“Temporal resources and activities released for eternal consequences.” John Stott

written by antiwong

I am no longer my own, but Thine,
Put me to what Thou Wilt,
rank me with whom Thou wilt;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for Thee or
laid aside for Thee, exalted for Thee or
brought low for Thee; let me be full,
let me be empty; let me have all things,
let me have nothing;
I freely and heartily yeild all things
to Thy pleasure and disposal.

written by antiwong

Good morning heavenly Father. Good morning Lord Jesus. Good morning Holy Spirit. Father I pray that I may live this day in Your presence and please You more and more. Lord Jesus I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow You. Holy Spirit I pray that this day You will fill me with Yourself and cause Your fruit to ripen in my life, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three Persons in one God, have mercy upon me, Amen.

written by antiwong

this is a joke….
with the Olympics in china now. A great emphasis is placed on the number 8. The opening was on the 8aug2008 at 8:08pm. millions of bibles were given out…

so i thought i better check the bible. We know that 7 is God’s perfect no but does God secretly have a hidden agenda for the number 8 (meaning blessings in chinese).
first check 1 corinth 8:8
food doesn’t bring us to God… very true for chinese.. we do feast a lot. 10 course dinners are normal.

……

the disciples picked up 7 baskets… God’s reminder that 8 is not the no..

written by antiwong

What is man, that you make so much of him,
and that you set your heart on him,
visit him every morning
and test him every moment?

How true that is.. Why does God even bother about us? We cause Him pain, anger, sorrow but yet He went all out to save us.

He can choose to decide our future and let us know. There would be neither success nor failure. Just God’s way. But he allows us to choose and as we live with Him daily, He will reveal to us His good and perfect way.

written by antiwong

if God speaks thru His word most of the time, where should we seek Him?

written by antiwong

A beautiful speech on Father’s Day in Chicago by Barack Obama. Wherever you fall politically, give this talk about family, responsibility, expectations, and ambition a listen. There’s a bit of politics and religion in the last few minutes, but the underlying message is universal. Happy Father’s Day.

He could be President
Jason
Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:49:00 GMT

written by antiwong

by Matt Sieger

“And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.”  (II Chronicles 20:30)

One of the first issues Barack Obama had to tackle after clinching the Democratic presidential nomination last week was Israel’s security. In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Obama claimed that Bush administration policies on Iran and Iraq have made Israel less secure.

“Because of the war in Iraq,” said Obama, “Iran . . . is emboldened, and poses the greatest strategic challenge to the United States and Israel in the Middle East in a generation.”

Two days earlier, John McCain made the opposite argument to the AIPAC. He said that Obama’s plan for a phased U.S. pullout from Iraq would result in the formation of a “potential terrorist sanctuary” that would threaten Israel’s security and “invite further intervention from Iraq’s neighbors, including a very much emboldened Iran.”

Senator Joe Lieberman, McCain’s most prominent Jewish supporter, said that Obama is mistaken in blaming Iran’s resurgence on the Iraq war. “If Israel is in danger today,” he said, “it is not because of American foreign policy. It’s because Iran is a terrorist, expansionist state.”

When a Hamas official said in an April radio interview that the group would like to see Obama elected president, McCain seized on the opportunity to portray Obama as a Hamas-supported candidate. But when Obama issued a statement last week in which he called Israel’s security “sacrosanct” and promised to support an “undivided” Jerusalem, Hamas reversed itself and said it doesn’t want either McCain or Obama to win!          
Will the Obama or McCain approach make Israel more secure?  Both strategies can’t be right.  Both could be wrong.  Or insufficient.

It’s not as if this is the first time that Israel has been threatened.  Around 850 B.C., the Moabites and Ammonites set out to attack Judah and Jerusalem.  King Jehoshaphat called out to God in prayer, saying, “We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (II Chronicles 20:12).  Then God told Jehoshaphat through a prophet, “You will not have to fight this battle.  Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you” (II Chronicles 20:17).  When the men of Judah went out to meet the enemy, God caused such confusion that the Moabites and Ammonites destroyed each other!

I know it’s not politically correct (or expedient) for candidates to admit that they don’t know what to do about the powder keg that is the Middle East today. But admitting that and looking to God worked for Jehoshaphat. I hope that our next president will be supportive of Israel and savvy about the situation - but in any case, Israel’s survival will not be determined by Obama or McCain or whoever else may one day be in the White House.
Israel’s only real security is in the Almighty. As the psalmist said, “Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:2-4).

