Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world.
Martin Luther

My friend & mentor recently preached a sermon with a great title...

Thou Shalt Have Great Sex

Proverbs 5:15-23

February 17, 2008

Rev. Ray Cortese

Download:

Sermon Notes

Order of Worship

Download Audio

I don't think our friends know this....

I'm serious... In most of my conversation with people who are not Christians there is a lack of awareness of this core message that Christians love and (take for granted?). Stated well here:

A central message of the Bible is that we can only have a relationship with God by sheer grace. Our moral efforts are too feeble and falsely motivated to ever merit salvation. Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has provided salvation for us, which we receive as a gift. ... Growth in character and change in behavior occur in a gradual process after a person becomes a Christian. The mistaken belief that a person must ‘clean up’ his or her own life in order to merit God’s presence is not Christianity. This means, though, that the church will be filled with immature and broken people who still have a long way to go emotionally, morally, and spiritually. As the saying has it: ‘The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.’ --Tim Keller, A Reason for God

The offer of real joy is repeatedly extended from heaven; the creature repeatedly rejects it.

--Andrée Seu

Boundless Appetite

---thinking about the Lord's Supper we will celebrate Sunday...

Men cannot exceed in the degree of [spiritual] appetites. There is no such thing as any inordinateness in holy affections; there is no such thing as excess in longings after the discoveries of the beauty of Christ Jesus, or greater degrees of holiness, or the enjoyment of communion with God…. Persons may to their utmost indulge their hungerings after righteousness, and after the Word of God, and after all spiritual pleasures. They may indulge those appetites as much as they will in their thoughts and in their meditations and in their practice. They may drink, yea, swim in the rivers of spiritual pleasure…. We ought to take all opportunities to lay ourselves in the way of enticement with respect to our gracious inclinations. Thus you should be often with God in prayer, and then you will be in the way of having your heart drawn forth to him. We ought to be frequent in reading and constant in hearing the Word. And particularly to this end, we ought carefully and with the utmost seriousness and consideration attend the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper; this was appointed for this end, to draw forth the longings of our souls towards Jesus Christ.

—Jonathan Edwards, from a sermon, “Spiritual Appetites Need No Bounds”

For Pastors! and parents, and comm group leaders, and people with friends.. and...

These words were--i think--originally written to pastors as a way of "coaching them up" on how to help their people fight sin and pursue the life that is life indeed... a kind of primer on how to envision & equip their people (and themselves! who needs grace more than a preacher?) in the art of saying NO to drinking from broken/rusty water fountains that send out brown gunk and saying YES to the clean spring water of Christ (that's my translation of jeremiah 2)
Anyway

Let us not cease then to ply the only instrument of powerful and positive operation, to do away from you the love of the world. Let us try every legitimate method of finding access to your hearts for the love of Him who is greater than the world. For this purpose, let us, if possible, clear away that shroud of unbelief which so hides and darkens the face of the Deity. Let us insist on His claims to your affection - and whether in the shape of gratitude, or in the shape of esteem, let us never cease to affirm, that in the whole of that wondrous economy, the purpose of which is to reclaim a sinful world unto Himself - he, the God of love, so sets Himself forth in characters of endearment, that nought but faith, and nought but understanding, are wanting, on your part, to call forth the love of your hearts back again.
---Thomas Chalmers, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection.... whole thing at
http://www.newble.co.uk/chalmers/comm9.html/

Preaching the Passion of Christ in March

... have just arrived at my preaching plan for the next few weeks

We will jump from Mark 6 (where we were last week, and where we'll return after Easter) to Mark 14 this Sunday. Here are the texts for the next several sermons:

March 2: Mark 14:1-9 Jesus is Anointed with perfume
March 9: Mark 15:1-32
March 16: Mark 15:33-47
March 23: Easter! Mark 16

“There is no more for him to do, but only to know and believe, that Jesus Christ hath done all for him…This, then, is perfect righteousness, only to know and believe, that Jesus Christ is now gone to the Father, and sitteth at his right hand, not as a Judge, but as made to you of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; wherefore, as Paul and Silas said to the jailor, so I say unto you, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” That is, be verily persuaded in your heart that Jesus Christ is yours, and that you shall have life and salvation by him; that whatsoever Christ did for the redemption of mankind, he did it for you.”

