Contagious Christianity…

August 16, 2009
diary

I’ve just come back from my annual jaunt to the EMW Aberystwyth conference and feeling slightly more refreshed than usual! The messages this year seemed particularly poignant, and coupled with a slightly different circumstances in my role at the conference, meant I was able to listen with fewer distractions. (Let’s just say Ps 84:10 had quite a literal meaning!)

The main speaker this year was (Rev. Dr. – slightly unwieldy!)) Joel Beeke, a minister of a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He’d spoken at the EMW conference before, and I’d found God had spoken through Joel’s ministry then, so I had a sense of expectation.

We were taken through four people of God throughout the week, seeing how they struggled with God and their circumstances. On Tuesday we started with Jacob becoming Israel (Gen 32:24) – how he wrestled with God. This would seem to be a foolish thing as God is infinitely greater than he is, both in knowledge and power. However, God was dealing graciously with Jacob, and ultimately demonstrated his power by touching his hip, causing him great pain and disabling Jacob from fighting any further. Through this struggle he would slowly change from being known as a deceiver to being known as one who wrestles with God. Changing from one who is self-serving, to one who serves God.

Secondly we looked at Bartimaeus, who sought Jesus unreservedly, thought nothing of what he already had, and told the world of what God had done for him. Bartimaeus sought to meet with Jesus, seeing Jesus for who he really was, and trusted him completely with his life. Through this, Jesus forgave Bartimaeus his sin, and to demonstrate he had the authority and power to do so, Jesus also healed him.

On Thursday, we looked at Jepthah’s Daughter. This was interesting in that Joel took on a different understanding of the text from most commentators, and had concluded that Jepthah’s daughter wasn’t sacrificed like the surrounding pagan nations would do, but was given in complete devotion to God. We saw how she accepted her situation, made preparations and entered into her calling completely, and in so doing, causing many others to devote themselves to God.

Finally we looked at Daniel, who suffered great hardship through being exiled in Babylon. Taken away from everything he loves and placed in the Babylonian court, to become a Babylonian. By God’s grace, he was enabled to engage with Babylon (the world), yet remain distinctly different. He refrained from adopting many of the practices of Babylon, keeping the commandments of his God, and yet he was promoted to one of the highest post in the land under the king and survived in that post until the end of the line of Babylonian kings.

From all four cases, it is apparent that we should trust God in all things, for he is almighty, just, and loves us.

If he is almighty and just, and also loves us, then what good thing will he withhold from us? If the blood of his Son was shed for us while we were still sinners, that we might be righteous in his sight and become his children, why should we doubt him?

When we doubt, we should confess our sin before God in repentance, pleading only through the merit of our Saviour.

Through seeking to trust him completely, being totally dependent on him, he is able to work in us, to use us for his glory. To enable us by his Spirit to live the life we was designed to live. A life which will glorify our God, which will speak of our Saviour and what he has done for us, and will be attractive to those around us, that they might want what we have, that they might seek God for themselves. We will have a Christianity which is contagious.

Psalm 120

August 16, 2009
sermonnotes

A song of ascents.

I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me.
Save me, O LORD, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.

What will he do to you, and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?
He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree.

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
Too long have I lived among those who hate peace.
I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war

Hail the incarnate Deity

July 23, 2009
catechism

Q. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?

A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in calling out of the world a people to himself, and giving them officers, laws, and censures, by which he visibly governs them; in bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory, and their good; and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel.

(Question XLV of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)

Long time, no blog[2]…

July 22, 2009
diaryrambling

It seems like a long time since I rambled about inane trivia. Midsummers Day 2009 has gone already, and the nights are starting to draw in.

It’s been so long, that my mobile contract had expired and my trusty W910i was up for replacement. Fortunately, I didn’t have to give much thought to its replacement as the HTC Magic had just been released, and it looked like the perfect geek phone to me. For those of you who still have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s the second phone to be released with Google Android as its operating system.

