Sweet counsel 08.20.09
August 20, 2009
Sweet Counsel is back after a six-week hiatus…
REMIND
Happy New Year! August is the start of the new year for many of us, especially if we have children. It is also the time when we regroup, restart some ministries that lie fallow for the summer and introduce some new vehicles of ministry. If you missed the Fall Family Night ministry preview back on August 12, you can catch up by picking up an orange Fall @ FPC 2009: What is your next step? sheet. This will give you a lot of information on upcoming events between now and Thanksgiving. The back page is a calendar for the next four months.
Reaching Out at Home: Do you have a heart for the mission field close to home? If you are, you are invited to a meeting directed toward developing and strengthening FPC ministry vehicles for local outreach and mercy ministry, English as a Second Language (ESL), church planting in North America, special needs ministry, campus ministries, military chaplaincy, disaster relief, and other ways of reaching out to our nearby neighbors and those in spiritual need across our nation. We will meet over soup and/or sandwiches on Sunday evening, August 23, in the Jackson Room right after Evening Worship.
REVISIT
Rally Day: We fed around 120 or so last Sunday morning. Cooks Culley Newman and Danny Temple, decorators Keith, Teresa, Victoria and Alexandria Paton, and the entire committee (Lynda Temple, Tanya Steen, Celina Wilson, Sandra Fowler and Mary Denny) put an excellent meal together. Grant was in charge of the Rally Day program. Rally Day is not a just a relic of the past. It is a good way to catch a quick glimpse at what the various children’s and adult classes are doing. There are red sheets of paper at the bulletin pick-up points which give a brief description of the various classes. Invite someone to join you in your class, or if you need help finding a class that suits you or someone else, talk to me or to Grant.
Helping Hand for Helping Hands: Thank you for your generous response to the last-minute call for canned goods to replenish the food pantry at Helping Hands. The number of beneficiaries receiving food assistance at HH has increased by 75% over the past 4 months. FPC really rose the occasion with a strong response last Sunday. If you didn’t get in on that particular joy, I’m sure you can call Helping Hands and ask how you can help.
Andy and Bev Warren: At the last Wednesday Night Connection I gave my teaching time to Andy Warren (MTW Ethiopia) for a report. He emailed me last Friday to let me know that he and Bev could be in Kosciusko on the following Wednseday night, and who can refuse such an opportunity? Their visit to the U.S. is not a regular home assignment; rather, it is due to their youngest son Kit enrolling at Mississippi State. They have helped Kit settle on campus, and are getting ready to visit other supporting churches and do some recruiting while they are here. They will return to Ethiopia October 4. Andy showed us a moving video which chronicled some of their work with HIV-infected residents of Addis Ababa and surrounding regions. They are currently working with 485 families affected by the disease. They are always in need of medical personnel for short-term trips. Also, they help 714 children with educational needs. Andy and Bev asked us to pray for them in their new ‘empty-nest’ situation as a family, for the development of the church plant they want to see in Addis Ababa, and for the many people they serve and care for in Jesus’ name.
Prayer for a Thick Skin and a Big Heart
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21
Dear Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, apart from you, the admonitions in this passage mock our sensibilities. Everything within us instinctively wants to get even when we are hurt by others. Whether it’s a “light-hearted” insult or an outright assault; whether it’s our forgotten birthday or a remembered failure; whether we’re excluded from a party or included in someone’s madness… so often, too often, the pain we feel get’s recycled and redistributed to others.
We ask you for thick skin and a big heart, Jesus. We want to love well in the presence of everything from non-intended slights to full bore evil. Where evil has already deeply wounded us or is presently lurking, Jesus, let us remember, even deeper in our hearts, that you will repay, you will avenge. Because you have already overcome evil on the cross and have secured its utter annihilation, we can dare to imagine overcoming evil with good. We are clueless about feeding hungry, thirsty enemies, Jesus. Take our hand and show us the way.
And where we are just too sensitive, Jesus, too easily offended, too ready to keep record of wrongs done to us… may the gospel bring us much greater freedom. May this be a week, Jesus, of overlooking everything that should be overlooked, of dealing wisely as peacemakers with the situations we must confront, and a week of revoking all revenge in light of the Day you return to make all things new. All for your glory we ask these things, Jesus. Amen.
