Compassion International, Bev & Doug Robinson's testimony for it

About 11 years ago my husband and I decided to support a
young boy in Ethiopia. We contacted this boy by going thru
Compassion International. Our young boy’s name is Beruk. He
was 8 years old when we started supporting him and his Christian
schooling. Over the years we have watched this young immature
boy grow into a young man of 19 years who shares with us his
love of Jesus Christ and is extremely thankful that he has been
allowed to grow up in a school and environment that is so much
better than what he would have had had he not been supported
by Compassion International.
He has one brother and one sister and parents also. In
Beruks’ country and town many parents cannot support their
families because there are no jobs, generation after generation
and many become alcoholics. We receive letters letting us know
what Beruk has spent the money we send to him. Once it was a
goat, once a flock of chickens, and a roof for his family’s home,
clothes, blankets and all this for very small financial gifts.
Beruk and I have corresponded for many years and I pray
for him and his family and he prays for our family. It was
especially comforting to know that last year when I was sick that
Beruk and his family were praying for me in Ethiopia. God has
blessed us with a correspondence with believers on the other side
of the world how great is that?
I believe that it is important to support with prayer and with
financial resources organizations that reach out to the unreached
people of our world and share the gospel with them. Supporting a
child where the main focus is salvation is important.
I encourage anyone to find way to expand your giving to the
world outside your small corner. Foreign missions and
Compassion International whose focus is sharing Christ’s gospel
is our passion, I challenge you if you have not chosen to reach out
to the unreached areas of the world to share Christ, please
petition God for an answer, listen to God’s answer and then obey
and you will be greatly blessed. I know we have.

Hope for Kids

We want you to become very aware of 2 ways to serve kids around the
world, in Jesus' name.

Operation Christmas Child
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

Compassion Child Sponsorship
http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm

God-breathed

Authority of scripture: stott, john

'God-breathed' is not the only account which Scripture gives of itself, since God's mouth was not the only mouth involved in its production. The same Scripture which says 'the mouth of the LORD has spoken' (Is. 1:20) also says that God spoke 'by the mouth of his holy prophets' (Acts 3:18, 21). Out of whose mouth did Scripture come, then? God's or man's? The only biblical answer is 'both'. Indeed, God spoke through the human authors in such a way that his words were simultaneously their words, and their words were simultaneously his. This is the double authorship of the Bible. Scripture is equally the Word of God and the words of human beings. Better, it is the Word of God through the words of human beings.

--From "The Contemporary Christian"

sunday stuff

Community in Action

&

Worship Folder

Spurgeon AM

How priceless a gift is His perfect righteousness! And how bright is the hope of perfect holiness in heaven! Even now, though sin dwells in us, its power is broken. It remains, but it no longer reigns; we are in bitter conflict with it, but we are dealing with a vanquished foe. In a little while we will enter victoriously into the city where nothing defiles.

Generous Justice, by Keller

An Interview with Tim Keller on the Gospel and Justice: Kevin DeYoung interviews Tim Keller about his new book Generous Justice, http://bit.ly/9Q8j5O

Rob Pendley

Sunday

I've always loved this commercial.  Sunday we'll see how God helps us deal with discouragement/getting knocked down.

I'm calling out "foodies"

Chili Cookoff

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Larry & Kathleen Eubanks

Tony & Brenda Freese - "Chicken Chili"

Ken & Kathy French

The Henkel's

Karl & Shirley Kaswinkel

Steve & Jenna Lammers - "Simply Good Chili"

The Means

Josh & Lauren Nederveld

The Schackow's - "FL/GA Chili"

The Stankunas'- "O Baby, That's Hot!"

Zach & Sara West - "Cajolz"

Stuart & Nancy Palmer

Let's go, Stanfield, Smith, Best

Exodus 6, after God's "I will", Israel's "We won't"

Optimism is often dashed by suffering, especially ongoing suffering.

Faith is often diminished by hardship because emotions play a powerful part in most human thinking, and thinking can become increasingly pessimistic when any sort of pain continues unabated.  Accordingly, it is understandable that the Israelites would not listen (Exodus 6:9) to Moses' latest message of divine reassurance, even though they had previously welcomed Yahweh's words (Exodus 4:29-31).  Pharoah's strategy (5:7-9) had proved remarkably successful.  The people were overcome by impatience* for relief by hard slavery.

* Stuart says hebrew is impatience, not ESV's "broken spirit" or NIV's "discouragement"

More i dwell on it though, not a contradiction.