My contract was modified slightly to accommodate unlimited internet access, which also meant a lot more free minutes and texts, and I can see why. Without constant and unlimited internet access, the features of this phone would be quite noticeably curtailed! When you first switch it on, it asks for your Google account details and then proceeds to sync with your Google contacts, calendar and Gmail. From then on, when you make any modifications to any of the above, either through the web, or via the phone, the two are almost always in sync.

Is it a good phone? Let’s just say that, I’m still very happy with it and I’m still downloading apps for it. The only phone I’ve come across which could possibly be better would be Apple’s iPhone, but even then, it’s a close call thing. The user interface of the Magic is very straightforward, making very good use of the touch screen. I’m still not over the novelty of being able to access my email, Gmail, and calendar wherever I am. The ability to download lots of apps, both from Google and from third-parties is brilliant compared to the paltry offerings available to the W910i. (I guess the hardware difference might contribute somewhat to that – The Magic is pretty much a computer in your palm!)

It’s been quite cool to watch Wimbledon live using beebplayer, whilst sitting in Kwik-Fit waiting for them to recharge the aircon in the car, or see the fuel usage per week with Mileage. Its GPS and Andnav2 have been quite handy when I’m in the middle of nowhere and the old paper map doesn’t seem to make much sense. The GPS and Sportypal also comes into its own as a way to record my walks and calculate how far I’ve walked and see how many calories I’ve burned. Occassionally I’ve gone to a church service without a paper bible, and used CadreBible. The most used app is probably twidroid, which allows me to Twitter from almost anywhere I care to be!

Which brings me full circle… I guess the reason I haven’t blogged much on the inane front is that Twitter allows me to do that and restricts me to only inflicting 140 characters of banality on you!

Now, what shall I do with my old phone?

a.m.: Isaiah 6:1-9

July 19, 2009
sermonnotes

As we lead the Christian life, sometimes we become taken up with the things of this world. Our walk with our God is not as close as it once was. Our desire to pray and to read the bible diminish. We feel we’ve lost the joy in God which we once had. So often, this stems from a small view of God. We forget who God is, and begin to live life in our own strength.

Isaiah had to be reminded of who God really was. He needed a new vision of God, a vision of the God who is high and lifted up. The God whose glory fills the earth. The God who reigns from his throne over all. The God who the seraphs declare to be

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

If we claim to be Christians, then this is the God who we worship. Our view of God should be as he is, because when it is, our view of everything else is corrected.

When we see God for who he is, we’ll see ourselves for who we really are. Isaiah looked upon God, and cried out

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

For before an almighty holy God, we’ll realise we are small sinful men and women. Who are we to complain before God? Who are we to try and live our lives apart from God? Who are we to worship anything else but the one true living God?

This should bring us to a state of repentance, with a desire to turn away from our sin and to turn towards God. As believers, when we humble ourselves before God, when we stop trying to do things in our own strength, then God will work in us. Just as Isaiah’s lips were made clean by God, so our hearts can be purified through the blood of Jesus. We are filled afresh with the Holy Spirit. This should cause us to re-evaluate our lives, to ensure that we are living to serve our Lord and God in his strength and not ourselves in our own strength. There should be no idols in our heart.

This proper view of God will also give us a correct view of the world. Without a proper view of God, it is so easy to think the world’s answers for life are true, and yet they always fail us. The world would tell us to make our own salvation. The world might even tell us that there’s no sin, no right or wrong, and no God.

Yet we are not here to judge the world, but to have compassion on it. For in and of ourselves, we are no better than the world and it is only by the grace of God we have been made holy. For God calls us to tell the world of the salvation which has been purchased with the blood of Jesus on the cross at Golgotha, out of love, mercy and grace. To tell the world that, through faith in Jesus the Christ, there is atonement with God. To tell the world of that great sacrifice from which we ourselves have benefitted.

That we, along with Isaiah, might be able to say

“Here am I. Send me!”

