Invincible Christian

Been thinking about what makes a Christian strong.

I think in large part it entails these things:

1)  Freedom from the fear of man.
2)  Living life with an, "open hand."  Meaning--Not going around demanding things from God.  Putting away a "rights" mentality.  If I get this job, great.  If I don't, who cares?  If this or that does or doesn't change, then what does it really matter?  Honestly, what does it really matter?  Everything is a gift, what do we have that we have not received?
What matters is that the living God shed blood for my redemption, what can man and mere circumstances do to me then?  What matters is that we are here to be thankful and joyful slaves of God..  Our food is to do His will, (Jn. 4:34) that's it.  We are here to give our lives up to Him and He, by our doing so, will give us the most enviable life that we could imagine.  This would be a life of truly fruitful death and resurrection.  All of this is a part of what I mean by living life with an open hand.  We have to stop striving with God for the right circumstances and for this and that to happen etc., This is not living life with an open heart and hand, it is clenching onto something more than Christ.  We make idols for ourselves out of all this worry.  When our treasure is with Christ "in the heavenly places," then we can lose everything and still be as rich as a king.

Jana and I just watched a streaming netflix movie called, Molokai:  The Story of Father Damien.  It was a beautiful movie about a Roman Catholic priest who decided to live -permanently- among the outcast lepers exiled to the island of Molokai, just off of Maui.  He fell ill with leprosy himself and died among them.  It was a very inspiring movie along the theme of the previous paragraph.

3)  Living to please God supremely.  Jesus lived to please the Father.  Because of this, it made Him invincible to the pressure and rejection of men.  Jesus was free from pride and the weakness that comes through selfish attempts to establish ourselves.  He was free from trying to make a name for himself.  He was above that.  What man is there who is above that?

John 5:30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."  Problems begin when we too eagerly seek our own will in judgment.

5:41 "I do not receive glory from men;"  (If Jesus did not receive glory from men, what makes us think we will?)

5:43,44 "I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.  How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?"

Jesus was invincible because He was not weakened through pride and selfish aggrandizement.  When we are strengthened by the Spirit to be free from trying to control our lives, from prideful attempts to defend ourselves, and to establish our will and our name, we are strong.

This is what the world needs to see.  This is the kind of leader that churches need.

Oh God, help..

taking the low seat

Important lesson from John the Baptist today:

Church leaders face a particular kind of temptation.  They exert themselves stridently towards an ideal.  Problem-It is one thing to represent the ideal (Christ) but another thing to identify ourselves with that ideal.  What do I mean?
John passionately prepared the people for the Messiah.  He represented the Messiah.  However, he could not identify himself as the Messiah.  He (Jn) made clear that he wasn't the One to come.

We can too easily confuse what we're about.  Christ is the One that people need.  We cannot let our ego and personalities get in the way.  We're just representatives.  "A man can receive nothing unless it has been give to him from heaven", Jn said to his disciples after they said that Jesus was baptizing and everybody was going to him.  "He must increase, but I must decrease."  Jn 3:30

There is a tension isn't there?  Leaders do need to graciously enter into the place of influence without having to grovel in a false humility.  In other words, there is a gracious way to accept the seat of honor that others may bestow upon us.

But let's be clear about this-What do we have that we have not been given?  Let's not war on behalf of ourselves when others disrespect.  Let's strive for the honor of His name, not ours.  When we do this in sincerity, He lifts us up.  He gives the Spirit without measure, (Jn 3:34) and that's what people need-not us, not me.

St. Anne's is back!

I've posted there some same stuff as here, but there's a new issue and lots of cool stuff..

Go here: stannespub.com

if you missed it (below)

the bridesmaid has an earring that links up with my ear exactly

Me and wedding pics do not get along

Parenting

"Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it."
Prov. 22:6


Too often this verse is taken to mean something like:


Spank my child like a perfectionist machine.. Make him eat all his vegetables and organics.. Make him comb his hair and sit in church quietly..   Discipline him in reformed manners and ways and when he's old he won't depart.  Put him through a really hard classical Christian education.  That'll do it.

Instead, I think we must read the verse like this:


Give 'em the good life.  Show 'em heaven.  Show them tenderness.  Yes, bring the sting of spanking regularly and consistently.  Hold them to a higher standard.  Expect strict manners but in a spirit of humility from the heart.  Shepherd them through a robust Christian education.  Teach them to embrace hard things.  How?  By example.


But, train them up in the way they should go...  Laughter.  Family fun.  Prayer with them.  Stories.  Feasting.  Play.  Time with dad.  Time with mom.  Dates.  Discussing movies watched together.  Vacations.  Teaching them diligently from the Word to understand Him and the world.


They will not depart from a home like this.


And if God requires that church officers have these kind of children-faithful and believing (from the heart, we can deduce) then it is possible.  Not just possible but commanded and blessed by His grace.


We need help.. And God will give it.  Ask.  believe.  Obey.

You need a laugh

Encouragement for ya

The Word never fails to deliver to those who hunger and thirst:

"It is a trustworthy statement:
For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;  If we endure, we will also reign with Him;  If we deny Him, He also will deny us;  If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."
II Tim. 2:11-13

In these three verses we see the balanced perspective of the fear of sin and of the Lord, the promise of vindication, and rounded off with a great promise.

Alexander Piano recital with James playing a fun Chopin piece

Christmas Eve Service Homily

Homily

Pastor Alexander

“No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow- Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as-the curse is found.”

The mall is postmillennial.  Secular businesses are postmillennial, caught up in the triumph of God’s incarnation in Christ without even realizing it.  How?  Because they play “Joy to the World! the Lord Is Come.”  The hymn says; “let earth receive her king, the Savior reigns, He rules the world with truth and grace,” and (above).  One day, the courthouse will ring with this truth in the middle of summer.

Sins and sorrows do grow.  Thorns continue to infest the ground.  They draw blood and we curse them spitting and grumbling.  We kick those people or objects that happened to be in our way because we’re angry at the fall. 

We forget, we deserve them.  The rocks, hills and plains want to repeat the sounding joy but they are angry with us, because we have cursed them in our sin.  And so waters sometimes flood us and the lions roar at us, because we cursed them.

But… we are not to live in defeatism.  Christ has come!  Therefore, you are free from passivity and retreat.  Hope is alive.  No more let laziness sleep.  “Wake, Awake, for night is flying!”

In the name of Jesus the Christ people of God, our mission is clear:  Beat back the sins and sorrows of your life because of the triumph of Grace.  Subdue the thorns.  Dominate over the dysfunction around you and in the name of Christ fashion truth, goodness and beauty instead.

Away with pettiness!  Away with bitterness!  Away with the accusatory finger!  Give the Scrooge in your heart a kick down the stairs.  Away with all victim mentalities.

He comes to make His blessings flow!  Let them flow through you first.  Then, beat back the sins, sorrows, and thorns like warriors.  Make blessings flow to others far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.

Amen.

Elegant words

"By What Means God is Made Known Unto Us:


We know Him by two means:  first, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe; which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures great and small, are as so many characters leading us to contemplate the invisible things of God.."


Article 2 Belgic Confession (1561)