The Marrow of Modern Divinity, pp. 118, 119

Lent Day 20, Mark 8:14-26

Continuing with today's reading... Jesus and his disciples CONTINUE to interact about what happened when He fed the 5000...

By the way.... here are the readings for the week if you are seeking to read through the Gospel of Mark this Lenten season...

Tuesday, February 26, 2008 Mark 8:27-9:1
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Mark 9:2-32
Thursday, February 28, 2008 Mark 9:33-50
Friday, February 29, 2008 Mark 10:1-16
Saturday, March 01, 2008 Day of reflection

“God’s grace is not easily reconciled to our math, but that does not diminish its beauty or scope. When we serve our Lord out of true and full thanksgiving for his defeat of the guilt and power of our sin, we are grateful not merely for his benevolently receiving our works but for his enabling of us to do what he will ultimately reward. This side of heaven, we will never logically resolve the tension between human responsibility and divine provision in sanctification. But as we learn to acknowledge that God must provide what we need to please him, the result will be our full dependence upon his grace. While our logic may not be satisfied in this dependence, it is the only place where the heart conscious of its humanity can find rest.” Bryan Chapell, Holiness by Grace

the keller book

Never before have I felt like I had a book that I could (and will!!) put in the hands of my non-Christian friends and walk away feeling like... "That author presents what I really believe. He respects the non-Christian and doesn't talk down to them. He expresses being a Christian in the true way we should, with extreme humility AND confidence." If you haven't laid hands on THE REASON FOR GOD, you really should.

A choice excerpt from Tim Keller’s new book (written primarily for skeptics) …

“The death of Jesus was qualitatively different from any other death. The physical pain was nothing compared to the spiritual experiences of cosmic abandonment. Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment. On the cross he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceeds ours as infinitely as his knowledge and power excels ours. In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and godforsaken. Why did he do it? The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for creation. He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us. … If we again ask the question: ‘Why does God allow evil and suffering to continue?’ and we look at the cross of Jesus, we still do not know what the answer is. However, we know what the answer isn’t. It can’t be that he doesn’t love us. It can’t be that he is indifferent or detached from our condition. God takes our misery and suffering so seriously that he was willing to take it on himself. … So, if we embrace the Christian teaching that Jesus is God and that he went to the Cross, then we have deep consolation and strength to face the brutal realities of life on earth.”

-Timothy Keller, The Reason For God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (New York City: Dutton, 2008) p. 30.

Building Plans Approved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks for praying.... now it is on to securing a loan and plans for a groundbreaking celebration... this was a huge step towards building a place for God's glory....

Alachua County Meeting is 1:30pm

Correction... meeting time is 1:30 pm..... NOW!

Mark 6 Feeding 5000 .... God's glory doesn't LOOK like man's attempts at it

It is also not accidental that Mark places this event immediately after recounting Herod’s drunken birthday bash which led to the death of John the Baptist. Herod claims royalty but is really nothing but a pretender. Jesus, however, is Israel’s true king. Herod is surrounded by big-wigs, while Jesus is with those who are poor and needy. Herod’s birthday bash is a picture of luxury and excess, while Jesus provides the people with the mere necessities of life. Therefore, whole scene in the wilderness is designed to contrast God’s glory–which can only be seen through the eyes of faith–and the apparent glory of an earthly king such as Herod. --Kim Riddlebarger

John Owen

I'm being tutored--along with few other guys-- in the art of killing sin. Our most recent lesson was on not being fooled that sin has been killed just because we have gotten really upset about it... or really started to focus on it. (FYI, the sin can be anything... discontentment; coveting; demanding heaven NOW; fear of man, etc)

