Monthly Archives: April 2008

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Organization of the Week

Throughout the year, Mel Trotter Ministries provides shelter, food, clothing, education, Biblical teaching, computer-based learning, and work training and experience to meet people at the physical and spiritual points of need.

Your gracious donation of $28.80 will provide food and care for 15 hungry, homeless, and hurting people. Men, women, and children are counting on you to provide help and hope.

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Audio Bibles in MP3 format (the only English one available is KJV - but there are a few languages that are available for download, free)

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I have purchased WAY more of this guy's music than I intended...

Denez Prigent.

Please watch this youtube video (Denez Prigent and Lisa Gerrard singing for the soundtrack from "Black Hawk Down"

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Willow Creek discovers that you reach the lost by equipping the saints!

Hawkins says, “We used to think you can’t upset a seeker. But while focusing on that we’ve really upset the Christ-centered people.” He spoke about the high levels of dissatisfaction mature believer have with churches. Drawing from the 200 churches and the 57,000 people that have taken the survey, he said that most people are leaving the church because they’re not being challenged enough.

Because it’s the mature Christians who drive evangelism in the church Hawkins says, “Our strategy to reach seekers is now about focusing on the mature believers. This is a huge shift for Willow.”

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Rice for V.P.?

It should be a profoundly offensive notion to any freedom loving person in a democratic context, that the promotion of an inexperienced new face somehow represents black achievement while the promotion of a sitting Secretary of State, former National Security Advisor, former Stanford University Provost, and chief confidant to the sitting President of the United States should be considered a nasty ploy to garner black votes! Given the comprehensive evaluation we have had of her over the past twenty years but more specifically over the past ten years, she would seem the natural selection – contra wise, Obama and Clinton would seem the nasty ploy to garner black votes.

(...)

However, injecting considerations of race and gender in the case of Condoleezza Rice is incredibly infantile, ridiculous and arbitrary. The time to discuss that with regard to her was nearly a decade ago. Condoleezza Rice is now the most qualified name being explored for the Executive – certainly more qualified then Obama and Clinton with their resume's combined. I am not asking you to vote for the ticket that she may be associated with simply because she is a black woman...contra wise, I am asking you to vote based upon the content of her character and the quality of her leadership alone as judged through her experience and until it is confirmed that she is on the ticket, to dismiss with vehemence anyone who would reduce this possibility to a mere racial and/or gender consideration. Condoleezza Rice represents all that blacks and feminist have been fighting for these many years! Lets not dismiss her simply because she is a conservative: this is the change we've been waiting for – real live personal achievement with slave blood still running through her veins, Jim Crow memories yet playing on the canvas of her mind, and still single – the requisite consequence of female strength and independence.

(HT: Reformed Blacks of America)

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"What is a 'Reformed Church'?"

What is a Reformed church anyway? Why are they called “Reformed”? What do they believe? Where did they come from? What do they do? These are the types of basic questions I hope to introduce here. What I hope I am able to communicate to you here is that Reformed churches are Christian churches—believing that the Bible is the Word of God, that there is only one God who exists eternally as a Trinity, and that Jesus Christ is both God and man. Reformed churches are also Protestant churches—rejecting the claims of the Pope to be the Head of the Church, acknowledging instead that Jesus Christ is the Head of his Church, and that he rules and governs his Church by his Word and Spirit. Finally, Reformed churches are just that, Reformed churches—believing that sinful humans are saved by grace alone, from eternity past to eternity future, and that we experience this grace of God as the Holy Spirit uses certain means that God has appointed in the Church: the preaching of the Word and celebration of the Sacraments.

(HT: Oceanside United Reformed Church)

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and the photo of the week...

From "Michigan in Pictures"

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Ok...here's the research paper...if anybody is out there reading, please proof and help out. (I was going to have a whole section on autism...but I ran out of both time and space...)

Inclusion Literature: People with Disabilities

When we consider “multicultural literature,” we look for ways to introduce students to other cultures; both far away and in our own “back yard.” We may use fiction or non-fiction or contemporary stores or stories from long ago. We may use traditional folktales or stories written for this generation of children. Our goal, always, should focus on bringing a greater understanding of the value of all people and to encourage inclusion and tolerance of people different than us.

...continue reading →

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Sounds like a contradiction? It doesn't have to be.

In the introduction to "The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr", he is called a "pessimistic optimist"- the operative word being "optimist", with the qualifier being "pessimistic".

Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. (Rienhold Niebuhr)

We see both optimism and pessimism in this quote. Phil said (in a rather spirited political discussion with his dad) that democracy is the worst type of government...except for all the rest.

We see optimism in eternity...as Christians we know that eternity with Christ is the ultimate in optimism.

We see pessimism in the present...human beings are sinners. There is pain and trial in this world.

"Men may be quite unable to define the meaning of life, and yet live by a simple trust that it has meaning. This primary religion is the basic optimism of all vital and wholesome human life."

I cannot see eternity, but I trust that God does.

To know that there is meaning, but not to know the meaning...that is bliss (J. Middleton Murray)

Let that rattle around for a while.

The most adequate religion solves its problems in paradoxes rather than schemes of consistency, and has never wavered in believing that God is both the ground of our existence and the ultimate pinnacle of perfection toward which existence tends.

I can relate to that. Surety is a thing of the world - embrace the paradoxes. Finding freedom as a bondservant to Christ.

These paradoxes are in the spirit of the great religion. the mystery of life is comprehended in meaning, though no human statement of meaning can fully resolve the mystery. The tragedy of life is recognized, but faith prevents tragedy from being pure tragedy . Perplexity remains, but there is no perplexity unto despair. Evil is neither accepted as inevitable nor regarded as a proof of the meaningless of life. Gratitude and contrition are mingled, which means that life is both appreciated and challenged. To such faith the generations are bound to return after they have pursued the mirages in the desert to which they are tempted from time to time by the illusions of particular eras.

