What is your Bible intake plan for 2008?

Have you settled on a plan to intake the Scriptures in 2008. There are many many helpful "plans" available. Which plan is the best? The one you use! It really matters not whether you cover the whole Bible, the New Testament, the Old Testament, or simply read the Gospel of Mark over and over again. But planning usually helps. Me? I've had my butt kicked by Robert Murray McCheyne's plan for years... but I keep coming back to it. Now I've found that someone has made it a 2 year plan... half the reading!! Here's the link

US Letter size.

“The proof of spiritual maturity is not how pure you are, but an awareness of your impurity. That very awareness opens the door to grace. Spiritual maturity is not measured in the rules you keep. Spiritual maturity is not measured in the Bible answers you know in small groups. Spiritual maturity is not even about what you do. Primarily, Spiritual maturity is knowing who you are in Christ.” --Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew

I am graven on the palms of His hands. I am never out of His mind. All my knowledge of Him depends on His sustained initiative in knowing me. I know Him, because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when His eye is off me, or His attention distracted for me, and no moment, therefore, when His care falters. This is a momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort--the sort of comfort that energizes. . . in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love, and watching over me for my good. Three is tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me. . . He sees all the twisted things about me that my fellow-men do not see (and I am glad!), and that He sees more corruption in me than that which I see in myself (which, in all conscience, is enough). There is, however, equally great incentive to worship and love God in the thought that, for some unfathomable reason, He wants me as His friend, and desires to be my friend, and has given His Son to die for me in order to realize this purpose. . . not merely that we know God, but that He knows us
-- (J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 37).

Sweet Baby Jesus, Temptation & Johnny Cash

To save us all from Satan's power, when we had gone astray....

That great line from "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" reminds us that Christ has come to deliver us from sin... its penalty AND power. And so here's a brief video on the life of Johnny Cash, with an emphasis on temptation & Christ

Immanuel... God with us

Preaching on Isaiah 7:14 over a century ago, Charles Spurgeon closed his sermon with this flourish:

"God with us." It is hell's terror. Satan trembles at the sound of it; the black-winged dragon of the pit quails before it. Let him come to you suddenly, and do you but whisper that word, "God with us," back he falls, confounded and confused. "God with us" is the laborer's strength; how could he preach the gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor own his Master, how could men labor, if that one word were taken away? "God with us" is the sufferer's comfort, the balm of his woe, the alleviation of his misery, the sleep which God gives to his beloved, their rest after exertion and toil. "God with us" is eternity's sonnet, heaven's hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky.

Thanks, Spurgeon, for reminding us of our deepest resource for life today: "God with us."

Sunday December 23 with Christ Community

the only thing hap'nin on Sunday morning at Oak Hall School is 10:15am worship service...

we'll be finishing our look at how Christ is incarnated as our Prophet, Priest, and King

sunday afternoon... if you'd like, there is a group of CCC folk meeting at Palm Gardens at 5pm to do a bit o' Christmas Caroling for the folks there... scroll down for details

Have yourself a Martin Luther Christmas

The true believer’s response to the true meaning of Christmas is beautifully expressed in a carol that Luther wrote for his young children—a carol commonly known by its opening words: “From Heaven High.” The carol seems to have been written for a Christmas pageant to be performed in Luther’s church. First an angel sings, announcing the Savior’s birth. The final stanza of the angel’s song goes like this:

Look now, you children, at the sign,
A manger cradle far from fine.
A tiny baby you will see.
Upholder of the world is he.

These words serve as the cue for the church’s children to come forward and worship the Christ. With reverent wonder they sing:

How glad we’ll be if it is so!
With all the shepherds let us go
To see what God for us has done
In sending us his own dear Son.
Look, look, my heart, and let me peek.
Whom in the manger do you seek?
Who is that lovely little one?
The Baby Jesus, God’s own Son.
Be welcome, Lord; be now our guest.
By you poor sinners have been blessed.
In nakedness and cold you lie.
How can I thank you—how can I?
O dear Lord Jesus, for your head
Now will I make the softest bed.
The chamber where this bed shall be
Is in my heart, inside of me.

Then the whole congregation joins the song, celebrating Christmas the Martin Luther way, and the way of every true believer in the Christ of Christmas:

To God who sent his only Son
Be glory, laud, and honor done.
Let all the choir of heaven rejoice,
The new ring in with heart and voice!

Lauren Winner

Recently I was talking with a friend about a very gifted woman named Lauren Winner... and i thought i would make you aware of her and her work.

Lauren Winner is the author of Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, and Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity. She has appeared on PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and has written for The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Publishers Weekly, and Christianity Today. Winner has degrees from Columbia and Cambridge universities and recently completed her doctorate in the history of American religion. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, Griff Gatewood.

Download her talks here (MP3s, 7MB):
Girl Meets God
Not Just Another Church Talk About Sex
Rest in a Frenetic Culture

4 different 10 minute segments on Kindling Muse

--Interview on "Real Sex" at Covenant Seminary website here

-- Link to tons of other resources of Lauren Winner

All depends on incarnation

Underline this thought: assurance, peace, access to God, knowledge that He is our Father, and strength to overcome temptation all depend on this-the Son of God took our flesh and bore our sins in such a way that further sacrifice for sin is both unnecessary and unintelligible. --Sinclair Ferguson

Risen with healing...

I love "Hark the Herald" & it has such rich lyrics.... i'm always grabbed by this line

Light & Life to all He brings...........Risen with healing in His wings.

Christ coming to us as our Physician is good news for the sin-weary soul... the following makes a great prayer...

Physician of my sin–sick soul,
To thee I bring my case;
My raging malady control,
And heal me by thy grace.

Pity the anguish I endure,
See how I mourn and pine;
For never can I hope a cure
From any hand but thine. --John Newton, complete hymn here

Caroling at Palm Gardens

There is a group from Christ Community planning to Christmas Carol at Palm Gardens, Sunday afternoon--DEC 23rd--at 5pm.

Palm Garden of Gainesville
227 S.W. 62nd Boulevard
Gainesville, FL 32607

Much Love

The promises of Scripture tell you that your Savior-God will guard you, guide you, keep you, feed you, care for you, uphold you, forgive your daily shortcomings, free you from Satan's snares and bondages, and shepherd you through this world to the next, where you will see and enjoy Him forever.
--J. I. Packer

Wondering About the Incarnation

“How are we to think of the incarnation? The New Testament does not encourage us to puzzle our heads over the physical and psychological problems that it raises, but to worship God for the love that was shown in it. For it was a great act of condescension and self humbling. ‘He, Who had always been God by nature’ writes Paul, ‘did not cling to His prerogatives as God’s equal, but stripped Himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave to nature and being born as mortal man. And having become man, He humbled Himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death He died was the death of a common criminal. And all this was for our salvation.” --J I Packer, Knowing God.

