Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is more than saying words over a meal as we do this day. Rather, like Christ who was always gaving thanks to His father, we, as Christians are thankful to God for the grace and gift He gave(s) us thru His Son, Christ who died that we may live. We have so much to be thankful for - even all trials. All that we have, even the ability to serve the Lord, come to us a gracious gift from Him -- from beginning to end, all we have is the result of Grace. Thank you.

The Manhattan Declaration

Here is the link to The Manhattan Declaration: http://manhattandeclaration.org/ Here is a link to John M.'s comment regarding The Manhattan Declaration. http://www.shepherdsfellowship.org/pulpit/Posts.aspx?ID=4444

Why do you attend this church?

We had interesting discussions during HFG monday night. Don't know that we discussed these or not (if not we discussed everything else), but did see some questions on the Pyro blog this morning which got me thinking -- Why are you in an independent (i.e. non-denominational) church? How did you find this church? What specifically led you to attach yourself to this church? Why do you stay? Under what circumstances would you leave? your thought on this topic?

JC is not PC

This article was posted, by The Washington Post, in the "On Faith" section of their website on Aug 14, 2009 Let's be brutally honest: most of Jesus' teaching is completely out of sync with the mores that dominate our culture.I'm talking, of course, about the Jesus we encounter in Scripture, not the always-gentle, never-stern, super-lenient coloring-book character who exists only in the popular imagination. The real Jesus was no domesticated clergyman with a starched collar and genteel manners; he was a bold, uncompromising Prophet who regularly challenged the canons of political correctness.Consider the account of Jesus' public ministry given in the New Testament. The first word of his first sermon was "Repent!"--a theme that was no more welcome and no less strident-sounding than it is today. The first act of his public ministry touched off a small riot. He made a whip of cords and chased money-changers and animal merchants off the Temple grounds. That initiated a three-year-long conflict with society's most distinguished religious leaders. They ultimately handed him over to Roman authorities for crucifixion while crowds of lay people cheered them on.Jesus was pointedly, deliberately, and dogmatically counter-cultural in almost every way. No wonder the religious and academic aristocracy of his generation were so hostile to him.Would Jesus receive a warmer welcome from world religious leaders, the media elite, or the political gentry today? Anyone who has seriously considered the New Testament knows very well that he would not. Our culture is devoted to pluralism and tolerance; contemptuous of all absolute or exclusive truth-claims; convinced that self-love is the greatest love of all; satisfied that most people are fundamentally good; and desperately wanting to believe that each of us is endowed with a spark of divinity.Against such a culture Jesus' message strikes every discordant note.Check the biblical record. Jesus' words were full of hard demands and stern warnings. He said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" (Luke 9:23-25). "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).At one point an unthinkable Roman atrocity took the lives of many Galilean pilgrims who had come to worship in Jerusalem. Pilate, the Roman governor, ordered his men to murder some worshipers and then mingled their blood with the sacrifices they were offering. While the city was still reeling from that awful disaster, a tower fell in the nearby district of Siloam and instantly snuffed out eighteen more lives.Asked about these back-to-back tragedies, Jesus said, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:2-5).Ignoring the normal rules of taste, tact, and diplomacy, Jesus in effect declared that all his listeners were sinners in need of redemption. Then, as now, that message was virtually guaranteed to offend many--perhaps most--of Jesus' audience.Those with no sense of personal guilt--including the vast majority of religious leaders--were of course immediately offended. They were convinced they were good enough to merit God's favor. Who was this man to summon them to repentance? They turned away in angry unbelief.The only ones not offended were those who already sensed their guilt and were crushed under the weight of its burden. Unhindered by indignation or self-righteousness, they could hear the hope implicit in Jesus' words. For them, the repeated phrase "unless you repent" pointed the way to redemption.Elsewhere, Jesus made the promise of life and forgiveness explicit: "He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life" (John 5:24). "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:27-28).That, of course, is the glorious message of the gospel, just as potent and just as relevant today as it was then. But the promise is for those who are weary of sin; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6); those who come to Christ with repentant hearts--not those who are convinced they are fundamentally good.Proud people, including lots of religious people who call themselves Christians, don't really believe Christ's message at all. He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Mark 2:17).So what would Jesus say to a pluralistic, tolerant, self-indulgent society like ours? I'm convinced his approach today would be the very same strategy we see in the New Testament. To smug, self-satisfied, arrogant sinners (including multitudes on church rolls) his words would sound harsh, shocking, provocative. But to "the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3)--those who are exhausted and spent by the ravages of sin; desperate for forgiveness and without any hope of atoning for their own sin--Jesus' call to repentant faith remains the very gateway to eternal life.This is a particularly hard message in cultures like ours that elevate self-love, self-esteem, or self-righteousness, but Jesus was absolutely clear, and these words do still speak to us: "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14).