The whole man, spiritual and natural, being now awakened, sin shrinks in its head, appears not, but lies as dead before him: as when one that has drawn nigh to an army in the night, and has killed a principal person—instantly the guards awake, men are roused up, and strict inquiry is made after the enemy, who, in the meantime, until the noise and tumult be over, hides himself, or lies like one that is dead, yet with firm resolution to do the like mischief again upon the like opportunity. … So it is in a person when a breach has been made upon his conscience, quiet, perhaps credit, by his sinful desire, in some eruption of actual sin—carefulness, indignation, desire, fear, revenge, are all set on work about it and against it, and sinful desire is quiet for a season, being run down before them; but when the hurry is over and the inquest past, the thief appears again alive, and is as busy as ever at his work. --John Owen

got a minute?

History of Religion in 90 seconds... fascinating... can't help thinking of this "movie" while preparing my heart to sing Psalm 2 in the services sunday morning

Feeding the 5000 in context

serious props from RP to kim riddlebarger for this helpful overview of where we find ourselves as we come sunday to our King's feeding of the 5000

Who Is Jesus? King Herod wants to know, since
he’s heard about this miracle-worker exorcist preaching out in the hill country near Nazareth. Herod
has also heard the rumors that Jesus may be John the Baptist come back to life. This would explain
Jesus’ miraculous powers. The followers of John the Baptist think that Jesus is Elijah who must come
before the Day of the Lord. Many in Israel think that Jesus is one of Israel’s prophets who has returned
to call the nation to repentance. Members of the Sanhedrin–Israel’s ruling religious body in
Jerusalem–have accused Jesus of being demon possessed. The Pharisees think that Jesus is some sort of
magician/false teacher who refuses to acknowledge the distinction between clean and unclean. The
multitudes, who are seeking out Jesus, really don’t much care who Jesus is, they just want Jesus to heal
them or deliver them from demonic oppression. Meanwhile, slowly but surely, Jesus is lifting the veil as
to his true identity. His disciples have witnessed Jesus speak in parables, calm a storm, cast out a legion
of demons, and raise the dead. Now they will witness Jesus perform a miracle (feeding 5000) which ties him to many of the key events in Israel’s history. But in the end, everyone is asking the same question. Who is Jesus?
In Mark chapter 6, Mark describes a transitional phase in Jesus’ ministry. After beginning his messianic mission, Jesus had been primarily preaching in the area near Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. But the time had
come for Jesus to preach to new audiences. Jesus also needed to escape from the huge crowds which had
been following him every where he went–to the point of hindering his mission. Jesus’ first trip out the
area was to return to his hometown of Nazareth. As yet another poignant indicator that his entire life was
one of humiliation, Jesus was mocked by his former friends and neighbors in Nazareth as “the carpenter,
the son of Mary.” In fact, things in Nazareth were so bad that Mark recounts how Jesus himself marveled
at the people’s lack of faith.
During this same point in his ministry, Jesus gave a temporary commission to his disciples to go
throughout the villages in the hill country near Nazareth to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Going out
two by two, the disciples reported to Jesus that many people were healed and that demons fled when the
gospel was proclaimed. It was during this time that Herod Antipas got wind of Jesus’ expanding
ministry. Herod heard some of the rumors rapidly spreading throughout Israel that Jesus might be John
the Baptist come back to life. This would have been especially frightening to Herod because it was he
who had put John the Baptist to death at the behest of his wife Herodias. If Jesus were indeed John, he
might seek revenge upon Herod. Mark uses Herod’s fear of Jesus to recount to his readers the sad fate of
John the Baptist. The death of the Baptist meant that John (not Jesus) was the promised Elijah, and that
although John was the greatest of men under the Old Covenant, his death was yet another, albeit tragic,
sign that the New Covenant age had dawned in the person of Jesus. As the messianic forerunner, John’s
work was completed. John must decrease so that Jesus might increase. ---Kim Riddlebarger

"I like your smile!"

