Unrestrained Worship

Today's passage comes from: 2nd Sam 6

David wanted to move the Ark of the Lord to his home in Jerusalem. The Lord blesses the home of whom the ark dwells in. He tries earlier in this passage, but the oxen stumble. A man tries to catch it and is struck down. This creates a huge problem.. how can he move the ark without the wrath of God striking down anyone who touches it?

His solution is continuous worship. Every six steps the carriers took, sacrifice a bull and fattened calf. The people were shouting for joy and sounding the trumpets. And David? He wore a linen ephod and danced wholeheartedly in front of the procession.

Michal, the wife promised to David, was furious at this outpouring of worship. She was mad that he danced in such a way in front of the slave girls. His response:

"It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."

The key to this exchange is the end:

"And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death."

God was displeased with her. Remember, motherhood was an incredibly important thing for women back then. She totally got destroyed by God.

I want to highlight something that David says. "I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes".

How close are we to this type of worship? Can we honestly say that we want to become fools for God? I look back at all the great men in the Bible and know I would fall incredibly short. I pray that God can conform me to His image. I pray for the renewal of taking up the cross each day. My brothers, pray that you can worship our Creator, our Saviour unrestrainedly.

Dear Lord,

I ask that you can conform me to your Son's image. Please raise me up to be a devote follower in You, always worshiping You without abandon.

Amen.

Why? Why? Oh, Why?

Passage: Proverbs 3:1-12
My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you prosperity.
Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.

Why must I suffer disappointment, sorrow, and tribulation? What have I done that God should send me trials? Is He displeased with me? These questions are constantly asked by God's dear children.

Much of this fear and questioning is due to our misunderstanding of God's dealings with His own. He has His good reasons. And one of those reasons is for our spiritual discipline. We should be far more afraid of being left alone than of God's chastening, for He wastes no time on worthless objects that give no promise of fruitfulness.

On the shores of Lake Michigan are great barren sand dunes that have never felt the point of a plow. But in the rich lowlands beyond them, the farmer is constantly cultivating the soil. The farmer knows what he is doing, so he keeps on breaking up the soil. The deeper the plow works and the more the sharp harrow, the more precious the crop will be when harvest time comes.

God's plow goes deep, but it is only that in the end we may forget the plowing and rejoice in the blessing of bearing much fruit for Him. "No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (Heb. 12:11). - M.R. De Haan

When blades of distress cut deep in the soul,
Breaking up ground that was untouched before,
The Lord is preparing soil to bear fruit
Fit for the harvest to feed many more. —Hess

All sunshine and no rain make a desert.

- taken from "Our Daily Bread"

P.S. Sorry for the late post

Richard Chan

Fresh Encounters with Christ

That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that you your joy may be be full. 1 John 1:3-4

John the Apostle never ceased to marvel at the life-changing relationship he enjoyed with his Lord. It overwhelmed him to know that, at a particular time in history, the God of the universe chose to have fellowship with him, a simple fisherman. John was so overjoyed that he earnestly wanted to share his joy with others so they, too, might experience the same joy. A special fellowship or "bonding" developed between those who had personally encountered Christ as they rejoiced together at God's goodness to them.

Those around you desperately need to be encouraged by your latest encounter with Christ. Some have lost hope that they can experience the reality of God's presence in their lives. They don't need your philosophies or theological speculations. They don't need to hear your opinions on what they should do. They need to hear from someone who has just come from a personal , life-changing encounter with the living Christ. When you have had such an experience you will be like the apostle John, hardly able to contain yourself as you rush out to tell others of your amazing encounter with God. Your responsibility will not be to convince others of the reality of God, but simply to bear witness to what your Lord has said and done for you. The change in your life will be your greatest testimony of your relationship to Christ. There is nothing more appealing or convincing to a watching world than to hear the testimony of someone who has just been with Jesus.




taken from Experiencing God day by day, April 4

The Call

Today, I was in the office with Victor. We have both been involved in our different ministries, he at C4C, myself in RCCF. One thing we both could relate on... we were saddened by our late entry into service. He started to get more involved in C4C in his 2nd year. For myself, I wasn't really involved until the end of 2nd year and beginning of 3rd year.

Graduation is coming around the corner for both of us, I hardly consider us old or anything... yet I guess our one bit of parting wisdom would be:

Take the initiative in your spiritual life. God is calling you and will meet you more than halfway.

Cheers,
Richard

Nic at Nite

First of all i would like to apologize for not posting for a really long time

secondly,

this devo is taken from "Our Daily Bread"

Reading - John 3:1-21

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

According to the apostle John, Nicodemus “came to Jesus by night” (John 3:2). Was this Pharisee skulking under cover of darkness, embarrassed or ashamed that he, as one of the ruling class, was curious about Jesus?

Some have suggested that it was just cooler at night. Others have said that evening was a better time to ask Jesus questions because it was quieter and there were fewer distractions.

We really don’t know the reason Nicodemus went to Jesus at night, but John seemed determined to make a point of that specific fact. Every time he mentioned Nicodemus, he identified him by saying something like: “You know who I’m talking about—the guy who came to Jesus by night” (see 7:50; 19:39).

Nicodemus, no doubt, was quite moral and lived according to Mosaic Law. People probably thought he was a pretty good person. Yet none of that mattered. He was in the dark about who Jesus really was, and he wanted to know the truth. So he was drawn from the darkness into the presence of “the light of the world” (John 8:12).

Jesus calls us “out of darkness” too (1 Peter 2:9) and promises that whoever believes in Him will not stay in the dark (John 12:46). — Cindy Hess Kasper

Our search for truth is hindered by
The darkness of the night,
Until the Bright and Morning Star
Reveals His brilliant light. —Sper

Faith in Christ is not a leap into the dark; it’s a step into the Light.

An Answer

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."
1 John 2:15-17

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."
1 Peter 3:15-16

We live in an age where the world constantly tries to shape our desires. Buy this new computer, buy a car, get a girlfriend, make tons of money, and so forth. Fame, prestige, money, and women are toted around as successful. You all have that image in your head..."I want to be successful." Look beyond these worldly things, and see that a man that does the will of God lives forever!
These worldly desires go against what God teaches us. You will constantly be in battle in regards to this. This brings me to my next point.

From 1 Peter 3:15-16, we are always to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us about our faith (in a manner that is respectful). But, can many of us give answers? To believers and unbelievers? It is very easy to say I am for God 100%. But, how many of us mean it? Let us honestly re-arrange our priorities so we love God. Let us pray that we have the diligence to prepare for the time when we will give answers in regards to our faith.

Cheers my brothers,
Richard

No Escape

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence (Psalm 139:7, New International Version).

Scripture: Psalm 139:7-12
Song: "Where the Spirit of the Lord Is"

In the middle of the night, my friend's sister, distraught because of her difficult marriage, drove several hours from her home in southern California to Yosemite National Park. She then hiked to the top of Half Dome, the park's famous glacier-carved, half-sphere rock formation. The final ascent up the curved back of the granite mountain is challenging in daylight but filled with risk after dark. When she reached the peak, she hiked back down, got in her car and drove home.

Pondering the dramatic story, I wondered what she was felling and thinking. Was she hoping she'd fall off the giant rock? Was she running away from her problems-then somehow found enough strength to go back and face them? Was she angry? Was she crying?