If he said it, it must be right

C. S. Lewis (@CSLewisDaily) 10/26/10 9:00 AM No one can settle how much we ought to give. The only safe rule is to give more than we can spare-C.S. Lewis

Details of Patterson baby

8lb. 21 inches. Born 4pm.

Name forthcoming

Congrats to Cathy & Brad Patterson

From y'day 2

From y'day.

Transforming Love of Christ

Steve Timmis  "As a flower unfolds before the warmth&light of the sun, so our hands open in generosity as they're exposed to the grace of God in Christ."

Martin Luther

Luther's 95 Theses: An Interview with Carl Trueman: This Sunday is Halloween. But more importantly, it's Reformation day---- http://bit.ly/a0DGqJ

Rob Pendley

Reflect God as you work this week

Work is permeated with purpose; it is intended to serve God, benefit humankind, and make nature subservient to the moral program of creation.... Therefore we apply our whole being—heart and mind, as well as hand—to the daily job. As God’s fellow workers, we reflect God’s creative activity on Monday no less than on Sunday…. To consider work a channel of divine creation, by which the creature serves God and humanity, carries certain consequences for one’s attitude toward labor. The Christian becomes morally obligated to withhold producing, and even purchasing (since money is simply the conversion of his work into tender) culturally worthless, let alone harmful items.


— Carl Henry, Aspects of Christian Social Ethics

Know the feeling?

Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" 

Then a voice says to me,

"This is going to take more than one night."

— "Charlie Brown"

in Peanuts, by Charles Schulz

God is the Divine Warrior

Tremper Longman has written some helpful stuff in understanding God as a warrior on behalf of His people.

Here

John 17:7

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Rob Pendley

From tedium to Te Deum

Here

Nice event @ study center tonite

Do it again!

At the end of Exodus 5, Moses is diappointed with God.  Doesn't see how knowing and/or following Him is helping---at all.

 

In response, God repeats stuff He's said plainly previously.  When thinking of this i was reminded of a quote by Chesterton--about God being fine with repitition.  Here 'tis:

 

"Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."

-- and this is GKC in a photo called, "The Gift of a Dandelion"

Sunday 3pm!

Fun learning for kids

Who?  Grades 2-5

what:   pumpkin painting, reformation story, games, pumpkin muffins, apples, and cider.

why:   to share pumpkins w/ elderly @ Emeritus (retirement home/ assisted living facility), to teach about october 31st, and FUN!

when:  sunday, october 24th   3pm -5pm

 

what to bring!   PUMPKIN that they will donate to Emeritus.

 

Where?

Stankunas home

Rob Pendley

Exodus 6:1-8 for Sunday

Just prior Moses said to God, "what gives, you haven't helped yet. Why not?"

1 But the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to
Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a
strong hand he will drive them out of his land."
2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD.
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but
by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of
Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.
5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the
Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will
bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will
deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an
outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you
shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from
under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the
LORD.'"

Credo

I believe.

Stop and think what the creed requires. You are saying:
--to God
--to the guy next to you
-- to your own heart

"Listen! What I'm about to say is the center of my life. Were these
things not true, all bets are off on who I am, how I live, etc. But
they are! And I believe 'em!!"

context of God's speech in chapter 6

 "What has appeared to Moses and the Israelites

as a serious deterioration of an already bad situation has been instead a

careful preparation for what is to come." John Durham

 "Even Pharaoh's hard-hearted

refusal was part of the plan of salvation. God was setting things up so that

Pharaoh would not only let God's people go but would help drive them out

himself! The all-wise and all-powerful God had everything under control."

--phil ryken

Nov 7 @ CCC you'll get to help

We love this story about a former Compassion sponsored child helping his people with microloans and integrity! http://ow.ly/2Xfdk

Rob Pendley

The reference to
"Outstretched arm" and "with great (mighty) acts of judgement"

connotes the upcoming plagues that would force Pharoah to do what he otherwise never would have done and would serve as a judgement against Egypt.

--Douglas Stuart

Outstretched Arm

"Outstretched arm is the fundamental metaphor of the Old Testament traditions of the exodus."

--Karen Martens

Exodus 6:6
I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.

More than you want, probably

Sunday we will confess/state/declare our faith using the Apostles' Creed.
Instead of:
"I believe in the holy catholic church" we have printed:
"I believe in the holy worldwide church"
It ain't perfect. Nothing is. (except maybe raiders super bowl XI
victory over Vikings)
Planning to post more later and use an illustration that involves the
word "gay".

(HERE is that more.)