It is the mystery that gives life meaning.

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If a Christian marriage is to reflect Christ and the church - if a wife is to submit to her husband as the church submits to Christ, because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church...and if the husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church...

what does that mean? What are the Biblical references for Christ (and God the Father in the Old Testament) as husband?

How do Christ the Son and God the Father relate to the church and to Israel?

Husbands, love your wives,
as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
that he might sanctify her,
having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
so that he might present the church to himself in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that she might be holy and without blemish.
In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one ever hated his own flesh,
but nourishes and cherishes it,
just as Christ does the church,
because we are members of his body.
"Therefore a man shall leave his father
and mother and hold fast to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh."
This mystery is profound, and
I am saying that it refers to Christ
and the church. (Eph 5:25-32)

Can wives be "sanctified" by their husbands? Maybe not, but they can be saturated with Scripture. She can be loved and cherished and nourished, with Christ as his model.

For your Maker is your husband,
the LORD of hosts is his name;
and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the LORD has called you like a wife
deserted and grieved in spirit, (Isa. 54:5-6)

For a short time, the Husband had turned His face from His bride. She had been faithless, yet He redeemed her.

"Hallelujah!For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen,
bright and pure"— (Rev. 6-8)

The bride of the Lamb...

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the LORD delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isa. 62:3-5)

You shall be called "My Delight Is In Her..."

In the New Testament, it was John the Baptist who recognized the Bridegroom:

You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,
but I have been sent before him.'
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom.
The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.
Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:28-30)

God presented Israel with a graphic picture when He told Hosea to marry Gomer, a prostitute - knowing that she will act as prostitutes will act...and that he will bring her back.

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
"And in that day, declares the LORD,
you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.'
For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth,
and they shall be remembered by name no more.
And I will make for them a covenant on that day
with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens,
and the creeping things of the ground.
And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land,
and I will make you lie down in safety.
And I will betroth you to me forever.
I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice,
in steadfast love and in mercy.
I will betroth you to me in faithfulness.
And you shall know the LORD. (Hosea 2:14-20)

There is a Biblical reason to see a Christian marriage as a reflection of God the Father with Israel and of Christ the Son with His bride, the church.

For I feel a divine jealousy for you,
since I betrothed you to one husband,
to present you as a pure virgin to Christ."
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning,
your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere
and pure devotion to Christ. (1 Cor. 11:2-3)

How can the church expect to be treated by her Bridegroom?

...He is her refuge, (Psa 61)

...He stands up for her (Psa 94)

...He nourishes and cherishes her (Eph 5)

...She trust in His steadfast love (Psa 52)

...He speaks tenderly to her (Hos 2)

...He is merciful and full of loving kindness (Tit 2)

...He will wipe away tears (Isa 25)

...He makes her beautiful (Isa 60)

...He carries her sorrows (Isa 53)

...He came to serve (Matt 20)

...He restores her soul, He leads her in paths of righteousness (Psa 23)

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Phil and I got copies of this book and I've read the first essay three times - once breezed through, then paragraph by paragraph, and then with a highlighter.

I think that this book will be a deep, satisfying and challenging read.

And...okay. The book was a mistake.

But...WOW...You will be reading more.

(we actually meant to get ...by Helmut Richard Niebuhr. Reinhold's brother.

I cannot imagine being the parents of these two! Imagine the dinner conversations!

wow.

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I tested negative for a peanut allergy...and yet have a very clear allergic reaction. I also tested VERY positive to a number of molds. Is this why? Is this also why I sometimes have the same reaction to wheat? Less often (but it happens) to tree nuts?

Peanut allergy is nearly always an allergy to the mold aflatoxin-as the name implies, a toxin from mold. Plenty of natural substances are toxic. From the USDA Web site (http://snurl.com/36ne): "Aflatoxin is a naturally occurring mycotoxin produced by two types of mold: aspergillus flavus and aspergillus parasiticus." Aflatoxin damages the liver, in both Eastern and Western medical terms, and is a potent carcinogen (something known to cause cancer). This mold is found primarily on peanuts, corn, wheat, soy, tree nuts, oil seeds and sorghum. Aflatoxin is sometimes measurable in milk excreted by cows fed with moldy feed.

I don't know...

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"A God without wrath brought man without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross." (H. Richard Niebuhr)

I had the opportunity to visit the "Cathedral of Faith" Sunday.  They are a Pentecostal, Word-of-Faith church.  This week they started a new series, "Treasure Hunters".

Key words:  "self esteem",  "abundant living", "finding your dream".

this week's lesson - what is stopping you from reclaiming your dreams is fear.  The speaker said several times that the "greatest - ahem...the commandment given most often in the Bible is 'not to fear'.

If only we would stop being afraid, there is nothing that we could not accomplish.  Let go of our fear, grab onto the power within us and remember our dreams!

"Star Wars" theology.

No mention of the cross, of Christ's finished work, of redemption, repentance.

Only "get out of the boat", "expect to get wet", "Jesus won't let you drown".

"We are saved, after all that we can do."

It's all about what is within us, helped by the "genie in the bottle", Jesus.  The "stuff" that we have forgotten how to access can be ours once again.

"A God without wrath brought man without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross." (H. Richard Niebuhr)

For those for whom the terms of that sentence are well nigh incomprehensible, English biblical scholar T. W. Manson's spoof may strike closer to home: "Jesus goes up to Jerusalem to give a course of lecture-sermons on the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, and then becomes the victim of an unfortunate miscarriage of justice." Substitute one or another therapeutic banality ("I'm O.K., you're O.K."? "Follow your bliss"?) for the subject of the talks, and Manson's jibe still tells.