In reading a helpful parenting book--LOVING OBEDIENCE--by William Richardson... I have been challenged to model the character of God to my children by delighting in them. This is a key element of encouragement... and encouragement is half the stuff of nurturing children. (the other is direction/discipline/correction)

SO.... parents.... here are my notes from this book, hope they help:

7 paths of encouragement:

1.) Acknowledge assets

2.) Catch them doing good

a.) notice

b.) notice verbally

c.) express verbal appreciation

3.) Touch the heart

Appropriate physical touch actually reaches the heart. Look for spontaneous times to tussle hair, tickle or hug/wrestle.

4.) Have some fun

a.) make it fun for you as adult

b.) short times (15-20 minutes) keeps adult from feeling impossible

c.) uninterrupted… treat it as it is—an important meeting—"I won’t answer the phone, door, etc while I’m doing this."

5.) _____to be continued....

Sinclair Ferguson’s excellent little book The Christian Life. WE came across this great quote this week …

When I was a little boy there was a children’s record request programme on B.B.C. Radio. One of the songs, regularly played towards the end of the pro­gramme because of its popularity, was called ‘The Ugly Duck­ling’ sung by Danny Kaye. It told the story of a rather self-conscious little ‘duckling’, mixing with the other birds and feeling very sorry for himself because of his ‘feathers all stubby and brown’. He was rather despised by his fellow birds, and felt something of a failure, especially when he cast a side-long glance at their comparative beauty. Then one day the ‘ugly duckling’ looked down, and saw something marvellous. He no longer had brown, ugly feathers, but was arrayed in the splendid white feathers of a swan! And off he went shouting, ‘I’m a swan, I’m a swan’. Although he had thought he was a duckling, he had never been a duckling. He had been a swan all the time. But the real difference came when he saw what he really was. The recognition of his true identity was the beginning of new joy!

Precisely the same is true of the teaching of this chapter [Romans 6]. The great mistake many of us make is to look only at our sin and failure, and then ask, a little despairingly, What can I do? But our need is not to do, it is first of all to understand what God has done; to see that what he has made us through his Son is a man or a woman who has died with Christ to sin’s dominion and has been raised with Christ to newness of life. We are those over whom sin no longer has any dominion. Like the ‘ugly duckling’ then, I may say: ‘I’m not under sin’s dominion! I am a new creature! I am not what I thought I was, nor what I once was! I’m not an “ugly duckling” Christ­ian, I’m a child of God!’

Sinclair Ferguson

"One sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak."

--G.K. Chesterton

A building on Parker Road

So easy to type... so much harder to see happen. Thursday our final review with Alachua County takes place. Pray for this evening meeting...
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!
--Psalm 90

Looking for that one thing....

an excerpt from a great piece....
We all look for it. We all refuse to live without it. We all think we've found it, but it can only really be found one place. What is it that I'm talking about? Well, here it is; every human being is on a search somehow someway to find that solid rock on which to stand. That one thing that they can bank on. That one thing that will keep them upright when the storms of life are raging. That one thing that will remain firm for the duration. That one thing that will give them security when nothing else does. That one thing that will give them that deep and abiding inner sense of well-being that every rational human being desires. That one thing that gives you the courage to face what you otherwise wouldn't want to face. That one thing that you can rely on. That one thing that will keep you safe. Everyone is searching for that solid rock. --Paul Tripp, read all here

Sunday's Song

Sarah Hamersma, Dan Hall and Becky Gilbertson served us well with the song "Depth of Mercy" (typical charles wesley there are tons o' stanzas... i think they did the stanzas i've made bold)

Depth of mercy! Can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear,
Me, the chief of sinners, spare?

I have long withstood His grace,
Long provoked Him to His face,
Would not hearken to His calls,
Grieved Him by a thousand falls.

I have spilt His precious blood,
Trampled on the Son of God,
Filled with pangs unspeakable,
I, who yet am not in hell!

I my Master have denied,
I afresh have crucified,
And profaned His hallowed Name,
Put Him to an open shame.

Whence to me this waste of love?
Ask my Advocate above!
See the cause in Jesus’ face,
Now before the throne of grace.

Jesus, answer from above,
Is not all Thy nature love?
Wilt Thou not the wrong forget,
Permit me to kiss Thy feet?