Morning Worship: This Sunday we’ll have the joy of witnessing the Baptism of Nathan Carroll. Camille’s father, Rev. Billy Joseph, Minister of Congregational Care at First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, will assist. I will conclude the series The Handing Down: The Gospel according to the Isaac and Jacob by preaching from the genealogy of Esau in Genesis 36–a passage that illustrates for us some truths about God’s “common grace” toward all people and God’s “saving grace” toward believers. In the morning liturgy we will sing This Is My Father’s World, Blest the Man That Fear Jehovah [Psalm 128], and Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
Evening Worship: Speaking of concluding a series, Sunday evening will mark the conclusion of my series on Revelation–a sermon on Revelation 22:6-22 entitled Hope Unveiled.
Prayer: a rare medium well done
August 18, 2009
Over at Scotty Smith’s blog, he’s sharing some prayers he has composed about many different aspects of life: friends, enemies, Jesus’ return, suffering, joy, acceptance, shame, and much more below are three that have gripped my heart recently
Prayer for a Thick Skin and a Big Heart
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:17-21
Dear Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, apart from you, the admonitions in this passage mock our sensibilities. Everything within us instinctively wants to get even when we are hurt by others. Whether it’s a “light-hearted” insult or an outright assault; whether it’s our forgotten birthday or a remembered failure; whether we’re excluded from a party or included in someone’s madness… so often, too often, the pain we feel get’s recycled and redistributed to others.
We ask you for thick skin and a big heart, Jesus. We want to love well in the presence of everything from non-intended slights to full bore evil. Where evil has already deeply wounded us or is presently lurking, Jesus, let us remember, even deeper in our hearts, that you will repay, you will avenge. Because you have already overcome evil on the cross and have secured its utter annihilation, we can dare to imagine overcoming evil with good. We are clueless about feeding hungry, thirsty enemies, Jesus. Take our hand and show us the way.
And where we are just too sensitive, Jesus, too easily offended, too ready to keep record of wrongs done to us… may the gospel bring us much greater freedom. May this be a week, Jesus, of overlooking everything that should be overlooked, of dealing wisely as peacemakers with the situations we must confront, and a week of revoking all revenge in light of the Day you return to make all things new. All for your glory we ask these things, Jesus. AmenA Prayer About Weaknesses
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Heavenly Father, I totally get Martin Luther’s statement that “bad theology is the worst taskmaster of all.” For there’s so much in this one passage of Scripture that exposes and contradicts many distorted and destructive notions I used to have about the Christian life. I wasn’t raised to delight in weakness, rather to despise weakness, to deny weakness, to demonize weakness, to de-throne weakness.
It was all about “the victorious Christian life”… being “superman-Christian,”… basically a Type A personality on spiritual steroids, filled with positive confessions, and an unrealistic obsession with being in control, of myself and others. I didn’t want sufficient grace, I wanted replacement grace. What a miserable me-centered merciless myth.
How I praise you, Father, that you are actively working to bring to completion the good work you have begun in each of your children, including me. Hasten that glad Day! Until then, Jesus, please help me to delight in my weaknesses (plural). I have NEVER been more aware of being weak, of having no ability to change certain parts of my brokenness. I really am weak. Jesus, I so want your power to rest on me, I so need your power to rest on me. I am desperate for, and expectant of, sufficient grace from you.
Lastly, as you continue to humble and gentle my heart, help me be more compassionate towards others, in their weaknesses. You haven’t called me to “fix” anyone, but to love everyone. What a wonderful merciful Savior you are, Jesus. Indeed, it was because you embraced the weakness of the cross, Jesus, that I can gladly boast in the weaknesses of my life. What a most profound, liberating and hope-filled paradox. Amen
A Prayer About Acceptance
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:7
Lord Jesus, it’s both settling and centering to begin this day in the peaceful assurance of your acceptance. You know everything about me, and still I am fully and eternally accepted by God in you. You know my failures, fissures, fickleness, foolishness, faithlessness… and yet you totally accept me. When I confess my sins, I don’t inform you of anything you don’t already know. In fact, I’m probably only am aware of 3 or 4% of my actual sins. It’s absolutely astonishing to be this known and this accepted, by YOU.
