English Congregation
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
I wish I had found this earlier. I would have made a fitting conclusion to yesterday’s sermon. Better late than never, I suppose. Fight on!
My orders are to fight;
Then if I bleed, or fail,
Or strongly win, what matters it?
God only doth prevail.
The servant craveth naught
Except to serve with might.
I was not told to win or lose—
My orders are to fight.Welsh poet Ethelwyn Wetherald
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
It is important that we know the nature of the evil in our hearts.
Do you think the essence of your evil is disobeying commandments? That’s a good start. But it’s not the essence of our evil. Commands simply name the evil and its fruits, and tell us not to do them.
The essence of our evil is that we prefer anything to God (Romans 1:23; 2:23). Commands do not create the possibility of evil. Commands name it.
Long before we are told not to covet, we covet. Disobeying the command, “Thou shalt not covet,” is not equivalent to the evil of coveting. The evil of coveting is there first, and then is compounded by the transgression of the commandment not to covet.
Paul said, “I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Romans 7:7). That is, I wouldn’t have known the seriousness of my evil if God had not named it in the law.
But lawbreaking is not the essence of my evil. Desiring anything above God is the essence of my evil, before any commands name it.
One reason this is important to know is that it will affect the way you pursue change. If you think the essence of your evil is commandment-breaking, your focus for change will be commandment-keeping.
That is doomed to fail for two reasons. If we get good at it, we think we have changed, but the essence of our evil remains. If we can’t get good at it, we despair and quit trying.
But if we know that the essence of our evil is not commandment-breaking, but preferring anything to God, then our focus for change will be a change of heart. That is hopeful, because God promised, “I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19).
This is the new covenant that Jesus purchased with his blood (Luke 22:20). We receive it by faith.
I love how clear and succinct this is. I’m trying to teach this concept to our boys. Not sure how successful I am so far, but I know this is the key to parenting. It’s far more easier and tempting to merely raise moral kids but never get at the heart and root of their issues.
Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Poll: Only 3 Percent of Teens See Clergy as Role Models
Out of 100 American teens, only three are likely to say they see members of the clergy as role models, according to a survey on teens and ethical decision making.
On a related note, Americans Pick Obama as Personal Hero; Jesus Comes Second
President Barack Obama’s popularity overwhelms that of Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa, according to a new poll that shows Obama as the person Americans named as their hero.
Times have changed haven’t they?
Monday, February 16th, 2009
NEWS AND EVENTS
The Family Home Group will be meeting on Saturday, March 7th at church starting at 11 am.
Starting on March 8th, we will be starting a new teaching series for the Lenten Season called, “The Means of Grace: Ancient Spiritual Disciplines for Modern Times”
On March 13-15, the young adult ministry will be having their annual Vision Retreat at Pine Creek Camp. Mark your calendars!
On March 21st, the young adults are organizing a “Give and Take” (official name forthcoming) to promote less consumption and more generosity. It will be held at church from 2 to 4. See Pauline and Mayline for more details.
The youth group will be going on a hiking trip to Great Falls Park on March 21st. We will be meeting at church at 9:30. Bring a bag lunch.
BIBLE READINGS
this week: Judges 17-21, Ruth
THIS WEEK @ CTPC
Wed: Home group, 7:30 pm @ church
Fri: Youth group, 8 pm @ church
Fri: Abundant Life, 7 pm @ church
SUNDAY RESPONSIBILITIES
Presider: Stacy
Pianist: Kolina
Usher: Teresa and Katherine
Food: Allen, Wayne, Susan, Vincent
Tables: Jason Chong
Trash: Jonathan
Monday, February 16th, 2009
I know it maybe impossible to completely unplug. So here’s a few tools that potentially can help you to be more intentional and efficient with our use of technology in order to free up space for more important things.
Self imposed limits
Monday, February 16th, 2009
“When you fast…” Matthew 6:16–17
The assumption by Jesus is that those who follow him would fast. Fasting is simply abstaining for the sake of creating space for God to work. The struggle that we all face is taking good things and making them ultimate things. Food is necessary and good. But food can become something more than just a necessity. It can be our ultimate source of comfort and pleasure. A friend of mine joked that the Food network should be called Food Porn Network. I think he’s on to something.
Fasting could pertain to many areas of life besides abstaining from food. For this post, I’d like to focus in on technology. For the record, I’m not an anti-techie person who’s making a call to live like the Amish. I do like my gadgets here and there. I do spend a lot of time tinkering with my computer. But I’m also acutely aware of how hard it is to pry myself away from it, thinking about it, and wanting more of it. Just as problematic is the amount of time spent using our phones, computers, etc.
The fact of the matter is that technology can become our gods. It’s just one more good thing becoming an ultimate thing where we revolve and order our lives around. As I mentioned in my last post, our world is increasingly like the folks on the Starship in the movie Wall-E where everyone had a screen in front of them. They being ruled by the machine. We are not far off.
As Christians, the call is to die to self. This means being intentional about unplugging and prying yourself away from your computer and cell phone in order to create space for what we were created for: relationships. There’s a part in Wall-E were two people accidently fell off their gravitating lazyboy and touched each other. They experienced something that no virtual relationships could ever replace. Relationships in flesh and blood. Being in the presence of someone else. Communicating face to face.
Even more fundamental to our design is connecting to something transcendent. God is certainly such, but simultaneously intimate. God proves this by coming down to be like one of us and living and dying for us so that we can be reconnected to Him. Our deepest needs and desires are satisfied in Him alone. So in the end, be intentional about disconnecting so that you can be intentional about connecting with our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. From the life giving power of Jesus, we can connect authentically with the people around us.
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
This story is especially geared towards anyone inclined towards potty humor. Something about a left handed warrior stabbing a really fat king with some very unusual results…
There’s a lot of huff over our new President’s name. But heck, it’s biblical. And he’s a good guy too!
4 Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 5 She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. 6 She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. 7 I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’ “
I’m just trying to get you guys to read your Bibles, that’s all.
But as you navigate through Judges, keep in mind there will be very few feel good stories. It a raw account of a people who have forsaked God and his good rule. The results are tragic as you can see over and over again. It’s rather descriptive of the cycle of sin that perpetuates itself. Doesn’t this resonate with the human experience? Despite the best efforts of the Judges, clearly they could not save and fully deliver.
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