With stringed instruments
April 30, 2009
Old friend and first-rate picker from Macon, Georgia Stephen Barnes, with short but sweet string renditions of O Sacred Head Now Wounded and Alas! And Did my Savior Bleed. (used with permission). Enjoy.
Wes Baker coming to FPC on May 17
April 29, 2009
Wes is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America working with Peru Mission in the city of Trujillo. Wes grew up in rural Wilson County, Texas and graduated from Floresville High School in 1986. He studied at Texas A&M University, graduating in 1992 with a double degree in Biomedical Science and Philosophy.
In 1988 Wes married the former Jami Vaden of Seguin, Texas, and in December of 1992, with two children, they moved to Jackson to attend Reformed Theological Seminary. In the fall of 1993 Wes was called to be Student Supply Pastor of Lebanon Presbyterian Church (LPC) in Learned, MS. He finished his studies at RTS in December 1995 and was ordained as minister in Learned the following spring.
While serving at LPC, Wes became good friends with Alonzo Ramirez, a doctoral student from Peru, and together with classmate Bill Bradford, the three men visited Peru in the summer of 1996. Three weeks of travel, prayer, and late night conversations convinced the men that the Lord was calling them to form a church planting team to minister in Northern Peru. In February 2000, Wes and Jami packed up their family and their lives and moved to Cajamarca, Peru. With the arrival in March of 2000 of the Brad Ball family the team was complete.
The ministry in Peru has developed considerably since their arrival. The Ball and Baker families moved from Cajamarca to Trujillo in late 2001. The Bradfords moved down to the coastal city in 2005. Since then several more families have joined the team and the ministry has continued to grow. Wes’s primary responsibilities involve teaching in the Seminario Biblico Reformado and mentoring Peruvian pastors and church planters. He has also been extensively involved in administration, recruiting, and development.Wes and Jami have seven children ranging in age from five to 19 years. Jami stays busy homeschooling the children, hosting visitors and teams, and teaching in the English Institute.
Wes will give a Mission Sunday presentation at FPC on May 17.
Sweet counsel 04.29.09
April 29, 2009
REMIND
Mississippi Valley Presbytery meets Tuesday at First Presbyterian Church in Louisville. Please pray for us. Also, I continue to receive compliments and expressions of appreciation for the fine work you all did in hosting the February meeting of Presbytery. Your service is not forgotten.
Ladies’ Bible Study/Men’s Forum/Children’s Choir is this Wednesday, May 6, from 6-7 pm after Wednesday night supper.
National Day of Prayer: Public observance coordinated by the Kosciusko-Williamsville Ministerial Association at noon on the north lawn of the Attala County Courthouse.
Homeschool graduation: FPC will host the Attala Home Educators’ homsechool graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 9. Our own Victoria Paton will be among the graduates.
Cookout in honor of the Hollands: Join us at Kosciusko Country Club lake from 4 pm until. There will be games for the entire family, plus a hamburger cookout.
Mission Sunday: Wes Baker of Peru Mission will be here on Sunday, May 17.
REVIEW
Last word on Stewardship in Estate Planning: “What was the basic message of the seminar?” A couple of people who were unable to attend the April 23 seminar have asked me this. Here’s a summary: Bruce Owens and Jim Sutton of MTW encouraged us all to put our “house in order” [Isaiah 38:1]. That phrase has a spiritual dimension ["Am I united to Christ by faith?"], a relational element ["Am I reconciled to and living at peace with people around me?"] and a mechanical element ["Do my documents reflect prudent planning and godly wisdom?"].
Bruce and Jim shared five biblical principles related to stewardship and estate transfer: 1) God owns everything [Psalm 24:1]. 2) The priority of all estate planning is dependency, i.e., we must provide for those who depend on us [1 Timothy 5:8]; 3) The motivation for all estate transfer must be love, whether to family and/or to ministry [John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 13]; 4) People are always more important that dollars [Luke 15:11]; 5) It is required of a servant that he be found faithful [Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Corinthians 4:2]. From there they described a number of vehicles for distribution to family and to ministry, highlighting ways that estate taxes can be legally avoided and ministry gifts can be maximized.