I would welcome your comments about Israel’s security—or our own. Where do you look for your security?

Why Jehoshaphat Wasn’t Jumpy
Jews for Jesus (noreply@blogger.com)
Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:41:00 GMT

written by antiwong

At the New Attitude 2008 conference we sat down with speaker Al Mohler for a few minutes and asked him how he reads the Bible and what principles he’d encourage others to follow as they read. Dr. Mohler talked to us about why the Bible is like coffee, why getting the big picture matters, and how to have a good devotional time reading about the size of the laver.

_______

What is your personal practice of reading God’s Word?

I never let the day go by without reading God’s Word and I generally try to get there early and end there late. I’m a night person rather than a morning person so my best reading comes at night.

I would just encourage opening it up, reading it and studying it seriously. See the big picture of the unfolding God’s story. See the individual passages and texts as they begin to open all new windows into understanding who God is and what God does and he expects of us and has done for us. The Bible can’t be boring, not if you understand it. I was reading something the other day–it was an inventory list of things for the temple–and thinking this is the most minute stuff. The laver has to be this size and all the rest. Then you realize that this is a God of such specificity that he’s going to give us everything we need not to get this wrong. I found it fascinating and don’t even know how many times I’ve read it over before. There’s a theology in a inventory list right here. This is a part of the story. And it’s also a part of the story that we don’t have to worry about that anymore–that now that Christ has perfectly fulfilled all that we don’t have to make sure in church we perfectly fulfill all that we just have to take a BIble and a pulpit and teach.

How would counsel either a new Christian or a Christian newly committed to reading the Bible? How would you counsel them to build a practice of reading God’s Word?

I would say that the Word of God is a pedative–which means you grow in appetite for it. When I first took a sip of coffee I didn’t like coffee. I didn’t know much about coffee and it didn’t taste the way it smelled. It smelled great and it tasted kinda bitter. But I thought I’d keep drinking it and see if I liked it. Well, I drank more of it and now I’m a connoisseur I could tell you different blends of coffee and different brands of coffee. I’m willing to expend considerable time and resources to have the kind of coffee I want and enjoy. It’s the same with the Word of God. You start out and it feels strange. It’s a very strange world. It’s like going into a world that is connected to ours but isn’t. It doesn’t tell us what we already know, otherwise we wouldn’t need it. It’s rearranging our categories, changing the fundamentals, and bringing us into a story.

So I would say, start out by always keeping some reading in the gospels–Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And do a bit of that so that you’re always connected with the story by which you came to know Christ. And then read in the Old Testament, read the prophets, but I would say don’t start out trying to read the entire Bible in terms of a study. Read the Bible in terms of a story first. Just start with Genesis, start reading through, and if you get to parts that bog you down and you’re not sure exactly who’s what tribe, then just read on faster and keep going because by God’s grace you’ll have an opportunity to go back later. What you need first is the big story. When you read the Old Testament every time you stop reading the Old Testament you should go, “I want something more, there’s not enough here.” Well that’s why we needed Christ, and just exult in that. You’re supposed to read an Old Testament text and say, “There’s got to be more than this.” And there is. That’s Christ.

Then when you read the latter parts of the New Testament that’s the apostles coming back and saying, “Here’s what the gospel really is. Here’s what the church is supposed to be.” And some of that stuff is really deep because it was meant for a maturing church.  If you’re not there yet the Bible uses this metaphor; it says that there are those who start out with a diet of milk and then they get to a diet of meat. That’s alright. There’s no embarrassment there. Start out with milk and you’ll discover an appetite growing for meat. And then next thing you know you’ll say, “Hey this verse connects with something I read over here. This is where this fits in the story. Now I understand this doctrine.” I discover find themselves into the appetite rather than trying to will themselves into the appetite.

What’s one thing you’ve learned after reading the Bible for many years that you wish you’d known when you began?

I think it would be the important of understanding the big overarching story. For those of us that grew up in the church we got taught Bible stories, or we had christian parents and we sat on their lap and heard Bible stories. And you can begin to think that this is a collection of stories. Well, it is, but the bigger issues is that it’s one big story of creation and fall and redemption and consumation, of what God was doing and is doing in Christ for us. You’ve got to put the little stories in the big story. That’s the way I’d say I would’ve wanted to read the Bible differently as a 13 year old, as a 23 year old, as a 33 year old had I seen how this individual story fits into the big story.

