Learn Follow Serve

All about Jesus - GRACE

2010-02-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

She still calls me daddy (BOOK REVIEW)

2010-01-13T02:02:00.000-08:00

What can you expect if you read this book? well as the sub-title suggests it's about the father building a new relationship with his daughter after he has walked her down the aisle. It would be fair to say that some have found this book helpful and wonderful to read. However while i believe that personal experience is a very powerful emotional factor, this book really is nothing more than us observing someone's story unfold and if you looking to read this book with the aim of it instructing you, i am not so sure it will. There is very little scripture use in this book and this might appeal to some as the topic that the book is covering is not one that the Bible really picks up on. But for those who are looking to have something that is more grounded you might be disappointed. after all that i have said though being a subjective human being who tries to be as objective as i probably can i might change my mind about the book when i walk my daughter down the aisle. I give this book three stars ***.

What Is the Essence of the Fall?

2010-01-02T13:12:00.000-08:00

John Piper’s answer to the question, “What is first result of Adam and Eve choosing to be god?” is this: “the canyon between appearance and pretension.” He explains:

Now that I have chosen to be God, my non-godlike appearance is ridiculous. And humans have spent centuries with fine clothing (cool clothing) and make up and body-building trying to look less like the wreckage we are without God.

The root of shame is the pretension to be god—the need to look invulnerable, self-sufficient, god-like (or goddess-like).

The essence of the fall of Eve and Adam—and all of us in Adam—is the supreme pleasure we have in being independent, and deciding for ourselves what is true and right and beautiful, rather than finding supreme pleasure in God as the fountain of all that is true and right and beautiful.

The essence of the fall is preferring to be god rather than enjoy God.

Here is Piper’s response to the serpent’s satanic suggestion that if Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil they will be like God (Gen. 3:1–5):

So true and so false!

God is a flower of truth and right and beauty, and he has no roots and needs no water, no sunshine, no soil.He is absolutely self-sufficient.

We are planted in God. We get all our water and light and nutrition from him.

Yes, we can cut our stem and try to be like him.

We can be our own source of life and light and truth and right and beauty.

We can. And die.

I know how that's done

2009-12-31T02:49:00.000-08:00

what is the point of the Bible instructing us in our thinking? imagine for a moment that you are with others in a group watching a magician, while all your friends are being tricked, you are able to see through every thing the magician does.

Allowing the Bible to guide us in our thinking means that we can learn to see through the deception that we find in the world. Christians are a people who no longer enjoy being lied to. That while many of our friends and others are being amazed by deception, we can see through it, thanks to God's word.

The point of a window as C.S.Lewis once pointed out is for us to see through it, so if you think that you can see through what i have said above as something to take no notice of. what do you see if you can see through what i am saying?

What are we building on?

2009-12-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

We live in a world where men in their folly are building there lives on those things which can be shaken. the earth is made up of plates called tecktonic plates, they range from twenty miles thick to a hundred and fifty miles thick. sizemologists who measure the earth's movements look for possible future earthquakes,sometimes they get it right, and sometimes wrong, when these plates bump and collide we have an earth quake. We live on a shaking earth. what are you building your life on?

Some people are building there lives on their strength, but that will fail over time. Some are building it on their intellect but this will slow up. Some are building it on their beauty but this is fading. what are we building your life on? Jesus said build it on Him,by listening to his words and obeying them.

For the boys in Cornwall

2009-12-30T02:20:00.001-08:00

For the boys in Cornwall

2009-12-30T02:15:00.001-08:00

10 Questions to Ask in the New Year

2009-12-30T02:11:00.000-08:00

Don Whitney:

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.
What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?
What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

Whitney writes:

The value of many of these questions is not in their profundity, but in the simple fact that they bring an issue or commitment into focus. For example, just by articulating which person you most want to encourage this year is more likely to help you remember to encourage that person than if you hadn’t considered the question.

Whitney also offers an additional 21 questions to help us “consider our ways.”

By the Word of His Power

2009-12-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

Always running out of time

2009-12-24T13:01:00.000-08:00

Busyness Identifies Value

When we are busy it allow us to see what we consider to be the most important. For instance if we do one thing while something else needs doing, we have put a value of importance on both jobs with one always coming out on top. What if the thing we should be busy with is the most important to someone else?

The Christmas Story

2009-12-22T03:59:00.000-08:00

That's Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

Not The Gospel

2009-12-21T06:13:00.000-08:00

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

Religious Hedgefund Managers

2009-12-18T14:32:00.000-08:00

A hedgefund mananger according to one is nothing more than a risk suppressor. That while they can supress the risk by spreading out their capital. It seems the latest lesson they have learnt is that even when you don’t put all your eggs in one basket, you can still loose the lot through the inability of preventing the unknowable.

