Definitely worth an 8 minute break…hang on. Go back to the Garden of Gethsemane, where the passion and suffering of Christ began, and be reminded of how massive His obedience to the Father’s will was…and the Cup of Wrath He drank…and follow through to the Cross…where my sin, your sin, our sin was laid on Him.
Thanks CJ, for taking us to the epicenter of it all…
If any of you RS 08 alumni had forgotten or were wondering about the RockSolid 2008 Memory Book, I just flipped through it again and was so blessed. It’s exciting to dream about where the Lord is leading RockSolid into the future…and how faithful He has been to us in bringing us this far.
Just the quotes from some of the teaching during the week brings back such powerful reminders of how the Word of God and the passionate teaching that gets dumped on you during the week of RockSolid…is still affecting my life today.
“God, in His sovereign goodness, has placed you here in this time and place in history for a specific purpose. He has Creator rights on your life. ‘Come and share in your Master’s joy’. You want to live your life to hear those words.”
- Josh McPherson, Lead Pastor of Grace Covenant Church and Founder of RockSolid, RS 08
“The root of sin is desire for something or someone other than God himself….Sin management always leads to sin magnification. Christians must view sin accurately to fight accordingly.”
“God is the perfection of everything a good father should be. What you do not find or receive in your earthly father…can only be found in God — the Perfect Father.”
- Adam James, Director of RockSolid, RS 08
“Holiness is the thread that flows through everything God says and does…Holiness is the standard by which God loves people and judges sin…What difference could it make in our lives if we experienced the presence of a Holy God?”
- Greg McPherson, Founder & President of Life-Trac Family Ministries, RS 08
“You need to preach the gospel to yourself everyday…You cannot hope to be authentically Christian without being meaningfully worldly…Our life is not to be an experiment in self indulgence. We are here for the accomplishment of a mission. Apart from that orientation, life does not make sense.”
- Dr. Art Azurdia, Western Seminary, RS 08
(oh yeah…)
We are so excited about RS 09, June 14-20, and the move to George Fox University in Newberg, OR! I’ve got good news…registrations are coming in! And because of the move to GFU, we’ve got more room!
After that, the last break is $25 if you sign up by MARCH 31.
In addition, we are offering a further discount of $50 to everyone who gets a friend to sign up by MARCH 31!
We also have a group rate (5 or more) and family rate (2 or more siblings) that we’ve added. All the details are available here.
If you would be willing to help us distribute posters and/or flyers – please let us know! There are half sheet flyers in either color or black-n-white available to download and print off for church bulletin inserts or to hand out - they’re HERE (Color) and HERE (B/W) as well!
Pride has so many masks. It can boast arrogantly, or wallow in self-pity. It can make you talk. It can make you keep quiet. It works so deep in the heart and soul that truly only God knows the real depth of our pride at any given moment. The opposite of pride, is humility. I’ve recently heard humility described as the “shy-est of all virtues”…as soon as you start talking about it, it leaves. So I’m going to keep this post short. 
The SIN of the world, for all those who would believe in His Name, He bore in His body. My sin. Your sin. His body.
The gift of “justification” and the crediting of Christ’s righteousness into your account, and your filthy, rebellious heart and life of sin put in Christ’s account….that’s humbling. And it shapes the way I think of and respond toward others. (At least it should.)
In the very verses that follow, we are warned about the devil’s prowling around. And he’s baiting us with pride. Thoughts and feelings of pride. And he’ll succeed if we lose sight of the Cross.
Daily stick the Cross in the devil’s face, by putting it before yours. And worship the God of all grace who alone is able to make you and keep you humble.
“Be soberminded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” 1 Peter 5:8-9
Let me begin with some brief basics and assumptions. The devil is real. For the christian, spiritual warfare is real and constant. There’s an approach to spiritual warfare that would lead you to curse every uncomfortable circumstance that comes into your life. And that’s flat out unbiblical. On the other hand, some error by denying the reality of antagonism from Satan, or at least living as though that is the case. This is also unbiblical.
So how should Christians “deal with the devil”?
One place to start is by understanding how the devil aims to devour Christians, according to Scripture. Since it is with Scripture (The Sword of the Spirit) that we are going to need to fight off his tactics. And God does not want us to be unaware or ignorant of Satan’s targets in our souls.
Here are 10 tactics of the devil that I found jumping off the page of 1 Peter 5:
Christians take heart! Christ is your Hope. Christ is your Victory! The Cross has disarmed and defeated the legal leverage Satan tries to use against you. He has no case against those who are in Christ that can stand against the Gospel.
I’m reminded and encouraged of these words from 1 John 3:8:
Keep fighting the good fight and standing in the shadow of Christ, at the foot of the Cross!