“From the first sin in the garden of Eden to the final judgment of the great white throne, human beings will continue to embrace the love of God as the gift of everything but Himself. Indeed there are ten thousand gifts that flow from the love of God. The gospel of Christ proclaims the news that He has purchased by His death ten thousand blessings for His bride. But none of these gifts will lead to final joy if they have not first led to God. And not one gospel blessing will be enjoyed by anyone for whom the gospel’s greatest gift was not the Lord Himself.”

John Piper, God is the Gospel (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2005), 12.

He Himself

The plan of salvation teaches me, not merely that I can never do anything to earn, increase, or extend God's favor, or to avoid the justified fury of His wrath, or to wheedle benefits out of Him, but also that I never need to try to do any of these things. God himself has loved me from eternity. He Himself has redeemed me from hell through the cross. He Himself has renewed my heart and brought me to faith. He Himself has now sovereignly committed Himself to complete the transformation of me into Christ's likeness and to set me, faultless and glorified, in His own presence for all eternity. When almighty love has thus totally taken over the task of getting me home to glory, responsive love, fed by gratitude and expressed in thanksgiving, should surface spontaneously as the ruling passion of my life. It will be my wisdom to brood on and mull over the marvelous mercies of God's plan until it does.

--J.I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness, page 76

It is the heart that is not yet sure of its God that is afraid to laugh in His presence.

--George MacDonald

O For a Thousand Tongues...

Sunday Chris Hiatt mentioned that "O For 1000" was written by Charles Wesley on the anniversary of his conversion to Christ. And Chris mentioned that the song originally had 18 stanzas. Well, as someone who grew up in the Methodist church I am privileged with the heritage of zeal for Christ that the Wesley brothers had. Those guys knew they were sinners and that Christ was a Savior! So when Chris mentioned it I remembered that the last stanzas are noteworthy. And they follow:

Harlots and publicans and thieves
In holy triumph join!
Saved is the sinner that believes
From crimes as great as mine.

Murderers and all ye hellish crew
In holy triumph join!
Believe the Savior died for you;
For me the Savior died.

With me, your chief, ye then shall know,
Shall feel your sins forgiven;
Anticipate your heaven below,
And own that love is heaven.

Watching an elderly man bust a move

There really is nothing sweeter, is there? than watching someone you thought to ONLY be distinguished, wise, and formal... bust a move on the dance floor.

That is how I felt reading this article from Richard Gaffin. I've long respected him from afar and he's helped me tremendously form my understanding of the Bible's teachings on certain matters... but I stumbled across his sermon on my text for Sunday and read this:

We tend to think of Christ as a divine being who is far removed from us. But he has become one with us, and he has been tempted, really and truly, just like you and I in every respect, but with one important difference–he did not yield to temptation. He overcame temptation. And so "he is able to help those who are being tempted" (2:18).

Jesus knows the desert, with the stresses and temptations that you and I are exposed to. He knows it by his own intimate experience. And so Jesus also knows something that some who call themselves Calvinists overlook. He knows that the certainty of our salvation does not cancel out the seriousness of our present situation. He knows that only those who endure to the end are going to be saved (Mt. 24:13). And he knows that enduring to the end is not something that happens automatically. He knows that for us to endure to the end will not happen without prayer. In particular, it will not happen without his prayer.

That really helps me see Jesus as my priest and how valuable it is to have a priest like Him. And puts my heart right out there on the dance floor with Dr. Gaffin!

Youth Group Boys at Christmas Party

Honest War

“Honest war with yourself comes paired with incomprehensible gifts. The peace of God passes all understanding, at the cost of all your fears! The love of God surpasses knowing, at the cost of every false love! Whatever you do, get this wisdom, this kingdom of God, this Christ! Nothing you could possibly desire compares. The cost is high: yourself. The reward is higher: no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

- David Powlison, Speaking Truth In Love

So sing out with joy for the brave little boy
Who was God but he made himself nothing
Well he gave up his pride and he came here to die
Like a man

So gather ‘round, ye children come
Listen to the old, old story
Of the power of death undone
By an infant born of glory
Son of God, Son of Man

--Andrew Peterson

The Wonders of Technology & Digital Music

You may have said, and i'm sure you've heard it said... "Why can't the nightly news ever report good stuff? All they talk about is murder, etc.

The same can be true of prices, can't it... "I remember when a can of Mt. Dew was 25 cents. Now I pay almost $1."

Without getting into all the economics stuff (THAT is why we have Dr. Hamersma!) I just have to report the following...

In 1987 my older brother gave me the cassette tape "A Very Special Christmas"... i have no idea what he paid. But today I bought that from Itunes for $8. So I can slap it on my ipod and enjoy the Boss doing "Merry Christmas, Baby" and U2 (a young U2!) doing "Baby, Please Come Home" as well as Whitney Houston's incredible "Do You Hear What I Hear"... all the while exposing my children to my high school musical diet...........forgive my happy rant.

Great phrases

Christmas hymns & songs have some tremendous biblical truth in them. Here's one:

The weary world rejoices...

Just some simple notes

Great book with the cheesiest cover ever... (sidenote: the same is true of a book called "Raising a Christian Daughter in an MTV world)

from time to time i try to read a book by Paul Tripp called, "Age of Opportunity: Parenting a Teenager." I think i always put it down because I realize... "I need much more work than my son does!" Anyway,
this morning i was looking and and started outlining
Chapter 5 Parents, Meet Your Teenager

Tendencies of teens, from proverbs
1. No hunger for wisdom or correction
A. We cannot give in and let teen set the agenda for our relationship
B. Easy for them to be defensive
3 ways to help secure them when they are defensive:
1st 'i am not against you......for u'
2nd Help them examine their defensiveness... if it is true you can say, "I haven't raised my voice or threatened anything. Why do you think there's tension in the room?"
3rd confess my sin & express confidence in Christ that He's forgiven me... let your teen see that confession leads to freedom

that is the first of about 6 tendencies... i may never blog about another one... knowing my ADD... but perhaps this might send some of you to buy the book

Finally, my highest recs for children's books are:
Shepherding a Child's Heart... balances teaching your young ones that they are under authority but also gives parents a vision for reaching their heart
Parenting without Perfection... nuff said?
Age of Opp
How Parents Raise Children by Dan Allender.... don't get me started... Allender thinks that God gives us the perfect children to draw out sin in us so that God can sanctify us... and that is mysteriously the very vehicle God uses to draw our children to Him

We must get to the cross... and dwell there

“Every plant must have both soil and root. Without both of these there can be no life, no growth, no fruit. The root is ‘peace with God’; the soil in which that root strikes itself, and out of which it draws the vital sap, is the free love of God in Christ. ‘Rooted in love’ is the apostle’s description of a holy man.