If I rightly read Thy heart,
If Thou all compassion art,
Bow Thine ear, in mercy bow,
Pardon and accept me now.

Jesus speaks, and pleads His blood!
He disarms the wrath of God;
Now my Father’s mercies move,
Justice lingers into love.

Kindled His relentings are,
Me He now delights to spare,
Cries, “How shall I give thee up?”
Lets the lifted thunder drop.

Lo! I still walk on the ground:
Lo! an Advocate is found:
“Hasten not to cut Him down,
Let this barren soul alone.”

There for me the Savior stands,
Shows His wounds and spreads His hands.
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps and loves me still.

Pity from Thine eye let fall,
By a look my soul recall;
Now the stone to flesh convert,
Cast a look, and break my heart.

Now incline me to repent,
Let me now my sins lament,
Now my foul revolt deplore,
Weep, believe, and sin no more. --charles wesley, 1740

Cling to the Crucified

Cling to the mighty one
cling in thy grief
cling to the holy one
he gives relief

cling to the gracious one
cling in thy pain
cling to the faithful one
he will sustain

cling to the crucified
Jesus the Lamb who died
cling to the crucified
Jesus the King

Cling to the living one
cling in thy woe
cling to the loving one
through all below

cling to the pardoning one
he speaketh peace
cling to the healing one
anguish will cease

-- Horatious Bonar.....from igracemusic album wake thy slumbering children

Club 45 Dates for Spring

• March 9.2008

• May 11.2008

Marriage Conference tonite 7pm OAK HALL

Valentine's Day & Jesus

an article on "Who was St. Valentine?" by Phil Ryken is here

Be My Valentine
Rev. Richard D. Phillips
On or around the year 270 A.D.. a Christian minister near Rome by the name of Valentine was arrested under the rule of Claudius VII. There were a number of charges against him, according to legend, such as refusing to worship the pagan gods Jupiter and Mercury because of his exclusive worship of Jesus Christ. Valentine also had violated the emperor's orders forbidding wartime marriages, an order apparently motivated by the view that married men would be reluctant to accept long-term service in the beleaguered Roman armies. Valentine, we are told, performed secret marriages against this ban and thus forever linked his name with the romantic ideal.

Some 200 years later, when Christianity had become the official religion of the empire, Pope Gelasius set out to eliminate pagan religious practices. Accordingly, he banned the mid February festival to the god Lupercus, a god of fertility and sensual pleasure. In keeping with the papal practice, however, Gelasius offered a day to commemorate St. Valentine, a sort of "lovers' saint" who might be venerated in Lupercus' place. Unfortunately for the pope, more of the Lupercian ideal of love attached itself to St. Valentine's Day than the Christian mercy and devotion of the martyred priest. This fact is attested to by the prominent role of Cupid in the holiday today, another name for the pagan semi-deity Eros, the son of Aphrodite, who randomly shoots his arrows of passion, into willing, if unsuspecting youths on Valentine's Day.

St. Valentine went to prison for love, and because of love he eagerly ministered to his fellow prisoners and even the guards. One of these guards brought his adopted blind daughter to the Christian priest. Valentine prayed and the girl was given her sight, with the result that not only the guard but his whole household came to faith in Jesus. Fed up with the love-motivated evangelist's activities, the imperial authorities ordered his death by beheading. But before this cruel end, Valentine managed to get off a letter to the once blind girl, in which he expressed his fondness for her, and which he signed the legendary words, "From Your Valentine."

Ever since that letter, or at least ever since Pope popularization of St. Valentine, the longing for love has been declared with the words, 'Be My Valentine". It is certainly right for men and women to long for love, even, yes, for romantic love. The Bible hardly censors the throbbing heart of a man for a woman, as the biblical account of God's gift of the woman, Eve, to the first man, Adam, found in Genesis 2, makes abundantly clear:

The LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. Gen 2:23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." Gen 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Gen 2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Nor is the Bible scandalized by a woman's desire for the affections of a man. The Bible's Song of Songs begins with this enticing foray:

"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth --
for your love is more delightful than wine... Take
me away with you -- let us hurry!"

