Focus

A good friend reminded me this weekend that if we focus on what we don’t want we will always end up there. If I focus on not being like my dad I will end up being like him or if I focus on the ditch while driving I will end up in the ditch. People do not set goals to not do or be something, they set goals in the direction they want to go.

“…every organization eventually becomes a direct reflection of its leadership, whether for good or for bad.”
Larry Osborne, Sticky Church, Pg. 123

Knowing what we don’t want is great however one must focus on what is to be achieved. What is the purpose of Christianity and why do we believe what we do?

The prince of peace…really?

“The distance between the cradle and the cross is slight”

Reverend Terry Lee

 

Over the Advent season at church we have been looking at the words of Isaiah and reminded that even though we celebrate the birth and resurrection at different times in the year they are not that far a part. Together they are the fulfilled of God’s plan to rescue the lost. Over the last few months I have not really blogged, I left part way through a series I was putting together on the two kingdoms of the already and not yet. The last few months have been some of the most stressful I have ever experienced and through this time have had many

already but not yet moments. This series has reminded me that many parts of this world remain broken and that there is something more, something eternal that needs fixing.

Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7

 

 

Part of the sermon today Pastor Terry looked at how Christ fulfilled the promise of being the prince of peace when the world seems to be so broken. The world is broken, we see that all over the news, in our homes, at our jobs, but the peace Isaiah is looking at is something more, something eternal. The world is not our enemy, God is. Our relationship was broken when man bit into the forbidden fruit in the garden. The peace that Christ brings now is peace with God. Through Christ we are reconciled to Him (Colossians 1:19-22).

This Christmas don’t forget that the baby that came from God also went to the cross for our sins.

Priorities: Life or Doctrine

Sound doctrine is not enough, because, according to scripture, the fundamental qualification for pastoral ministry is godly character. Neither skill, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, nor reputation, nor personality, nor apparent fruitfulness of public ministry will suffice. Scan 1 timothy 3 and Titus 1, and you will encounter a profile of personal piety.

~ CJ Mahaney, preaching the cross, pg. 121

 

AND: DOCTRINE AND LIFE – article from The Resurgence

We must not lean on doctrine to reach the lost or solely lean on being an example. It is a balance of both and both are needed. “In our zeal for sound doctrine, we must not become heady and abstract”(AND: DOCTRINE AND LIFE, PART 2). Paul tells us “Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4.16)

Quote on Relativists – RC Sproul

“When they say morals are all relative that’s fine until someone steals your wallet. And then they say that’s not right…People are only relativist when it suits them to be relativists. We shouldn’t surrender to that.”

R.C. Sproul on the May 26, 2012 White Horse Inn radio program – WHI-1103 | Growing in Grace & Knowledge

Love for God & Love of the Lost

If you think your heart is growing in love for God, but your heart is not growing in love for lost people, you  are deceived.

Chip Ingram – Law 8 – The Law of Focus

 

Download the series for free from Walk Through The Bible

 

My Jesus, I Love Thee

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

| William R. Featherston

Songs like this really make me evaluate my faith in Christ. Even in death will I turn to God? Will I be able to “stand firm” and be courageous? My Jesus, I Love Thee was written in the 1860’s by a 16-year-old who died around the age of 27. Another song Give Me Jesus says, “When I come to die, Give me Jesus”. Songs like these remind us that Christ is more than a quick fix for our worldly problems. They make us check ourselves and help to refocus us on the one that is in control of everything from the stars to the smallest atom. Even death cannot defeat God.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58:

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed —  in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Our own efforts will end in death, but death is not the end for those that believe, for Christ conquered the grave and “we will be changed”.

Even in death will you find hope and joy in the works of the Lord?

Your Purpose

“I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and types of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason, too…Maybe that’s why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn’t able to do what it was meant to do. Maybe it’s the same with people, if you lose your purpose it’s like your broken.”
Quote from the movie Hugo

The kids all went to bed so we actually had a quiet evening tonight and rented the movie Hugo. The preview looked like it would be good and it turned out it was really good. It has some great points about life, the quote above being one. The Plugged in review said it best “Hugo feels like a throwback to many of the beloved films of yesteryear. And at the same time, it serves as a powerful reminder that there are filmmakers in Hollywood who have the capacity to tell a spellbinding story without indulging in R-rated excess or crassly capitulating to commercialism. They just have to choose to do so.”