The secret of a believer’s holy walk is his continual recurrence to the blood of the Surety, and his daily intercourse with a crucified and risen Lord. All divine life, and all the precious fruits of it, pardon, peace, and holiness, spring from the cross. All fancied sanctification which does not arise wholly from the blood of the cross is nothing better than Pharisaism. If we would be holy, we must get to the cross, and dwell there; else, notwithstanding all our labour, diligence, fasting, praying and good works, we shall be yet void of real sanctification, destitute of those humble, gracious tempers which accompany a clear view of the cross.”

Horatius Bonar, God’s Way of Holiness

I have good news for you

“The Gospel teaches that Christ was born for our benefit and that everything he did and suffered was for us. As the angel says, ‘I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David’s city’. With these words, you can cleary see that he was born for all of us. He doesn’t say a savior was born, but rather, ‘your Savior, Christ the Lord was born’. In the same way he says, ‘I have good news for you’…this joy is for everyone who has this kind of faith.” --Martin Luther, Faith Alone

Meet Me at the Manger & Sunday

What a great night "Meet Me At the Manger" was for our church family and many friends. The music, the children, the decorations... announcing & celebrating God's sending of our much-needed Savior.

Sunday.... if you haven't committed to one of the worship services (9am or 10:15) in our "80 for 15" campaign... please do.

"I thank God for every minute of that frightening storm."

"After months of darkness, light pierced the clouds. My storm didn’t stop suddenly, but it gradually lost power and dissipated and I flew into clear skies. God’s promises again proved reliable instruments. I didn’t crash. In fact, the storm served me very well. I learned more than ever before how to “walk (or fly) by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). I thank God for every minute of that frightening storm." --the whole post is here

Secure Enough to go "Full Stretch"

Yesterday i had a great conversation with members of the "Loaves & Fishes" Community Group. They've been studying & enjoying John Piper's book, Desiring God. They mentioned the radical nature of the call to follow Jesus.... and how in your face Piper is about materialism, laziness, pride, gluttony, etc. I said, "The other guy who taught your group, JI Packer, preaches the same gospel... only in an understated British kind of way." I couldn't give an example off hand... until now!!!!

Today when looking online for Packer's chapter in Knowing God called "God Incarnate"... i came across this quote
“We are unlike the Christians of New Testament times. Our approach to life is conventional and static; theirs was not. The thought of ‘safety first’ was not a drag on their enterprise as it is on ours. By being exuberant, unconventional and uninhibited in living by the gospel they turned their world upside down, but you could not accuse us twentieth-century Christians of doing anything like that. Why are we so different? Why, compared with them, do we appear as no more than halfway Christians? Whence comes the nervous, dithery, take-no-risks mood that mars so much of our discipleship? Why are we not free enough from fear and anxiety to allow ourselves to go full stretch in following Christ?"

Praying that this Advent Jesus will secure Christ Community (corporately & individually) to go full stretch.

Sweet Amelia

A man hoping to adopt gives a songwriter some pages from his wife's journal. The journal she was writing to her daughter (Amelia) before they ever met her. "We pray it will be an encouragement to all those still 'waiting'!"

--some of the lyrics give you the sense
How long my arms wait for you
Here on the ocean's edge I wait for you...
A letter in july...
I want to take you home..
I pray tonight that I could be the one
Where do you sleep tonight? Who holds you when you cry? I want to take you home!
Sweet Amelia, how I have somehow loved you all my life. I want to take
Your picture in the post and the days are coming close... and i want to take you home!
Sweet Amelia, your name is like a song...
I'm looking northwest in the sky tonight
We paint the walls in pink
Across the waters I will wait for you...

you can hear the song (and see Amelia!!) here IT IS the 3rd song

A Christmas Hymn by Martin Luther

From heaven above to earth I come
to bear good news to every home;
glad tidings of great joy I bring,
whereof I now will say and sing.

To you this night is born a child
of Mary, chosen mother mild;
this little Child, of lowly birth,
shall be the joy of all the earth. --you can-read the rest here

The Bridge of Grace Will Support You

“The bridge of grace will bear your weight, brother. Thousands of big sinners have gone across that bridge, yea, tens of thousands have gone over it. I can hear their trampings now as they traverse the great arches of the bridge of salvation. They come by the thousands, by their myriads, e’er since that day when Christ first entered His glory.

They come and yet never a stone has sprung in that mighty bridge. Some have been the chief of sinners and some have come at the very last of their days but the arch has never yielded beneath their weight. I will go with them, trusting to the same support. It will bear me over as it has for them.”

- Charles Spurgeon

Info Meeting THIS sunday night

Christ Community Church Haiti Trip!!!

March 8-15, 2008--week of UF spring break
What are we doing?
• Medical clinic
• Construction
• Possibly working with children

With whom are we working?
• Pastor Charles Amicy, a Presbyterian Haitain minister in Messailler

How much will it cost?
• Approximate cost is $1,100/person (includes airfare)

What if I have questions?
• Steve Omli (316.1117) or
• Mo Omli (316.1828)

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live. --Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend, link

Wave of Sorrow

i assume all you U2 fans already knew about re-release of Joshua Tree (with some new stuff!)
here is a little info and reflection and a link to bono explaining wave of sorrow

friday night.... don't want to miss it...

oh by the way... there will be a killer piano duet beginning promptly at 6:30pm... you want to be in your seats by then to fully enjoy

"Christian... To whom do you belong?"

I am His by purchase and I am His by conquest; I am His by donation and I am His by election; I am His by covenant and I am His by marriage; I am wholly His; I am peculiarly His; I am universally His; I am eternally His. -- THOMAS BROOKS

