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bmain
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Name: Brian
Gender: Male
Interests: Jesus, my wife, my kids, preaching, Greek, baseball
Expertise: probably none, despite my delusions of grandeur
Occupation: Pastor
Message: message me
Member Since:
5/12/2007
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| As of tomorrow, June 14, 2009, our church is merging with another church to form one new church - Cross Point Bible Fellowship. In the process of setting up a new church website, I found that I could have an RSS feed from blogger, but not from xanga. Because if that, and because I don't care too much for some of the ads placed on my xanga page, I decided to create a new blog, which you can read at crosspointbible.blogspot.com. I hope to still say something worthwhile once in awhile there. | | |
| This Sunday, for Mother's Day, I plan to preach from 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, in which Paul compares himself and his missionary colleagues to nursing mothers, paying mothers a very high compliment. However, this passage is really about those who would serve others in ministry (paid or unpaid, so all Christians, in theory). Here is a gem of a quote that I found in John Calvin's commentary on this passage.
"A mother in nursing her children manifests a certain rare and wonderful affection, inasmuch as she spares no labor and trouble, shuns no anxiety, is wearied out by no assiduity, and even with cheerfulness of spirit gives her own blood to be sucked. In the same way, Paul declares that he was so disposed towards the Thessalonians, that he was prepared to lay out his life for their benefit. This, assuredly, was not the conduct of a man that was sordid or avaricious, but of one that exercised a disinterested affection, and he expresses this in the close — because ye were dear unto us In the mean time, we must bear in mind, that all that would be ranked among true pastors must exercise this disposition of Paul—to have more regard to the welfare of the Church than to their own life, and not be impelled to duty by a regard to their own advantage, but by a sincere love to those to whom they know that they are conjoined, and laid under obligation."
We would do well to honor and to offer our sincere thanks to all who have shared their lives for our well-being - mothers for our physical well-being, and mothers, fathers, pastors, Bible study leaders, etc. for our spiritual well-being. | | |
| Last night, my wife and I finally watched Slumdog Millionaire. Yes, I know that it is rated R. We have a rule not to watch rated R movies. But in this case, we made an exception - mainly because I have been able to visit India, including a couple of slums. I wanted to see how they depicted those things, as well as to allow my wife to see what those things are like. Also, all the attention that the movie received made us very curious (not that this alone would have gotten us to make an exception to our rule).
Aside from the very creative way in which the movie's story was told (which we really liked), here are a few things that made me glad that I watched the movie.
1. The brutal depiction of a brutal reality. It has been documented that children in India are regularly kidnapped, physically deformed, and forced to beg for the "Beggar Mafia." I had read about this a while back here (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1127056/The-real-Slumdog-Millionaires-Behind-cinema-fantasy-mafia-gangs-deliberately-crippling-children-profit.html). While the movie is not as brutal as the reality described in the article, it is enough to raise concern - and hopefully prayer and advocacy - for the victims, or potential victims in India.
2. The depiction of persistent love. We know of very few examples of the kind of patient, persevering love that Jamal had for Latika. Sure, it's a story. But it does inspire us to rise above our tendency to love whom and when it is convenient to a love that keeps on loving in the midst of great pain and even danger. It points us to the mostly costly love of all, the love of Christ for His Church.
3. The depiction of a love that embraces flaws. We learn in the movie that when Latika had attempted to flee the crime-lord with whom she had been forced to live, she was punished by receiving a long cut on the side of her face. When it came time for her to reunite with Jamal at the end of the movie, she covered up the cut with a scarf. When Jamal discovered the scar, what did he do? He did not cringe or look away. He kissed the scar. He embraced her flaw and loved her anyway. This, too, points to the love that God has for us, who loved us and sent His Son to die for us while we were more than flawed (helpless, ungodly, sinners, his enemies - Romans 5:6-10).