“So Paul, standing in the midst of the Aeropagus, said “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ” To the unknown god” what therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” Acts Chapter 17 v 22-23 (italics added)

The men of Athens were nothing more than religious hedgefund managers, by having an altar to the unknown god they were simply trying to surpress the risk of offending the one God whom they know that they have overlooked. Hedging then in the religious sense is trying to do works of righteousness as a means of pleasing God. The default mode of the human heart when it comes to God is to try and please Him with an offering of our own. But what could we ever give God?

It is possible for a Christian to fall into the trap of living their spiritual life as hedgefund managers, that is that everytime we sin, we try and do a good work as a means of self-justification, as a means of balancing out the scales as it were. How do we break this cycle? look at what God has done in Christ Jesus.

The stoics and Epicureans whom the Apostle Paul addressed on Mars Hill, wanted for themselves peace and security. however they went about it in a totally different wayfrom each other . There need was to know the truth and logically they should of understood if they paid any attention to Aristotle’s logic and even Socrates, that through asking questions they could probe the depths, at least a little of their lives. what they needed however was the truth that provided the way. When Jesus said “I am the way…” the very statement proclaims that all other tired ways are wrong. when we base our life on the limited amount of knowledge that we have, we are nothing more than a religious hedgefund manager, making decisions based on a limited amount of knowledge that we cant be sure of anyway. When Jesus said “I am the way, truth and life…” we simply need to ask this question of ourselves, am I likely to know more than Him?

Christmas Story

2009-12-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

God With Us

2009-12-18T02:34:00.000-08:00

God with us

Preaching on Isaiah 7:14, C. H. Spurgeon closed with this flourish:

“God with us.” It is hell’s terror. Satan trembles at the sound of it; the black-winged dragon of the pit quails before it. Let him come to you suddenly, and do you but whisper that word, “God with us,” back he falls, confounded and confused. “God with us” is the laborer’s strength; how could he preach the gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor own his Master, how could men labor, if that one word were taken away? “God with us” is the sufferer’s comfort, the balm of his woe, the alleviation of his misery, the sleep which God gives to his beloved, their rest after exertion and toil. “God with us” is eternity’s sonnet, heaven’s hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky.

The Trellis and the Vine

2009-12-10T01:05:00.000-08:00

A Book Every Pastor and Elder Should Seriously Consider Reading a post from Justin Taylor

A steady stream of books cross my desk week in and week out, and I try to be careful not to “oversell” a book, even if I’m enthusiastic about it. But here’s one that everyone involved in any form of church leadership should very seriously consider: The Trellis and the Vine, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne (Matthias Media, 2009).

Mark Dever writes, “This is the best book I’ve read on the nature of church ministry.” David Helm says, “If I could put only one new book into the hands of every person preparing for ministry today, The Trellis and the Vine would be it.” (You can go here to read the full endorsements as well as seeing some sample pages.)

It’s a provocative, challenging, encouraging book. All the elders at our church are ordering copies to read, and I’d encourage pastors and elders out there to do the same.

I have to admit I didn’t know what a “trellis” was when I first got the book. It’s the structure, often latticework, that shapes and supports a growing vine. In the image for this book, that’s the invaluable, essential role of programs and structures. But the heart of ministry is planting, watering, fertilizing, and tending the vine—preaching the gospel in the power of God’s Spirit so that people will be converted and changed, growing in maturity in the gospel. Trellis work is easier, less personally threatening, more visible, and often looks more impressive. Vine work is personal and requires much prayer.

Marshall and Payne seek to answer questions like:

What is the vine for?
How does the vine grow?
How does the vine relate to my church?
What is vine work and what is trellis work, and how can we tell the difference?
What part do different people play in growing the vine?
How can we get more people involved in vine work?
What is the right relationship between the trellis and the vine?
Again, I’d highly recommend the book. Below is a video of Mark Dever talking about the book, and reading an excerpt that especially hit home with me when I first read it:

Interpreting God's ways

2009-12-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

Interpreting God’s Ways
The next time we are about to accuse God in our hearts, or the next time we are tempted to complain about God’s dealings with us, let us consider the wisdom of Jeremiah Burroughs.

I beseech you to consider that God does not deal by you as you deal with him. Should God make the worst interpretation of all your ways towards him, as you do of his towards you, it would be very ill with you. God is pleased to manifest his love thus to us, to make the best interpretations of what we do, and therefore God puts a sense upon the actions of his people that one would think could hardly be (The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, 224, emphasis added).

Prayer

2009-11-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

Be Careful How You Pray by Kevin Deyoung

Have you ever had a friend or child or spouse who wanted something so bad they were positively miserable without it? Maybe your husband is unhappy with his job and can only think of landing something else. Or maybe you have a friend who simply has to be married. Or maybe your child is despondent because he didn’t make the basketball team and probably never will.

How should we pray in these situations? Would you ask God to provide a new job? Would you petition him for a spouse? Would you quietly ask for six more inches for your son? How would you pray?