Why we must allow ourselves to be crushed by the Law of God

Why then do you preach the law?
Because it is a schoolmaster to bring people to Christ.
It teaches them the nature of sin, and convinces them of their want of a Saviour. “By the law is the knowledge of sin,” Rom. iii. 20; and vii. 7. Men are secure and careless in sin, until the law, that worketh wrath, reach their consciences, then they begin to know sin, and to feel the exceeding sinfulness of it: “for it is the ministration of condemnation.” 2 Cor. iii. 9.
This then is the office of the law. It brings transgressors to the knowledge of sin, condemns them for it, and puts them under the sentence of their guilt and of their danger, they then find their want of a Saviour.
The law, spiritually understood and applied, convinces the sinner that he is a condemned creature, shows him in God’s word the sentence past upon him, and makes him dread the execution of it. And thus it becomes to him, “the ministration of death,” 2 Cor. iii. 7, proving him to be guilty of sin, and to be deserving of death.
The apostle’s case is very common. I thought myself alive, says he, without the law; he had no doubt but he was alive to God, while he was a strict Pharisee; but when the holy spiritual nature of the law was made known to him, he found himself to be dead in trespasses and sins.
This then is the office of the law. It brings transgressors to the knowledge of sin, condemns them for it, and puts them under the sentence of their guilt and of their danger, they then find their want of a Saviour.
But without this work of the law, they would not have been sensible that they stood in need of Him. If they were never sick, they would never send for the physician. If they were never brought to the knowledge of sin, they would never desire the knowledge of a Saviour. If they never found themselves under guilt and condemnation, they would never sue for His pardon, and would never ask life of Him, unless they found that they deserved to die the first and the second death.
For these reasons the law must be taught. It is the schoolmaster appointed of God to bring sinners (both justified sinners and unjustified sinners!) unto Christ, and when the schoolmaster comes in the name and power of the divine Spirit, and convinces them of their distressed state and condition, and makes them sensible of their guilt and of their misery, then He brings them to Christ, earnestly to ask and humbly to receive mercy from Him, who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. ---William Romaine

Mary's pattern of living by faith

“(Consider) Mary’s response to the angel. The angel has come to Mary and says: Mary, you are going to give birth to the long-promised Messiah. This was a unique promise, and unrepeatable. There is something totally unique here: the birth of the eternal second Person of the Trinity into this world. What was her response…She could have rejected the idea and said, ‘I do not want it: I want to withdraw; I want to run’…she could have said, ‘I now have the promises, so I will exert my force, my character, and my energy, to bring forth the promised thing’. But (what she did say) is beautiful, it is wonderful. She says: ‘Behold, the bondmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy Word.’ There is an active passivity here. She took her own body, by choice, and put it into the hands of God to do the thing that he said he would do and Jesus was born. She gave herself to God…This is a beautiful, exciting, personal expression of a relationship between a finite person and the God she loves.” ---Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality

The Words of Christmas

Scot McKnight has a neat idea.... prepping for Christmas by thinking about certain "words of Christmas"..... and starts with the word word.....
“In the beginning,” the Gospel of John tells us, “was the Word.” He furthers this with this: “The Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The first Christmas word we will look at in our Advent 2007 series is Word.
Christmas is about God’s self-expression, God’s Word, in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Christmas message, if it is faithful to John 1:1-14, is the message about Jesus Christ. What God wants to say to us has been said in Jesus Christ.
First, as with Creation so now with the New Creation: it is the act of God. John establishes Advent, Christmas, and the Incarnation as the Act of God to Create.
Second, the Word is the Creator or, perhaps more accurately, God created originally through the Word.
Third, God originally created The Adam; now God’s work begins with the One who becomes Incarnate, taking on flesh and blood (1:14).
Fourth, for John there are almost certainly allusions to Wisdom and Torah when he uses the word “Word.” It is entirely reasonable to think, also, that some would hear the Logos of the Greek world — that by which all things cohere.
Fifth, this Word is a Person. The ultimate and final act of “wording” is “personing” because the “Word” is the communicative act of God. Our words gain meaning from this Word; our words represent and extend who we are to another. Here God’s Word is both “word” and “person.”

80 people for 15 Sundays

A great first response to "80 for 15"... our effort to stabilize the 2 sunday morning worship services at Christ Community....

We received 39 commitments to 9:00 service
We received 58 commitments to 10:45 service

These are encouraging numbers and I expect them both to grow December 9th when those who weren't present (or decided) y'day make their commitments.

Advent is HERE!!!!

“The paradox is amazing. The Creator assumed the human frailty of his creatures. The Eternal One entered time. The all-powerful

made himself vulnerable. The all-holy exposed himself to temptation.

And in the end the immortal died.” --John Stott

Praise & Thanksgiving

C. S. Lewis, before he was a Christian, really disliked the message of the Bible that we should thank and praise God all the time. Then everything changed. What he discovered was not that praising and thanking made people childish, but that it made them large-hearted and healthy. He said, ‘The humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds praised most while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least.’ That is my experience. When I am ungrateful, I am selfish and immature. When I am overflowing with gratitude I am healthy, other-oriented, servant-minded, Christ-exalting, and joyful. --John Piper

Beautiful, Scandalous Night

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified

Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flowed
For you and for me and for all

CHORUS:
At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night

On the hillside, you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross justified
And your spirit restored
By the river that poured
From our blessed Savior's side

CHORUS

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified

Holistic Healing for a Holistic Mess

The quote below has been very encouraging to me today. It seems that "holistic mess" is a good description. Whether it is in discussions with friends, dealing with folks lives, or seeing the mess & hurt that my wicked heart inflicts on others... i am sensing a holistic mess. The glory of Advent is that Jesus comes into the mess... with power and grace.

“Sin and evil constitute bad news in every area of life on this planet. The redemptive work of God through the cross of Christ is good news for every area of life on earth that has been touched by sin, which means every area.

Bluntly, we need a holistic gospel because the world is in a holistic mess. And by God’s incredible grace we have a gospel big enough to redeem all that sin and evil has touched. And every dimension of that good news is good news utterly and only because of the blood of Christ on the cross.

Ultimately all that there will be in the new, redeemed creation will be there because of the cross. And conversely, all that will not be there (suffering, tears, sin, Satan, sickness, oppression, corruption, decay and death) will not be there because they will have been defeated and destroyed by the cross.

That is the length, breadth, height and depth of God’s idea of redemption. It is exceedingly good news.” - Christopher Wright, The Mission of God, 315

Haiti mEETING

THERE is an interest meeting for the Haiti mission trip scheduled for Sunday Night, December 9. Contact Steve "O-Dome" Omli for details... 316-1117

“Look more at justification than sanctification. ...If you have looked at your resolutions, endeavors, workings, duties, qualifications, etc., more than at the merits of Christ, it will cost you dear.”

- Thomas Wilcox, Honey out of the Rock

There is everything we need in Jesus to endear His name to our hearts. He is our Prophet, teaching us the will of the Father. He is our Priest, offering up Himself as our atoning Victim. He is our King, erecting His throne in our hearts, and subduing us to Himself as His loving and obedient subjects. He is our Friend, loving us at all times. He is our Brother, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, born for our adversity. He is our Great High Priest, touched with the feeling of our infirmities, tempted in all points as we are—and in our sorrows, griefs, and trials encircling us with the many-folded robe of His tender, loving sympathy.

O to know Jesus—that most excellent and superlative knowledge! With Paul we may well count all things but loss for its possession. To know Him as the Savior—to know Him as our Friend—to know Him as our Brother—to know Him as our Advocate—to know Him as our Portion, is endless life and glory!