All of us would like to escape at times. The psalmist has good and bad news for us: we can't run away from God. While I don't know whether the frustrated wife found peace in her marriage, I do know that even the night sky at the top of Half Dome was not dark enough to hide her from God's presence and love.

Prayer: Dear Lord, like Adam and Even in the garden, we run away to hide our shame, our sin, our pain. Forgive me, and help me come out of hiding to acknowledge Your abiding presence. Through Christ I pray. Amen.

- taken from 365 Devotions by Standard (Pocket Edition)

No Exceptions to Holiness

"And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him." -Exodus 4:24


Moses had just received one of the greatest commissions in history. He was to be God's instrument to deliver the nation of Israel and to guide it to the Promised Land. He was to lead them to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). Yet Moses had not obeyed all of God's commands himself, for he had never had his son circumcised. This was a long-standing command from God that Moses had ignored. God's response was to prepare to kill Moses. Here was one of history's greatest men about to be put to death before ever performing the task God had set before him. Moses could not expect to blatantly ignore a command of God and still be used mightily in His divine work. Had not Moses quickly responded in obedience, he would surely have lost his life.

Moses learned that God makes no exceptions for holiness. When God sets forth a requirement of His people, He most certainly demands it of the leaders. God wanted to make Moses' life a highway of holiness through which He could bring redemption to millions of people. God had to make some significant adjustments in the life of Moses before He would use him to lead His people.

Are you trying to serve God and yet ignore something He has told you to do? Are you living your life as if God does not notice your disobedience? Do you apply God's standards to yourself as rigorously as you apply them to others?


jacky's note:
on the eve of elections and nominations handed in, this rings so true. I pray that ALL of us really examine our lives, and find whether we are following God 100% and not ignoring any of his teachings. Whether its keeping sexual immoraility in check, relations with brothers and sisters, the fruits of the Spirit, anything, are you holding true to God's expectations of you? If there are things in our life not in sync with God, I pray that we take steps in syncing our lives to God's holiness.

This is Thursday's Post

"For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

- 1 Thes 5:9-11


Ok. Pretend the day is still Thursday. Just really, really late.

By now everyone would have noticed my absence here for the past few weeks.

Allow me to share.

I just got back from a long church meeting and an extremely long dinner with an amazingly good conversation w/ a bro from church.

However, it's now 2 am.

I have no idea where all my time has gone in the past 2 weeks. Possibly loitering, possibly doing school projects / ccf / church / resumes / cover letters / more church planning / more ccf planning / and now just plain escaping.

But you know what I miss the most? Being with God. Listening to God. Communing with God.

And it's not that I don't have time. It's just that I don't have time ALONE with GOD. I'm constantly surrounding by ppl talking to me about CCF and church and what's to come in the next year and on and on and on.

Which is alright in moderation. But lately with all that's on my plate... it's heavy man. It's heavy.

I feel stretched.

To a point where I can't give 100% to CCF like I used to in first semester. Everything else, especially my church, is draining the life outta me. I'm gettin burnt out. And it's not fair for you guys.

Though, on a brighter note, my dinner was good.

Let me explain, via haiku.

Hot pot, so divine
Captivate me once again
Yes, infinite beef

................................

So while this may not have been the devo you guys were looking forward to, I'm just asking you guys for a little prayer support.

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

- 2 Peter 1:5-8

So help a brother out. Pray that I will not be ineffective and unproductive in this state. And that I can get back on the horse and finish off strong like I wanted to.

Peace outside homies.

Keep it real.

Agents of Grace

Jesus’ most memorable story, The Prodigal Son, ends with a banquet scene, featuring as its hero a good-for-nothing who has soiled the family reputation. Those judged undesirable by everyone else—like the prodigal son—are infinitely desirable to God. When one of them turns to God, a party breaks out (Luke 15:22-24).

In the Old Testament, levitical laws guarded against contagion. Among the things that would contaminate a person were contact with certain animals, carcasses, or the sick. But Jesus reversed the process. Rather than becoming contaminated by what was unclean, He made the unclean whole.

I sense in Jesus a fulfillment, not an abolition, of the Old Testament laws. God had hallowed creation by separating the sacred from the profane, the clean from the unclean. Jesus did not cancel out this hallowing principle; rather He changed its source.

Because of God’s great grace, we can be agents of His holiness, for He now dwells within us. We can seek, as Jesus did, for ways to be a source of holiness. The sick and the maimed are not hot spots of contamination but potential reservoirs of God’s mercy. We are called to extend that mercy, to be conveyers of grace, not avoiders of contagion. Like Jesus, we can help make the “unclean” clean. — Philip Yancey

For Further Study

According to Philippians 2:14, how should we “do all things”? What is the result for us, and what does that mean for our world? (v.15).

No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace.

Taken from Our Daily Bread

A people of Worth

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
~Matthew 7:21-29

What kind of people are we? Are we a one dimensional people, who can only act without knowing, or knowing without acting? Does this sum us up as people, is this what God's people are like? ....
How do we respond to God? Do we wait on him and try to be intune with the Lord, or do we do our own thing, going by trial and error?
How do we live for God? IS he really the centre of our being...and if not, how come? What power therefore is there in being a Christian? ....
Who is God? How is he relevant?
Who is robbing you of your power? Is fear removing you from the glory of God?

As the eve of elections is near, many of you are nominated for positions. I come asking the question: Does your life reflect the power given to you being a child of God, or do you squander it, because of fear or worldly things.
I am asking each of you at this moment: are you able to serve? If not, will you prepare for what's ahead? ...I'm not trying to discourage any of you to lead next year, infact, i think it's a great thing. Rather, how many of you have hearts ready for what God is waiting to do? That i'm unsure about, and that is what i'm asking you to test tonight.

~Allan

Men's Small Group

I've danced around the issue for far too long, and I feel that it is time to address it.

We've had a strong contingent of guys showing up to men's small group last term. This term, not so much. I will take the blame for not setting the times for men's small group at times that are not "convenient". The thing is that I chose times where I felt that people would be around and willing to do small groups, but I guess I assumed wrong.

SO this is a wake up call for me and hopefully for you guys. I am using this blog as a chance to get each and everyone of you to discuss and post times where it would be best for you. I asked for your schedules earlier in the year, and I only received like 2 schedules.

We set out to read Ecclesiastes, I know that I myself have not read through it. We also have a prayer journal, who knows about it? I challenge you all, as well as myself, to step up and re-establish male small group and build each other up. I see potential in everyone and I feel we need a close knit group of guys to step up and push each other forward. Like I said during last week's program, if we can push each other's cars, how much more fruitful and more awesome it is to push each other in their walks with God?

If you have been showing up regularly (I know there are some of us that do) I want to take this time to thank you for your awesomeness in showing up, and my apology for not being there as much as I had hoped to lead SG (due to some infuriating circumstances). One thing I want to also get straight is that this post is not a "pointing fingers" post, its just that I want to find a time where we can fit everyone.

Knowing God

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." -John 17:3

Knowing God through experience is radically different than knowing about God from a theology textbook. According to the Bible, you cannot say you know God unless you have experienced Him (Phil.3:8,10). Biblical knowledge always involves experience. You may become discouraged because the truths you read about in the Bible are much richer than the reality of your own experience.

