Dear Church Family,
This has been another week of amazing joy. I am continually being exhorted with truth, and its incredible! It is such a joy to be here, and God has shown He is more powerful than any circumstance or shortcoming over and over again. He alleviates any pressure for me to "change people" and promises that if I spend my summer loving and enjoying Him, becoming more like His Son, and sharing truth, He will take care of the changing. He doesn't need us, but is the highest honor that, as Christians, we can be involved in His work. I again had seniors and graduated seniors in my cabin, and it was a blast! All were saved and sure they were saved; most of them were even consistent in devotions, so I was able to dig deep and help them with issues that had to do more with growth. God used even this to help me combat my fear of man in helping them to see a blind spot where they may be struggling. They were such a blessing to me, and it was a very joyful, laughter-filled week for us. There was an incredibly tough situation one of my campers had been through, when someone else's sin radically changed her life. She brought this to me at the beginning of the week, and my heart just broke for her. However, God is good 100% of the time, and does good 100% of the time (Psalm 119:68). I wasn't sure that she was really understanding her need to forgive, allow God to judge, and grow, but on Friday, she gave a testimony that God had helped her to change her thinking. Because she had been forgiven of much, she could forgive of much. She left going home with a joyful heart, having a plan and ready to follow in obedience. Praise God that He can make beauty out of ashes! It's amazing that even situations in our own lives that were the result of our sin or another's sin, when given over to God, have produced an even greater understanding of God's character through seeing His mercy, unconditional love, and sufficiency. Praise God that He can even give ministry opportunities to us through those circumstances — He truly is greater than our sin! I'm looking forward to another week of camp. There is so much joy in being surrounded with truth, but I can't wait to get back to our mission field in Indianapolis. Please pray that God will continue to make me broken over my sin. It's such a temptation to "get used" to hearing the preaching everyday, but I MUST listen and examine my own heart for God to use me and change me. It is an incredible privilege to be in a place where I am surrounded by truth, but that also makes me responsible for growth. This week, God has shown me even more that He can change lives, and I desire for him to change mine. Thank you for praying for me. Having a church family like ours is truly a blessing and I can't wait to be back in August! Brittany Sherrill Dear Church Family,
![]() The first half of 2014 has witnessed an increased share of Christian movies hitting the local theater. Predictably, these releases have created a lot of buzz in the evangelical community. For each of us, the Christlike virtue of discernment (Ephesians 5:15-18; Hebrews 5:11-14; 1 Peter 5:8) becomes vitally important as we evaluate the theological content, moral teaching, and evangelistic potential of these movies. Fortunately, each of us are able to "teach and admonish" ourselves and our brothers and sisters regarding these unique movies if the Word of Christ is dwelling in us richly (Colossians 3:16). In the list below, I've linked to several helpful reviews of some of these hottest movies. Whether or not you see these films, I trust we'll continue to think discerningly, walk distinctly, and live missionally. NOAH
SON OF GOD
GOD'S NOT DEAD
HEAVEN IS FOR REAL (and all other such books and movies on near-death experiences in heaven or hell)
![]() A good friend of mine recently posted a great article interacting with a recent performance by the singer/songwriter Passenger on The Tonight Show. Passenger's soon-to-be-released single, "Scare Away the Dark," reveals the emptiness that many Millennials feel about life, but fails to provide any satisfying solution. I'd encourage you to read the whole (short) blog, but I'll give you a little teaser. As Passenger put it, “The TV and papers, they fill us with fear / the icecaps are melting and Al-Qaeda is here.” But what really scares us is ourselves—our own hollowness and inauthenticity. As Passenger sings, “We wish we were happier, thinner, and fitter / We wish we weren’t losers and liars and quitters, / We want something more than just nasty and bitter / We want something real, not just hashtags and twitter.” Our Facebook statuses, tweets, and Instagram photos project only the image we care to present. As the generation that has touted authenticity as the ultimate virtue, we have come to embody the vice we most despise: hypocrisy. Deep down inside we know that we are fake. What we really need and want, Passenger admits, is “the meaning of life.” But [as Passenger says,] you can be sure that Gangnam-style videos—trivial exercises in stupidity—will get more YouTube views than the true meaning of life. What solution does Passenger offer? One that is as shaky as his vocal technique... To hear his solution and consider how it squares with Scripture, keep reading here ("Millennials: We Want Something Real, Not Just Hashtags and Twitter"). To reconsider many of these same musings from our study through Ecclesiastes, click here. ![]() My cousin, Emily, works in the National Collegiate Office of the Navigators in Colorado