But here comes the difficult part, Jesus. As you have accepted me, you are calling me to accept my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Do you really have enough grace that can enable me to love like that, Jesus? Are you really calling me to receive, welcome, and love others with whom I disagree about so many things? You’re really gonna have to help me, because there are a lot of my brothers and sisters, (even those in my own family), with whom I disagree on everything from topics in theology, politics, dress, issues of Christian liberty, women’s issues, how to spend money, worship styles, what to do on Sunday, educating children, drinking alcohol, entertainment… and that’s just for starters.
I need a bigger gospel-heart and more gospel-wisdom, Jesus, if I’m going to make any headway in this calling. Please help me show compassion without compromising my convictions. Please show me the difference between essential and non-essential matters. Please show me the difference between accepting someone where they are and acquiescing to the destructive things they are doing. Please free me from the limitations of my perspective, the prejudices of my heritage, and the insecurities of my comfort zone. Please, please, please free me from my stinkin’ need to be right all the time.
Father, please remind me, over and over, that YOU will bring to completion the good work YOU began in each of your children. And burn the conviction, indelibly into my heart, that it brings YOU praise when I work hard at accepting others as Jesus’ accepts me. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ name.
Matthew Henry’s A Method for Prayer available online
August 12, 2009
In 1994 Christian Focus Publications released a newly edited version of Matthew Henry’s A Method for Prayer (original edition appeared in 1712). Former professor and constant friend Ligon Duncan served as editor. A Method for Prayer has assisted and encouraged in me over the last fifteen years in both private and public prayer. It has helped me pray with greater Scriptural proportion and brought my prayers into greater conformity to the priorities and the very language of God’s Word.
Now Henry’s A Method for Prayer is available online, together a number of resources. Take and read…and above all, PRAY!
Disaster relief and church planting on the Gulf Coast
August 12, 2009
The Rev. Curt Moore of Lagniappe Presbyterian Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi has been named Mission to North America’s Disaster Response Specialist for the Gulf Coast Region. This past spring Lagniappe Church made a transition out of relief work and is now focused solely on development as a church plant and as a ministering presence in the community. Much confusion about this still exists. Every couple of weeks someone comments to me about “Lagniappe shutting down.” This is not the case. Please read this excerpt from Curt Moore’s latest newsletter, courtesy of MNA:
After hosting more than 17,000 volunteers since hurricane Katrina, Lagniappe Church has moved from relief to development. According to Pastor Jean Larroux, “Lagniappe embarks on exciting transition….Over 20 new homes….over 400 rebuilds/rehabs….more sheds than we could count….and nearly 17,000 volunteers- God has done wonderful things in Bay St. Louis. God is doing something else wonderful now! I As I have told hundreds of volunteer teams, ‘Lagniappe is NOT a construction company, we ARE a church.’ That truth has never been more evident.” You would think that after participating in relief work for almost four years Curt would be ready to move on like an evacuee away from the path of an approaching storm, however that’s not the case. These years of service have provided Curt with a renewed desire to move toward the brokenness and need of individuals with the love of Christ. “The Church has become relevant for many non-believers,” says Curt. “When the declaration of the love of God is wed with the demonstration of that same love it is a powerful apologetic. Many people have come to know Christ as a result of their experience with suffering and loss. It provides an incredible bridge for the Gospel. I look forward to serving in a region with such profound need and opportunity.”
On a related note, MNA Disaster Relief offers summer internships on the Gulf Coast. You college students out there, think about this.
Depression: a stubborn darkness
August 6, 2009
Dr Ed Welch, of CCEF (Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation), shares the story of his father’s depression and some thoughts on how to think biblically about depression. Dr. Welch’s new book Depression: A Stubborn Darkness–Light for the Path is available at Westminster Bookstore. You can also read the first few pages of chapter one.