Any particular books or resources that would help people do that?

I would recommend the author Graeme Goldsworthy I think he helps to do that. I think you get a taste of that in John Piper’s work. Mark Dever’s volumes on the Old and New Testament where he takes each book of the Bible because he keeps putting it into the context of the big story. 

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Posted by Na

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Articles: Al Mohler on Personal Bible Reading
FeedHub (support@feedhub.com)
Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:00:01 GMT

written by antiwong

(By John MacArthur)

A couple years ago, one of our staff pastors at Grace Church interviewed John MacArthur about expository preaching in a postmodern world. The following is a transcript of that interview.

QUESTION: Over the course of your ministry, why have you remained committed to expository preaching over other preaching paradigms?

Well first, because it is a biblical mandate. It doesn’t fluctuate with culture, with expectations, with times or seasons. Expository preaching is the best way to preach the Bible. If every word of God is pure, if every word of God is true, then every word needs to be dealt with. And expository preaching is only way you actually come to grips with every word in the Scriptures.

Secondly, expository preaching familiarizes people with the Scripture itself instead of simply giving them a speech, as true and as reflective of biblical teaching as that speech may be. With expository preaching, people become familiar with the Scripture. They can go back to the passages that have been addressed, and they can be reminded by the text itself of what it means. So you give people the Word of God in a way that has long-term impact, because it makes them familiar with Scripture.

Thirdly, it makes the authority unequivocal, and that authority is the Scripture. That’s very clear no matter how powerful or gifted the preacher might be. In consistent, expository preaching, the people always know what the authority is. It’s not about homiletics. It’s not about personal viewpoints and insights. It’s about relentlessly affirming the true authority of Scripture, which is the most critical thing that anybody can ever learn. It isn’t about, “Wasn’t that a great sermon?” It isn’t about, “Wasn’t that a great outline? Wasn’t that clever?” It’s always about, “What did the Word of God say?” And that makes it truly authoritative, because the Word is from God. No other preaching paradigm does this.

QUESTION: What are the unique challenges or difficulties of preaching to a postmodern culture?

First of all, you have to understand that when you talk about a postmodern culture, that’s an academic assessment of the culture. The average Joe doesn’t have any idea what that means. All he knows is he’s pretty much free to think and do whatever he wants. That’s how postmodernism filters down to the guy in the pew. It’s not a philosophy—it’s a lifestyle. The average guy just knows that the culture doesn’t care what he does. The movies he sees don’t make a moral judgment on anything except racism or somebody’s intolerance. So he’s free to do whatever he wants in the society, and nobody can tell him what to be or what to do, and the bottom line is that he should feel good about himself. That’s what filters down.

But all this goes completely against the grain of his conscience and his reason, and ultimately what he knows to be true. The unbeliever’s conscience is a reality, and even reason tells him that there have to be some absolutes.

The bottom line is that expository preaching confronts the amorality of postmodernism with an authoritative message of absolute truth. It’s not a question of debating. It’s not a question of trying to find some way to sneak that in. It’s an issue of confronting this kind of thinking with the absolute authority of Scripture and then letting the Spirit of God make the application to the heart.

QUESTION: What are the advantages of expository preaching in a postmodern culture?

Expository preaching is the only thing that is going to change anything. There isn’t any other way to affect people positively aside from hitting them with that kind of authority. In my own preaching, my objective is not to court the postmodern mind. My objective is to confront it—to hit it stone cold in the face with truth. It’s irrelevant to me how the person thinks. It’s only relevant to me how they need to think. So I’m not going to play around with their sensitivities to postmodernism.

At a recent Bible conference, I spoke on the exclusivity of the gospel, and I set forth the distinctiveness of Christianity. And afterward some guys who were seminary students and philosophy majors came up to me and said, “What’s really interesting about your message is that you gave us a philosophy of thinking, a worldview. But we’ve never heard anyone give that kind of worldview without a very intricate philosophical defense.” And I said I didn’t need to give an intricate philosophical defense, because this is exactly what Scripture says, and there is no need to defend it. You just proclaim it. See these guys were struck by the fact that what they heard was an absolute authoritative statement of a worldview that takes on postmodernism, without having to fuddle around and make all kinds of philosophical and rational arguments, and without having to answer every objection that arises.

So the advantages of preaching expositionally and authoritatively in a postmodern culture are the same as they are in any environment where there is error—you bring an authoritative word to bear upon how people think.