One more thing: Bruce and Jim suggest preparing letters of instruction for household effects, personal effects, and church and funeral plans and preferences. On that last subject, let me remind you that the church office has a helpful Funeral Preparation Worksheet that you can fill out and return to us. On it you can notify us of plans and preferences for your funeral and burial. Filling out one of these worksheets will not make you die one day sooner than the Lord has already determined, and it will make the planning process so much easier for your family, including your church family. Ask Marsha for a worksheet.
Morning Worship: We will return to Genesis and observe the ‘handing down’ of the gracious promises of God to Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob. I will preach from Genesis 25:19-34, in which Isaac and Rebekah, long without children, are finally expecting and hear a startling prophecy about the twin boys tussling in her womb. The mysterious prophecy is fulfilled over a bowl of stew. We’ll exalt the Lord in singing Crown Him with Many Crowns, How Deep the Father’s Love for Us, Jesus Loves Me, and How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place.
Evening Worship: Communion service: Joe Holland will preach on the power of the resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15. This will be Joe’s final preaching series here at FPC.
REFLECT
Awful or Awesome? If you are really an Old School Presbyterian, you will remember Isaac Watts’ hymn as How Sweet and Awful Is the Place. That was the original–well, Watts most likely wrote it as aweful, which gives us insight into the early 18th century usage of the word. Aweful/awful meant, quite literally, full of awe. In our current English usage, awesome means what awful meant in Watts’ day. Awful has come to mean something different to us. I wish the editors of our 1990 Trinity Hymnal would have included an explanatory footnote for the switch from awful to awesome.
The same change has taken place with the word terrible. We have a hymn (#711) entitled God the All-Terrible! Why would God be called terrible? If you told me I had preached a terrible sermon, I would not think you were paying me a compliment. As late as the 19th century, terrible was commonly used to mean wonderful, awe-inspiring.
Gospel amidst European ruins and Asian renewal
April 25, 2009
Must-read reflections from Peter Jones on hearing a performance of J.S. Bach’s St. John’s Passion in Berlin and hearing a choir in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Just walk away
April 23, 2009
The biographies of Southern Presbyterians from the 19th century show them bringing biblical teaching to bear on the ethical question of the duel, which was a common means of settling disputes among gentlemen of the aristocratic class. For example, a young James Henley Thornwell observed in an 1829 letter to a New England patron,
Is it not to be lamented that a squeamish sense of false honour is so prevalent? It is contrary to human dignity, which it should be our pride to support. Every character has motives of the strongest obligation to support it. The parent should consider the interest of his child; the patriot, the welfare of his country; and the philanthropist, the good of mankind.
Vice-President Aaron Burr (grandson of Jonathan Edwards) killed Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 pistol duel. Andrew Jackson, later to serve seventh president of the U.S., fought 2 duels. On May 30, 1806, he killed prominent duelist Charles Dickinson, suffering himself from a chest wound which caused him pain for the rest of his life. And what would a good “Western” be without a gunfight in the street?
Sweet counsel 04.23.09
April 23, 2009
- Acceptance through performance
- Popularity through conformity
- Happiness through anaesthesia (food, alcohol, drugs, sex, etc.)
- Purpose through selfishness
- Protection through violence
- Provision through dishonesty.
Notice that there is nothing wrong with the ends–God does not hate acceptance, fellowship, happiness, etc. But God hates the aforementioned means–selfishness, violence, pride, etc. All around us we and our children are being told subtly (and not so subtly) that power and money, information and technology, lust and greed, pride and anger, manipulation and management are the ways to get things done. And a clever and determined person can get a lot done by these means. But such is not the way of Christ, who said to Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here (John 18:36). You can build a kingdom by fighting. The Romans built a most impressive one. But it was not the kingdom of Christ.
We can build our families or church community through many means, and we can get things done. But are we employing God’s means–prayer, humble reliance on the grace of the Holy Spirit, faithfulness to Scripture, putting others ahead of ourselves, suspicion of the world’s paths to ’success’?
Morning Worship: Last week VISION…this week VALUES. Last week I took you to Psalm 27 and to Philippians 3. Those two passages showed you fugitive David and prisoner Paul focused on “one thing.” David expressed it as dwelling in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing upon the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple. Paul expressed it as forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. This week we’ll see how such a single-minded, gospel-driven pursuit drives how we “do” church. Acts 2:42-27 is a helpful “thumbnail sketch” of the church living out such a pursuit–actively engaged in WORSHIP, TEACHING, NURTURE, and REACHING. Once biblical values are determined and embraced, then creativity is virtually limitless within those boundaries. We’ll exalt the Lord in singing Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, and I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord.