Doing what missionaries do
August 5, 2009
“Outward-facing,” “missional,” “evangelistic”–whatever terms are used and whatever baggage each term may carry–are terms which should describe our church. At FPC Kosciusko we speak in terms of ‘pursuing people’ and of ‘REACHING’ others by (1) making room for outsiders through long-term relationships and multiple exposures to the Gospel and (2) committing ourselves to spend and be spent in local outreach, church planting and world missions.
Below is an excerpt from a blog entry by a man who was once my pastor–The Rev. Mark Bates, who now leads the Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In his blog A View from 6000 Feet, he says some of the same things. I enjoy finding others who say some of these better than I can say them.
Whatever term one chooses to use, these are some of the important thoughts that need to be expressed:
1. It is a reminder that the church as a body, and Christians as individual members of this body, are on a mission. We are the “sent out” people of God. The Greek word for church, ecclesia, means ‘called out.’ The idea is that we have been called out of the world as God’s beloved, chosen people. Yet, as the whole thrust of Scripture shows, God never calls you in unless He also sends you out. Jesus said, “So send I you.” We tend to live in our Christian ghetto, forgetting that we are to carry out the mission of Christ.
2. It is a wake up call to the reality that we are in a post-Christian culture. Christendom is over in the west. I don’t think the majority of Christians realize this. We need to view our own culture as the mission field. Certainly, the rest of the Christian world does. So, if you were going to send missionaries to America, to your state, and your city, what would you expect those missionaries to do? How would those missionaries seek to embody the gospel in such a way as to reach the people of your community for Christ and enfold them into the Church? Well, God has sent you and has sent your church. You and your church should be doing what missionaries do. Failure to take this seriously is to be unfaithful to the God who redeemed you.
WQOTW: I cannot live like Jesus
August 5, 2009
Chip Stam is the director of the Institute for Christian Worship at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He faithful puts out a “Worship Quote of the Week” (free subscription to WQOTW is available at his website). Below is this week’s quote:
Today’s WORSHIP QUOTE is a poem of worship and commitment from a ten-year-old girl (my great aunt, Betty Scott Stam). She and her husband, John Stam, attended Moody Bible Institute and went as missionaries to China. In December of 1934, scarcely one year after their marriage, they found themselves caught up in the advance of the Communists into the town where they were living. They were captured, held for an exorbitant ransom, marched through the streets of the village, and then were beheaded. I have written a short essay on their martyrdom. See www.carlstam.org/familyheritage/jbstam.html. May our families and churches help to train and nurture more ten-year-olds who will–like Betty Stam–surrender everything to the Savior.
I CANNOT
I cannot live like Jesus,
Example though He be–
For He was strong and selfless,
And I am tied to ME.
I cannot live like Jesus;
My soul is never free;
My will is strong and stubborn;
My love is weak and wee.
BUT I HAVE ASKED MY JESUS
TO LIVE HIS LIFE IN ME.I cannot look like Jesus–
More beautiful is He
In soul and eye and stature,
Than sunrise on the sea.
Behold His warm, His tangible,
His dear humanity!
Behold His white perfection
Of purest deity!
YET JESUS CHRIST HAS PROMISED
THAT WE LIKE HIM SHALL BE.– Elizabeth Alden Scott Stam, THE FAITH OF BETTY SCOTT STAM IN POEM AND VERSE. Arranged by her parents, Clara and Charles E. Scott. Philadelphia: China Inland Mission, 1938, p. 50.
Cream of blog 08.03.09
August 3, 2009
A few blog entries worth your time:
- The webzine Boundless is offering a free download of their Girls’ Guide to Marrying Well and Guys’ Guide to Marrying Well.
- Richard Pratt writes a fine summary of the Reformed Faithand tradition on the RTS website.
- Daryl Hart says something that needs to be said about the romanticizing of urban ministry and the concomitant devaluing of pastoral ministry in rural and small town settings.
- Tullian Tchividjian shares a letter from John Calvin to some soon-to-be martyrs, courtesy of John Piper’s book Filling Up the Afflictions of Christ.
- Justin Taylor provides a summary and link for Joshua Harris’ sermon on Proverbs 9–on what happens when you’re told that you’re wrong.