(Part 2 of this interview will be posted tomorrow.)

Preaching and Postmodernism (Part 1)
Pulpit Magazine
Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:01:30 GMT

written by antiwong

At the New Attitude 2008 conference we sat down with speaker Mark Dever for a few minutes and interviewed him about how he reads the Bible and what he’s learned about reading the Bible over the years. Mark talked to us about how he decides what to read each week, how to get through an uninspiring devotional day (or week), and how he’d use dead people to encourage people to read every day.

_______

What is your personal practice of reading God’s Word?

What I always do is read what’s going to be preached on the coming Sunday wherever I’ll be in church. So this week I’ll be reading Psalm 16 because Kevin is going to be preaching on Psalm 16 at our church. And then I’ll also read anything else I’ve been thinking about or I’ve been interested in, or anything that’s been on my mind.

So what would a typical devotional time for you look like?

Well it can be a lot of different things but I’ll just pick one example. I get up, pray through my family, pray through my schedule, pray about other things on my mind, read the text of scripture and meditate on that, confess sin that comes out of meditating on that passage, pray for other people that come to mind, and then go to the membership directory for our church and pray through people in that.

How would you counsel someone–maybe a new christian or someone that hasn’t read the Bible much–to start a daily practice of reading Gods Word?

I think a great thing to do is use McCheyne’s reading through the Bible in a year plan where he gets you through the New Testament and the Pslams twice and the Old Testament. And there are several books keyed in with that (like D.A. Carson’s For the Love of God volumes) and that’s a great way to do it.

What’s your goal going into your devotional time? What are you trying to get out of your time or accomplish during that time?

I want to personally relate to God. I want to be freshly confronted, encouraged, challenged, changed. I want to intercede for those I love. I want to plead for God’s favor and mercy in people’s lives. And I certainly want to be reformed in my own thinking and resolve to live as I read his word.

What’s one thing you’ve learned after years of reading the BIble about how to read the Bible well?

That’s it’s more important that I keep doing it than what I get out of it at any particular time.

A lot of young Christians will have an exciting quiet time on Monday and a really exciting one on Tuesday and an awesome one on Wednesday but then something happens on Thursday and they actually don’t even do it and Friday they do it and they feel guilty and it isn’t that good and Saturday they do it but it’s late and they were discouraged…and then they just get discouraged because they’re not always having a super experience. That’s where I would look at them and say, “Just keep going. Aim at obedience in a long direction set in a pattern for decades. If you just keep going you’ll gain so much by consistency and and faithfulness that there’s no way you can gain just by sudden experience.”

How would you make the case from Scripture for a daily time of Bible reading to someone that’s not convinced they need it or who even opposes it?

I’ve certainly had that conversation before. I certainly can’t prove that there’s such a thing as a “quiet time” in the New Testament. But the very fact that the Psalmist tells us we’re to hide God’s word in our heart implies that unless that’s going to happen by osmosis, we’re going to have to get near the text with our eyes open and get it into our brains and your hearts.

So, I don’t know that you’re in sin because you didn’t have a quiet time today but I can’t imagine having the opportunity to meditate on God’s Word and not doing it. We don’t have a scroll that’s kept away somewhere with only limited chances to memorize it and carry it around with us, we actually have it available in our culture all the time. So we are able to be faithful and to do things that previous generations quite literally died for.

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Posted by Na

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Articles: Mark Dever on Personal Bible Reading
info9@newattitude.org
Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:00:00 GMT

written by antiwong

(Author: Abraham Piper)

Thanks to Jim for bringing this applicable clipping into work:

The Obvious Folly of Hoarding
Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:19:40 GMT

written by antiwong

In the previous article, I showed that the Old Testament endorses capital punishment. Now, let’s see whether the New Testament maintains or contradicts this teaching.

Did Jesus Support Capital Punishment?
Andrew Tallman
Wed, 28 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT

written by antiwong

Does God approve? "saviour siblings" aren’t necessarily the right thing to do. When you grow a heart that’s pumping, is it alive?

MPs consider reforms to the UK’s embryology laws, including the creation of hybrid embryos.