Here’s Jeremiah Burroughs’ (1599-1646) answer:

Therefore for my part, if I should have a friend or brother or one who was as dear to me as my own soul, whom I saw discontented for the want of such a comfort, I would rather pray, “Lord, keep this thing from them, till you shall be pleased to humble their hearts for their discontent; let not them have the mercy till they come to be humbled for their discontent over the want of it, for if they have it before that time they will have it without any blessing” (The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, 159).

In other words, if people think they can’t live without some thing, they’ll still be miserable even when they get the thing they wanted so badly. Burroughs goes on to suggest:

There are many things which you desire as your lives, and think that you would be happy if you had them, yet when they come you do not find such happiness in then, but they prove to be the greatest crosses and afflictions that you ever had, and on this ground, because your hearts were immoderately set upon them before you had them.

So be careful how you pray. As Tim Keller (or was it that spirit of Jeremiah Burroughs?) has written, “We never imagine that getting our heart’s deepest desires might be the worst thin that can ever happen to us” (Counterfeit Gods, 1).

James 3v9

2009-11-12T02:59:00.000-08:00

Portrait of a struggle

2009-11-12T02:47:00.000-08:00

Portrait of a Struggle

Here’s a new DVD set, filmed at a conference, I’m happy to recommend: Paul Tripp’s Portrait of a Struggle—Fallen World: What to Think, When to Resist .

Here’s a brief description:

Why are the normal things of everyday life such a struggle?

Why is communication so difficult?

Why do relationships end up disappointing us?

Why do all of us struggle with anger?

God has chosen to keep his children in relationships with flawed people in situations in a broken world. But we do not need to be discouraged; God is using all of this to do wonderful things in us and through us.

Don’t give way to ugly anger. Don’t be paralyzed by discouragement. Come and watch a portrait be painted of a much better way.

The teaching is excellent.

And here’s a short video clip of Tripp talking about the content (not a clip from the DVD itself):

Prayerlessness is unbelief

2009-11-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

A Post By KEVIN DEYOUNG
Prayerlessness is Unbelief

Prayer is essential for the Christian, as much for what it says about us as for what it can do through God. The simple act of getting on our knees (or faces or feet or whatever) for 5 or 50 minutes every day is the surest sign of our humility and dependence on our Father in heaven. There may be many reasons for our prayerlessness—time management, busyness, lack of concentration—but most fundamentally, we ask not because we think we need not. or we think God can give not. Deep down we feel secure when we have money in the bank, a healthy report from the doctor, and powerful people on our side. We do not trust in God alone. Prayerlessness is an expression of our meager confidence in God’s ability to provide and of our strong confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves without God’s help.

Too often when we struggle with prayer we focus on the wrong things. We focus on praying better instead of focusing on knowing better the one to whom we pray. We focus on our need for discipline rather than our need for God. Almost all of us want to pray more frequently, and yet our lives seem too disordered. But in God’s mind our messy, chaotic lives are an impetus to prayer instead of an obstacle to prayer.

You don’t need to work and work at discipline nearly as much as you need faith. You don’t need an ordered life to enable prayer, you need a messy life to drive you to prayer. You don’t need to have everything in order before you can pray. You need to know you’re disordered so you will pray. You don’t need your life to be fixed up. You need a broken heart. You need to think to yourself: “Tomorrow is another day that I need God. I need to know him. I need forgiveness. I need help. I need protection. I need deliverance. I need patience. I need courage. Therefore, I need prayer.”

If you know you are needy and believe that God helps the needy, you will pray. Conversely, if we seldom pray, the problem goes much deeper than a lack of organization and follow through. The heart that never talks to God is the heart that trusts in itself and not in the power of God. Prayerlessness is unbelief.

Prayerfulness, on the other hand is an evidence of humility and faith, which is why God loves it when we pray.

Humility

2009-11-05T12:45:00.000-08:00

C.S.Lewis in his book "the srewtape letters" is the fictional conversations via letters between two demons. here below is really something quite eye opening when it come to humility. it concerns one demon addressing the other about a Christian young man who they refer to as their subject.

"your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is especially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, 'By jove! i'm being humble,' and almost immediately pride- pride at his own humility - will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt - and so on, through as many stages as you please. But don't try this too long, for fear you awake his sense of humour and proportion, in which case he will merely laugh at you and go to bed."

Lewis defines humility as SELF FORGETFULNESS, why not think that statement through while reading 1 Corinthians Chapter 4

Full Of Something Good

2009-11-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

Full of something good
“One who is full loathes honey, but to the one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet” Proverbs 27v7

There really is no need for us to be hungry after the things of the world, and “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied”. I want to suggest that to be satisfied by Christ, in Christ, alone; is to be full, and when we are full even the most desirable things of this world will loose there power to be tempting. James in his first chapter shows us that the strength of the temptations we face, are only ever as strong as our inward desire for us to be full on them. But the one who is full in Christ will loath even the sweetest of things.