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| As I woke up during the night last night, for some reason I kept having thoughts about ways to make use of silence. I can’t explain why this was on my mind. But it does seem like something worth thinking about. After all, it seems that most of us have very little time when things are quiet around us. And with all the technology around us, we can always find ways to fill in any quiet moments we do have. I confess that I am often troubled by silence. I find myself unsure of what to do – and tempted to find some noise. But is silence a sign that something is missing or wrong? Or is it a gift from God to be used for good? I’d say it’s a gift – even if my body and mind feel awkward with silence. Consider these ways to make use of silence. 1. Pray. If you struggle to pray (see this month’s Waterline article on this topic), maybe it’s because it’s tough to pray when there is noise or other activity around you. So when you do have a quiet moment, consider it an invitation to pray. Talk to God about what’s on your mind. Ask Him for things. He loves to hear our requests and delights to give us what is good. Don’t miss out on the chance to pray. 2. Think. Do you find yourself doing most of your thinking when you weren’t planning to think? In the shower, lying in bed before falling asleep, when you’re trying to pray, when you’re supposed to be focused on something else. I sure do. And I think that it’s a sure sign that I’m not giving myself time to think at “normal” times – when my mind is sharp, when I can right things down (don’t try this in the shower). I once heard that a good deal of our stress is due to not having enough “think time.” So we never feel like we have adequately planned for what we do. We would be far more productive and far more at peace if we spent a little more time thinking. Consider silence an invitation to think. 3. Read. What’s the last good book you read? I mean, what’s the last book that you read that increased your love for God and your faith in Him and your joy in His character and His promises? Some people are more inclined to read than others. But reading is useful for all of us. It involves and sharpens our minds more than other forms of entertainment. It allows us (rather than the TV networks) to decide the content of our thinking (and of our entertainment). And it gives us the opportunity to stop, reflect, or re-read a section in order to get the most out of it. Even if you don’t enjoy reading, give it a shot. There are lots of short but insightful Christian books available now. Consider silence an invitation to read. 4. Have a good conversation. I sometimes grow frustrated with my kids because of the noise they can make when I’m trying to talk with Beth. But after they’ve gone to bed, and it is quiet, do I still try to talk with Beth? Or do I see what’s on TV? Too often, it’s the TV. God created us for relationships – not with fictitious characters, but with real-live people. Take advantage of the quiet by talking with one of them. 5. Take a nap (or go to bed early). This may surprise you. But I’d guess that many of you don’t get enough rest. I remember in college feeling like sleep was my enemy. I’d put it off as long as possible. What does the Bible say about sleep? Psalm 4:8 – “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 127:2 – “He gives to His beloved sleep.” Sleep is a gift. Sleep is possible only because God doesn’t sleep and because He always rules over the universe. We can be “off duty” because God is always “on duty.” When all is quiet around you, celebrate God’s constant watchfulness by taking a nap or going to bed early. 6. Resist the temptation to find noise. If you are like me, when things are “too quiet,” you start looking for noise – turning on the TV or radio, surfing the internet (even if there is no audible noise, there is mental noise), etc. I think that this temptation comes from a desire to escape our lives. We aren’t sure what to pray or where to begin or if we deserve to be heard by God. We are afraid to think about the difficult things in our lives. We are too lazy to do the work of reading (myself included often). We don’t know what to say to a real-live person, or we’re afraid of them knowing what we’re really like. We don’t want to go to bed because we’re afraid of lying there and thinking. So we drown out the silence – the silence that God may be giving us for our good. Sometime soon, God will give you some silence. What will you do with it? | | |
| I think that most people feel this way sometimes. I imagine that there are lots of reasons that we might feel this way. Sometimes we may feel this way even though God does hear our prayers. I suppose that many people would tell a person who feels this way that God hears their prayers nonetheless and that they should just keep at it. However, another possible reason - one that probably isn'y always the case but may be sometimes - appeared to me as I read Zechariah 7. God is explaining that He had given commands to His people but that they had "refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears" (v.11) instead of listening. Listen to God's response as He explains it in v.13. "As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear" says the Lord of hosts. At least once in history, the reason that God didn't seem to hear people's prayers was that He refused to listen to them. And the reason for this was that those people had refused to listen to God. So, whenever we feel like God doesn't hear our prayers, it would be a good idea to ask ourselves, "Have I been listening to God's Word?" If not, we really shouldn't expect God to listen to us. | | |
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