Been away

Sorry for not getting back to this sooner. although looking at the comments, not to worry, no one is reading it. Just ribbing ya - I know that you are, you have told me you are. I had/have the same problem, when reading a blog, -- wanted to put in a comment, but just not sure what to say -- so don't. Little while back I stopped by Riverview Hospital to have my heart rate checked because it seemed high during visit to gym - you know, just wanted to be sure. They 'invited' me to stay for a few days. It is amazing how an experience like that can cause you to really pause and reflect about a lot of things and in a much different perspective. I have had several experiences in the last months - separated from EDS and visiting Riverview being the two most significant. Started reading a book again, actually it is the updated version. It is John MacArthur's Gospel According to Jesus. If you have read it, let me know, because I would really like to discuss the ideas in this book. I'll warn you up front, that I find the book very convicting and feel it is what I should be doing. Got a whole lot of work in the 'should be doing' department. I believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, which goes a long way to saying that I accept what it says. Don't understand what I know it says, but then there is only one God that understand everything and I am not him. Even the 7 day thing in the beginning. I can take a hint by reading Job and no I wasn't there. Won't go into the scientific reasoning that supports what the Bible says (too little time, not enough space). Just another one of those not-so-politically correct positions that I must admit to. [more on this one later] So why bring up the Bible thing when talking about John's book? Simple. That is where John gets all of his information - the Bible. Which means this is where I need to spend more time. be back soon.

Without Ceasing (part 2)

Remember "Without Ceasing' from last Friday? The point was that a symptom doesn't necessarily identify the problem unless you dig deeper. There's a whole bunch of biblical support for fruit or works being the result of having been saved. (more details in a later blog). You don't pray a lot? You don't read your bible a lot? You need to have a serious conversation with yourself about these and the other characteristics of the early church. Today those of us at CBC saw the opposite of what we were talking about - a wonderful couple (Jack and Marsha Nonweiler) who are faithfully putting their trust in God as they head off to Haiti to establish a full time medical clinic at Three Angels - Haiti. I cannot commend them enough that they can hear what God is directing them to do and to use their faith and confidence in God's sovereignty to give up a successful medical practice to go to a one room apartment and a 1 room clinic. I will pray for them and hope you will also. As a matter of fact, stop reading now, go to God in prayer. Pray for Jack and Marsha - use your own words and thoughts to pray for them. [I just did, so can you]. God bless you Jack and Marsha. soli Deo Gloria, ron r

Without Ceasing

Speaking of last week's sermon on the new church. If you missed that sermon, please go to the web (http://centennialbiblechurch.org/CBC_Sermons_Sunday_School_c92983.html) and check it out, it's the Mar 22 sermon. Key passage was 1 Thes 5:17. Interesting if you go to blueletterbible and look up that verse in different versions of bibles, and you'll find it says the same thing. Ok, so what part of that don't I understand? Why am I not doing it? When we lament how bad things are for Christians around the world and we admire their faith and strength to endure and persevere, I think we fail to recognize our weakness. And that weakness is to be a Christian without ceasing. We have so many distractions, so many other interests; Satan doesn't have to work hard to get us off track, just get us to look up. Such as to not pray without ceasing or to 'love our neighbor' while we're driving in heavy traffic, or forget to read our bible (another without ceasing) Being a Christian is not for wimps and it is not a part time job. For some being a Christian was saying a prayer and saying that Christ was their Lord and Savior and then going back to what they were doing just before. I think a good analogy of the expectations is marriage. Marriage is a 24 X 7, every week, every month, every year. We can do it, and those of us who have been married can prove that we can do it. (36 years for me this coming Wednesday). Without Ceasing.

Welcome to my new blog

Welcome to my blog. So what is a blog? Blog is short for weblog and 'is in the form of an online journal, with new entries appearing in sequence as they are written, especially as dealing with reflections or opinion, and typically incorporating links to other articles.' [Webster's online Dictionary] And so you ask - just what will I be putting in my journal? Well for starters, thoughts about this last Sunday's very good sermon on how the early church was a praying church. Or I will be writing about some of the ideas and points presented during the 2009 Shepherds Conference - such as what is an Evangelical? Or some observations on the latest book I'm reading - which is Worldliness, edited by C. J. Mahaney. More on that to come. This will be short because I want to get this up and running. If you read this and like the idea of discussing last week's sermon or putting your 2 cents worth on my comments about TULIP or unattended children in the church, don't just nod your head, add a comment. I only ask that you keep comments relevant to the topic of the original post - makes it easier for others [and me] to follow. And if you have any other topics of conversation, just send me an email. soli Deo Gloria, ron