This is a wonderful Proverb that we can meditate upon; and as we do we will recognize that it has a sting in the tail. That is those who neglect Gods’ word and turn only to the bread of this world for life, will fill there life with bitter things that cannot sustain. This Proverb as all the other Proverbs has come to be known as wisdom literature, and the best description of wisdom that i can give you is that it is the application of the knowledge that has been given to us. It is about making wise choices in advance, based on the knowledge we have from God’s word. So having read this Proverb, what wise choices are we making in advance of what lies ahead of us?

Proverb chapter 7 v 2 says “keep my commandments and live, keep my teaching as the apple of your eye”. We have good reasons to be constantly attracted to the word of God; and have a great affection for what we hear. In conclusion then God has given us everything we need to live a life that is pleasing to Him in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, what this looks like in practice is people always making wise choices in advance so that they can present themselves as a living sacrifice before Him, and this means that we do not feed ourselves on the bitter things of life but constantly look to the Lord for He alone is all sufficient and satisfying.

A Passion For Life

2009-11-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

A Passion for Life has begun... from A Passion for Life on Vimeo.

WHAT GOD CAN DO

2009-10-21T01:54:00.000-07:00

Perspectives from Peacemaker Ministries on Vimeo.

The Spectacular Failure of Atheism

2009-10-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

The Spectacular Failure of Atheism

Doug Wilson in the Huffington Post:

[I]f the universe is what the atheist maintains it is, then this determines what sort of account we must give for the nature of everything — and this includes the atheist’s thought processes, ethical convictions, and aesthetic appreciations. If you were to shake up two bottles of pop and place them on a table to fizz over, you could not fill up an auditorium with people who came to watch them debate. This is because they are not debating; they are just fizzing. If you were to shake up one bottle of pop, and show it film footage of some genocidal atrocity, the reaction you would get is not moral outrage, but rather more fizzing. And if you were to shake it really hard by means of art school, and place it in front of Michelangelo’s David, or the Rose Window of Chartres Cathedral, the results would not really be aesthetic appreciation, but more fizzing still.

If the atheist is right, then I am not a Christian because I have mistaken beliefs, but am rather a Christian because that is what these chemicals would always do in this arrangement and at this temperature. The problem is that this atheistic assumption does the very same thing to the atheist’s case for atheism. The atheist gives us an account of all things which makes it impossible for us to believe that any account of all things could possibly be true. But no account of things can be tenable unless it provides us with the preconditions that make it possible for our “accounting” to represent genuine insight. Atheism fails to do this, and the failure is a spectacular one. Nor does atheism allow us to have any fixed ethical standard, or the possibility of beauty.

Preview

2009-09-16T02:44:00.000-07:00

COLLISION - 13 min VIMEO Exclusive Sneak Peek from Collision Movie on Vimeo.

Is Christianity good for the world?

2009-09-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading this book, as the front cover says it's a debate. each taking their turn to put their reasons for what they believe over into the others court. if this was a tennis match it would be a great one. on the back of the book it says this "The gloves come off in this electric exchange,originally hosted by Christianity Today, as leading atheist Christopher Hitchens [author of God is not great] and Christian apologist Douglas Wilson [author of letter from a Christian Citizen] go head to head on this divisive question. The result is entertaining and provocative- a glimpse into the ongoing debate"

This book is only sixty seven pages long and is worth reading more than once.

Here below is a sneak peak of the film:

The Pressure of the Ordinary: a helpful window in the walls the devil builds.

2009-09-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

C.S.Lewis in his book the Srewtape Letters shows us the subtleties of the devil’s workings, how the devil distracts you from the things of God by getting you to be content with ordinary life as we know it to be. The opening chapter of the book tells of a man who was an atheist and his thought started turning to the things of God, so the devil put a suggestion in to the mans head that is was time for lunch, But God’s instruction was that it was much to important to leave until after lunch, to which the devil replied “quite, in fact much too important to tackle at the end of the morning…and by the time I added” much better to come back after lunch and go into it with a fresh mind,” he was already half way to the door. Once he was in the street the battle was one. I showed him the newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No: 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come in to a man’s head when he was shut up alone with his books a healthy dose of real life, (but don’t ask him to question what he means by real) (by which he meant the news boy) was enough to show him that all “that sort of thing” just couldn’t be true.

He is a man who was persuaded away from the thing of God by the pressure of the ordinary, I want to suggest to you that if you are not in that all encompassing relationship with God, where He means more to you than all else,the reason why your relationship with God isn’t what it ought to be, may not because you are necessarily rebelling with all your might, but that you have simply submitted to the pressure of the ordinary. In other words you have allowed the devil to re-interpret your life for you; and only by coming back in to God’s word can your life in the great scheme of things have the right interpretation. Because whatever interpretation you have on life will always inform all the choices you make.