MPs back hybrid embyro research
Mon, 19 May 2008 21:57:37 GMT

written by antiwong

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

How true it is but it’s something we fail to do most of the time. It’s the Lord who establishes His work. The work that we do is not for personal gain but it builds up the kingdom of God.

written by antiwong

(Author: John Piper)

Outside the Bible I have never read anything more devastating to the impenetrable permutations of pride than the section in Jonathan Edwards’ Religious Affections titled, “Sign #6, Gracious affections are attended with evangelical humiliation.” It ends with one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. Few paragraphs fill me with longing like this one:

All gracious affections that are a sweet odor to Christ, and that fill the soul of a Christian with a heavenly sweetness and fragrancy, are broken hearted affections. A truly Christian love, either to God or men, is a humble broken hearted love. The desires of the saints, however earnest, are humble desires. Their hope is a humble hope; and their joy, even when it is unspeakable, and full of glory, is a humble broken hearted joy, and leaves the Christian more poor in spirit; and more like a little child, and more disposed to a universal lowliness of behavior.

Evangelical Humiliation
Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:50:15 GMT

written by antiwong

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.

14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.

written by antiwong

v3-4

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

Do not let my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies!

These are words of David, much like Jesus who prayed that God keep us away from temptation. It’s important that we pray that God keep our lives pure for Him. For His sake and our sake as well. It’s not easy to serve and love God when we can’t rid ourselves of sin. It hold us back. makes us inadequate. the grace of God that has freed us will free us and keep us free.

written by antiwong

Though we do not know everything there is to know, and though we do not know anything perfectly, yet we do know many things truly and confidently, because of God’s revelation and his Spirit. To give a few examples:

• We know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God”. (Romans 3:19)
• We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. (Romans 6:6)
• We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. (Romans 6:9)
• We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:22)
• We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
• We know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” (1 Corinthians 8:4)
• We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6)
• We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. (Galatians 2:16)
• We know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully. (1 Timothy 1:8)
• We know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
• We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. (1 John 5:18)
• We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. (1 John 5:20)

written by antiwong

• the no 1 joy of singapore - eating.we eat at every occassion - birthday, wedding, and funeral.
• gal 4 - when the time has come, the son has come. there was a long preparation before the son came. the preparation began in genesis. man was created to be the manager of the earth for God. We had a close relationship with God but adam and eve destroyed that relationship. man and God became separated. The banquet began there during the promise of the heel promise.

written by antiwong \\ tags: luke

117 Praise the Lord, all nations!

Extol him, all peoples!

² For great is his steadfast love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord!

We are his people called in His name to praise him and worship him. With all of our hearts, all of our mind, and all of our souls!! This is a short psalm but a reminder that God is God over all nations, all people whether you believe or not, it’s a fact!

written by antiwong

Wednesday
Dec
19,2007

Powered by ScribeFire.

written by antiwong

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single
step.
Lao-tzu

written by antiwong

(Author: John Piper)

Oshea Davis just published in a self-standing volume (for the first time that I am aware of ) Jonathan Edwards’ Dissertation Concerning the Divine Decrees in General and Election in Particular. I am thankful for this service to the church. This 75 -page essay (in Davis’s work) proved enormously helpful to me along the way in my thinking about God’s sovereignty.

Here is one excerpt from that essay (quoted from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library to save me having to type the excerpt from Davis’s book). It will give you a taste for the depth and complexity of Edwards’ book, and the seriousness of his effort to tackle the hardest questions.

It is a proper and excellent thing for infinite glory to shine forth; and for the same reason, it is proper that the shining forth of God’s glory should be complete; that is, that all parts of his glory should shine forth, that every beauty should be proportionably effulgent, that the beholder may have a proper notion of God. It is not proper that one glory should be exceedingly manifested, and another not at all; for then the effulgence would not answer the reality. For the same reason it is not proper that one should be manifested exceedingly, and another but very little. It is highly proper that the effulgent glory of God should answer his real excellency; that the splendour should be answerable to the real and essential glory, for the same reason that it is proper and excellent for God to glorify himself at all. Thus it is necessary, that God’s awful majesty, his authority and dreadful greatness, justice, and holiness, should be manifested. But this could not be, unless sin and punishment had been decreed; so that the shining forth of God’s glory would be very imperfect, both because these parts of divine glory would not shine forth as the others do, and also the glory of his goodness, love, and holiness would be faint without them; nay, they could scarcely shine forth at all. If it were not right that God should decree and permit and punish sin, there could be no manifestation of God’s holiness in hatred of sin, or in showing any preference, in his providence, of godliness before it. There would be no manifestation of God’s grace or true goodness, if there was no sin to be pardoned, no misery to be saved from. How much happiness soever he bestowed, his goodness would not be so much prized and admired, and the sense of it not so great, as we have elsewhere shown. We little consider how much the sense of good is heightened by the sense of evil, both moral and natural. And as it is necessary that there should be evil, because the display of the glory of God could not but be imperfect and incomplete without it, so evil is necessary, in order to the highest happiness of the creature, and the completeness of that communication of God, for which he made the world; because the creature’s happiness consists in the knowledge of God, and sense of his love. And if the knowledge of him be imperfect, the happiness of the creature must be proportionably imperfect; and the happiness of the creature would be imperfect upon another account also; for, as we have said, the sense of good is comparatively dull and flat, without the knowledge of evil.

