends.

Lonely Friends

My 2 lonely friends. I promised them both they'd see surf soon. I think I lied to 'em. What a shame; someone bring some surf to Dallas!

Alright, no deep thoughts tonight, sorry for any disappointment. Next time my friends, next time.








Currently listening to:
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams











Personal Random Confessions
qraM, Renovatio, I'm with you. I know that feeling all too well. We'll lift each other up.

Opportunities

It's been hard to blog since the move. I've been extremely busy. Once we get settled down in our routines, I hope to be a more faithful blogger. I have to get up in the morning and travel to Austin for class; it is late, but I'll at least write a quick entry about today. It was an awesome day.

Today, I taught the young married's class. I was extremely pleased with the awesome discussion that took place after the reading of scripture. It went exactly how I hoped and prayed it would go. I hope it was as fruitful for the rest of the class as it was for me. I realized a lot of things preparing for the lesson on a part of Acts. It brought to light for me just how many opportunities I miss to share the grace that was given to me by God. Everyday, hundreds of opportunities that I fail to see or even see and pass over for fear of rejection or just plain fear itself. I have the Gospel, or as John Piper puts it, the cure to the plague that is taking over the world, and I did nothing to deserve it. I just found this cure for this terrible disease that is killing everyone in Dallas, and I give it to myself, my boys, my wife, and my parents and I lock it up in a box and store it away while the city of Dallas is perishing. It's the same with the Gospel, worse even. I've received the Gospel; I've received grace, something I most certainly didn't deserve. I have the only cure for death, and I keep it for myself so often. I pray that God will use me and grant me to spread His Gospel and Word.

After woship, we went to Spring Creek BBQ with Enrique and his family and Matt and his family. Amazing people. I thank God for them and pray that our friendships will continue to strengthen. Fellowship is essential to my spiritual life. Praise God for these two families!

Grace Lavished Upon Me
Eph 1:7-10 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, (8) which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight (9) making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ (10) as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

From Desiring God @ www.desiringgod.org

Was Katrina Intelligent Design?
Editor's Note: For resources on responding to Hurricane Katrina, see the "Today at DG" section on the Desiring God homepage.

September 2, 2005

On his 89th birthday (August 31) NPR Senior News Analyst, Daniel Schorr, observed that President Bush had “staked out a non-position” on the debate between evolution and intelligent design. Bush had said that “both sides ought to be properly taught in the schools of America.” Then, with manifest scorn, Schorr linked the devastation of Hurricane Katrina with the concept of intelligent design: “[Bush] might well have reflected that, if this was the result of intelligent design, then the designer has something to answer for.”

No, Mr. Schorr, you have something to answer for, not God. God answers to no man. Come, Daniel Schorr, take your place with Job and answer your Maker: “The Lord answered Job [and Daniel Schorr] out of the whirlwind and said: ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. . . . Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, “Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed”?’” (Job 38:1-3, 8-11).

Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Shall the pot say to the Potter, “This is an unintelligent way to show your justice and your power? Come, Maker of heaven and earth, sit at my feet—I have lived 89 years and have gotten much wisdom—and I will teach you—the eternal God—how to govern the universe”?

No. Rather let us put our hands on our mouths and weep both for the perishing and for ourselves who will soon follow. Whatever judgment has fallen, it is we who deserve it—all of us. And whatever mercy is mingled with judgment in New Orleans neither we nor they deserve.

God sent Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners. He did not suffer massive shame and pain because Americans are pretty good people. The magnitude of Christ’s suffering is owing to how deeply we deserve Katrina—all of us.

Our guilt in the face of Katrina is not that we can’t see the intelligence in God’s design, but that we can’t see arrogance in our own heart. God will always be guilty of high crimes for those who think they’ve never committed any.

But God commits no crimes when he brings famine, flood, and pestilence on the earth. “Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?” (Amos 3:6). The answer of the prophet is no. God’s own testimony is the same: “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). And if we ask, is there intelligent design in it all, the Bible answers: “You meant evil . . . but God meant it [designed it] for good” (Genesis 50:20).

This will always be ludicrous to those who put the life of man above the glory of God. Until our hearts are broken, not just for the life-destroying misery of human pain, but for the God-insulting rebellion of human sin, we will not see intelligent design in the way God mingles mercy and judgment in this world. But for those who bow before God’s sovereign grace and say, “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever,” they are able to affirm, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:36, 33). And wisdom is another name for intelligent design.

No, Daniel Schorr, God does not answer to us. We answer to him. And we have only one answer: “Guilty as charged.” Every mouth is stopped and the whole world is accountable before God. There is only one hope to escape the flood of God’s wrath. It is not the levee of human virtue but the high ground called Calvary. All brokenhearted looters and news analysts and pastors are welcome there.

