Kevin has written a follow up to his post about Christians feeling guilty...
"After writing about feeling guilty on Tuesday, it got me thinking some more about why Christians need confession of sin.
You often hear statements like this: “There is nothing you can do to make God love you more or to make him love you less.” And while it’s true that those who have been justified by grace through faith can never be more justified, we can hear a statement like this incorrectly. Yes, God loves us fully in Christ, but this does not mean we are incapable of doing things that are displeasing to God. We can get out of step with the Spirit. We can grieve him too. Even after we have been redeemed, our sin continues to be offensive to God. And this has an effect."
Read on...
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
A glimpse of harvest work...
Today, I got this encouraging e-mail from a friend about his work the the work of his Father in the Balkans.
"The other day Gjon (a new believer) and I went up into the hills to the village where Gjon is from, to spend the evening with the uncle of Gjon, and his family. Since Gjon has come to the Lord he has a great desire to share Jesus with his family. His family is one that still saves a memory of being Christians (Roman Catholics) [Pre-reformation period in a time when South Eastern Europe was governed by the Muslim Sultans from Istanbul] generations before.
Nasser, a 75 years old neighbor came over as we were preparing for dinner, eaten sitting on the floor, around low round table, (just as in Jesus' time. I guess). The conversation picked up from a question he asked me... what is the best religion in the world ... to Jesus being the only way to the father... and for about three hours we shared the gospel with them. As we where leaving after we had few cups of black Turkish tea, Gjon said to me: He is 75 but he has never in his life heard anything like what he has heard tonight.
It made my heart ache. How many people are like this older man, Oh Lord, scattered all around towns and villages, who have never had a chance to respond to the gospel?! I am only a man, small, limited , good at wasting time! Please send more workers into your fields! Please intercede that the knowledge of the Lord will fill Kosovo towns as the water covers the sea!"
From one lone, faithful worker in a field white with harvest. Join us in praying for our brother in the field.
"The other day Gjon (a new believer) and I went up into the hills to the village where Gjon is from, to spend the evening with the uncle of Gjon, and his family. Since Gjon has come to the Lord he has a great desire to share Jesus with his family. His family is one that still saves a memory of being Christians (Roman Catholics) [Pre-reformation period in a time when South Eastern Europe was governed by the Muslim Sultans from Istanbul] generations before.
Nasser, a 75 years old neighbor came over as we were preparing for dinner, eaten sitting on the floor, around low round table, (just as in Jesus' time. I guess). The conversation picked up from a question he asked me... what is the best religion in the world ... to Jesus being the only way to the father... and for about three hours we shared the gospel with them. As we where leaving after we had few cups of black Turkish tea, Gjon said to me: He is 75 but he has never in his life heard anything like what he has heard tonight.
It made my heart ache. How many people are like this older man, Oh Lord, scattered all around towns and villages, who have never had a chance to respond to the gospel?! I am only a man, small, limited , good at wasting time! Please send more workers into your fields! Please intercede that the knowledge of the Lord will fill Kosovo towns as the water covers the sea!"
From one lone, faithful worker in a field white with harvest. Join us in praying for our brother in the field.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Are Christians meant to feel guilty all the time?
Kevin DeYoung has some great things to say over at his blog and this is how he begins one of his recent posts. It is a good reminder.
I imagine there are plenty of Christians who rarely feel the sting of conscience or the pangs of regret. But I also know many, many Christians (including the one I see in the mirror) who easily feel bad for all the things they are not doing or are doing less than perfectly. In fact, I’m convinced most serious Christians live their lives with an almost constant low-level sense of guilt.
Read the rest..
I imagine there are plenty of Christians who rarely feel the sting of conscience or the pangs of regret. But I also know many, many Christians (including the one I see in the mirror) who easily feel bad for all the things they are not doing or are doing less than perfectly. In fact, I’m convinced most serious Christians live their lives with an almost constant low-level sense of guilt.
Read the rest..
Get the defibrilator, quick!
After a quiet period, or should I say a near cyber-death, I am going to try an attempt at resuscitation on this blog. For our loyal followers out there, all 3 of you, I hope we don't pack your in-boxes and RSS feeders too full.
Blogs are seemingly becoming more and more popular and there is a lot of great stuff circulating out there written by more thoughtful, funny and frankly clever folks than Abi and I. Much of it has been a real encouragement to us. Not everything will we completely agree with but if we share it, its been something that has given us pause for thought. So, since this is our blog and you can choose to follow it or not, I thought I would start funneling things your way. Stay tuned and Enjoy!
Blogs are seemingly becoming more and more popular and there is a lot of great stuff circulating out there written by more thoughtful, funny and frankly clever folks than Abi and I. Much of it has been a real encouragement to us. Not everything will we completely agree with but if we share it, its been something that has given us pause for thought. So, since this is our blog and you can choose to follow it or not, I thought I would start funneling things your way. Stay tuned and Enjoy!