If you have not experienced God's power at work in and through your life, do not settle for a secondhand knowledge of God's power, rejoicing in what He has done in others. Jesus' prayer was that you would come to know God and His presence in your life and experience. Don't discount eh power of God as described in Scripture simply because you have not experienced it. Bring your experience up to the standard of Scripture; never reduce Scripture to the level of your experience. Don't settle for a head knowledge of God's love. Jesus prayed that you would experience the depth and width and height of His love and that you would enjoy God's full and unending love in the day-to-day experiences of your life.

If you sense there are biblical truths that you are not experiencing, keep that truth before you and ask God to bring it into your everyday experience. Ask God if there are any adjustments you need to make in order to receive His promise. Don't give up on the promises of God; stay with them until you are fully experiencing them.

Could This Be True Of Me?

"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself." Acts 20:24

It is easier to serve God without a vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment. You will be more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never realize the call of God. But if once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the common-sense basis.

What do I really count dear? If I have not been gripped by Jesus Christ, I will count service dear, time given to God dear, my life dear unto myself. Paul says he counted his life dear only in order that he might fulfil the ministry he had received; he refused to use his energy for any other thing. Acts 20:24 states Paul's almost sublime annoyance at being asked to consider himself; he was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Practical work may be a competitor against abandonment to God, because practical work is based on this argument - Remember how 'useful you are here, or - Think how much value you would be in that particular type of work." That attitude does not put Jesus Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgment as to where we are of most use. Never consider whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own but His.

- Taken from My Utmost for His Highest

Songbird in the Dark

Just before the sunrise, we often hear songbirds welcoming the dawn. Despite the darkness, we know that the radiant light of the sun will soon appear.

Fanny Crosby has been called “The Songbird in the Dark.” Though blinded in infancy, she wrote hymns that inspirationally envision our future reunion with Christ. Early in her life, Fanny had a dream in which she saw the panorama of a glorious heaven, and many of her songs reflect that theme. By the time of her death, she had penned at least 8,000 hymns. Songs such as “Tell Me the Story of Jesus” and “To God Be the Glory” are still popular today.

When Zacharias praised God in anticipation of the Messiah, he also looked forward to a spiritual sunrise. Citing Malachi 4:2, he proclaimed: “The Dayspring [sunrise] from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness” (Luke 1:78-79). That Messiah came to earth, died for our sins, rose again, ascended, and promised to return for us.

Do you feel surrounded by dark and confusing circumstances? You can still lift your praise to God for the bright future you will share with His Son. The words of Fanny Crosby’s beloved hymn “Blessed Assurance” encourage us as we anticipate this glorious reunion with Christ. — Dennis Fisher

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. —Crosby

For the Christian, the dark sorrows of earth will one day be changed into the bright songs of heaven.

Taken from Our Daily Bread

Called for A Purpose...

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30
I remember when I was in grade three, we used to play soccer out in the field. And the way we would always pick teams is by having 2 captains and then having them choose their players. Now, it was always great to be picked early, you recieved a sense of pride to be picked 1st or 2nd and watch and infleuence who your team mates were going to be.

And that is the sense of pride I get to be in God's family, the sense of worth when I realized that God picked us first. That God really had it in store for us to be part of his family, to be heirs to his throne. However, in like every team, each player is placed there for a reason. Some of us can defend, some of us can stop goals, some of us can score. Though our gifts are all different, we all work hard for the same purpose on the field. I find that those who don't work hard, whose interest lie elsewhere, really struggle in the game. Therefore my brothers, I ask you what is your purpose on this field, what is God calling you to do. Today is the day you should figure it out, let's not play the game without a purpose, but rather have each of us running towards the victory with purpose.

Lastly, I would also ask you to consider, those brothers/potential brothers who are not in the game yet. When will we call them in to play?

Allan

3 John 1

1The elder,
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.

9I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

13I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

lol, go short books! I think the thing that spoke out to me, is how to discern whether someone is for God or if someone is in it for their own personal glory. Anyone who does good is from God, anyone who does evil is not from God. In this instance, Diotrephes has started acting out in a way that dishonours God. It is presented in such a way that John plans to come and straighten him out, when he comes. But, there is also Demetrius, who is spoken well of.

So my challenge to you would be that the actions you take each day. Are they upright and blameless? Do they imitate Christ? Or are they actions that glorify the self?

You Can Go Either Way Here

Here you yourself must be an example to them of good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect your love of the truth and the fact that you are in dead earnest about it (Titus 2:7, the Living Bible).

Scripture: Titus 2:6-10
Song: "How Good It Is"

"Do as I say, not as I do." A parent may say it in jest, but the humor is often lost on the child. If we are to convince our own children, or any young person, of the truth found in the Word, then we must present evidence of our own conviction through our obedient behavior.

Not as easy task! And we can go either way with it: "Adam caused many to be sinners because he disobeyed God, and Christ caused many tro be made acceptable to God because he obeyed" (Romans 5:19). With an understanding of Christ's life and teachings, we see the power of His example to influence others to obey.

There was no deviation between what our Lord said and what He did during His earthly life. When we accept Christ as Lord of our lives, and we demonstrate our obedience to Him, we hasten the day when others will come to know Him.

By loving the truth we demonstrate our love for Him By living the truth in our daily lives we demonstrat His love to others.

Prayer: Lord, please help me show my love by obedience, just as Jesus did with the Father. In Jesus' prscious name, amen.

- taken from 365 Devotions by Standard (Pocket Edition)

An Exchanged Life

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in teh Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20

The Christian life is an exchanged life: Jesus' life for your life. When Christ takes control, your life takes on dimensions you would never have known apart from Him. When you are weak, then Christ demonstrates His strength in your life (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). When you face situations that are beyond your comprehension, you have only to ask, and the infinite wisdom of God is available to you (James 1:5). When you are faced with humanly impossible situations, God does the impossible ( Luke 18:27). When you encounter people whom you find difficult to love, God expresses His unconditional love through you (1 John 4:7). When you are at a loss as to what you should pray for someone, the Spirit will guide you in your prayer life. (Romans 8:16). When Christ takes up residence in the life of a believer, " all the fullness of God" is available to that person (Ephesians 3:19).

It is marvelously freeing to know that God controls your life and knows what it can become. Rather than constantly worrying about what you will face, your great challenge is to continually release every area of your life to God's control. The temptation will be to try to do by yourself what only God can do. Our assignment is to "abide in the vine" and to allow God to do in and through us what only He can do (John 15:5). Only God can be God. Allow Him to live out His divine life through you. He is the only One who can.

So yeah I (Howard) found this little something my friend wrote on her blog and I thought it was applicable to what we talked about at retreat. So I want you guys to leave a comment on what is the one thing we can do where we are (that being in school/work/family).

God, help me to see what You are doing and listen to Your voice. To never forget what You have put on my heart, to never lose sight of the great need for love and hope, to always walk behind You. Help me to stay when You say "stay," and go when You say "go." Help me to honour You in the small things, though there are a million other things I would rather be doing than studying Renaissance English terms. Show me more of who You are and make my heart more hungry for the things of Yours.

What are You doing in Toronto? What are You doing in Sri Lanka? What are You doing in Latin America? What are You doing here in Kingston?Lord, would my heart remain restless until Your will is done in my life!

Trial and Tribulations?

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place."

- Isaiah 43:2-3

Meditate, and let God into your presence. How great is our God.