Did You Know?

2009-09-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

The Shack

2009-09-05T01:58:00.000-07:00

The Shack, Fiction, and Non-fictional Characters

Trevin Wax reviews The Shack, finding it better than some have said, and worse than others have said!

I thought this was an insightful point with regard to the challenge of using non-fiction characters in a fictional book:
When you deal with non-fictional characters, you inevitably open yourself up to criticism.
Let’s say you meet an author who wants to use your grandparents as the main characters in a novel. The author tells you that the narrative will be fictional, but that your grandparents will have the starring roles. Sounds great! you think.

But when the manuscript arrives in your hands, you discover that the story does not accurately represent the personalities of your grandparents. The relationship between them is all wrong too. Grandma berates Grandpa. Early on, they run off and elope (which is totally out of character). At one point, they contemplate divorce.

When you complain, the author responds, “Remember? I told you it would be fictional.”

“Yes,” you say, somewhat exasperated, “I knew the story would be fictional, but I thought you would get my grandparents right. The grandparents in your story aren’t anything like my grandparents.”

“Who cares?” the author responds. “It’s a work of fiction.”

“Well, I care,” you say, “because people will put down this book thinking that my grandparents were like the way you portrayed them.”

My biggest problem with The Shack is its portrayal of God. I understand that the book is a work of fiction, not a theological treatise, and therefore should be treated as fiction. But the main characters are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These are actual Persons. To portray God in a manner inconsistent with his revelation to us in Scripture (and primarily in Jesus) is to misrepresent living Persons.

When people put down The Shack, they will not have a better understanding of the Trinity (despite the glowing blurbs on the back cover). They will probably have a more distorted view of God in three Persons.

Doing right badly, doing wrong well

2009-09-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

The Distinction Between "Doing the Right Thing Badly" and "Doing the Wrong Thing Well"

A helpful post here from Doug Wilson. An excerpt:

A fundamentalist woman in a sun bonnet and a gingham dress, who gets a wicker basket to go pick blueberries, so she can bake her man a pie, with a golden crust, the kind he likes, may be a little bit hokey for your tastes, and certainly for mine. But at least she is trying to achieve an effect that the Bible says women should strive for -- she wants to be modest and discrete. She is not trying to achieve an effect that the Bible never urges women to strive for, as in "edgy." Or "provocative, but not too skanky for an evangelical." She may be playing the instrument badly, but at least she is playing the right one. Suppose the Bible tells women to play the piano. This does not make every woman an accomplished pianist, but I do have respect for every woman who practices the piano, blunders and all. But the women who show up with a leaky concertina they got at Goodwill are trying to do something else. In other words, let us make a distinction between doing the right thing badly, and doing the wrong thing well. And, as Herodotus might say, so much for the fundamentalists.
And this:
The Bible calls upon women to be sober (Tit. 2:4) and discrete (Tit. 2:5). They are to live in a way that provides no occasion for others to speak reproachfully (1 Tim. 5:14). Their demeanor should be characterized by shamefacedness (1 Tim. 2:9) and sobriety (1 Tim. 2:9). It is important to note that the word translated shamefacedness is aidous, which does not denote an Islamic browbeaten demeanor. That said, neither does it constitute an invitation to go ahead and buy a halter top that is two sizes too small. The word is not that elastic, unlike the halter top. In this same verse, the ESV says that women should wear respectable apparel. The word is one of those judgment-call words.

Who makes the judgments? The Bible says that older women should teach younger women how to achieve that effect, an effect we can sum up with the word respectable. Strikingly, it does not call upon the younger women to push the envelope until the older women finally say something critical about it. Again, the older women are to help the younger women try to achieve a modest respectability. The younger women are not called upon to demand the older women prove that something or other is not positively disreputable. According to the Bible, respectability is the goal. This means that the wife of the country club president is being worldly as she tries too hard to be respectable, with results that are too flashy. And she shouldn't do that -- she is playing the piano poorly. But a woman who is schlepping around the supermarket in sweat pants is playing the concertina, and it doesn't matter if she is playing poorly or well.ght

No answer for nudity

2009-09-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

What people wear and how they wear it is vast, but we are at least glad they are wearing something. but imagine for a moment that you are sat down with others in your family, lets say of almost every age bracket, watching a film. as you are watching you know that there is about thirty seconds of nudity coming up. what do you do?

The nudity is what some would call soft as it is only pitcures of bear skin and nothing more. what's your next move? do you skip over that part? tell the children to close their eyes? or once it has passed pretend it hasn't happened and leave it as that?

Imagine for a moment that your child has just been invited into the school production, where they are told for a very brief moment they are to appear nude. will you allow them to have a part in the production?

if the answer is no, which we hope it would be,then to tell your children to close there eyes when a nude bit comes in the film; while you continue to watch it becomes a big problem. while on no uncertain terms would you allow your child to appear that way are you not endorsing it for others by watching it in the first place?