Newly Published Edwards’ Essay
Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:23:35 GMT

written by antiwong

Purpose Life Church: Healthy Church Life: BAPTISM & COMMUNION

BAPTISM & COMMUNION

BAPTISM

Baptism is an act representing death, burial, and resurrection into the newness of life. It is done for the purpose of celebrating new believers into the fellowship of Christianity, and into the fellowship of a body of believers. We baptize following the example set by Jesus. At Purpose Life Church we practice full water submersion, which means we lower the whole body beneath the water.

Who can be baptized? Anyone confessing that Christ Jesus is Lord and Savior, who have repented of their sins, can be baptized.

Can someone be baptized more than once? Many people have been baptized simply because of pressure to fit in, or man-made traditions, which demanded conformity. Another problem has been that some churches have used baptisms as a form of boasting, identifying numbers of baptisms with the number of salvations. This has only caused confusion and heartache for many people. Many people face doubts and fears about the reason they had first been baptized. Salvation is the conversion of your heart to believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior; Baptism is your public display of the change (salvation) that has taken place in your life. Baptism does not save.

Can I rededicate my life through baptism? Some feel they have walked away from God and want to publicly renew their relationship with God through baptism; this is a wonderful way of renewing ones commitment to God. We see baptism as being a wonderful public display of our love and obedience to God. We also see it as a person surrendering their life to the will of God. The old life is seen as passing away and the new life is seen coming forward.

Who can perform baptism? Anyone who is saved, confessing Jesus as their Savior is a priest for His name and is ordered to go and spread the gospel and baptize.

Baptism is not a funeral. At Purpose Life Church we do not see baptism as a quiet, solemn event, it is a wonderful celebration, it is a party!

COMMUNION

Communion also known as the last supper, it is a symbol of the Blood and Body of Christ and His sacrifice. It is a celebration that we use as a reminder that one day the believers will sit at a table and dine with Jesus. When Purpose Life Church comes together for such an event, it is a full meal.

Is the bread and wine considered holy? We do not see the bread and wine as being something holy, we see these elements as being symbolic of what Christ did for us, thus anyone can partake of the food on the table, to a unsaved person, it is just food, but to those who are saved, the elements of bread and wine have an everlasting meaning. At Purpose Life Church we see the importance of what Christ did on the cross as being holy, not the food we eat.

More than just a meal.

During communion we strongly encourage people to practice 1 Cor.14:26-33. We all bring something that will bring glory to God and edify the body. Some bring music & song, some bring poetry, and some tell us what the Lord is doing in their life. Whatever is on ones heart that is good and true, this is the time to bring it, it is a time that body of Christ shines.

written by antiwong

The Mystery of Unanswered Prayer « Grits n’ Grace

jesusprayer.jpgThe following is a summary of a sermon by Bill Hybels. Bill is the founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois.

I thought I’d spend the next post or two discussing prayer. This post covers something we’ve all agonized over at various times in our lives — unanswered prayer.

“Didn’t Jesus say, ‘Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be open?’ Didn’t he say that?”

Yes, Jesus did say that. Then why do some of our prayers go left unanswered? How many times have you heard, “Sometimes the answer is no answer.”?

Me, too…

Bill has an outline that addresses the various responses God has to our prayers: “No,” “Slow,” “Grow,” or “Let’s go.”

If the request is wrong, God will say, “No.”

Maybe the request is a cop-out on your part, an unwillingness to face a real issue. Maybe the request is destructive in ways you don’t understand. Maybe the request is self-serving. Maybe the request is shortsighted. Maybe the request is too small, and God might have something better in mind, and he’s saying no to this one because he has a better plan. Could be you’ll be thanking Him for saying no down the road as you realize it would not have been the best thing for you.