Springs, CO. Her recent newsletter update included a transparent testimony that served as a very helpful and needed reminder. I've included it below with her permission. This morning I was listening to the beginning chapters of John and took note when Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does" (5:19). I realized that I often, actually almost always, have the wrong perspective about the work I am doing. When my feet hit the floor in the morning, I cycle through the tasks, meetings, and activities scheduled for the day. And I spend a lot of mental energy determining how to best accomplish my to-do list and get the most out of my day. According the verse above, Jesus emptied himself of his personal desires and plans for each day of his earthly life and surrendered himself to the plan his Father had established. He went so far as to say he couldn't do anything by himself. He imitated his Father's actions each and every moment of his life. I realized I rarely approach a day with the thought that I can't do anything scheduled for that day by myself. Instead, I approach each day with confidence that me, myself, and I can accomplish everything slated for that day. As a follower of Jesus, it is wrong, i.e. sinful, for me to approach each day with this mentality. Jesus is more concerned about who I am becoming, not what I am doing. So tomorrow morning, when my feet hit the floor, instead of going through the day's schedule, I will pray, "Jesus, I surrender my plans for this day to you and admit that I can accomplish nothing of Kingdom value in my own strength. I chose to follow your plans and purposes for my life today." Will you pray this with me? ![]() Dawn and I are slowly working our way through the book Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself by Joe Thorn. I haven't led the most faithfully in Bible reading, worship, and prayer together, but, even as I know what God desires for me, I also know that His Spirit will continue to enable me—so, I'm striving to ingrain this habit into the very fabric of who I am as a "new humanity" husband (Colossians 3:10, 12-16; Ephesians 4:24; 5:18, 25-27). By the way, accompanying this goal is a desire to pray for you all by name on a weekly basis. It's a shameful lack of love that I have not been more regular in this spiritual responsibility as well (Galatians 6:2). Nonetheless, with my goals stated, with your accountability solicited, and with God's gracious Spirit enabling, I'm excited to reap spiritual success in these areas! Yesterday, Dawn and I prayed through the next 15 names or so in the Single Focus group and we read a chapter from Note to Self entitled, "Speak to Others." It was neat to see how much it complemented our study in True Community, even borrowing one of the key verses (Hebrews 3:12-13) and the very title of our study. I've pasted below that key verse and a quote from that chapter that I hope will serve to "stir you up to love and good works" (Hebrews 10:24-25), even as it did me. Before that, let me just share the key challenge that I received from this reading. I was reminded that "as long as it is called 'today,'" I have a God-given responsibility to spiritually help you, my brothers and sisters. And, "today" just happens to be another day that I can call "today," :) and so my job is clear—to take care to myself, lest I have an evil, unbelieving, and calloused heart; and to exhort you, lest you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. I hope this post helps accomplish that. I hope any personal interaction I have with you helps to accomplish that. I hope to use the various technology tools around me to help accomplish that. And, if we all focus on accomplishing that goal "every day," then even when individual members fail to do so in any given day (as I know I have and will), we as a community together will accomplish that! Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "Today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
- Hebrews 3:12-13 Dear Self, Are you connected to others in such a way that affords you opportunities to speak into their lives? Just as God has put people near you to speak to you for your God, so he has intended to use you to speak words of grace to others. The questions are—are you connected, and are you speaking? It is not enough to just be around others, maintaining politeness and pleasantries. You must be connected to others more deeply, in true community, where you are doing life together and pursuing the same purpose together. - From Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself by Joe Thorn, chapter 24 – "Speak to Others" ![]() A member from our Single Focus group is currently training in Roach, Missouri with New Tribe Missions. She recently sent me the story below regarding the Biem tribe in Papua New Guinea – a tribe that just received and responded in faith to the gospel! Apparently, about every 45 days, another tribe hears the gospel from New Tribes missionaries for the first time. The story below is, according to this source, the "first re-birth reports" from this Biem tribe! I hope you will respond to this awesome report in two ways:
"Enough, enough. Stop! Don't hit him like that!" A Biem lady shouted out loud from the back as the Roman soldier (Brandon) put a beating on Jesus (Thomas). On the last day of the teaching, we acted out Jesus dying on the cross, the burial, and the resurrection. People looked on intently, trying to understand what it all means. After the drama, we taught...