There is no answer that we can give to our children for us watching anything with nudity in, with out us condemning it and endorsing it at the same time.

that almost famous question that goes something like this "would we still sit here and watch this if Jesus was in the room?" the answer is yes, because where can we be where his presence is not? so if we do sit there and watch it we are there at that moment relating to Jesus as Lord.

now while its true we all fail, training to be Godly is exactly that, hard training where we go against our flesh on a daily basis, even in the moments where we relax and watch a film.

How is your English

2009-09-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

Reason for the name

2009-09-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

The main difference between a window and a wall i want to make is the difference between seeing through something and not. As C.S Lewis points out, "the whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it It is good that the window is transparent, because the street or the garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too?...a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To see through all things is the same as not to see."

Now if there are walls in people's way of understanding, then a Christian worldview is putting in a window so that we can see through and understand better the world in which we live. so instead of us only ever explaining what we can see, we give people the provision to see for themselves.

The main windows and walls posts will be here soon; and while we may not cover all issues in this series, you will hopefully be left with the ability to see all things through the Gospel window.

2009-08-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

In the near future we will be looking at the importance of a Christian Worldview, how to have a reasonable understanding of the world we live in without being incosistant. The importance of being able to not look at the world and interpret it through the world's eyes but rather through the Gospel. Teaching ourselves and others, including children; especially children to unpack what they see and look at its ingredients and see it for what it really is. Then to build up from the bottom a consistent and clear understanding of the world they live in.

Tea Time Teaching

2009-08-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

When we sit round the table for tea we hopefully give thanks for what we are about to receive. But how is this understood by our children, are we just being polite to God or is it something more?
even when we eat our tea we are relating to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we are to remember even when we eat that "for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."Colossians Chapter 1 v 16-17
As we remember this, giving thanks becomes a teaching event, not just a general thank you as we consider God's goodness, but rather an event to acknowledge again that we have a providing God. without which we would have nothing, therefore we become at tea time conscious again that God is in control of all and in Jesus Christ all things are held together. we can learn how to cook from an unbeliever, but we cannot learn how to appreciate how we come to eat what we do.
so tea is no longer a provision from mum or dad, because mum and dad recognize that they too are dependents.

Harvest field

2009-08-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

We Become What We Worship

2009-08-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

This book isn't a light read but the reader,if effort is made is rewarded by good clear writing and a explanation that will move all to worship God as He is and not how we might concieve Him to be.

Greg Beale's
We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry.

Here are the endorsements:
"This thoughtful examination of a surprisingly significant biblical theme will richly reward all who read it. . . . It offers that rare combination of careful, insightful exegesis and perceptive application from which not only biblical scholars but all Christians can benefit."
—Frank Thielman, Presbyterian Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School

"We Become What We Worship is biblical theology at its best, weaving together Old and New Testament texts into a unified message. Beale's work is original yet traditional, profound yet simple, exegetical yet 'hyperexegetical,' sometimes provocative yet always profitable, for the scholar yet for every serious Christian. His message that we resemble what we revere, either for ruin or for restoration, is convincing and convicting."
Bruce Waltke, professor of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary

"This is an original, brilliant and most satisfying treatment of a theme central to biblical understanding, but often misunderstood or ignored in the modern church. This book requires careful study but it repays far more than it requires."
David F. Wells, Andrew Mutch Distinguished Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

"This stimulating and in-depth study on idolatry is vintage Greg Beale. Beale argues that we become like the idols we worship, and he makes his case through a careful intertextual study of the Scriptures. Insights abound as Beale unfolds the biblical text. We are reminded afresh that idolatry is the root sin, and that it is so heinous because it robs God of the glory and praise and honor that he alone deserves."
Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Nothing else comes even close to this authoritative analysis of the destroying power of idolatry and its comparison to the renewing power of true worship of the one real God. Beale's relentlessly thorough coverage of the biblical material, using a purposely maximalist approach, gives the reader a close look at every possible reference to relevant passages, no matter how obscure or tangential, so that no stone is left unturned in demonstrating how idolatry--ancient or modern--ruins people's lives. Any biblical preacher or teacher would benefit from this book."
Douglas Stuart, professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

"This profoundly insightful study of idolatry brings into the spotlight a topic of exceptional significance. Illuminating a wide range of biblical passages, Professor Beale skillfully elucidates the life-defining and transforming nature of worship, both true and false. Everyone who reads this book will be deeply challenged to reflect afresh upon the way in which what we revere shapes not only our present lives but also our future destinies."
T. Desmond Alexander, Union Theological College, Belfast

When heaven is silent

2009-08-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

when heaven is silent is a really good book, please don't as i was be put off by the title or may be the title speaks right into the moment that your in. you can get a copy of this book from,www.10ofthose.com go ahead and give it a read. It is written by a man who lost his son and who writes with a great deal of care for those who are experiencing a silent heaven.It's a book that will take you mind and stretches it in regard to how we think about God. He has also written another very good book call "don't just stand there pray something", his writing in both books is jargon free and very readable.