Threats and Warnings

READ: Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Keep His statutes and His commandments . . . that it may go well with you and with your children after you. —Deuteronomy 4:40

“God never threatens; the devil never warns,” declared Oswald Chambers. We sometimes use the words threat and warning interchangeably, but Chambers saw a principle that suggests a distinction. Threats are used to get people to do what is in our best interest. Warnings are issued to get people to do what is in their best interest. In other words, threats seek to preserve power, whereas warnings serve to protect people from danger.

Satan wants us to think of God’s loving warnings as mean-spirited threats, but he is wrong. According to Chambers, “A warning is a great arresting statement of God’s, inspired by His love and patience.” The evidence of this is found in the many commands that are coupled with phrases like “that it may go well with you” (Deut. 4:40; 12:28).

In loving relationships, people warn one another of the inevitable consequences of foolish behavior. In unhealthy relationships, people threaten one another with punishment if they fail to live up to unreasonable demands.

As we interact with others, it’s good to consider the nature of our counsel and commands. Do we use ultimatums to preserve our own well-being? Or do we lovingly warn others to keep them from harm? — Julie Ackerman Link

FOR FURTHER STUDY
How can we take comfort from the love of God if we don’t feel loved? Read How Has God Loved Us? on the Web at www.discoveryseries.org/q0102

Warnings are an expression of love; threats are an expression of control.

Taken from Our Daily Bread
Jon

Our 10 Talents

Our Verse comes from Matthew 25:14-28
To Follow what Richard said, I really want you to think about what your ONE is:
1) What did God call me to do on Earth? What are my gifts?
2) How can I get involved at CCF or my church to manifest my gifts?
3) Am I serious and deticated to what God has called me to do?
4) What expectations do I have?
5) Am I ballsy enough to do it?

If you truly don't know your gifts, I suggest you try out a bit of everything. Get involved as much as you can, and you can see for yourself why God has put you where you are. You may get alot of questions answered that were unanswerable before. I've asked before, will you "Take the Call", now i'm asking will you Trust God in that Call....If your really interested in getting involved please email me at ahuang_6@hotmail.com. Let's build the new God centred Tomorrow, starting Today.

I want you to read verse 28, and consider very carefully the meaning and implication: " 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

~Allan

Retreat After Thoughts

Hi Guys,

I thought instead of a devo today, we could post a little bit of our thoughts on how the retreat went. I realize now that we didn't get to meet as a group of guys during the retreat, so I want to have this time to open up on how things went.

So...

What did you guys learn about God?
How did you experience Him?
Did you discover your One thing you can do for God?

-Richard

Growing Through Grief

readings: Psalms 119: 65-80

A woman who lost her husband of 40 years to a sudden heart attack said that the resulting grief had caused her to value love more. When she heard couples arguing, she sometimes spoke to them, saying, “You don’t have time for this.” She noted that the wasted moments in all our lives become more precious when they cannot be repeated.

Grief changes our perspective on life. It is trite but true that how we deal with sorrow will make us either bitter or better. In a remarkable statement, the psalmist actually thanked God for a difficult experience: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. . . . It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:67,71).

We don’t know the nature of the psalmist’s affliction, but the positive outcome was a longing to obey the Lord and a hunger for His Word. Rarely can we use this truth to comfort those who hurt. Instead, it is the Lord’s word to us from His compassionate heart and the touch from His healing hand.

When we grieve, it feels more like dying than growing. But as God wraps His loving arms around us, we have the assurance of His faithful care.

- David C. McCasland

I have been through the valley of weeping,
The valley of sorrow and pain;
But the God of all comfort was with me,
At hand to uphold and sustain. —Anon.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. —Psalm 116:15

taken from "Our Daily Bread"

Richard Chan

Forever and Ever, Amen

Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end (Psalm 119:33).

Scripture: Psalm 119:33-40
Song: "Give Me Thy Heart"

Solemn vows echo through time. "I do's" resonate for life. "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, Lord and Savior" directs choices made day to day. The psalmist declares, "I shall keep it unto the end (119:33) ... with my whole heart" (vv. 33, 34). Such absolute decision are both honorable and honored.

Thankfully, God's promises form the precedent and model for us. When He vows, He does what He vows. There is no need to doubt; we simply follow His example. In the human words of Frances Ridley Havergal:

Take myself and I will be
Ever only, all for thee

Golden wedding anniversaries, celebrations commemorating decades of minitstry, memroal services for a faithful Christian- all are occasions that acknowledge and honor solemn vows uttered decades before, solemn vows kept no matter what life brought. That is the challenge for each of us: to find God's way, to vow to walk therein, and to do it ... forever and ever, amen.

Prayer: God whose way is true and worthy, give me the grace to walk therein. Help me in my effort to make Your way known to all. In Jesus' name, amen.

- taken from 365 Devotions by Standard (Pocket Edition)

Fresh

What do you think of when you hear the word fresh? When the weather is nice, my husband and I enjoy going to the farmers market so we can buy produce that was picked that very morning. To me, fresh means just-harvested fruits and vegetables—not stale or spoiled, but crisp and full of exquisite flavor.

I need that kind of freshness in my relationship with God. I can have too many stale attitudes—impatience, criticism, and selfishness—and not enough “longsuffering, kindness, . . . gentleness,” which are “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23).

As David repented of the sin in his life, he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart.” Then he petitioned God: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Ps. 51:10-12). Confession and repentance of our sin renews our fellowship with the Lord and allows us to joyously begin anew.

What better time than today to ask God to give you a newness of spirit, a freshness of faith, and a renewed appreciation of Him!

Lord, we want the fruit of our lives to always be “fresh and flourishing” (Ps. 92:14). Help us to experience Your love, compassion, and faithfulness that are “new every morning” (Lam. 3:22-23). Amen. —Cindy Hess Kasper

The Master is seeking a harvest
In lives He’s redeemed by His blood;
He seeks for the fruit of the Spirit,
And works that will glorify God. —Lehman

To bear good fruit, clear out the weeds of sin.

devo from Our Daily Bread, Feb 13, 2008

Sin is Lawlessness

"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4

It is dangerous thing to live your life without a spiritual "plumb line" or standard, by which you determine right from wrong. God's Word is that plumb line. Spiritual laws, like physical laws, are meant to protect you, not restrict you. You may exercise your freedom to challenge the laws of electricity, but to do so can bring you death. Likewise, you will not break God's laws, they will break you. God established absolute moral and spiritual laws that we are free to ignore, but we do so at our own peril. These laws are timeless. Culture does not supersede them. Circumstances do not abrogate them. God's laws are eternal, and they will save you from death if you follow them.

You may feel that God's laws restrict and bind you. On the contrary, God's Word protects you from death (Romans 6:23). For example when God said that you are not to commit adultery, He wanted to free you to experience the fullest pleasure of a marriage relationship. Furthermore, He knew the devastating heartache that would come to you, your spouse, your children, your relatives, your friends, and your church family if you broke this law. How important the laws of God are for your life! Without them, you would be robbed of the delights God has in store for you. Sin is choosing a standard other than God's law on which to base your life. If you are measuring your life by that of your neighbors, or society at large, then you are basing your life on lawlessness, and lawlessness is sin.

Part 2

http://www.boundless.org/2005/answers/a0001265.cfm

Are you guys in on this battle? Let us know so we can pray for one another.