Rob Pendley

How Great is He

"God can pick sense out of a confused prayer." William Sibbes

Send grace, Lord

It's amazing how infrequently the one thing we need the most, God's grace, doesn't even make the list of things we say we need. --Paul Tripp

Nov 7 @ CCC

Compassion Intl (@compassion) How are children told that they have been sponsored? http://ow.ly/2VOVu (Includes video of parents learning their child has a sponsor)

Rob Pendley

Hearts & Money

"God can have our money and not have our hearts, but He cannot have our hearts without having our money." Kent Hughes

Printable flyer

February 11-12, book it

Grace & Men Gainesville FL 2011
February 11-12, 2011
Christ Community Church : Gainesville, FL
with
Josiah Bancroft : John Sittema

Download 8.5x11 B&W Flyer !

Friday 7:00pm - 9:30pm
Saturday 8:00am - 1:00pm
$69 per man before January 5th, 2011
$79 per man after January 5th, 2011
$50 for a group of 5+ men
$29 for students

 Conference Hotel: Fairfield Inn Gainesville
$99 (+ taxes) - Grace & Men Conference Rate
Call 352-332-2892 by Jan 11, 2011 !
Parking - Free
Check-in: 3pm : Check-out: 12Noon

From nyt

@nytimes: Chinese Christians Barred From Conference http://nyti.ms/9UBDGD//

From first strings to symphony

As we listen to Exodus,

we hear the first strains of a melody that becomes a symphony in the Gospels.

--Phil Ryken

J.I. Packer on God's Self-Disclosure

SELF-DISCLOSURE

"THIS IS MY NAME"

God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, `The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. EXODUS 3:15

In the modern world, a person's name is merely an identifying label, like a number, which could be changed without loss. Bible names, however, have their background in the widespread tradition that personal names give information, describing in some way who people are. The Old Testament constantly celebrates the fact that God has made his name known to Israel, and the psalms direct praise to God's name over and over (Pss. 8:1; 113:1-3, 145:1-2, 148:5, 13). "Name" here means God himself as he has revealed himself by word and deed. At the heart of this self-revelation is the name by which he authorized Israel to invoke him—Yahweh as modern scholars write it, Jehovah as it used to be rendered, the LORD as it is printed in English versions of the Old Testament.

God declared this name to Moses when he spoke to him out of the thornbush that burned steadily without being burned up. God began by identifying himself as the God who had committed himself in covenant to the patriarchs (cf. Gen. 17:1-14); then, when Moses asked him what he might tell the people that this God's name was (for the ancient assumption was that prayer would be heard only if you named its addressee correctly), God first said "I AM WHO I AM" (or, "I will be what I will be"), then shortened it to "I AM," and finally called himself "the LORD (Hebrew Yahweh, a name sounding like "I AM" in Hebrew), the God of your fathers" (Exod. 3:6, 13-16). The name in all its forms proclaims his eternal, self-sustaining, self-determining, sovereign reality—that supernatural mode of existence that the sign of the burning bush had signified. The bush, we might say, was God's three-dimensional illustration of his own inexhaustible life. "This is my name forever," he said—that is, God's people should always think of him as the living, reigning, potent, unfettered and undiminished king that the burning bush showed him to be (Exod. 3:15).

Later (Exod. 33:18-34:7) Moses asks to see God's "glory" (adorable self-display), and in reply God did "proclaim his name" thus: "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished..." At the burning bush God had answered the question, In what way does God exist? Here he answers the question, In what way does God behave? This foundational announcement of his moral character is often echoed in later Scriptures (Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:15; Joel 2:13; John 4:2). It is all part of his "name," that is, his disclosure of his nature, for which he is to be adored forever.

God rounds off this revelation of the glory of his moral character by calling himself "the LORD, whose name is Jealous" (Exod. 34:14). This echoes, with emphasis, what he said of himself in the sanction of the second commandment (Exod. 20:5). The jealousy affirmed is covenantal: it is the virtue of the committed lover, who wants the total loyalty of the one he has bound himself to honor and serve.

In the New Testament, the words and acts of Jesus, the incarnate Son, constitute a full revelation of the mind, outlook, ways, plans, and purposes of God the Father (John 14:9-11; cf. 1:18). "Hallowed be your name" in the Lord's prayer (Matt. 6:9) expresses the desire that the first person of the Godhead will be revered and praised as the splendor of his self-disclosure deserves. God is to be given glory for all the glories of his name, that is, his glorious self-revelation in creation, providence, and grace.

from JI Packer's concise theology

exodus

Sign up to help today!