The Incarnation

The Incarnation, this mysterious miracle at the heart of historic Christianity, is central in the New Testament witness. That Jews should ever have come to such a belief is amazing. Eight of the nine New Testament writers, like Jesus’ original disciples, were Jews, drilled in the Jewish axiom that there is only one God and that no human is divine. They all teach, however, that Jesus is God’s Messiah, the Spirit-anointed son of David promised in the Old Testament (e.g., Isa. 11:1-5; Christos, “Christ,” is Greek for Messiah). They all present him in a threefold role as teacher, sin-bearer, and ruler—prophet, priest, and king. And in other words, they all insist that Jesus the Messiah should be personally worshiped and trusted—which is to say that he is God no less than he is man.

Jesse Tree starts today

One dad told me the first reading was awesome. I'm looking fwd to starting with ma familia tonite.

Jesus is God's YES!

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. --Paul to the Corinthian church

Prophet, Priest, and King--- The Triple-cure

This advent during preaching portion of our weekly gatherings I plan to focus on what it means and what good it does to have "God with us". As a window into this... we will look at how Christ comes to us. One helpful way of understanding who Christ is and what He does is through the window of Jesus as Prophet, Jesus as Priest, Jesus as King.

"The threefold office of Christ has profound ramifications for the Christian life. First and foremost, this model enables us to connect the work of Christ, who has secured our redemption (which we discover only in the pages of Scripture), with our present experience and struggles as Christians. As John Calvin noted, the threefold office of Christ is certainly one of the best ways to explain our Lord's redemptive work, which by design overcame our ignorance, our guilt, and our corruption, and which even now provides us with illumination, redemption, and hope in the present." --Kim Riddlebarger

Please pray for me (Rob) as I meditate upon these truths and prepare these sermons.

a hymn, and a prayer of hope

O heart bereav'd and lonely,
Whose brightest dreams have fled
Whose hopes like summer roses
Are wither'd crushed and dead
Though link by link be broken
And tears unseen may fall,
Look up amid thy sorrow
To him who knows it all.

O cling to thy Redeemer
Thy Saviour, Brother, Friend;
Believe and trust His promise
To keep you till the end;
O watch and wait with patience
And question all you will;
His arms of love and mercy
Are round about thee still.

Look up, the clouds are breaking,
The storm will soon be o'er
And thou shall reach the haven
Where sorrows are no more.
Look up, be not discouraged;
Trust on, whate'er befall;
Remember, O remember,
Thy Savior knows it all. --an old hymn

“It cannot be over-emphasized that we have not seen the full meaning of the cross till we have seen it as the center of the gospel, flanked on the one hand by total inability and unconditional surrender and on the other by irresistible grace and final preservation.

Christ died to save a certain company of helpless sinners upon whom God had set his free saving love. Christ’s death ensured the calling and keeping - the present and final salvation - of all whose sins he bore. That is what Calvary meant, and means. The cross saved; the cross saves.”

- J.I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990), 138.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we thine unworthy servants
do give thee most humble and hearty thanks
for all thy goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all men.
We bless thee for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for thine inestimable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.

Jesus, priceless Treasure,
Source of purest pleasure,
Truest Friend to me.
Ah, how long in anguish
Shall my spirit languish,
Yearning, Lord, for Thee?
Thou art mine, O Lamb divine!
I will suffer naught to hide Thee,
Naught I ask beside Thee.

In Thine arms I rest me;
Foes who would molest me
Cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking,
Every heart be quaking,
Jesus calms my fear.
Lightnings flash and thunders crash;
Yet, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus will not fail me.

Satan, I defy thee;
Death, I now decry thee;
Fear, I bid thee cease.
World, thou shalt not harm me
Nor thy threats alarm me
While I sing of peace.
God’s great power guards every hour;
Earth and all its depths adore Him,
Silent bow before Him.

Evil world, I leave thee;
Thou canst not deceive me,
Thine appeal is vain.
Sin that once did bind me,
Get thee far behind me,
Come not forth again.
Past thy hour, O pride and power;
Sinful life, thy bonds I sever,
Leave thee now forever.

Hence, all thought of sadness!
For the Lord of gladness,
Jesus, enters in.
Those who love the Father,
Though the storms may gather,
Still have peace within;
Yea, whatever we here must bear,
Still in Thee lies purest pleasure,
Jesus, priceless Treasure!

Just get me to Jesus

In two different conversations this morning, one with my wife and one with Steve Lammers ..... a theme emerged..... I/We need Jesus!!... and so this quote found traction in my heart. Maybe you'll benefit as well:

Faith may seem a slight thing to some; and they may wonder how salvation can flow from believing. Hence they try to magnify it, to adorn it, to add to it, in order that it may appear some great thing, something worthy of having salvation as its reward. In so doing, they are actually transforming faith into a work, and introducing salvation by works, under the name of faith. They show that they understand neither the nature nor the office of faith. It saves, simply by handing us over to the Saviour. It saves, not on account of the good works which flow from it, not on account of the love which it kindles, not on account of the repentance which it produces, but solely because it connects us with the Saving One. Its saving efficacy does not lie in its connection with righteousness and holiness, but entirely in its connection with the Righteous and Holy One … --Horatius Bonar, 1800's

a wedding & marriage prayer

O God, to those who here profess their vows of lifelong love, Grant joy and peace; their marriage bless with gladness from above.

Christ, grant that neither grief nor place nor life nor death may part

Those who, enjoying your sweet grace, in You are one in heart.

Spirit of God, whom we adore: preserve, protect, defend,

Increase, rekindle, and restore their love till life shall end.

Charles price and charles Wesley, music Caithness

I heard the voice of, Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s light
Look unto me thy morn’ shall rise,
And all thy days be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found, In Him my star, my sun
And in that light of, life I’ll walk,
Till pilgrim days are done --Bonar.... hymn here

o by the way.... spurgeon this morning is incredible....

"Lord, here is my heart, my poor heart. Take it just as it is, and make it all that You would have it to be; cast it into Your mold, and let it receive and reflect Your image, Son of God, inexpressibly precious Jesus, Savior of sinners, Redeemer of my never dying soul!"

Jesus is the Fountain, yes, the Ocean, of living waters. We draw supplies from His infinite, inexhaustible fulness. "Lord, impart to me more of Yourself. Fill this heart with Your love, engrave Your image there, and let me not lose sight of You for one small moment."

Jesus is all in all to me. --Mary Winslow

Start Christmas BEFORE thanksgiving

Tomorrow night, Thursday November 15, you can help a child experience a wonderful Christmas present. There is a wrapping party to prepare the shoeboxes that will be assembled (i.e. stuffed) on Sunday morning.
details here

The Renewing Grace of Jesus

When worn with sickness, oft hast Thou
With health renewed my face;
And, when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.