Evening Worship: Joe Holland will preach the second sermon his mini-series on the power of the resurrection in the Christian life. This will be Joe’s final preaching series here at FPC.
Twin Lakes Fellowship audio
April 21, 2009
Thanks to Josh Espinoza, the sermons and lectures from last week’s Twin Lakes Fellowship are available for streaming or download here. While each one is worth your time, I would highly recommend listening to Dr. Douglas Kelly’s sermon from Deuteronomy 23:3-6, “God Turns Curses into Blessings,” and Dr. Derek Thomas’ sermon from Romans 11:33-36, “The Majesty of God.“
There’s just something about that name
April 21, 2009
Regardless of your politics, you have to admit that this linguistic phenomenon is rather strange.
Students Think It’s Baracking Cool (from npr.org).
“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
That’s Easter
April 16, 2009
Below are two videos we showed in last Sunday evening’s Changed by Jesus service. They are produced by an Anglican church in London, St. Helen’s Bishopsgate:
Sweet counsel 04.16.09
April 16, 2009
REVISIT
We had four tremendous services over the Easter weekend. The Service of Lessons and Psalms on Friday evening drew us into the story of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus and how the Psalms prophesied those events centuries before. The selections sung by the choir under Pat Fiedler’s direction were first-rate and very fitting.
Brisk, clear weather greeted a crowd of 35 or so at the Easter Sunrise Service. Grant did a good a job of explaining the significance of the resurrection for our lives from 1 Corinthians 15. Good attendance and hearty singing and a sense of joy graced the morning service at 10:50.
As the clouds gathered and the thunderstorm came, many of us were gathered in the sanctuary for Changed by Jesus. Sarah Ellen Parish blessed us all through sharing some of the means through which the Lord is sanctifying her, and many others shared scripture verses and recent experiences that testified of the power of the risen Christ at work toward those who believe (Ephesians 1:19-20).
REPRIORITIZE
Stewardship in Estate Planning:
• What estate planning documents should every person have regardless of age or family situation?
• What should you know about wills, trusts, probate and Christian stewardship?
• How can you prevent family discord over property distribution?
• What is the best way to leave gifts to churches and ministries?
On Thursday, April 23, Jim Sutton and Bruce Owens of Mission to the World will present a Biblically-informed seminar on estate planning and deferred giving. You can learn some ways to “put your house in order” and about being a faithful steward of what God has entrusted you. You can enjoy a free meal and an informative presentation. There will be no pressure to sell you any service, steer you toward particular investments, or badger you to give to MTW, FPC or any individual ministry. The presentation offers teaching and advice, along with the opportunity, if you so choose, to meet one-on-one with Jim or Bruce to develop a strategy for preparing estate documents that you can take to your attorney, CPA, or financial advisors to draw up. This is a tremendously beneficial service that MTW is making available to our church.
Time: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm or 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Location: Kosciusko Country Club
Please contact Sam Potts, 601-954-3735 or sbpotts@mfbank.com, or sign up on the “Church Events” bulletin board to register. There is no charge for this seminar.
Morning Worship: As you have seen recently in this space, the Session has adopted a simplified and clarified way of being and ‘doing’ church at FPC. Our prayer now is for church-wide understanding. We are not looking for hasty approval or unthinking affirmation. We are looking for patient, honest, prayerful, biblical reflection and understanding. To that end I will preach messages related to this vision-values-vehicles document over the next few weeks. Our prayer is that—in the same way that we came to embrace this vision with joy and zeal, God would work in our church an amazing unity around this vision. We’ll exalt the Lord in singing 8th century hymn by John of Damascus, The Day of Resurrection, Be Thou My Vision, What Manner of Love, and The Church’s One Foundation.
Evening Worship: Joe Holland will preach on the power of the resurrection from Ephesians 1:18-25. This will be Joe’s final preaching series here at FPC. We will sing some great hymns of the resurrection, including Thine Be the Glory, Up from the Grave He Arose, Christ the Lord Is Risen Today, and All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.