Jesus is our sin substitute. The penalty of sin is death. But God always provided, just like in the Old Testament. We brought them back to Noah, God provided a boat (with one door). Abraham and Isaac, how God would not let Abraham kill his son but provided a substitute. In the Passover, the blood on the doorpost was the only way to avoid death. People have been thinking hard about these Old Testament stories for weeks and now they are all making sense. Jesus defeated death. Jesus rose again and death no longer has power over Jesus and those who trust in Him. Death is feared no matter where you live. But in a tribal culture like Biem, it is openly, regularly exhibited. The endless wailing at funerals, the finality of death and the pure dread of dying...death is a big deal to these people here. When we believe in Jesus and what He has done on the cross, our spirits become alive again in God's eyes. We used a permanent black marker on a white board and wrote some names on it and said, "whoever believes in God's talk, God will put his name in the book of life and it will never be removed." We concluded with the Great Commission and Jesus' ascension. We told them it is because of this "talk" that we all left our families in Taiwan, Germany, and the US to come here. There is so much more I can type here but let me just get to some of the responses after the lesson yesterday. "Mali? Mali? Mali Muel?" (Really? Really? REALLY?) The top fisherman on the island just kept on asking this question, in total astonishment in what Jesus did on the cross for him. He just kept on looking at everybody around him and asking the question, "Really? really?" "This is God's talk. I've heard it. See, it's just one story, from the Old Testament to Jesus. There is no other road but Jesus. God meant it this way from the beginning." "I am so free [the Biem expression is I am no longer carrying a heavy load on my shoulder]! I used to think all the good things I do would get me to heaven. But every night when I go to sleep, I knew I had not the slightest clue where I'd go if I die. So I'd get up the next morning, trying to do more 'works' so I can go to heaven. Now I know that Jesus paid for my sin debt and He said it is finished. I am so free." A young guy sat next to me with the biggest smile on his face. He didn't say anything so I asked him, "What's on your mind?" He said, "I had a big question yesterday. Why didn't God the Father help Jesus on the cross? I thought about it all night, and I didn't know. But after today's lesson, I don't have any more questions. I got it. I understand it. I am just going to sit here and be happy." He smiled on... And one young Biem man has a message for YOU. Yes, YOU. He said, "I know I should thank God for you guys, but I want to thank all three of your families for bring God's talk here." Then we told him that, no, it's not just the three families. There are literally thousands of people praying for you guys to understand God's talk all over the world. He then said, "Ok, then you go and tell them, all of them, THANK YOU. God's talk has come to our island. THANK THEM for praying and sending you guys here." This young man, along with a few others, began to discuss how they need to take this talk to other islands and even different language groups in Papua New Guinea. I shook my head and just marveled at the Holy Spirit. He is at work already! It took me how many years after salvation to even wrap my head around the need for "missions," but but these guys are talking about it minutes after they trusted in Jesus! At that moment, I was no longer "the missionary" but a fellow brother in Christ, learning from our Biem brothers in Christ. Again, this is just the beginning and there is much growing ahead for our Biem believers. Persecutions will come (and have come already). Many people are still against this talk. But as John 1:5 says, "The light shines in the darkness and darkness can never extinguish it." The light broke through and it is here to stay. ![]() Michael Phelps is an American swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals. He also holds the all-time record for Olympic gold medals with 18, which is double the second highest record holders. His list of honors, awards, accomplishments, and records is enormously lengthy, and he stands as the greatest swimmer of all time. What has contributed to his incredible success? An August 2008 article examined Phelps' physique and demonstrated several unique features that helps Phelps as a swimmer. First, although he stands at 6'4" and most peoples' wingspan equals their height, Phelps' wingspan is 6'7", allowing his arms to work like powerful propulsive paddles. The article also states that his lower body, interestingly, is shorter than that of an average man of his height. His relatively short legs result in less drag or resistance. In short, Phelps has an upper body of a 6'8" person but his lower body seems to be of someone who is only 5'10", which also make the perfect plane in water. Then there's his size-14 feet and double-jointed ankles that allow him to whip his feet as if they are flippers. Finally, Phelps eats 12,000 calories a day, but his body produces less lactic acid than most other people which means he takes less time to recover after a swim. So, Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time, because he's built perfectly for it, right? Wrong! The article goes on to state that Phelps swims 60 miles a week and maintains a mind-boggling daily routine. Without his workout program, Michael Phelps would still have a "freakish" physique, but nothing to show for it. His God-given gifts had to be complemented with his own rigorous effort in