Contrary to many of the press reports, God is not scandalized by romance. God invented romance. And yet, given our own culture's obsession with the erotic, to the exclusion of that which is genuinely romantic, we do well to speak with some specificity when we talk of love. And in that respect, we could hardly do better than the words so oft-emblazoned on the greeting cards we share this holiday: "Be My Valentine."

The Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples, "Greater love has no one than this, that be lay down his life for his friends" John 15:13). Surely this aptly describes what we know of that Christian martyr, Valentine, who gave his life in service to others, in fidelity to His Lord, and in zeal to share the Good News with the lost.

Isn't it true, both men and women, that when we scrawl out, "Be My Valentine", perhaps with a tear falling to smudge the paper, out heart's cry is not so much for Cupid's arrow to stoke someone's fleeting desire, but rather for this love which the Bible sets forth not with Eros but Agape. The manly love that puts the woman even before himself, loving her 'as Christ loved the Church, giving Himself for her"; the feminine love that honors and strengthens out of a beauty that is from within. The love that declares, "We love because God first loved us." (1 Jn. 4:19). The love that remembers us with its dying words, even as the martyred saint penned: "From Your Valentine".

Although we long for such love, we will not find it in a card in our mailbox. Many women will not find it in a man in this life, and vice versa. None of us will either live up to such a standard of love, nor find it in so perfectly lived out in our mate, though thoughts of such love should stir our hearts towards it.

And yet there is One who not only fulfills our 'Be My Valentine" longing, but was Himself the author of St. Valentine's love. The Apostle Paul tells us about Him by writing,

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8.

So our desire for belonging is fulfilled in the love of Christ, who tells us "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you" (Heb. 13:5).

Our thirst for One who will passionately and sacrificially love us is satisfied only in Him who for the joy of His love for us "took up the cross and scorned its shame" (Heb. 12:2).

Yes, Valentine was a great lover, and he showed his love by dying for his friends. But "God is love, " writes the Apostle John. -This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love.- not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another' (1 Jn. 4:8-11).

So in the deepest sense, only Jesus can be our Valentine. But in Christ, let us be Valentines for one another, giving ourselves for our brothers and sisters, and also with that special love between a man and a woman that portrays the love between Christ and the Church, For, as John concludes, "if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (v. 12).

Contentment

Contentment is the inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, freely submitting to and taking pleasure in God's disposal in every condition.

That is the description, and in it nine distinct things have been opened up which we summarize as follows: First, that contentment is a heart-work within the soul; Secondly, it is the quieting of the heart; Thirdly, it is the frame of the spirit; Fourthly, it is a gracious frame; Fifthly, it is the free working of this gracious frame; Sixthly, there is in it a submission to God, sending the soul under God; Seventhly, there is a taking pleasure in the hand of God; Eighthly, all is traced to God's disposal; Ninthly, in every condition, however hard it be and however long it continue.

--taken from "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment"
by Jeremiah Burroughs

there are real reasons for the man-crush

My mississippi friends will often ask, "So, Pendley... are you caught up in the Tim Tebow man crush?" What they mean is do you think everything that he does is simply splendid?
They have to ask that because, it is so fun to watch him play and really does seem to be a wonderful young man in many ways.

Similarly, Tim Keller is the object of many a minister's "man crush". A few women find his teaching extraordinarily helpful as well. Anyway, like Tebow, there's a reason... the guy is extremely gifted... and humility is one of those gifts. Tim Keller has a book coming out Mañana. Check out this "man-crush" review:

William Edgar on Keller's The Reason for God:

The Reason for God by Timothy Keller is Christian apologetics at its best. Keller understands skepticism because he constantly interacts with unbelief in every guise in New York City, where he works. He plunges head on into issues such as, suffering, the Bible and science, Islamic terrorism, the exclusivity of the Christian religion, and so on. His answers are always fresh, often surprising, imaginative. His sources range from Bono to Jean Paul Sartre to Jonathan Edwards, and these pages are filled with personal experiences and real-life people. Above all, this book is gospel-driven, in the same way Redeemer Church is, and Tim Keller himself is. If you don't read anything else in 2008, read this.
William Edgar, Coordinator of the Apologetics Dept, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia

The hardcover book is now shipping from Westminster Bookstore for 38% off the retail price. The audio book (for 37% off) is also available. (fyi: Goering's books was expecting 3 copies, don't know about borders or books a million or other locals)

Mark 3:7-19

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

wonderful metaphor....