Church - Re-Membering the Body

http://byfaithonline.com/page/in-the-church/re-membering-the-body

Michael Card Teaching on Lamenting

Moses shows a better way in Exodus 5.  He takes his complaints and confusion to God directly.

Christ's cross doth shine! God's Son hath set me free!

Only God can deliver a sinner from sin. He alone has
the power to change a sinner’s heart and thus to bring freedom from sin and
death. The way God does this is beautifully explained in one of the Four
Psalms composed by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907):

God’s Son hath set me free from Satan’s tyranny,

from base desire, enslavement dire,

from fear of death and hell’s hot fire.

Lord Christ did intercede, with God for me did plead;

he underwent my punishment, to torture, death, was sent.

I cannot fathom love so great however much I contemplate:

that he could be so merciful to me,

a sinner frail, whom naught could suit but tasting the forbidden fruit;

by day, by night, old Satan’s might my soul had captured quite.

The psalm ends with these triumphant words:
“O blessed sign! Christ’s cross doth shine, makes bliss eternal mine.
God’s Son hath set me free!”

Sin as Slavery; Jesus as Emancipator

As sinners we get so used to sinning that we scarcely recognize our
bondage. Exodus gives us a powerful picture of what it really means to be
enslaved. Just as the children of Israel were held prisoner in the house of
bondage, so we too are incarcerated in the prison-house of sin.



The Bible teaches
that Jesus came to “free those who all their lives were held in slavery” (Heb.
2:15). Jesus is the mighty deliverer who rescues us from our captivity to
Satan, the strong Savior who frees us from our bondage to death, and the
great emancipator who liberates us from our slavery to sin. He does all this
through the cross, which was the death of our sin, and also through the empty
tomb, which is the guarantee of our release. It is through the crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus Christ that we pass from slavery into freedom.
Everyone who trusts in Christ is released from the servitude of sin in order
to live for the glory of God: “To him who loves us and has freed us from
our sins by his blood . . . to him be glory and power for ever and ever!”
(Rev. 1:5b, 6b).





--Phil Ryken

Opposition to God

--from Kevin Twit:

In Exodus 5, Pharaoh set himself up against God:
All sin is setting ourselves up in opposition to God, and all discontent is birthed from the belief

that we know better than God. We see this in the Garden where Adam and Eve pit their desire against

God's. Sin is not really seen for what it is until it is seen in this context. "Sin is the dare of God's justice, the

rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love." (John

Bunyan, author of "A Pilgrim's Progress")

intellectual, spiritual, and social

Unbelief is partly an

intellectual problem: The unbeliever does not know the Lord's name. It is

partly a spiritual problem: The unbeliever refuses to obey the Lord's will. But

often it is also a social problem: The unbeliever does not care for the Lord's

people.

Phil Ryken

Fun learning for kids

Who?  Grades 2-5

what:   pumpkin painting, reformation story, games, pumpkin muffins, apples, and cider.

why:   to share pumpkins w/ elderly @ Emeritus (retirement home/ assisted living facility), to teach about october 31st, and FUN!

when:  sunday, october 24th   3pm -5pm

 

what to bring!   PUMPKIN that they will donate to Emeritus.

 

Where?

Stankunas home

Loving our Triune God

Explaining the Trinity to a Seven-Year-Old: Common sense would tell you that the younger a child is, the harder it... http://bit.ly/dlkzVu

--from Justin Taylor 

Reviewing Exodus 4, Looking towards Exodus 5--- Where are we?

So far, so good. Moses had returned to Egypt, and to his great relief —
and probable amazement — everything had gone according to plan. On his
way back to the Nile Delta the prophet had met his brother Aaron, who
agreed to help him in his ministry. Together the two brothers went to the
elders of Israel and performed their signs of miraculous power. Based on
what they both heard and saw, the people believed the good news of salvation.
So Exodus 4 closed with this remarkable scene: “And when they heard
that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they
bowed down and worshiped” (v. 31). The promise of the exodus was starting
to come true. The children of Israel were beginning to worship the God
of their salvation.
Now it was time for the two brothers to take their show to the palace.
In the words of the old spiritual, the song of the African slaves:


Go down, Moses,
Way down in Egyptland,
Tell old Pharaoh,
“Let my people go.”


Exodus 5 tells what happened when Moses went down to old Pharaoh.
It is a story of courageous faith and rebellious unbelief.


--phil ryken

Sweet Freedom

"To serve God, to love God, to enjoy God, is the sweetest freedom in the world." Thomas Watson

A buddy heading here to help

http://www.restoreliberia.org/

Charles Spurgeon  A world where everything was easy would be a nursery for babies, but not at all a fit place for men.