- Howard

Part One

Have a good read on this one guys. Quite interesting. Howard will have Part 2 tomorrow.

http://www.boundless.org/2005/answers/a0001256.cfm

Life Beyond the Ritual

A royal dignitary was greeting residents at a nursing home, when he was surprised by the unresponsiveness of one woman who just sat there and stared at him. Finally, the dignitary asked, “Do you know who I am?”—to which the woman responded: “No. But that nurse over there helps us with those kinds of things.”

Many people are confused about who Jesus is. But through His Word, God helps us know and enjoy the real Jesus. You will find Him wonderfully compelling. Tough fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots gave up everything to follow Him (Mark 1:18). Women felt safe with Him. Crowds stood in awe of His power and authority.

Jesus is not content to be just our “fire insurance,” saving us from eternal punishment in hell. Rather, He wants us to know Him for who He really is, and He desires to connect with us on a deeper, more personal level.

If you are weary of a religion that is about rules and regulations, then welcome to life beyond the rituals. Welcome to a relationship in which you can find companionship, comfort, wisdom, and reality. Welcome to the wonderful privilege of getting to know Jesus and the joy of following Him.

Get to know Him—and you’ll grow to love Him more and more each day. —Joe Stowell

Which of all our friends, to save us,
Could or would have shed their blood?
But our Jesus died to have us
Reconciled in Him to God. —Newton

To know Jesus is to love Jesus


--Taken from Our Daily Bread

Where are Gideon's Men (Part 3)

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
~1 Samuel 16:7

I want to start this Devo with a Prayer:
Father God,
I just thank you for your power and your infinite patience in us
Lord, that at times we falter and break, but Lord you do not crumble
However, you sit there with arms open asking us to return back to you.
How amazing, that we KNOW that we have this gift of free salvation.
How your love for us,spurs us on, even in the bleakest of nights
God, Give us the heart of service, and just fill it with your Godly Joy.
Amen

So in the last few Devos we've hit a couple of topics. We started with the importance of keeping God at the head, so that God can guide you. We then tackled Trusting God (having faith), praying for power and then going out with courage to do the work. Which leads us to today.

Often there are times we procrasinate God's work. we pray weak prayers before we go to bed, and just give him whatever is left over of our week or our day, and then we feel relieved of our duty to serve. It is like we hit some spiritual quota we needed to meet or just to get his work out of the way, so that we can move on with our lives. I want you to consider today, if these offerings are pleasing to God.

In the verse provided today, it gives us great insight into what God sees in us. Is God more interested in what we do outwardly, or the inward processes that take place to why we do it? Does God want our duty or does God want our heart? I cannot think of a man who serves God by duty, that truly knows and understands the amazing power of his salvation. However, I have known many men who serve the Lord wholeheartly, and see and experience God daily.

What kind of relationship are you striving to have with God? One where the Master's face is always shrouded because you've never met him, or one where he shares his table with you and calls you friend. I strongly ask you to answer this question today. If you decide today that you want to know your Creator personally, then I encourage to make that prayer that I began with.

Lastly, I wanted to leave you with something John Piper wrote in his book "Desiring God", he writes: "I find the bible a divine command to be a pleasure seeker that is, to forsake the two bit, low yield, short term, never satisfying, person destroying God-belitting pleasures of the world and to sell everything "with joy" (Matt 13:44) in order to have the kingdom of heaven and "enter the joy of your master"(Matt 25:21,33).

May this bring you my brothers infinitly closer to God
~Allan

message of the day:
-Serve the God with your heart, not out of duty

Prayer

Hey everyone!

Today's devo is taken from James 5:13-16 (NIV):

13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

I had an incredibly short post on prayer before, I think I was kind of mad at the time. I apologize, so let me add some more on prayer.

This is pretty much what James ends off on in his letter, I don't know who his target audience is or was, but there is a lot you can learn from his letter. I would consider it something akin to the "Proverbs" of the NT, as he covers a wide multitude of topics.

It's so great how he speaks of prayer, that we should truly pray in all circumstances. There is no doubt that this part: James 5:13-20 deals about prayer. If you're in trouble, pray for deliverance (exams, anyone?). If you're sick? Pray for healing. If you are happy? Sing songs of praise! It even goes on to give the example about Elijah and how righteous prayer can cause droughts and rain.

There's also another part to this: That is COMMUNITY. Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another to be healed. Does this healing have to do with physical health or spiritual?
I'll leave that to you. In any case, we are to be open with one another, and pray for each others' vulnerabilities.

So my challenge to you is two part:
1. Pray more, because prayer is key. Speak to God and listen to Him as He works in your life.
2. Be open with your brothers and sisters. Let us build each other up to be a community of valiant Christian warriors that can boldly and fearlessly proclaim His good message.

-Richard

The Atrocious Mathematics Of The Gospel

Reading: Matthew 18:23-25

From childhood we are taught how to succeed in the world of ungrace. “You get what you pay for.” “The early bird gets the worm.” “No pain, no gain.” I know these rules well because I live by them. I work for what I earn; I like to win; I insist on my rights. I want people to get what they deserve.

But Jesus’ parables about grace teach a radically different concept. In Matthew 18, no one could accumulate a debt as huge as the servant did (vv.23-24). This underscores the point: The debt is unforgivable. Nevertheless, the master let the servant off scot-free.

The more I reflect on Jesus’ parables proclaiming grace, the more tempted I am to apply the word atrocious to describe the mathematics of the gospel. I believe Jesus gave us these stories to call us to step completely outside our tit-for-tat world of ungrace and enter into God’s realm of infinite grace.

If I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor’s prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance. Instead, I got a banquet spread for me. - Philip Yancey

--> taken from Our Daily Bread

Richard Chan

Something Worth Passing On

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also (2 Timothy 1:5, New International Version)

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-5
Song: "Faith of Our Fathers"

My dining room hutch displays a plate of Bavarian china, and I treasure its pastel roses and gold rim. I value this heriloom, not for its monetary worth, but because it belonded to my grandmother and then to my mother.

One day I too will hand down some of my treasures to my children and grandchildren. This plate will be given to one of my daughters, who will probably pass it to her daughter. With the passing of each generation, we celebrate our shared history and its mementos.

Faith may not be a tangible heirloom, but it is surely the best thing we can pass to the next generation. Modeling an authentic, growing faith in our own lives creates a generational legacy by which children are compelled to explore God's calling in their own lives.

I possess more than a plate that belonged to my granmother. I'm forutnate to also have a legacy of faith from my mother and grandmother. This faith has become completely my own, and now I hold it out to my children and grandchildren, just as Lois and Eunice did with Timothy.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be a living example of fatih in You. And ket my faith be a lasting legacy to the generation who follow. In Christ's name, amen.

- taken from 365 Devotions by Standard (Pocket Edition)

Life's Seasons

"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven." - Ecclesiastes 3:1

The beauty in the way God designed the four seasons is that, though each one is distinct, they all work together to bring life and growth. Spring is a period of freshness and new life. Summer sees growth and productivity. Autumn is a time for harvesting the rewards of past labors. Winter is the season of dormancy and closure. Each season has its own unique beauty and makes a significant contribution to life.


Just as God planned seasons in nature, He planned seasons in life as well. Life has its springtime, where we begin new things and look excitedly at the future. Summer comes and we work diligently in the heat of the day at all that God has assigned to us. With autumn comes the fruition of things begun at an earlier time in our lives. Winter brings an end to a particular period in our lives. Sometimes winter brings hardship, but we remain hopeful, for another spring is just around the corner!


