Blog: Between Two Worlds
Post: A (Counter)Culture of Life in the Church
Link: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/10/counterculture-of-life-in-church.html
Thursday, October 30, 2008
A Culture of Life in the Church
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sermon Follow-up: Encouraging Adoption in Response to Abortion in America
Blog: Between Two Worlds
Post: True Religion
Link: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/10/true-religion.html
Monday, October 27, 2008
Abortion Is Morally Outrageous!
“I believe abortion is morally outrageous:
fatal for children,
damaging to women,
corrupting to men,
debasing to culture,
mangling to human reason and language,
and an assault on Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made.”
(quote from John Piper’s sermon, “The Darkness of Abortion and
the Light of Truth”, January 26, 2003)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Judgment and Compassion
On Sunday morning, Oct. 19, I said something like this in my sermon from Jonah 3 (“Jonah’s Second Chance”):
Proclaiming God’s impending judgment on sin is an expression of His compassion…Why? Because it is His call for sinful people to repent, and repentance is the first word of the gospel! And the gospel is good news! Mark 1:14-15 is beautiful—“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”
“Repent and believe the gospel!”
“Given the nature of sin, God, in His justice, could simply judge His people completely and immediately. But He, in love, desires to extend His mercy, forgiveness, and restoration to all of His people…In fact, the first word from the heart of God, revealed from Genesis through Revelation, is His urgent and loving call: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!” Repentance from the beginning of time to the present hour has been, and remains, the most positive word from the heart of God!” (Henry Blackaby, in his forward to Repentance: The First Word of the Gospel, by Richard Owen Roberts)
Thank God that, out of His great heart of compassion, He declares His judgment against our sin and calls us to repent!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A moving article by an abortion survivor.
Be sure to view the videos contained within the article. They are worth your time.
Click here to access the article: “Abortion: The Strong Define the Rights of the Weak.”
Friday, October 17, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Approaching the Election
There are two important posts for you to read as you prepare to participate in the upcoming election. Both are found at www.theologica.blogspot.com and were posted on October 14, 2008. Here are their titles: (These are clickable links)
“A Call to Fast for the Protection of the Defenseless”
See Also:
I thought you might like to read this article titled "The Abortion Question and the Future" from AlbertMohler.com.
Did Jonah Die Inside the Great Fish?
In my sermon’s introduction on October 12, 2008, I asked the question, “Did Jonah die inside the great fish?” We cannot conclude with absolute certainty that he did or did not.
I have very much reveled in the possibility/probability that Jonah died and was brought back to life! Here is the quote I read from Dr. John Piper, expanded a bit more:
“If you ask how a man can survive in the belly of a fish three days, the answer is, he probably can’t—any more than a person stay three days in the grave and live again. That’s why Jesus called it a ‘sign’. In Matthew 12:39 He says, ‘An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.’ Jesus knew this was no ordinary event. It was a miraculous sign of God’s gracious and powerful intervention. There is no point in trying to explain it away scientifically any more than the miraculous signs of Jesus’ ministry.” (Piper’s sermon, November 21, 1982)
And here is another quote, this one from RBBC’s Rusty Christensen, who wrote the following in his journal in October, 2006:
“Did Jonah actually die in the belly of the fish? I think he did and God resurrected him for the sole purpose of carrying out what He originally asked him to do. Consider—the grave simply gave up her dead—much like Jesus’ resurrection and those who were brought back to life when Jesus rose. The theological depth is greater—this is not simply that he almost died, and that God used a fish to bring him back to where he needed to be. But rather, he died—his life, his goals and his opportunities to be used of God for His glory have vanished. I think the language of Jonah supports the argument. (Sheol, the pit etc.) Consider…We are running around wasting our life—the exact opposite direction of what God is telling to do and where to go. We only realize our eternal mistake when it is too late. Jonah had a second chance.” (used with Rusty’s permission)
O, Dear Lord, grant us grace to live our lives today in your death-conquering, life-giving power! Thank you for your patience and compassion with Jonah--- and me. Amen.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Economic Crisis: Shall We Fear?
It’s Wednesday, October 8, 2008, and I read this on an online news page at 3:00 P.M.: “Deep Recession Imminent”. The markets have plummeted; banks are collapsing; the Fed and World Bank are scrambling to the rescue; the housing market is anemic; and jobs are threatened. Shall we fear?
Rynette and I talked about this last night before we prayed and went to sleep, and I was reminded that how we respond to the national/international financial emergency will show what and who we love, trust, and worship. I do not write this flippantly; I know what the gnawing sensations and adrenaline rushes of anxiety and fear are like. Through His Word our kind God has taught Rynette and me much about fear during the last year. He showed us that where there is fear, idolatry accompanies it.
I encourage you to war against fear and idolatry in these very unsettled times with truths found in the Word of God:
* The Lord does not change!
“For I, the LORD, do not change…” Malachi 3:6
* God is with you!
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my Righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
* Money won’t last!
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust (and faulty financial systems) destroy and where thieves (and greedy financiers) break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Matthew 6:19-20
* Christ is worthy of your focus, not money!
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
* God will take care of you!
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food (and finances)...Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow…” Matt. 6:25,34
* Pray and be thankful!
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
“Delivered Up for Our Trespasses”
“Delivered”…What a word! In “Jonah Points to Jesus”, my communion meditation on October 5, I invited the people to consider Romans 4:25. There we read: “…Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4;24b-25).
“Delivered”…I love this word. Revel in it with me. Actually, revel in them with me because several Greek words are rendered “deliver(ed)” in the New Testament.
In Romans 4:25, “delivered up” is from the Greek verb “paradidomi”, meaning “to deliver over”. God the Father delivered His precious Son to die for our trespasses! “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure!” How great His commitment to the display of His glory in grace and holiness and mercy and justice! The same Greek verb root is also found in Galatians 2:20 (and this moved me very much as I read it): “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself [delivered Himself up] for me.” “O, how He loves you and me!”
And here is one other instance of the verb “deliver”, this one being from the Greek word “rhuomai”, meaning “to rescue from”. This is so great! Colossians 1:13-4-- “He [the Father] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin. “Hallelujah! What a Savior!”
So be glad in this with me. God the Father delivered up His only begotten, beloved Son, and the Son delivered Himself up to die, so that we might be delivered from the domain of darkness and be granted life in His kingdom, having redemption and forgiveness of sin! Delivered—what a sweet word!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
20 Resolutions from James
These resolutions by Sinclair Ferguson are excellent as we continue to live out the book of James at RBBC.
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