--When All Thy Mercies, O My God

The rule has been disproved
The stone it has been moved
The grave is now a groove
All debts are removed
Oh can’t you see what love has done? --U2, Window in the Skies

“Once you have accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines should be deliberately held before you mind every day. That is why daily praying, and Scripture reading and church going are necessary parts of the Christian life. We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither this belief nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed…if you examined one hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?” C S Lewis, Mere Christianity

Hard-boiled Sinners

Martin Luther was concerned about a friend of his who felt like he had to get his life put together before he could come to church. Luther's response in 1544 screams loud and clear even today:
"My faithful request and admonition is that you join our company and associate with us who are real, great and hard-boiled sinners. You must by no means make Christ to seem paltry and trifling to us as though He could be our helper only when we want to be rid from imaginary, nominal and childish sins. No, no! That would not be good for us. He must rather be a savior and redeemer from real, great, grievous, and damnable transgressions and iniquities…"

"let the good times roll in case God doesn't show"

.... the following is either an advertisement for engaging popular culture with your children OR
an advertisement against same

This morning i heard my 6 yr old singing this line
let the good times roll In case God doesn't show

turns out w/ a little help from google that the song is by Fall out boy and called Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
Anywho... it struck me that this line is akin to saying

Stuff your face if the caterers don't show
Dance around if the band doesn't show
Throw me a pass if the football can't be found
Turn on the TV since the electricity is out.

It felt oxymoronic. And this is the way I spoke with my son.... there is no deeper conviction i have (see Hebrews 11 and acct of Moses' life) than that it if God "doesn't show (up)" then it is impossible to have a good time.
But in further reflection, perhaps this line is more like what Paul said
If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” What do you think?

Men's Road-trip, to Biloxi for Katrina relief

Here's all the info... some of it repeated... put together in the most spastic way I can....We leave Wed 7th at5pm and return Sunday the 11th around 1pm. The Gators have conveniently scheduled there game against Spurrier for Sat nite so that we can--after a hard days work--enjoy the game together over dinner.
We only need to bring towels, sheets and pillows. They provide a place to sleep and shower, food including water and power aide on the job.

We will be guided by 7 Rivers Pres of Crystal River. They've worked this area monthly for 2 years.

We will be leaving from the church house on Wednesday at 5:00 pm (try to be there at 4:45 pm)
We will head back Sunday morning and hope to be home around 1:00 pm
Please bring twin sheets, pillow, towel and blanket
Bring $90.00 for food and we will be sharing gas expense
Bring work clothes and basic hand tools if you have them
Bring clothes to go out to watch the game in

Basic schedule:
Wednesday: drive
Thursday & Friday: work all day & do some friendship-building, worship & bible study in evening
Saturday: work all day & watch Gator game while out at dinner
Sunday: worship together & hit the road pretty early

Who's going?

Rob Pendley,John Gallagher, Mike Marshall, Frank Stankunas, Frank Matthews, Ken French

"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty."

When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. As well chain the eagle's wing to make it mount, as doubt in order to increase our grace. It is not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting believer afterwards. Slavish fear brings not back the backslider to God, but the sweet wooings of love allure him to Jesus' bosom. Are you this morning thirsting for the living God, and unhappy because you cannot find him to the delight of your heart? Have you lost the joy of faith, and is this your prayer, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation"? Are you conscious also that you are barren, like the dry ground; that you are not bringing forth the fruit unto God which He has a right to expect of you; that you are not so useful in the Church, or in the world, as your heart desires to be? Then here is exactly the promise which you need, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty." You shall receive the grace you so much require, and you shall have it to the utmost reach of your needs. Water refreshes the thirsty: you shall be refreshed; your desires shall be gratified. Water quickens sleeping vegetable life: your life shall be quickened by fresh grace. Water swells the buds and makes the fruits ripen; you shall have fructifying grace: you shall be made fruitful in the ways of God. Whatever good quality there is in divine grace, you shall enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you shall receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched with it: and as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall you be--the thirsty land shall be springs of water. --Spurgeon, Morning & Evening Devotionals, morning for today, November 6

"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty." — Isaiah 44:3

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain.
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain. --William Cowper

“Sin is the sickness of the soul. It is deforming, weakening, disquieting, wasting, killing, but blessed be God, not incurable. Jesus Christ is the great Physician of souls. Wise and good men should be as physicians to all about them; Christ was so. Sin-sick souls have need of this Physician, for their disease is dangerous; nature will not help itself; no man can help us; such need have we of Christ that we are undone, eternally undone, without him. There are multitudes who fancy themselves to be sound and whole, who think they have no need of Christ, but that they can do for themselves well enough without him…Christ came not with an expectation of succeeding among the ‘righteous’, those who conceit themselves so, and therefore will sooner be sick of their Savior than sick of their sins, but among the convinced humble sinners; to them Christ will come, for to them he will be welcome.” Matthew Henry, Commentary on Matthew 9

Sex, Intimacy, and the Gospel

From time to time i like to post solid resources. Here are some good ones, particularly for the fellas... but also for ladies trying to support a man or raise a son.

• A Song of Joy: Sexual Intimacy in Marriage
  C.J. Mahaney (mp3)
• Sex, Romance and the Glory of God (Part 1)
  C.J. Mahaney (mp3)
• Sex, Romance and the Glory of God (Part 2)
  C.J. Mahaney (mp3)
• A Clean Heart, A Clean Mind: Restoring Sexual Purity in the Church
  H. Schaumburg (mp3)
• Men's Bible Study: Wise Sex (Part 1)
  Jay Sklar
• Men's Bible Study: Wise Sex (Part 2)
  Jay Sklar
• Sexual Purity and the Circumcision of the Heart
  Hans Bayer (mp3)
• Sexual Character - Treating Younger Women as Sisters With Absolute Purity
  Mark Dalbey (mp3) - 1 Timothy 5:1-2
• A Clean Heart, A Clean Mind: Restoring Sexual Purity in the Life of the Church
  Harry Schaumburg (mp3) - 1 Corinthians 5:1-8
• The Gospel and Sexual Sanity
  Scotty Smith (mp3) - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
• Sex and the Resurrection
  Richard Winter (mp3) - 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
• Be Still, O Wandering Eye - Keeping From Sexual Sin
  Dan Doriani (mp3) - Matthew 5:27-32

Owen quotes

Several asked about the John Owen quote. Here's one of them:

"God’s love is like Himself- it is equal and constant. And even the things which appear to show that God has changed His mind about us proceed from His love for us. We are so different- our love changes, yet God’s love is always the same.