Jesus holds my ankles encouraging me to do a keg-stand from His barrel of unexpired grace.
--b.watkins

How the gospel sets us free...

“The gospel gives you psychological freedom to handle the wrong things that you will do. You won’t have to deny, spin, or repress the truth about yourself. These things don’t make it impossible to know who you are.

Only with the support of hearing Jesus say, ‘You are capable of terrible things, but I am absolutely, unconditionally committed to you,’ will you be able to be honest with yourself.”
- Tim Keller, Journal of Biblical Counseling (Winter 2007)

“Legalism lacks the supreme sense of worship. It obeys but it does not adore,”
--Geerhardus Vos

We are on the calendar

Christ Community Church is on the DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE AGENDA
February 21, 2008

please pray... this is a portion of our move towards constructing a facility that will serve as a place:
--for us to worship & enjoy God and each other
--for the community to use
-- for us to be trained & equipped ... and be sent out

Lent, Day 5, Mark 2:1-17

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Lent, Day 3

Jesus Heals Many

29 And immediately he [5] left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” 39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

40 And a leper [6] came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And Jesus [7] sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Tim Keller... Why Christianity is Hard to Believe

Redeemer Presbyterian Church has made available free audio of teachings by Tim Keller. These all relate to the book released this month

There will also be an active website on the day the book releases... February 14

The Trouble with Christianity: Why It's so Hard to Believe it

Exclusivity: How an there be just one true religion?
Suffering: If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?
Absolutism: Don't we all have to find truth for ourselves
Injustice: Hasn't Christianity been an instrument for oppression?
Hell: Isn't the God of Christianity an angry Judge?
Doubt: What should I do with my doubts?
Literalism: Isn't the Bible historically unreliable and regressive?

Lent, Day 2... Mark 1:14-28

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Ash Wednesday doesn't have to be weird

Lots of folks freak about observing in any way Ash Wednesday... it doesn't have to be weird... think of it as a day to meditate upon Genesis 3:20 where God says to Adam (and humanity)..... "for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

"Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return." We are only dust and that is reason for humility. But God used the dust to create us in his image. That is reason for joy and gratitude. And even though we shall return to dust, we shall be raised again. That is reason for hope.

Mark chapter one, verses 1 thru 13

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

HEre is the link for the mark reading plan

Thinking a bit more about marvelling at Christ

John Piper is correct when he objects to the common but false assumption that,

“…intense emotion thrives only in the absence of a coherent, exposition of doctrine… True worship, like true preaching, insists and demands that the affections are to be ignited rather than extinguished by biblical truth…our concern with truth is an inevitable expression of our concern with God…Not to care about truth is not to care about God. To love God passionately is to love truth passionately…”

Read Through Mark During Lent

Mark 1:1-13

Perhaps you want to join me in reading through the Gospel of Mark during Lent. Our own Chipper Flaniken put together a really simple reading plan... here are the 1st two days...

Wednesday Mark 1:1-13
Thursday Mark 1:14-28

the rest of the reading plan will go up on church website (which is working!!) on wednesday

Recall the kindness

In those moments when we are overwhelmed by our flesh and failure, we must recall the kindness of God that saved us from our foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved, malicious, envious, hateful hearts (Titus 3:3-7). We must recall that when we were enslaved to sinful desires, it was the kindness of God that led Him to pour out His Spirit upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3:6). It is the kindness of God, not His severity, that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4).

