Nightmare

What do your nightmares look like?

I had one tonight.

Mine goes like this:

I am at dinner with friends. And for two, three hours, we talk about the most mindless, banal topics. We talk about the weather, we talk about what movies we're renting...we talk about absolutely nothing. Nothing about the world, nothing about evidences of Grace or God, nothing about needs of the community, nothing about how we're being shaped by God, nothing about convictions...nothing.

And we're used to it. And we enjoy it. It's how we live.

Then we go home and live it all over again tomorrow.

..........................................................................


"The church's worst enemy is the man of little faith within its membership, not the faithless man of the world." Martin Lloyd-Jones

Light for Revelation, Ours

for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples

a light for revelation to the Gentiles

and for glory to your people Israel


.luke.2.30-32

Sub In

Without the penal substitution of Christ, there is no permanent salvation for us.

Article: The Acid Test

Really enjoyed this short, insightful article by Tim Keller.

The Acid Test of Being a Christian

Some quotes:

• "There are two kinds of people that go to church: there's religious people and real Christians"
• If you are a Christian you have a spirit of wonder that permeates your life. You are always saying "how miraculous", "how interplanetary", "how unreal".
• You see when things go bad, when problems happen, here you can tell the difference between a moralist and a Christian. A moralist says, "What good is all my religion? What good is going to God?"
• A Christian keeps that spirit of wonder. A Christian may say "my career has not gone too well, my love life has not gone too well, it's astonishing... Its amazing that God is as good as He is to me." Its all grace. That spirit of wonder. That sense of being a miracle. That everything that comes to you being an absolute mercy.

Something So Precious

It's been slightly over a year since I taught through "Reason for God" by Tim Keller.

I had the privilege (a true privilege) of teaching through the chapter on Suffering. It not only corrected some misplaced notions I had on suffering, but it also gave me tremendous hope, comfort and joy as I reflected on the difficult periods of my life.

Here's one of my favorite quotes...quoting Dostoevsky in Brothers Karamazov:

“I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world’s finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, of the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, of all the blood that they’ve shed; and it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify what has happened.”

Looking for a New Church

In a few weeks I'll be headed off to the University of Michigan for business school. One of my top priorities will be to find a church.

There are lots of characteristics to look for in choosing a church - and lots of lists written by people much smarter than I am, so I won't try to come up with an authoritative list.

But it is good to reflect on the first time I had to choose a church - freshman year at Penn. Here are three reasons, (and three non-reasons) I chose the fellowship (ECF) / church I attended in college:

1) Strong Leadership - the church had fantastic pastors, fellowship leaders and small group leaders. There were plenty of guys I could look up to and many that would end up discipling me.

2) Faithful Preaching and Teaching of the Word - Pastor Paul is an outstanding preacher. I was incredibly blessed (and spoiled) to hear him preach every Sunday.

3) Love for Philadelphia - Through Quo Vadis / Teen Vision I was able to join our church in pursuit of loving the people of Philadelphia, especially the local youth. Renewal continues to have a dedicated community ministry.

Bonus: Non-Reasons

1) The 'People' - I actually felt quite lonely when I first joined the fellowship. Almost all my other friends chose different churches/fellowships. I realized I didn't really fit in with my fellowship - I wasn't into video games, online shopping, or studying like the guys in my year ('04). I was into girls and dating. Most of the '04 guys didn't date throughout college. Anyway, sometime mid-sophomore year I started becoming closer friends with the other guys. But it was lonely at first.

2) Race - I went to a predominately Korean church. Though its not uncommon for Chinese people to attend Korean churches, it IS a very different experience. There was speaking in tongues, morning prayer, praying out loud (loudly), praying non-stop for hours, etc. People spoke in Korean a lot and made Korean jokes that I never understood. I was out of place, but God placed me there anyway.

3) Girls - No offense to the girls at the church at the time I was choosing churches, but one of the reasons I chose ECF was because I was fairly confident none of the girls attending would be a distration. Let's leave it at that haha. I knew my inclinations and weaknesses and I wanted my fellowship to be a place where I could focus on the right things and serve with the right motives.

That's it for now. Read an old book.

Shalom.

Access Partners

http://www.access1040.com/


Access Partners develops businesses
that facilitate church planting
in locations least reached by the gospel.

The Need

One of the greatest needs in the cause of world missions is access to the gospel. As the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?” And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

For centuries people have been traveling as missionaries to share the gospel with those who have never heard it. But in places where worldviews, cultures, and governments are hostile to Christianity, access to this message is increasingly limited. In other words, millions of people in the world have little chance to hear the gospel preached. In the past, Christians have been able to enter restricted access countries as students and humanitarian workers. However, as governments continue to crack down on mission work, it has become more difficult to obtain or even retain these visas.

The Response

One solution to this obstacle is the creation of viable, for-profit businesses that both contribute to a country’s economy and provide sustainability and credibility for those wishing to advance the gospel in that country. Why? Credible business has proven to be an avenue on which even closed countries are willing to let foreigners through. To those ends, Access Partners seeks to create businesses that facilitate healthy church planting among the least reached. To be sure, we’re not talking about creating fake businesses or businesses that only serve the purpose of making money. We’re talking about real businesses that directly allow church planters to form relationships with people who have never heard the gospel. To facilitate this work, Access Partners works together with missions organizations to start up and optimize businesses, enabling church planters to reach otherwise inaccessible locations and communities.