Religious Hedgefund Manager

2009-08-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

religious hedgefund managers

A hedgefund mananger according to one is nothing more than a risk suppressor. That while they can supress the risk by spreading out their capital. It seems the latest lesson they have learnt is that even when you don’t put all your eggs in one basket, you can still loose the lot through the inability of preventing the unknowable.

“So Paul, standing in the midst of the Aeropagus, said “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ” To the unknown god” what therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” Acts Chapter 17 v 22-23 (italics added)

The men of Athens were nothing more than religious hedgefund managers, by having an altar to the unknown god they were simply trying to surpress the risk of offending the one God whom they know that they have overlooked. Hedging then in the religious sense is trying to do works of righteousness as a means of pleasing God. The default mode of the human heart when it comes to God is to try and please Him with an offering of our own. But what could we ever give God?

It is possible for a Christian to fall into the trap of living their spiritual life as hedgefund managers, that is that everytime we sin, we try and do a good work as a means of self-justification, as a means of balancing out the scales as it were. How do we break this cycle? look at what God has done in Christ Jesus.

The stoics and Epicureans whom the Apostle Paul addressed on Mars Hill, wanted for themselves peace and security. however they went about it in a totally different wayfrom each other . There need was to know the truth and logically they should of understood if they paid any attention to Aristotle’s logic and even Socrates, that through asking questions they could probe the depths, at least a little of their lives. what they needed however was the truth that provided the way. When Jesus said “I am the way…” the very statement proclaims that all other tired ways are wrong. when we base our life on the limited amount of knowledge that we have, we are nothing more than a religious hedgefund manager, making decisions based on a limited amount of knowledge that we cant be sure of anyway. When Jesus said “I am the way, truth and life…” we simply need to ask this question of ourselves, am I likely to know more than Him?

Remember

2009-08-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Please Remind Me
Please remind me

The famous Dr Johnson of London said “People need reminding more than they need instructing” his point being that we all have a tendency to forget frequently. We forget the things we need to remember and we remember the things we’d rather forget. It’s not that we need to be instructed all over again, but we do need to be reminded.

This is certainly true when it comes to our Christian life, we have been instructed in the truth, we have understood the truth and deep down we believe the truth. But unless we are constantly reminded of that truth, how we live doesn’t always mirror with what we say we believe. The church (the body of Christ) has been described in many different ways, the new humanity, a new culture and I guess what is really being said throughout all these books that have been written is that the church is distinctive, Christians are distinct from any other group of people in the world. The main thing we are to learn is that we are a culture and not a club, you see in a club you join by choosing to go, why do you go? Because the club that exists is involved in the very thing that interests you and you join for that very reason. Whatever your interest is, it can be and often is separate from almost every other part of you life and it doesn’t take you long to realise that actually everyone else in this club is the same, they all have the one same interest as you, that’s why they belong to the same club. But the life they live outside the interest you share is not the same; they are driven by completely different motives than you. Therefore it becomes clear when we read our bibles and understand truly believing who we are in Christ, we are not motivated by the same desires as those who do not belong to the body of Christ.

What happens then, when Christians have the mentality and behaviour that seems to portray the church as a club and not a new culture that is diametrically different from the world in which we live? The simple answer is this, we become like the world because we have lost all distinctiveness as a people of God. How then do the leaders of the early church through the word of God deal with this situation? By calling us to remember the things we have already been instructed in.

Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians is constantly reminding those Christians at Thessalonica. He makes the statements like “for you yourselves know…” or “as you know” or even just “you know” for means of encouragement at a time when that is exactly what they need, Paul in his letter isn’t engaging in re-instructing these Christians but rather simply reminding them of what they already know. At a time when this church was going through much affliction due to those opposing the Gospel by opposing those who believe it and live accordingly to it.

Second Peter chapter one is a wonderfully eye opening passage of scripture that clearly shows the importance of remembering. The first chapter begins as usual in most cases with the greeting from Simon Peter, he moves on to the qualities of God’s divine power in the Christians life, which is the true knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and then in verse nine Peter makes it very clear that it becomes obvious when believers have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their former sins. He then states what to remember and why, therefore he says this is why I am always ready to remind you. At the beginning of chapter three as he continues to speak to this church he says “this is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder”. It seems clear from these two examples and many other examples that we have not looked at that being reminded is a crucial part of the Christian life, once we are reminded we do remember when we were first instructed in the things of God.