I have a strong and perfect plea…

June 25, 2009
catechism

Q. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?

A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering himself a sacrifice without spot to God, to be reconciliation for the sins of his people; and in making continual intercession for them.

(Question XLIV of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)

The annointed one

May 27, 2009
catechism

Q. Why was our Mediator called Christ?
A. Our Mediator was called Christ, because he was anointed with the Holy Ghost above measure, and so set apart, and fully furnished with all authority and ability, to execute the offices of prophet, priest, and king of his church, in the estate both of his humiliation and exaltation.

Q. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in his revealing to the church, in all ages, by his Spirit and Word, in divers ways of administration, the whole will of God, in all things concerning their edification and salvation.

(Questions XLII and XLIII of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see

April 29, 2009
catechism

Q. Who is the Mediator of the covenant of grace?
A. The only Mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, of one substance and equal with the Father, in the fulness of time became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two entire distinct natures, and one person, forever.

Q. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ the Son of God became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary, of her substance, and born of her, yet without sin.

Q. Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God?
A. It was requisite that the Mediator should be God, that he might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God, and the power of death, give worth and efficacy to his sufferings, obedience, and intercession; and to satisfy God’s justice, procure his favour, purchase a peculiar people, give his Spirit to them, conquer all their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation.

Q. Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be man?
A. It was requisite that the Mediator should be man, that he might advance our nature, perform obedience to the law, suffer and make intercession for us in our nature, have a fellow-feeling of our infirmities; that we might receive the adoption of sons, and have comfort and access with boldness unto the throne of grace.

Q. Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God and man in one person?
A. It was requisite that the Mediator, who was to reconcile God and man, should himself be both God and man, and this in one person, that the proper works of each nature might be accepted of God for us, and relied on by us as the works of the whole person.

Q. Why was our Mediator called Jesus?
A. Our Mediator was called Jesus, because he saveth his people from their sins.

(Questions XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XL and XLI of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)

World Malaria Day 2009

April 20, 2009
random

Roll Back Malaria World Malaria Day 2009

Grace, from first to last

March 24, 2009
rambling

Q. Was the covenant of grace always administered after one and the same manner?

A. The covenant of grace was not always administered after the same manner, but the administrations of it under the Old Testament were different from those under the New.

Q. How was the covenant of grace administered under the Old Testament?

A. The covenant of grace was administered under the Old Testament, by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover, and other types and ordinances, which did all fore-signify Christ then to come, and were for that time sufficient to build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they then had full remission of sin, and eternal salvation.

Q. How is the covenant of grace administered under the New Testament?

A. Under the New Testament, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the same covenant of grace was and still is to be administered in the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; in which grace and salvation are held forth in more fulness, evidence, and efficacy, to all nations.

(Questions XXXIII, XXXVI and XXXV of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)

The omnipotent God

March 6, 2009
catechism

Q.14. Can God do all things?
A. Yes, God can do all his holy will.

The omniscient God

February 27, 2009
catechism

Q.12. Can you see God?
A. No; I cannot see God, but he always sees me.

Q.13. Does God know all things?
A. Yes, nothing can be hidden from God.

The grace of God

February 26, 2009
catechism

Q. How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant?

A. The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant, in that he freely provideth and offereth to sinners a Mediator, and life and salvation by him; and requiring faith as the condition to interest them in him, promiseth and giveth his Holy Spirit to all his elect, to work in them that faith, with all other saving graces; and to enable them unto all holy obedience, as the evidence of the truth of their faith and thankfulness to God, and as the way which he hath appointed them to salvation.

(Question XXXII of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)

Here, There and Everywhere

February 14, 2009
catechism

Q. 11. Where is God?
A. God is everywhere.

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene III.

February 8, 2009
random

And these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion’d thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledg’d comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in,
Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice:
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy:
For the apparel oft proclaims the man;
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be:
For loan oft loses both itself and friend;
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all,–to thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene III. William Shakespeare