Some may say.... ‘This comes nigh to that blasphemy, that God loves his people in their sinning as will as in their strictest obedience; and, if so, who will care to serve Him more, or to walk with Him unto well-pleasing?’ ‘But will not this encourage sin?’

He never tasted of the love of God that can seriously make this objection.” -John Owen.... more complete quote here

in the past year 2 guys (Kelly Kapic & Justin Taylor) have done amazing new re-edits of someof John Owen's work....

Communion with the Triune God & Overcoming Sin & Temptation .... at $15 they make excellent Christmas gifts

The compassion of Jesus

Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. --The Gospel of St. Matthew

Give Me Christ, or Else I Die

Gracious Lord, incline they ear; My requests vouchsafe to hear;
Hear my never-ceasing cry; Give me Christ, or else I die.

Wealth and honor I disdain, earthly comforts, Lord are vain;
These can never satisfy: Give me Christ, or else I die.

All unholy and unclean, I am nothing but sin;
On thy mercy I rely; Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost freely save the lost; In they grace alone I trust.
With my earnest suit comply; Give me Christ, or else I die.

Thou dost promise to forgive, all who in they Son believe;
Lord, I know thou cannot lie; Give me Christ or else I die.

Words - William Hammond, 1719-1783

"Oh, that's easy. It's grace."

It is to the prodigals … that the memory of their Father's house comes back. If the son had lived economically he would never have thought of returning.
—Simone Weil

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world were discussing whether any one belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. In his forthright manner Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace." --from Phil Yancey

Praise Follows Answered Prayer

Have you seen God help you recently? Was there a concern lifted or a fear avoided? It is our tendency to run to Him when we need help and forget to return for praise and thanksgiving after He has "been there" for us. Monday I read this in Morning & Evening:
Praise should always follow answered prayer; as the mist of earth’s gratitude rises when the sun of heaven’s love warms the ground. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined his ear to the voice of thy supplication? Then praise him as long as thou livest. Let the ripe fruit drop upon the fertile soil from which it drew its life. Deny not a song to him who hath answered thy prayer and given thee the desire of thy heart. --Charles Spurgeon

oh by the way.... move your clocks saturday nite

Thinking about 9am service?

On January 13 Christ Community Church will begin hold 2 identical worship services. In an effort to prepare well we are asking each member and regular attender to prayerfully consider making a commitment (short-term, 15 weeks) to one of the morning worship services. In fact, on Sunday December 2, we'll be making that a part of our morning offering; i.e. we'll encourage people to be offering themselves to God for His use in helping reach more people through adding the 2nd service. You'd really be surprised how helpful it will be in planning for this to know that we have 80 people committed to each service for 15 weeks. (We are calling it "80 for 15")

To that end, because the 9am service is the added one and we have more planning to do for it... we are encouraging any who are interested to come for a brief meeting where Frank Matthews and I will lay out what is involved... and answer any questions you may have.

The meeting will be held Sunday November 4... in the theater... shortly after the worship service ends.

“Through the gospel, you have both the wind and the tide pushing you forward in your attempt to live a holy life,” Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

“The vilest sinners are properly qualified and prepared for the Gospel’s design, which is to show forth the exceeding riches of grace when God pardons their sins and saves them freely (Ephesians 2:5-7).” --Walter Marshall, The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

''A justification that needs to be completed by the recipient is no resting place.'' --Sinclair B. Ferguson

A Gate of Heaven...

“I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, ‘the justice of God,’ [Rom. 1:17] because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust. My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage him. Therefore I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him.

Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant. Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that ‘the just shall live by his faith’ [Rom. 1:17]. Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas the ‘justice of God’ had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressively sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate of heaven….” - Martin Luther

On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to launch a discussion that morphed into a reformation

Youth Group News

from the "Ute" team
Schedule UPDATE: Bowling is canceled. Will NOT happen
Sunday's meeting will be held at the MATTHEWS house... Also, youth group on Sunday is at the Matthews's home at 5PM. We will be playing some EXCESSIVELY fun, but kind of messy games.
Please bring a change of clothes and a towel. Don't forget to invite your friends! This is going to be a super fun time!

Spring retreat Dates:
Middle School....February 8-10, 2008

Oh blessed Holy Spirit, my friend!

John Owen has some tremendous stuff in a book on Sin & Temptation...
How does the Holy Spirit mortify sin?
1.) By causing our hearts to abound in grace and the fruits that are contrary to the flesh...
2.) By a real physical efficiency on the root & habit of sin, for the weakening, destroying, and taking it away. He is the fire which burns up the very root of lust.
3.) He brings the cross of Christ into the heart of a sinner by faith, and gives us communion with Christ in His death and fellowship in his sufferings.

What a great thing to pray for our friend, the Holy Spirit, to do in us as commune with Christ and each other this coming Sunday morning!

How Parenting Grows Us Up

"I believe to the deepest recesses of my being that we must suffer if we are to mature; and that is one way that being parents grows us up." --Dan Allender

True.

Men's Roadtrip, one week from tomorrow

There is still room for 2 more fellas. Contact John Gallagher for more information.
We leave Wed 7th around 5pm and return Sunday the 11th around 1pm. The Gators have conveniently scheduled there game against Spurrier for Sat nite so that we can--after a hard days work--enjoy the game together over dinner.
We only need to bring towels, sheets and pillows. They provide a place to sleep and shower, food including water and power aide on the job.

Do you?

Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in His sovereign mercy?

That is membership vow #1 at Christ Community.

To say "I do." to this is to recognize that all of life is grace. It is to sign on to the profession that God's kindness & mercy is the foundation of your existence.

New Chik Fil-A Ad?

Three of our girls were pose with the famous cow from the chik fil-a ads. It was a tremendous honor to have this celebrity in our petting farm at the Fall Festival!

The Blackest Place on Earth

In Mark 3 Jesus states that He is stronger than Satan. Elsewhere in the Bible Jesus' coming is described as being for the purpose of 'destroying the work of the devil'. So, with that backdrop, this quote is especially invigorating:

“It is in His death that He destroys the wolf, so that the blackest place on earth, where the Son of God is crucified, becomes the place where the blackest of evil is subdued by the love of God and made to minister to the redemption of the world. By the Cross all our evil is taken under the command of the sacrifice of Christ and made to work together for good to those who love Him, and who hear and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd, not only because by His death our sin and guilt are removed, but because He who died lives again, and is able to make the very grave of mankind to become the cradle of new and abundant life.” - T.F. Torrance

"Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone,
strives after something beyond absolute perfection." --John Calvin

Fall Festival Reflections

About 250 people.... many new... having fun... children laughing... money raised for Haiti.... memories for all ages. A tremendous event led by Bonnie Marshall, Sharon Stankunas, and Jessica Zeidler.... more pics to follow, right now i only have this cowboy

When you are caught off guard....