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Candle #2
Today marks the 2nd Sunday of Advent. We light another candle today. The candles represent different things in the Advent season. Candle #2 may represent the Angels who brought the good news in the Christmas story, or the Joy of the the we know in that we have a rescuer or the announcement of Jesus impending birth. Which ever significance the candle takes for you, enjoy the following poem as you light it.
The Children
by John Piper
Do you hear the children crying?
I can hear them every day,
Crying, sighing, dying, flying
Somewhere safe where they can play.
Somewhere safe from all the dangers,
Somewhere safe from Crack and AIDS,
Safe from lust and lurking strangers,
Safe from war and bombing raids.
Somewhere safe from malnutrition,
Safe from daddy's damning voice,
Safe from mommy's cool ambition,
Safe from deadly goddess, Choice.
Do you hear the children crying?
I can hear them every day,
Crying, sighing, dying, flying
Somewhere safe where they can play.
* * * *
Do you see the children meeting?
I can see them in the sky,
Meeting, seating, eating, greeting
Jesus with the answer why.
Why the milk no longer nourished,
Why the water made them sick,
Why the crops no longer flourished,
Why the belly got so thick.
Why they never knew the reason
Friends had vanished out of sight,
Why some suffered for a season,
Others never saw the light.
Do you see the children meeting?
I can see them in the sky,
Meeting, seating, eating, greeting
Jesus with the answer why.
* * * *
Do you hear the children singing?
I can hear them high above,
Singing, springing, ringing, bringing
Glory to the God of love.
Glory for the gift of living,
Glory for the end of pain,
Glory for the gift of giving,
Glory for eternal gain.
Glory from the ones forsaken,
Glory from the lost and lone,
Glory when the infants waken,
Orphans on the Father's throne
Do you hear the children singing?
I can hear them high above,
Singing, springing, ringing, bringing
Glory to the God of love.
* * * *
Do you see the children coming?
I can see them on the clouds,
Coming, strumming, drumming, humming
Songs with heaven's happy crowds.
Songs with lots of happy clapping,
Songs that set the heart on fire,
Songs that make your foot start tapping,
Songs that make a merry choir.
Songs so loud the mountains tremble,
Songs so pure the canyons ring,
When the children all assemble
Millions, millions, round the King.
Do you see the children coming?
I can see them on the clouds,
Coming, strumming, drumming, humming
Songs with heaven's happy crowds.
* * * *
Do you see the children waiting?
I can see them all aglow
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting,
Who of us will rise and go?
Will we turn and fly to meet them
In the light of candle two?
I intend to rise and greet them.
Come and go with me, would you?
© Desiring God
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God. desiringGod.org
The Children
by John Piper
Do you hear the children crying?
I can hear them every day,
Crying, sighing, dying, flying
Somewhere safe where they can play.
Somewhere safe from all the dangers,
Somewhere safe from Crack and AIDS,
Safe from lust and lurking strangers,
Safe from war and bombing raids.
Somewhere safe from malnutrition,
Safe from daddy's damning voice,
Safe from mommy's cool ambition,
Safe from deadly goddess, Choice.
Do you hear the children crying?
I can hear them every day,
Crying, sighing, dying, flying
Somewhere safe where they can play.
* * * *
Do you see the children meeting?
I can see them in the sky,
Meeting, seating, eating, greeting
Jesus with the answer why.
Why the milk no longer nourished,
Why the water made them sick,
Why the crops no longer flourished,
Why the belly got so thick.
Why they never knew the reason
Friends had vanished out of sight,
Why some suffered for a season,
Others never saw the light.
Do you see the children meeting?
I can see them in the sky,
Meeting, seating, eating, greeting
Jesus with the answer why.
* * * *
Do you hear the children singing?
I can hear them high above,
Singing, springing, ringing, bringing
Glory to the God of love.
Glory for the gift of living,
Glory for the end of pain,
Glory for the gift of giving,
Glory for eternal gain.
Glory from the ones forsaken,
Glory from the lost and lone,
Glory when the infants waken,
Orphans on the Father's throne
Do you hear the children singing?
I can hear them high above,
Singing, springing, ringing, bringing
Glory to the God of love.
* * * *
Do you see the children coming?
I can see them on the clouds,
Coming, strumming, drumming, humming
Songs with heaven's happy crowds.
Songs with lots of happy clapping,
Songs that set the heart on fire,
Songs that make your foot start tapping,
Songs that make a merry choir.
Songs so loud the mountains tremble,
Songs so pure the canyons ring,
When the children all assemble
Millions, millions, round the King.
Do you see the children coming?
I can see them on the clouds,
Coming, strumming, drumming, humming
Songs with heaven's happy crowds.
* * * *
Do you see the children waiting?
I can see them all aglow
Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting,
Who of us will rise and go?
Will we turn and fly to meet them
In the light of candle two?
I intend to rise and greet them.
Come and go with me, would you?
© Desiring God
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God. desiringGod.org
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