How to Worship Together (and Stay Friends)

Here's a talk I did at church yesterday, on how to worship together well. Feel free to have a listen! If it's easier to download it, here's the link (just right-click and save).

Powered by Podbean.com

Life

And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

Colossians 3:4

Wow, what a verse! How have I missed this one before? Meditate on that a little.

More Than Mere Mortals

I found this pretty encouraging. From Lifestyle Discipleship, by Jim Peterson...

"It is true that many Christians live lives that seem to be unmarked by Christ's presence. It is possible to belong to Christ but remain a spiritual infant. Paul asked the Corinthians, "Are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?" Mere men! This seems to imply that a mature believer is something more than a mere mortal.

"But it is also true that many Christians who consider themselves unfit and feel they have nothing to offer have, in fact, great potential for ministering to others. True, they are still in the thick of it with their personal battles. They can't refer to their struggles in the past tense because they lost a round just yesterday. "How can I," they ask, "help others in areas where I am still fighting losing battles?"

"There is a big difference between these people and the others we described. The chronic infant has made peace with the enemy, while this second group is seeking to come to grips with their problems and to be delivered from them. They are looking to the Spirit of God for help and are trying to live by biblical truth. They pray their way through their struggles. They don't have many answers to their prayers to show others, and there aren't many final victories to talk about. But the significant thing about these people is that they are battling. They are fighting the very same battles that their "mere men" brothers and sisters have written off as unwinnable. More significant, they are fighting against the same issues that are victimizing their unbelieving family and friends. People can identify with them."

Jesus vs The Therapist

From Lifestyle Discipleship, by Jim Peterson....

"In our attempts to cope with this despair, we have created the therapist as our secular priest. His job is to alleviate pain. But he too tells us lies and will leave us broken still. His message is that it's all there inside us. He asserts that the individual must find and assert his or her true self because this self is the only source of genuine relationships with other people. One must know and accept one's self, he insists, in order to enter into valid relationships with others. One must become independent of others to come to where one doesn't need another's love to feel complete. People need self-validation, says the therapist. They need to be able to say, "I'm okay," independent of what others might think or say about them."

"In contrast, Jesus calls our attention to the cross, not to make us feel good about ourselves, but to make us realize that in spite of ourselves, all is forgiven. Rather than instructing us to shift the blame to our deprived childhood or abusive parents, He takes is all upon Himself, making it vanish forever. He holds us responsible for our own behavior because we are really the only ones who can do anything about it. He assures us that if we are willing, He will help us get started and also empower us to keep going.

"Then He calls us into a set of interdependent relationships, with Him and with our brothers and sisters. We are in these relationships, He says, not just for what we can get out of them, but also for what we can bring to them. Self-fulfillment is the wrong pursuit.

"Healing, according to Jesus, is for those who are broken and admit it.

"The incompatibility of these two messages - of the secular therapist and of Jesus - is almost total. Both cannot be true."

On the Way to Queenstown, NZ

Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

"So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! Wear fine clothes, with a splash of cologne! Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you under the sun. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil.

"Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom."

I'm still reading through the Bible in a Year, and have just got to Ecclesiastes - one of my favourite books in the Bible. So much wisdom in there, and I love that it's not philosophy apart from God, like so much thinking these days. This is real wisdom, with God firmly in the picture.

I wonder what amazing wisdom Solomon might have come up with if he'd had a little more of a concept of heaven? He's certainly one person I'd love to chat to sometime. Or more likely: sit at his feet and listen quietly while my mind is blown!

The Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo, NZ

Lily's World

Lily: I love you, Mummy.

Tam: I love you, sweetie.

Lily: I love you, Daddy.

Me: I love you too, honey.

Lily: Yay! We all love us!

Revival Town

Why did Jesus say we all need to become like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven? Here's a talk I did about young people, and what Jesus thinks of them.
If anyone'd like to download these, if that's easier for you, you can get them from www.thechapelyacc.com, on the resources page.

Powered by Podbean.com

Cool Video