If the timing is wrong, God will say, “Slow.”

We live in a society that demands instant gratification. Like children, we dislike the words, “Not yet,” as God shakes his head at us. God has reasons for his “Not yets;” we must not insist we know better than he. Among them are such concerns as the possibility of you developing some character, some endurance, some trust, some patience, or some submission, while God is orchestrating the timing of the answer to prayer. As human beings we tend to be much more concerned about comfort and convenience than we are about building character through patiently waiting on and trusting in God’s timing. I think God is a whole lot more concerned about character than he is about instant gratification and personal convenience.

If you are wrong, God will say, “Grow.”

Relational discord will cut us off from close fellowship with God. When we disobey, God says, “Why should I honor your requests when you don’t honor mine?” Ouch… It’s a lot easier to point the finger at God for not answering prayer than it is to look in the mirror and to say, “Maybe I’m the problem.” Put that sin away. It’s the only thing standing in the way. Change your attitude on this or that. Stop that practice. End that pattern. Reconcile that relationship. Soften up in your spirit. Repent; receive forgiveness. Come on, grow, grow. It’s the only thing standing in the way!” And God says, “When you grow, I’ll open up the floodgates of power and blessing and pour myself out to you, but you’ve got to grow.”

When the timing is right, God will say, “Let’s go!”

God wants to move that mountain for us; to change that circumstance; to answer that prayer. You’ll be amazed at how often God will say, “Let’s go!” When everything gets lined up, as it fits into the plans that he has for you and for this world, you’ll be amazed at how often God will say, “Let’s go,” because you matter to him and it’s in his heart to meet your needs and grant your requests. It’s really more a matter of you letting him, you freeing him to do it.

…

What a special gift we have been given by our creator to converse directly to Him.

I’m trying to get out of the way, but I keep bumping into myself!

written by antiwong

If

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too:

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thought your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same:

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings:

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss:

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a man, my son!

written by antiwong

My colleague and I just started to talk about kids. Why her friend’s kid can’t speak mandarin although both parents are from China and don’t speak english at home. What influences a kid?

Even as we prepare our child for the world, how do we bring up a child? to give him skills to make money? to give him knowledge that he can excel in school? Or bring him up in a Godly manner and just let God deal with the rest. It’s not easy as a parent when every parent you come across will definition send their kids for all sorts of gym activities, for art classes, and music classes. Where is the wholesome teaching of the bible?

My girl is are not as receptive to the bible as other kids are. We find it difficult at times and are at a lost.

Making Jesus real in a kid’s life.
getting the message across without being preachy. That’s what i get from my wife. She claims I am too preachy. I believe that it’s important that we remind ourselves by using bible verses in conversions. But the person shuts off and does not listen at times which means your message does not get across. Something that i have to learn.

parents are the models that the kids follow. never do something you don’t want them to do. Always do what you expect them to do. read your bible daily if you want them to. pray daily if you want them to. Like paul mentioned in the book of titus (Titus 2).

parenting together with other couples.

Being in the world but not of the world.
equipping a child to look at the world through the eyes of jesus.
everyone falls. how do we get up and walk again. finding joy in trials and suffering.

Is it ever too late to change a person?
“Look at him. He’s not doing much with his life. As an only child, his parents gave him everything. Now that he’s 30, he still relies on them to give him everything and get him out of every fix he gets himself into.. There’s nothing that can change him now.. only if his parents could have done something when he was younger….”

Jesus came to save the sick and not healthy. He raised the dead and he can change anyone. It’s instantaneous at times.

written by antiwong

A Sunday school class of first-graders was asked to draw a picture
of God. When the pastor stopped by to inspect their work, the
children were happy to show him their drawings. One had depicted God
in the form of a brightly colored rainbow. Another had drawn the face
of an old man coming out of billowing clouds. And there was one
rendition which looked a lot like Superman. But perhaps the best was
the one proudly displayed by a girl who said, “I didn’t know what God
looked like, so I just drew a picture of my daddy.”

The first-grader showed a lot of wisdom. Nobody knows what God
looks like because nobody has seen Him, but God has revealed Himself
as a Father to those who are related to Him by faith.

written by antiwong

why does a child want to grow up fast?
because he wants to do what a grownup can do.
They are always not allowed to do what grownups can do. There are times where what the grownups can do but should not do.

written by antiwong