It is the gentle and tender yet all-powerful voice of the “Friend of Sinners” (Matt. 11:28-30) not the thunderous and ominous voice of the Lawgiver (Exodus 19, 20:18-21; 34:29-35) that moves the believer’s heart to confess sin and long for God. We must hear the voice of God calling to us in the Gospel, otherwise we will be like Adam and Even who hid in fear (Gen. 3:10) or like the Children of Israel who stood at a distance in fear (Ex. 19:21). --John Fonville

The Greatest Gift

“The greatest gift I can give to my fellow-Christians is the gospel itself. Indeed, I love my fellow-Christians not simply because of the gospel, but I love them best when I am loving them with the gospel!" --M. Vincent

Come to Jesus Every Day

Last week when visiting with an old friend I confessed my tiredness and shame at struggling again and again with many of the same sin patterns I had when he and I were in close contact. I basically said, "Is this normal?" He said something much like this:

“Oh! sweet language of the precious blood of Jesus! If you have come to that blood once, you will come to it constantly… If thou hast ever come to the blood of sprinkling, you will feel your need of coming to it every day.” - Charles Spurgeon

Relishing the Beauty & Holiness of Christ

“The foundation of all holy affections is in moral excellence and the beauty of holiness. There is a love of holiness for its own sake that inclines people to practice holiness. Holiness is thus the main business that excites, draws and governs all gracious affections. No wonder then that all such affections tend to holiness, for men will be united to and possessed by that which they love and desire. (i.e. people do what they love to do). And what has been observed of the divine teaching and leading of the Spirit of God in gracious affections will show a tendency toward a universal, holy practice. The Holy Spirit gives the soul a natural relish for the sweetness of what is holy and for everything that is holy as it comes into view. He also intensifies a dislike and disgust of everything that is unholy.” --Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections

RP: This is why it is so important to ask the Spirit to hold sway in our affections!!

Help Each Other Live with a "God's Story" mentality...

“The central work of God’s kingdom is change. God accomplishes this work as the Holy Spirit empowers people to bring his Word to others. We bring more than solutions, strategies, principles, and commands. We bring the greatest story ever told, the story of the Redeemer. Our goal is to help one another live with a ‘God’s story’ mentality. Our mission is to teach, admonish, and encourage one another to rest in his sovereignty, rather than establishing our own; to rely on his grace rather than performing on our own; and to submit to his glory rather than seeking our own. This is the work of the kingdom of God: people in the hands of the Redeemer, daily functioning as his tools of lasting change.”

- Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands

Tomorrow is "Fat Tuesday"

What to make of Lent? This is difficult for many people.
There is no biblical command to observe Lent and therefore you don't have to do anything.
There is a human tendency to create a religious system by which to feel right with God, and some use Lent to that wrong end.

So why bother? I have found that I need every chance I need to "start over". So I will enter this Lenten season with a renewed commitment to:
-- look to the cross as my righteousness
-- give up my idolatry
-- find my identity in Christ
-- love my neighbor
-- etc
And I might just decide to cut out something I love as a constant reminder that whatever I cut out is usually far more "lovely" to me than is Christ and His gospel. So... if you want to do some thinking on Lent... here are some links.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 6th
--Higgins article here

Oh, by the way... the idea of "Fat Tuesday" is this, in my understanding...
Lent is the period when you say, "God burn off the dross of my sin. Remove anything that hinders me from knowing the depth of your love for me and your world." Well, Fat Tuesday is when you realize... I will go crazy and grow neurotic during this time of repentance if I don't bathe myself in the love of God... God provides me an ongoing feast of grace. Only a person full of the love of God can truly have the emotional wealth to look at his/her sin. At least that is my understanding.

“The good news of the kingdom is not freedom from hardship, suffering, and loss. It is the news of a Redeemer who has come to rescue me from myself. His rescue produces change that fundamentally alters my response to these inescapable realities. The Redeemer turns rebels into disciples, fools into humble listeners. He makes cripples walk again. In him we can face life and respond with faith, love, and hope. And as he changes us, he allows us to be a part of what he is doing in the lives of others. As you respond to the Redeemer’s work in your life, you can learn to be an instrument in his hands.”

- Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands