A great blog (especially if you like pink). (Apparently Michelle is an ‘org’)
Archive for May, 2008
I live my live by this:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)
The word rejoice is used 8 times in that short letter alone. So what is going in in James?
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:8-10
Does evangelism feel like an impossible task? How can we make disciples from all nations, when you can’t even imagine anyone in your own street meeting Jesus? It seems impossible, right?
Good. That’s because it is. It is an impossible task.
So how good is it that we have a God who can do all things!
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:25,26)
Be encouraged: the task is not only possible with God, it will happen.
But, we need to stop trying to do it alone! “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1a) Only by His Spirit will anyone be granted repentance, and anyone may be granted repentance by His Spirit alone.
The truest arrow in your quiver is prayer. Pray!
“I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.” – ‘Prince of Preachers’ Charles H. Spurgeon
Then, when confronted by the impossibility of evangelism: acknowledge it, be humbled by it, rejoice that it doesn’t depend on you, pray; then, trusting God for growth, boldly declare His word.
Just got back from cafe del freeo. Twas a really nice, relaxed night. I made a couple of cappuccinos with Michelle’s help – that was fun! Thanks Michelle!
… just then, a very drunk girl: “It’s all about good nights.”
No, it’s not. It’s all about Jesus.
Have you heard of Reinhard Bonnke? If you have, what do you think?
I was driving home from church one week in February and just caught the end of an interview with him on the radio. I can’t remember what I heard, but I remember that it was incredible! I went home and googled him:
A youtube search for “reinhard bonnke” will return more amazing videos like this.
He speaks to crowds of hundreds of thousands of people, even millions. Millions of people give their lives to Christ a night. (He claims) Many are healed from sickness. He even claims one resurrection.
What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments. My own thoughts in the comments of this post, but this journal article is the best analysis I’ve read so far. Get a load of this quote:
“Jesus wrought salvation by means of his atoning death: the blood of Jesus is mentioned continually… For all speakers, the understanding of this atonement is the substitutionary, sacrificial and penal understanding of classical fundamentalism.” (page 71)
Regardless of what you think of Bonnke, there is something relevant to every Christian reading this.
Relevant fact: millions of people are, or think they are, becoming Christians in Africa, where there were few Christians to begin with, and far fewer Christian leaders.
Implication: If they are becoming Christians (Praise God!!!), they desperately need leaders. If they aren’t, they desperately need true-gospel proclaimers.
The important question: What on earth are we doing in Australia. Seriously.
No really. Think about it.
Dear beloved readers, I have a present for both of you. Look over there –>
Yes, its a… SEARCH BOX! Now you can fully unleash the power of TCA and locate with ease those super-duper posts which have, tragically, slipped off the main page into the never-never (*shudder*). Thank you google.
Since I haven’t finished thinking about my position on this, let’s do a thought experiment:
Consider rolling three 27-sided dice in an otherwise empty universe, and having it spell CAT. As HH rightly identified, “to those who don’t understand english, it’s junk.” Chance has not produced any information, yet. But then another 21 dice are rolled, and it spells “what does a dog chase” If we apply this to CAT, “What does a dog chase?” “CAT”, do we have information yet? No, it is still true that “to those who don’t understand english, it’s junk.”
Now, what happens if you rolled billions of dice, and it just happened to spell out the oxford dictionary and an english grammar. Now do you have information?
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,”
Revelation 19:6-7
“… and I certainly don’t want to spend eternity singing praises to God!” This is how many people conclude their expression of distaste for Christianity. The idea of heaven sounds all well and good, as long as God isn’t there – and most definitely as long as we don’t need to praise him (or so the objection goes).
Recently something happened to me that caused me to reflect on this. In March I went to see Jack Johnson play in Centennial Park. It was great! A really nice atmosphere, good music, good company. Everyone knew all the words, and we all sang along.
It hit me: we love singing along to good music, and we love watching great performers, and we really love a combination of the two! I was struck by the fact that thousands of people were watching a man play songs about life - and loving it!
How much better will heaven be! The music will be better – it will be perfect. The company will be better - we will be surrounded by our family of saints. The atmosphere will be better – we will be overflowing with pure joy! And most of all, the performer will be way better! If we like singing about every-day stuff and watch an ordinary man, how good will it be to sing about how great God is and be in the presence of the most awesome Person ever!
If people enjoy concerts now, why would anyone think they won’t enjoy them in Heaven? It’s going to be sweet!
Australian Christian Lobby publish a summary of marriage-related news as well as a letter about the defeat of a push for new legislation in the ACT.
This arvo I’m leaving on an EU Arts Faculty Weekend Away. Should be a good time away. I will resume my ethics series when I get back.