In God's perfect design for our lives, He has planned for times of fruitfulness and activity. He will also build in times of quiet and rest. There will be times when He asks us to remain faithful doing the same work day after day. But there will be also be periods of excitement and new beginnings. By God's grace, we will enjoy seasons of harvesting the fruit of our faithfulness. By God's grace, we will also overcome the cold winters of heartache and grief, for without winter there would be no spring. Just as it is with the seasons of nature, these seasons in our lives work together to bring about God's perfect will for each one of us.

- Prayer Request: I am in the midst of a crapload of work... its really scaring me, but as this devo says, I need to push myself and be faithful, and KNOW that God is there watching over me. I need your prayers as I work through this time. Thanks

jacky

The Most Important Thing

If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Guys.. please pray for me as I'm struggling to love my family right now. Thanks!

Do Not Worry

After sharing my testimony yesterday I was reminded of one of my favoritest verses of all time. I PROBABLY threw this verse out before, but still, this is a good one.

Matthew 6:25
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Thoughts?

The Delimma of Obedience

"Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision" (1 Samuel 3:15)

God never speaks to us in dramatic ways, but in ways that are easy to misunderstand. The we say, "I wonder if that is God's voice?" Isaiah said that the Lord spoke to him "with a strong hand," that is, by the pressure of his circumstances (Isaiah 8:11). Without the sovereign hand of God Himself, nothing touches our lives. Do we discern His hand at work, or do we see things as mere occurrences?

Get into the habit of saying, "Speak, Lord," and life will become a romance (1 Samuel 3:9). Every time circumstances press in on you, say, "speak, Lord," and make time to listen. Chastening is more then a means of discipline-it is meant to bring me to the point of saying, "Speak,Lord." Think back to a time when God spoke to you. Do you remember waht He said? Was it Luke 11:13, or was it 1 Thessalonians 5:23? As we listen, our ears become more sensitive, and like Jesus we hear God all the time.

Should i tell my "Eli" what God has shown to me? This is where the dilemma of obedience hits us. We disobey God by becoming amateur providences and thinking, "I must shield 'Eli'," who represents the best people we know. God did not tell Samuel to tell Eli-he had to decide that for himself. God's message to you may hurt your "Eli," but trying to prevent suffering in another's life will prove to be an obstruction between your soul and God. It is at your own risk that you prevent someone's right hand being cut off or right eye being plucked out (see Mathew 5:29-30)

Never ask another person's advice about anything God makes you decide before Him. If you ask advice, you will almost always side with Satan. ".... I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood ... " (Galatians 1:16)

Devo take from My Utmost for His Highest

Saying Goodbye

There has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. —Matthew 11:11

read Matthew 11:7-19

If you’ve ever been asked to say a few words at a memorial service, you know how difficult, yet important, it can be. Cyrus M. Copeland, compiler of two books of tributes to famous people, said: “A great eulogy is both art and architecture—a bridge between the living and the dead, memory and eternity.”

The Bible contains little that corresponds to our modern eulogy. Yet Jesus paid a great tribute to John the Baptist when he faced the looming threat of execution by Herod. From prison, John sent his disciples to confirm the identity of Jesus the Messiah (Matt. 11:2-6). Jesus talked with them, then told the listening crowd, “Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (v.11).

Jesus’ tribute captured the essence of the desert-dwelling, straight-preaching John, who was maligned and misunderstood as he prepared the way for the Son of God. John’s greatness was more than personal; it was wrapped up in the kingdom of God. He wrote his own eulogy by his actions.

As we ponder what we might say about others at their passing, it’s also good to ask, “What will people say about me when it’s time to say goodbye?” —David C. McCasland

The way we live our lives each day
Makes up our eulogy;
So ask yourself, “When I pass on,
What will be said of me?” —Sper

Living for the Lord today leaves a lasting legacy when we’re gone.

devo from Our Daily Bread, January 29,2008

Genealogy of Jesus

Matthew 1

In the genealogy of Jesus, there were only 4 women mentioned: “Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah's Wife (Bethsheba)”.

Tamar. Genesis 38

In Gen 38, Tamar's husband, Er, was evil in the eyes of the Lord. So God killed him. Now by tradition, the wife must marry the second brother and have a child for the dead first husband. However, the brother refused to fufill his duty by producing an offspring for his older brother. So God killed him too. So at this point, Judah (Er's father) sent Tamar back home in fear of her getting his last son killed. However, Tamar wanted to give her first husband a child so badly, that she resorted to trickery and tricked her father in law by pretending to be a prostitute. Judah pretty much slept with Tamar, thinking she was just a prostitute and gave her his seal and his staff as a pledge. In the end, when Judah found out Tamar was pregnant, he realized she was more righteous than him since he wouldn’t give her his son Shelah. (Gen 39:26)

Tamar's desire to fulfill Jewish law, resembles Jesus fulfilling the law. The salvation of Christ includes fufilling the laws of the OT

Rahab Joshua 2

Rahab was a gentile in Jericho. She only heard about God's name, and through faith of God, she saved the two spies even if it risked her life.

Her actions represents our acceptance of Christ by faith. The salvation of Christ is acceptance by faith

Ruth – Ruth

Ruth was a daughter in law of Naomi and was a Moabite. She was also another Gentile married to a Jew and accepted the laws of Jews. Because of her submission to her mother in law, she married Boaz and was able to be part of the ancestry of Jesus.

The salvation of Christ applies not only to Jews, but to everyone. Everyone who believe (and baptised) will be saved. Mark 16:16

Bethsheba – 2 Samuel 12

David and Bethsheba committed adultery and murder. Yet even though they broke two commandments of the 10 commandments, through true repentance (Psalms 51), God's mercy and grace, extended to forgiveness and acceptance.

In Psalms 51, it is David's cry out to the Lord for forgiveness and it showed how much David really regretted sinning against God.

The salvation of Christ includes forgiveness of sins through true repentance because our God is a gracious and merciful God who delights in our coming home.

Summary:
Despite the lowliness of these women, and how condemnable their actions were, God saw the hearts and the motivations of them and they found acceptance in God's eyes.

News from Men's Group @ Jan 28th, 2:30pm

Hi guys. Just a couple updates for those that are still keeping up or are determined to keep up with this starting this instant.

If you've noticed that your name has been removed from the "posting" duties, it's only because we're starting a fresh, clean slate. We're trying to see who's going to be committed to posting, so if you want in, please respond or get to Jacky, Jono, Allan or the Chong or heck, add yourself back to the roster if you know how. The key is to get a dedicated group to post without forcing anyone to do so against their will. Again, if you're in for posting and getting back to what we had, speak up or forever hold your peace!

Also at the Men's Group Meetings, we're reading through Book of Ecclesiastes, one chapter per week. Come out if you can, Monday @ 1:00pm. We miss you.

With that said... hope your RBK's are starting up again. Let's finish off this term strong guys.