Officially Texans

Man, there is absolutely no way I could possibly bring you up to speed on everything that has taken place since our move on August 13, 2005. It's been 3 weeks full of ups and downs. I've sat down several times over the last 2 weeks to give an update on our lives, but each time, I sat and thought, and thought, and thought and could not decide what or what not to include. These have been the most packed 3 weeks of my entire life, all 24 years of it.

We moved in on a Saturday; our apartment is awesome. We love it, and the kids love it. The boys have done especially well with the move. They've adjusted unbelievably well, so praise God for that! The apartment swimming pools played a huge role in their positive transition. We met some really cool people in our building. They are our age and have 2 children who are our childrens' ages. They also have one on the way. They're searchers; searching for life in this world of death. They haven't experienced the joy that is to be found in our Father. Sovereign God has placed us in each other's lives; I pray that I'm always mindful of that and that I seek His will in all of our experiences here in Dallas. We are beginning a Bible study with our neighbors next week when they return from vacation. Pray that our study and friendship will be fruitful and pleasing to the Lord.
Life is going to be full here. After 3 weeks in Dallas, I'm working at Meadow View as an intern (working with the young married group and youth group), we've started meeting with a small group for study on Thursday nights (more about that later), we begin our study with our neighbors next week, I drive 3 hours to Austin on Monday mornings for my 2 Monday classes then spend the night for my Tuesday evening class and drive home, and so on. So we have become very very busy people. It is worth every second. I pray that God will use us here to further His Kingdom and bring His people to Him, as well as prepare us for future ministry.

The Lord is faithful; we are not.
Prayer upholds me spiritually. It gives me strength for my day. It brings me into a deeper relationship with God. The Lord acts when we pray. God has ordained a means of communication, communion, petition for us that we are so incredibly blessed to have. Unfortunately, I take that great blessing for granted. John Piper asks the question, "Would my life be described as a life devoted to prayer?" With all the change, and this is a pitiful excuse, I have been slacking in my prayer life. It's been hard to pray lately, but as Piper says so boldly, "So it's hard to pray? Join the fallen humanity club! It's hard for anybody to pray! Fight it when it's hard to pray!!!" I'm fighting. I'm fighting with all my might. By experience, I've found that the weeks that I spend more time with the Lord in prayer are my happiest weeks of all. The weeks that I spend less time with the Lord are my hardest weeks of all. Prayer strengthens us and helps sustain us. Fight it when it's hard to pray! It's impossible to be a Christian if we spend no personal time with God in prayer.

Finding others amongst the millions.
I'm really excited about another intern, Wesley, who is in his second year at Meadow View. He's an amazing man with an amazing family. He leads the Hispanic ministry at Meadow View which I sat in on 2 Wednesdays ago. I enjoyed it very much and learned a little Spanish from it as well. He and his family came over last week and Virginia, his wife, made Toquitos. Woooo!!! They were amazing!!! Everytime we get together, he and I have awesome theological conversations and heart felt personal discussions which encourage me and stimulate my desire for the Lord and doing His work. I praise God for him and his family and look forward to growing closer to them as the Lord blesses us with fellowship. Kelli and Virginia are very much alike and get along extremely well. Praise God for that also.

Tonight, we had our first small group meeting with a couple of the young married couples. It was awesome. We tossed around ideas for study and structure. The Lord has really blessed us. Kelli and I have been praying for and hoping for and desperately needing a group similar to what we had back home in Natchitoches and I believe God is forming us into that group now. Enrique and his family are amazing. We look forward to growing in a strong and deep Christ-centered relationship with these people. Like us, they are seeking the Lord's will in all things. They are genuine lovers of God. I pray that God will use them in our lives as well as ours in theirs. Likewise, Andy and Sarah are amazing. Andy is the enthusiastic youth minister at Meadow View. I sat in on his class last night, and I was really impressed. He was an awesome teacher, and the kids seem to really love him and learn from him. I was also impressed with some of the comments from some of the young people in class. It is so refreshing and encouraging to see and hear young people with a zeal for the Lord that I have only recently found. I pray that these kids continue to walk with the Lord and serve Him with all of their hearts. Back to Andy, he's a great guy with a great wife, I know that the Lord has great things in the coming years for our families. I pray that the Lord will everyday strengthen our relationships. And there are others, too many to mention.

My blog is getting long, so I'll let you get back to surfing the net. Be on your guard. The devil in prowling, but the Lord is our shield.

Continue in prayer for us.
Grace and Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Rick Harper

We've Moved! Update coming soon... (9/2/05)