Accept this invite!

"You are invited to come to Christ just as you are, naked and miserable, that He may clothe and comfort you."  Charles Spurgeon

Starts with a mosquito bite

Compassion Intl (@compassion) 10/13/10 10:31 AM It starts with a mosquito bite. Then there's an itch. And for us, it's just an annoyance. But for children in poverty... http://ow.ly/2SRb7

Nov 7, you can help. 

6pm communion

Tonite I serve and need the body and blood of Christ.

In the sanctuary

Rob Pendley

Breakfast to Help House of Hope

House of Hope is a ministry, supported by Christ Community, where residents can find help transitioning from prison to our community.

Thursday October 21, 7:27am
at The Hilton, University of Florida Conference Center

contact Tom Bakos @ 376-3964

Resources on Predestination & Election

Some helpful ones I came across today:

Why Predestination? How Our Union With Christ Gives Us Assurance - Ephesians 1:3-6 (MP3) 
Bryan Chapell - Covenant Seminary

• Predestination - God has a Purpose 
  by J.I. Packer
• "Double" Predestination 
  R.C. Sproul
• Prayer and Predestination 
  John Piper

• What is Divine Election? 
  Sam Storms.
• Election - God Chooses His Own 
  J.I. Packer - Concise Theology

Even in this life

C. S. Lewis  Heaven enters wherever Christ enters, even in this life.

Evening Communion

Tomorrow, Wednesday

A half hour of scripture, prayer, and the Lord's Supper

Candidly, we need your help

Fall Festival, signup this week please

Event is Saturday nov 6

If you would, sign up to help please-- this week.

Details here soon.

'

Can't leave that exodus 4 yet

God's violent grace to Moses in the whole Zipporah/emergency circ
passage in exodus 4 reminds me:
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as
sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated,
then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of
spirits and live?
10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them,
but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant,
but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who
have been trained by it.

'

An opp to help impoverished kids is en route to CCC

Matthew Smith (@matthewsmithUS) 10/10/10 1:07 PM Thanks to everyone at Chapelgate PCA— between last night & this morning, 53 kids were released from poverty in Jesus' name thru @Compassion!

'

Song I referenced yesterday

3:14	The Beatles  Feb 9, 2006   youtube.com

'

Song Justin and crew nailed y'day

4:30	I Will Lift My Eyes -Bebo Norman  Jan 30, 2007   youtube.com

'

Nov 6

Wanna know more background on Exodus 4?

Trying to make more stuff available without clogging up this blog too much.  So:

1. More on Israel as God's firstborn, as 4:22 says
2. Sonship of Israel, Jesus, and us
3. ___

Great stuff on art, beauty and hospitality

View full page:www.arthouseamerica.com/blog/full-circle-back-to-dallas.html

'

HOW TO PRAY BETTER IN PUBLIC AND IN PRIVATE, TOO

BY TIM KELLER

Years ago when I wanted to become more skillful in public prayer, I was fortunate to come across the collects of Thomas Cranmer, the writer of the original EpiscopalBook of Common Prayer. The "collects" (the stress is on the first syllable)that Cranmer wrote were brief but extremely 'packed' little prayers that tied together the doctrine of the day to a particular way of living. They were prayed by the minister on behalf of the people, or prayed in unison by the whole congregation. 

 

As I have read them over the years they have brought me two great benefits. First, they have given me a basic structure by which I can compose good public prayers, either ahead of time, or spontaneously. Cranmer's collects consist of 5 parts:

1. The address - a name of God

2. The doctrine - a truth about God's nature that is the basis for the prayer

3. The petition - what is being asked for

4. The aspiration - what good result will come if the request is granted

5. In Jesus' name - this remembers the mediatorial role of Jesus

 

See this structure in Cranmer's famous collect for the service of Holy Communion: 

1.Almighty God

2.unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid,

3.cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit,

4.that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name,

5.through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. 

 

See how the prayer moves from a doctrinal basis (why we can ask for it) to the petition (what we want) to the aspiration (what we will do with it if we get it.) It is remarkable how this combines solid theology with deep aspirations of the heart and concrete goals for our daily life. 

'

Work Matters

"In nothing has the Church so lost her hold on reality as in her failure to understand and respect the secular vocation. She has allowed work and religion to become separate departments, and is astonished to find that, as a result, the secular work of the world is turned to purely selfish and destructive ends, and that the greater part of the world's intelligent workers have become irreligious, or at least, uninterested in religion."

– Dorothy Sayers

'