Where are all Gideon's Men? (Part 2)

14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"
15 "But Lord ," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
~Judges 6:14-15

When we pray to God about our pressing issues, we hope God will solve our problems for us. We want God to just remove these problems from our lives A.S.A.P, and when they don't come timely enough, we wonder where are the wonders God promised. We put questions like, "God why isn't there change?", "God why aren't there any new Christians?", "God why isnt't there anything happening?" yet for some of you, Have you consider that God is answering you by saying: "Go in the strength you have, am I not sending you"

Then suddenly, it hits us, "OMG God is sending me!!!!WHY ME, I'M NOT READY!!!! I HAVE NO/THAT GIFT(S)!!!"
We begin to feel woried, doubtful, we think right away about all the ways we may fail. Never, do we consider that God has already been preparing us for the task. Even if we feel ill-equipped, how often do we pray for the power and guidance to really make change at a post we're called to do. If God is calling us to do a task, Do you think God will call someone to fail?

The problem with the lack of real Christian Men, is not that they are weaker then prior generations, rather we fail to act.

Recap:
Things Men Need:
1)Trust in God
2)Prayer for guidance and power
3)Courage to act

Your brother in Christ,
Allan

Vengeance will be His!

Hebrews 10:26-31 (New International Version)

26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"^[a] and again, "The Lord will judge his people."^[b] 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

"From the Inside" - Hillsong
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace...

----

Hi everyone,

I love that song by Hillsong, definitely one of my favourites. I put it up there, because it's true God is a merciful God. He is a loving God. He is compassionate, pouring mercies upon mercies on us when we are so unfaithful and undeserving.

But, God is also a perfect God. He gave us His son, Jesus Christ, for us...that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life! Anyone who turns down that free gift (v29), is subject to RIGHTLY deserved judgment. And when I say judgment, it is LEGAL. It is the just act of the judge. Raging fire will consume the enemies of God. Consider this a motivation by punishment >=P, to go alongside the encouragements through reward.

So what does this mean to you?
1. For those of us that are sinning, we do get punished for it. The punishment will manifest itself over time. No, it doesn't mean you get robbed of salvation. Yes, it means God disciplines His children so that they grow closer to Him.
2. I know the verses don't talk about evangelism, but people do have a general knowledge of who Jesus Christ is today. We often talk about loving God, and loving others. Well, how loving is it....knowing that your friends or family members are going to hell, because they don't have the free gift of salvation?

I know it's rough to talk about the harsher "reality" of this life, and this is definitely not a dig at any specific person. But, we are fighting a spiritual war. My brothers, I hope you hear the call.

Richard Chong

something to keep in mind

this is the transition in Spiritual Growth:

Thinking (our thoughts) --> actions (behavior) --> habits (both good and bad) --> Character -->Life

if you don't get it then ask me


--Richard Chan

Absolute Needs

John 4:7 - 15

From our first breath until our last, we have few truly essential needs. Without oxygen, we would perish in minutes. We must have food and water. Our bodies, when exhausted, require rest. And in harsh weather, we must seek shelter. So, while we are needy creatures, our basic needs are few.

When it comes to our wants, however, there seems to be no limit. Indeed, the entire advertising industry is devoted to expanding our “needs.”

But what about those basic needs we overlook? What about our need for the Bread of Life and the living water of God’s truth? What about our need for spiritual fellowship that gives strength, hope, peace, and comfort? The vague dissatisfaction so many people experience is really spiritual malnutrition and thirst.

Jesus told a Samaritan woman about water that would become “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). He had what she truly needed—what Peter later called “the words of eternal life” (6:68).

Have we been ignoring the words of Jesus: “Man shall not live by bread alone”? (Luke 4:4). Have we been failing to nourish our souls while pursuing our wants? “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). —Vernon C Grounds

Taken from Our Daily Bread

rbk..

Hey everyone,

Sooo.. let's get back on track and start back up rbk. A new semester... a new beginning. We're gonna start back from scratch (0,0). So let's continue from where we were last sem and push each other. Continue to encourage one another and let's set a passion for Him.

The Power of the Word

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture. (1 Timothy 4:13, New International Version)

Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:11-16
Song: "Give Me the Bible"

Ed and Sharon looked for ways to involve the entire congregation in the Sunday services. The senior minister carried a heavy load with teaching the adult class as well as preaching during the Sunday morning serivce. However, although faithful, the memebrs did not seem to take an active role. With no personal investment, they took little away to strengthen them for the coming week.

Ed and Sharon had an idea. First, they approached the minister and asked if a few minutes each Sunday could be used for the public reading of the Bible. He agreed, so they asked people form the congregation to volunteer to read a few verses of Scripture on selected Sundays during the coming months.

As the weeks passed, a transformation occurred. The Word became alive. Each time someone rose to read the Bible, that person became God's oracle to the congregration. God was stirring hearts. Even those who were timid seemed to speak with strength and boldness. It brought confirmation to the minitster's words, and blessed the congregation. A spritual refreshing swept through them all.

Prayer: Lord, remind me of the power that Your Word holds when read aloud-the power to build my faith as I hear it, and the power to change my life as I remember it throughout my day. In Your holy name I pray. Amen.

Today...

Today instead of putting a devo here, i'm challenging everyone else to do something different. Today, spend 20 minutes meditating on a passage. Doesn't matter how long, or how short, just spend 20 minutes meditating on it.

Once that's done, spend just 2 minutes in silence and listen to what God is telling you. Spend the full 2 minutes in silence and REALLY listen. It's okay if nothing happens, but try it.

After that, tell me about your experience. What did you read, and how did it go? How did the 2 minutes go?

Begin.

Blessing

"but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because The Lord your God loves you". Deuteronomy 23:5

Blessing - This word is barak. To receive a blessing in the Old Testament is to receive something favorable from someone greater. The paradigm of this action is the transmission a of blessing from God to Man. Throughout the Old Testament, the central idea of God's blessing is that bountiful life depends solely upon the goodness and faithfulness of God. God is the only source of blessing to the extent that God gives life itself. No man, no ritual, no religion, no other power is capable of giving and sustaining life. Amazingly, God is not stingy with His desire to offer this blessing. He does not have to be talked into giving it. He is anxious and willing to provide blessing to all who trust Him. This verse speaks most eloquently to those of us in recovery. We know the curse of our addiction. Yet God promises to turn that curse into a blessing for no other reason than that He loves us. Our addiction can become the sacred curse, the one thing in our lives that brought us to our knees, forced us to admit powerlessness and find God's grace. A blessing in disguise. By the way, this word also means "to kneel". Isn't that exactly what we had to do when we finally came to the end of ourselves?

A priest once told me that were it not for the numbing effects of our addictions, we would probably all have committed suicide. The temporary anesthetic enabled us to finally face our powerlessness and seek help. The purpose of the addiction, from God's perspective, was to get us to the place where we were used up and ready for His blessing. But addictions have no power to give life. They are lies of the highest magnitude, disguising death as something worth having. God offers us a complete turn around, taking what was a curse to us and turning it into the doorway to His grace. Maybe that's why James says that we should count it a blessing when we fall into temptation. Each temptation is a reminder that God took our personal hell and made heavenly joy from it.

- Taken from Today's Word

The Call of the Natural Life

"When it pleased God to reveal His Son in me...." (Galatians 1:15-16)

The call of God is not a call to serve Him in any particular way. My contact with nature of God will shape my understanding of His call and will help me realize what I truly desire to do for Him. The call of god is an expression of His nature; the service which results in my life is suited to me and is an expression of my nature. The call of natural life was stated by the apostle Paul- "when it pleased God... to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him [that is, purely and solemnly express Him] among the Gentiles...."