order to accomplish the results that have made him famous. Likewise, believers have been given a unique "spiritual physique"—"old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). They have the life of God, as they are "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). Yet, unless they use what they've been given, they'll still have a "new man" nature, but nothing to show for it. The believer's God-given gifts (2 Peter 1:1-4) have to be complemented with his own diligent effort (2 Peter 1:5-7) in order to accomplish the results that glorify Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:8-11). ![]() Pastor Phelps shared the following illustrations with his ABF class this past Sunday, and I thought I'd pass it along, as it really helps to clarify Peter's tension between justification (1:1-4) and sanctification (1:5-11). When his children were still in high school, Pastor and Mrs. Phelps bought them all inline skates for Christmas. The kids were ecstatic about that gift, especially in light of (1) their 140 foot paved driveway, (2) their large and energetic dog that could pull them around, and (3) the unusual 60 degree weather they happened to have on that particular Christmas day. For one of their children, however, a wrong size had been purchased--the skates fit okay, but would be outgrown within a few months. So, the parents had the incredibly difficult job of convincing that child to wait until their inline skates could be returned the next. Why was that so hard for the child to understand and agree to? Because the natural response for those children--in light of the really neat gift and tremendously warm day--was to run outside and enjoy it. In a picture, that's what sanctification it--having received the incredibly wonderful gift of salvation, we run outside and use it! Recognizing our freedom from sin and reveling in our new status as children of God, we naturally and energetically unwrap the gift and put it to use! Some gifts just make us want to drop everything and start using it right away, and not to do so is agony--just ask the Phelps' child! Likewise, God's gift of true faith through Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1-4) is a gift that keeps on giving, and it compels the recipient who's paying attention to drop everything else and respond in gratitude and cooperation. This is sanctification. ![]() About a week ago, we considered the mission of the church during our ABF hour. Time didn’t allow me to conclude the way that I had hoped, so I’ll do so here. The New Testament authors all humbly and gratefully identified themselves as “slaves of God.” • Titus 1:1 – “Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ” (cf. Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1). • James 1:1 – “James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” • 2 Peter 1:1 – “Simon Peter, a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ.” Of this humbling, yet honorable term, William Barclay writes: (i) To call the Christian the doulos [slave] of God means that he is inalienably possessed by God. In the ancient world a master possessed his slaves in the same sense as he possessed his tools. A servant can change his master; but a slave cannot. The Christian inalienably belongs to God. (ii) To call the Christian the doulos of God means that he is unqualifiedly at the disposal of God. In the ancient world the master could do what he liked with his slave. He had the same power over his slave as he had over his inanimate possessions. He had the power of life and death over his slave. The Christian belongs to God, for God to send him where He will, and to do with him what He will. The Christian is the man who has no rights of his own, for all his rights are surrendered to God. (iii) To call the Christian the doulos of God means that the Christian owes an unquestioning obedience to God. Ancient law was such that a master’s command was a slave’s only law. Even if a slave was told to do something which actually broke the law, he could not protest, for, as far as he was concerned, his master’s command was the law. In any situation the Christian has but one question to ask: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” The command of God is his only law. (iv) To call the Christian the doulos of God means that he must be constantly in the service of God. In the ancient world the slave had literally no time of his own, no holidays, no time off, no working-hours settled by agreement, no leisure. All his time belonged to the master.” (The Letters of James and Peter, rev. ed. [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976], 293; emphasis in the original). By way of application, we had considered the following in our series together through Titus: Paul was always driven by the reality of who he had become in Christ. His understanding of the grace of God (I Corinthians 3:10; 15:10; Ephesians 3:7) and of his own unworthiness (I Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:8; I Timothy 1:15) helped him easily claim the responsibility of “commissioned slavery.” How much of a bearing on your daily mindset and pursuits does your position have? What drives your work ethic? What motivates you in the business and ugliness of the work place? What compels your relationships with people? What influences the way you plan for tomorrow and dream about the future? What summarizes your goals for this year? Does the awareness that you are God’s slave and Christ’s ambassador influence your thinking and regulate your interactions and plans? O church, you’re on a mission as a “slave of God”! Fulfill your calling until the rest that awaits. |
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