Amnesia is distressing. Sufferers forget what they have done, what they were doing before being interrupted, and what they were about to do. Everyone has memory lapses, but clinically severe lapses cause crises of identity. If the church has forgotten, Peter cannot be referring that these Christians are not intellectually aware, that the truth hasn’t gone in to their very being, but rather individuals in the church have lost there identity as Christians. So the reminder that is brought, that is to stir their sincere mind up is a re-focusing on the eternal truths of God’s word.

If our focus has changed from the one true living God to a subordinate and less worthy affection then of course, a loss of identity will occur, all the distinctiveness that marks out a Christian from the rest of the world has be tainted and marred by those lesser affections. Having lost our identity the next thing to change is our behaviour for the simple reason that what we believe affects the way in which we behave. This then leads to a further change in priorities that we hold on to which then results in that life obviously displaying that it has forgotten that it has been cleansed from the former sins. How does Peter approach these Christians in this sort of state, tell them to try harder, to pull their spiritual socks up, no. He simply reminds them of these divine qualities that they have from their Father in heaven, all things pertaining to a life of godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.

Consistent focus for the believer is vital for living the Christian life with joy and encouragement, but the focus that we are to have is not just of the future but also of the past. The first commandment is a commandment calling on the memory of God’s people.

Busyness

2009-08-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

HOW BUSY ARE YOU?

Have you ever considered what makes you busy? Are busy people busy because they have lots to do or are they busy because the things you do are self imposed? Here are some ideas people tend to live their life by.

“God helps those who help themselves” actually God helps those who cannot help themselves. Jesus said “ come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest”
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”
3. “Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today”
4. “There are no gains without pains”
Busy Doing

Everybody has the same amount of time in the day, but every bodies day is different. For some of us our time is filled, by who we work for, by our hobbies, by the service we give to God. Some of us perhaps are busy doing nothing and others hoping they would be busy doing something.

Busyness Identifies Value

When we are busy it allow us to see what we consider to be the most important to us. For instance if we do one thing while something else needs doing, we have put a value of importance on both jobs and one always come out on top. What if the thing we should be busy with is the most important to someone else?

Wasteful Busyness

No of us think that what we do can ever be classed as wasteful busyness because what we do is considered important to us. But what if the thing we are busy with to day can be left till tomorrow, or the next day or even the next month?

Busy Resting

We probably don’t consider resting as something we should be busy with and yet resting is something God prescribed to Elijah when all he wanted to do was run away from everything.

“Hurry Sickness”

The cardiologist Meyer Friedman said and I paraphrase, “have you ever been irratited when you should of left ten minutes ago? Or because there was a queue at the supermarket till? Or even because someone took their time to get to the point they were making? [if the answers yes] you suffer from “hurry sickness”. The funny thing about hurry sickness is that sufferers often think they’re okay while those who are immune are portrayed as being sick.”

X-ray questions for the diagnosis of busyness

Do I regularly do more than I have to each day when there would be nothing wrong with leaving it?
Do your family or friends complain about not getting enough time with you?
If you find this week you have got a free evening, are you already planning how to fill it?
Do you have time to do things for fun that don’t need finishing”
Do you have enough time to read God’s word, and pray on your own and with the family?
If your in a family or household, do you eat together at least once a day?
If the answer is “yes” to the first three and “no” to the last three, then maybe you have a busyness problem.

GENERAL THEME TAKEN FROM TIM CHESTER’S BOOK

Full of something good

2009-08-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

Always on duty to help

2009-08-12T01:38:00.000-07:00

This will put a smile on your face if nothing else. I am sure that this child was told if your ever in need of help you know who to call.

Shaping Our Parenting Part one

2009-08-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

Shaping Our Parenting

1. What is it that makes a good parent? Well it depends who you ask.
According to culture then, what makes a good parent?
What a parent does? What attitudes they have?

2. Who sets the aims and objectives for our parenting?

3. It what way do you believe your parenting has been affected by friends and family?

4. How is our parenting shaped by our children’s behaviour? Or is our parenting shaping our children?
Our children could always be coming under reactive parenting to their own behaviour rather than pro-active parenting. It is good to respond to our children with both instruction and correction, but could we be more pro-active in this area?

5. How much of our parenting is directed towards behaviour?
It’s possible for us to always find ourselves trying to change the behaviour by addressing the behaviour, rather than the cause of the behaviour.

THE GOSPEL

The pitfall for us would be to consider the Gospel as supplemental to our parenting rather than fundamental

Have a look at 2 Timothy Chapter 1v5 and 3v14

How has Timothy’s upbringing given him confidence in the Gospel?
What is the wonderful point to teaching the scriptures to our children?

Read Deuteronomy Chapter 6v1-7

Teaching the scriptures here highlight three important levels for us, which are
1. They are taught intentionally
2. They are taught formally
3. They are taught informally

What do we consider our children need the most?

These are some question not to make us feel that we are failing but to encourage us to think through how we are parenting.