Service is the overflow which pours from a life filled with love and devotion. But strictly speaking, there is no call to that. Service is what I bring to the relationship and is the reflection of my identification with the nature of God. Service becomes a natural part of my life. God brings me into the proper relationship with Himself so that I can understand His call, and then I serve Him on my own out of a motivation of absolute love. service to God is the deliberate love-gift of a nature that has heard the call of God. Service is an expression of my nature, and God's call is an expression of His nature. Therefore, when i receive His nature and hear his call, His divine voice resounds throughout his nature and mine and the two become one in service. The Son of God reveals himself in me, and out of devotion to him service becomes my everyday way of life

devo from My Utmost For His Highest

What On Earth Are We Doing

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

“What on earth are you doing?!” You may have heard that phrase when your mom told you to clean your room and found you playing with your toys instead, or maybe when your teacher caught you passing notes in class.

But if God were to ask you this question, how would you respond?

Paul tells us that as followers of Jesus we have been put on this earth to bring glory to God in everything we do. So what should that look like?

God’s glory is the manifestation of all that He is in His unsurpassed, stunning perfection. It is His amazing love, His wide mercy, His deep grace. His glory is seen in His truth, justice, wisdom, and power. To glorify Him means that we have the high privilege of showing Him off in a world that is totally unaware of what He is really like. Acts of mercy to the undeserving, grace to the needy, forgiveness to an offender, living wisely according to His will—all give glorious visibility to the character and quality of our God.

There are a lot of misconceptions floating around about God. It’s our job to let others see what He is really like. And, when they like what they see, let’s be sure to let them know who taught us to live like that. It’s not a good idea to steal God’s glory! —Joe Stowell

Devotion from Our Daily Bread January 16, 2008

Where are all Gideon's Men? (Part 1)

14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
~Joshua 24:14-15
Amen

I am going to list 14 things, and I would like you to put these in order of how much time you spend thinking about each item in an ordinary day (please be as honest with yourself as possible), let’s begin:

Girls
The Guys
Cars
Games
School
Career
God
Family & Friends
Drugs & Alcohol & Porn
Daily Problems
Make up, hair product etc.
Shopping
Clothes & Accessories
Other

(god=Idea of God and God = Our Triune Creator)

god is the thing we do most; the very thing we focus on; the thing that we invest our lives in. We tell the World about our god, in the way we spend our time. We show them Christian ideas, by the way we live our lives. Our god is the headship of our lives.

When you put the 14 items in Order, which item was number 1? Which item, took up the most time in your day. For I propose that (at least the 1st reason) why many of Gideon's men are missing is because of this very problem: God is not at the Head.

In the movie called, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Ricky's father said something to Ricky like this "If your not first, your last". Though at the time it seeme quite funny, this has a very Christian ring to it. If God is not first, he is last.

Therefore my brothers, I ask you to come back to Christ. Put Jesus Christ at the head of you life and see for yourself the difference he makes in your life. A life with Christ has a dramatic transformation, that you begin to see actual fruits and change.

Israel stood against thousands of men, and God called Gideon to prepare 300 men to fight. Gideon that day was victorious because of God. I ask you to listen to God now, and hear God's call again, to prepare another 300 men. Not to fight this time, but to help create A God fearing nation, ready to do his Work. Will you take up the Call?

~Allan

Take His Commands to Heart!

1 Peter 6:5-11

This is pretty much at the end of Peter's letter. What I'm trying to do more is to actually read and take to heart each of the verses that I read. I encourage you to do the same.

Examples,
v6 - Humble yourself - God will exalt you at the proper time
v7 - Any worries - cast them on Him, for He cares for you.
v8 - Be alert - the devil seeks to devour you LIKE A LION! And everyone knows that Daniel killed a lion...and A BEAR....
v9 - Resist temptation - your brothers are doing the same. How's everyone's rbk?
v10 - For after suffering a little while, God PERFECT, CONFORM, STRENGTHEN, and ESTABLISH you!

Bah! There's much more to talk about! But let's do it in person!

-Richard

No Barriers

They might bring us into bondage; to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you (Galatians 2:4,5).

Scripture: Galatians 2:1-10
Song: “The Song of the Soul Set Free”

I walked through a wide archway into a spacious religious building far from my homeland. It was Sunday, and my tour group decided to attend a Christian service unlike any I had experienced. Gilded ornaments and jewel-like windows seemed to shout for attention. Yet my mind was focused on the focal point of the service, the partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

As we all stood up to sing a hymn in a language unknown to me, I glanced around at the smiling faces and listened with joy to the loud, happy voices. These people, I thought, were strangers to me and practiced many traditions unique to their culture. And yet they were also my brothers and sisters in the Lord.

This was the attitude of Paul with the Galatians. He stood against anyone who wanted to divide believers based on traditions such as dietary regulations or, in this case, rules about circumcision. He wrote that the saving work of Christ flowed out to all believers by grace-not according to what customs or traditions we many follow.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to treat out Christian brothers and sisters as You would have us do-unhindered in our love for each other and for You. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

- taken from 365 Devotions by Standard (Pocket Edition)

Exceedingly Abundantly

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." - Ephesians 3:20

At times we feel as if we could impress God with all we are trying to do for Him and His church. Yet God has yet to be impressed with even the most grandiose human aspirations (Psalms 8:3-4). You will never set a goal so big or attempt a task so significant that God does not have something far greater than He could do in and through your life. Saul of Tarsus worked harder than anyone else to impress God with his efforts, only to discover that his greatest achievements were but rubbish compared to God's will for his life (Philemon 3:7-8)

Our problem is that we become too easily enamored with our own plans. If we are attempting to do noble or difficult things, we assume that we must be experiencing the maximum potential for our lives and that God must, therefore be pleased with us. Until we have heard from God, we cannot even imagine all that our lives could become or all that God could accomplish through us.

We need to remind ourselves that the Father sees the "big picture," that His power far exceeds our limited imagination. We must set aside our own agenda, however lofty. We must never become satisfied with our own dreams, for they are finite at best. When we follow God's direction we will witness things happening in our lives that can only be explained by His powerful presence. How could we be satisfied with anything less?

Today's Word

Expedient - The Greek word (sunphero) is a combination word. It comes from sun (which means "together") and phero (which means "to bring"). We get the English word "sum" as in adding up things from this Greek prefix (sun). So, the idea is to bring things together in one place. The concept is to profit from some addition. Paul is saying that while everything is available for the Christian who is no longer a slave to the Law, not everything adds up to making life better. Some things that might seem acceptable or even unacceptable, we avoid just because they do not add to our lives.

Paul is making a great point about the freedom that comes under Christ. God no longer holds our sins against us. We have been forgiven. We are seen as though we have the holiness of Christ. The demands of the moral law have been met in Christ's atonement his death for us. Technically, this means that we no longer live under the law. But even though we have technical freedom, we realize that there are aspects of freedom that are not beneficial for us. As believers, we are called to grow into the character of Christ. Some things we don't do just because they don't take us on the growth path.

After we experience the release of guilt, after we know the joy of forgiveness, we sometimes discover that old patters and relationships interfere with our desire to become what God intends us to be. Some activities need to be set aside, not because they are technically "wrong" but because they don't add up for our new way of living. Paul tells us to keep careful track of the addition. Make sure you are getting the right totals. When you add up things in your life, bring the combination before God and let Him sort out the answers. He will tell you what to subtract. Let God do the math!