“…Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is. Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light. Apparently the rats of resentment and vindictiveness are always there in the cellar of my soul. Now that cellar is out of reach of my conscious will. I can, to some extent control my acts: I have no direct control over my temperament (emotions). And if what we are matters even more than what we do—then it follows that the change which I most need to undergo is a change that my own direct, voluntary efforts cannot bring about. And that applies to my good actions too…I cannot, by direct moral effort, give myself new motives. After the first few steps of the Christian life we realize that everything which needs to be done in our souls can be done only by God…and in reality, it is God who does everything. We, at most, allow it to be done to us.” C S Lewis, Mere Christianity.

Jesus' Identity

Mark 3 gives us 3 opinions of Jesus:
--He's mad! from his family
--He's bad! from the religious leaders
-- He's the Son of God! from the unclean spirits Jesus has chased out of people

and so i'm reminded of 2 quotes from last century:
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, The MacMillan Company, 1960, pp. 40-41.)

"The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore—on the contrary, they thought him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him 'meek and mild,' and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies." --Dorothy Sayers

.....an interviewer of Bono of U2 marvels : "That's a great idea (slvtn thru the cross), no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has His rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?"

Bono of U2 comes back, "Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched."

CALIFORNIA FIRES: MNA DISASTER RESPONSE PROVIDING ASSISTANCE
The wildfires in Southern California continue to drive ever greater numbers of people from their homes. The churches of South Coast and Pacific Presbyteries are currently assessing damage among their members and their communities. No damage is reported thus far to PCA church buildings. Many PCA families have evacuated and it is uncertain when they will be able to return home. A number of PCA family homes have been reported destroyed; the condition of many other PCA family homes is unknown at this time. MNA Disaster Response is working with PCA leaders in the area to formulate a response plan. Check back often for updated information. We are also keeping in touch with the other NAPARC churches. For a report from the churches, go here: http://www.pca-mna.org/disaster/07fires/fireupdate.php

For now, you can:
• Pray that God will provide PCA members with strengthened faith and opportunities to serve fellow believers; pray also for God’s people as they serve others in their communities, demonstrating the Gospel through acts of mercy.
• Prayerfully consider a financial contribution. Gifts will be used to meet the needs of any PCA families who are affected, and to provide resources for PCA people to serve others in the community. To give a gift, go here: https://processor.pcanet.org/mna/donationsII/donation.cfm?MinistryTypeID=33

We do not know at this time how much volunteer assistance from outside the area will be permitted by local authorities; if you would like to volunteer, please register your team, go here: http://processor.pcanet.org/mna/events/signin.cfm?eventid=2

Sunday Fall Festival Weather Forecast Looks Promising

High temp on Sunday is 76 !
chance of rain 30%

Being with Jesus

Mark 3:14 "Jesus appointed twelve to be with him..."

Only through intimate contact would his followers really get to know Jesus and be able to fulfill the task of bearing witness to Him. Only in this way would they be fully exposed to the powerful influence of his life and ministry..... years later, the secret of their power was that they "had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). Through Scripture and by Christ's Spirit, it is still possible to be with Jesus. We should therefore take careful note of the effects of such communion and long for them in our own lives. --Sinclair Ferguson

a prayer: Oh, Jesus... may you so visit Christ Community that we would say with confidence, "We've been with Jesus." Would you empower us to help each other--and those you are bringing to us--to commune with you. In our own hearts... let us be with you. In our family life... let us be with you. In our corporate life as a church family... let us be with you!

The Unpardonable Sin, what is it?

Sweet lovable Jesus says in Mark 3, "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin."

Helpful stuff:
1. Blasphemy against the HS (ie the eternal sin) is the ongoing and continual rejection of the witness of the Holy Spirit to Jesus Christ as Saviour and God. That is the eternal sin. It is constant resistance to the grace and mercy of God. --Geoff Thomas
2. here, by RIchard Philipps
3. Interesting post here, about some atheists who challenge folk to upload videos to youtube that supposedly (and wrongly!) condemn them to hell.
4. John Piper sermon on the unpardonable sin

"The best proof that Christ will never cease to love us lies in that he never began" ~ Geerhardus Vos

Jeremiah. 31:3 "Yea I have loved you with an everlasting love"

Ephesians 1... before the foundations of the world...

It is a little sad...

I'm hearing of groups of people getting together this weekend to make chili for Sunday's chili cook-off & Fall festival.

Part of me wants to say, "NO!! It is not worth it." Why not? Because my "Hollerrr Chili" will so easily walk away with the trophy. Bring it on! 4pm Sunday

You can't change without grace....

“No one can truly change who does not know and rely on gifts from the hand of the Lord. Since Christ is both Giver and Gift, attempts to change without grace are barren of the very purpose, power, and Person that change is about. Self-manufactured change does not dislodge almighty me from the center of my tiny self-manufactured universe.

Still in the futility of my mind and the hardness of my heart, I only act a bit different. Successful living without grace describes mere self-reformation: get your act together, save your marriage, get off your duff and get a job. Failure in living describes failed self-efforts: when you can’t get a grip, you despair. Christless, grace-less attempts at change conclude either with the praise of your own glory or with your shame.”

- David Powlison, Seeing With New Eyes (Phillipsburg, PA: P & R Publishing, 2003), 48.

A New Israel

Israel (as the people of God) was not reconstituted in 1948.... Jesus did it in Mark 3!

"When Jesus called the twelve, he began to create a new Israel and begin to lead his people in a new Exodus. Through the proclamation of the gospel that Jesus taught these twelve men and which they’ve proclaimed to us through God’s word, God has called each one of us by name. We come from different races, we have different backgrounds, and we occupy many stations of life. But make no mistake about it. God has called each one of us by name to place our trust in Jesus Christ. Like the twelve, we leave everything behind and we follow our new master as he leads us through the wilderness of this present evil age as we make our way to the heavenly city. --Kim Riddlebarger

The Twelve

Mark 3:13-19 lists the calling of "The Twelve"... as the disciples are called in the gospels. It is difficult to overestimate what God is going to do through these 12 ordinary men. Because of time we know how their lives & influence turn out... but they didn't on the day they stood on that mtn with Jesus.

It reminds me of a line in "National Treasure" when Nicholas Cage reflects on how radical the writers of the Dec. of Independence were in their actions & lives.
"A toast, to high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would've been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and oh my personal favorite, had their entrails cut out and burned! So, here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right."

(i hesitate to illustrate biblical truth with American stuff for fear that someone thinks that USA is parallel with God's Kingdom.... don't do that)