Hey friends,
Two weeks ago I (nick) told you about a pastor in Texas named Matt Chandler. They had found a tumor in his right frontal lobe. He encouraged his church and all watching that he was blessed because he got to make much of Christ in the face of trials. He said that Jesus was greater than anything else he could lose. We talked about Romans 8:18-25 and suffering that leads to glory.
At the time doctors did not know if it was cancer until they had the chance to take it out. I wanted to update you. The tumor was malignant (that's bad news), and he will be starting chemo in January. I've posted links to a new video from his church, as well as the one we showed in service. Pray for his family (Lauren, his wife, and his kids Audrey, Reid and Norah), that they will feel the peace of Christ and His church. Pray for the Village Church as their pastor is suffering. Pray most of all that Christ be glorified. May we draw near to Jesus in our times of blessing and suffering.
New Video
The Video we showed in Service
Weekly thoughts from Mosaic Student Ministries
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tiger
Anybody tired of hearing about Tiger Woods yet? I heard one reporter say that Tiger has now joined a fraternity of famous people who while on “top”, have still “fallen far”. I have heard more jokes, read more articles, and seen more sports center reviews on this one man that I could have ever cared too. Here is my issue: all awhile, we know exactly what is going to happen. It happened to Alex Rodriguez, it happened to Kobe Bryant, it will happen to Tiger. At the moment that he returns to an athletic achievement…his image will be restored and he’ll be a national hero once again. Unbelievable…
I have been dealing with how to draw spiritual implications and applications from this. I don’t know Tiger’s faith, but I do know that he lived a life of secret, hidden, patterned sin. Let’s assume for a second that Tiger is a follower of Jesus Christ. He would not be that different than many of us. While we may not be having affairs with multiple women, many of us do entertain secret, hidden, patterned sin. We think we are fooling everybody around us…and worst of all, think we are fooling God.
Rather than give you an opinion, I’d like to point you to a text. 1 Timothy 5:20 says:
“As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the
presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear”.
Lets go from end to start. First off…we are too live in FEAR. Fear of the Lord is a common theme that runs throughout scripture, and I think finds its climatic definition in passages like this. Our sin will find us out. A DEEP love relationship with God and a habitual life of sin cannot co-exist. One should and will cancel out the other. Our fear should also lie in that our sin will come to light. Therefore, when we see people fall…it should turn us inward and call us back to a fearful response of motivated righteousness. Our second response is active rebuke. This is tricky, and one that I find a lot of comfort in being a part of a community called the Church. The Church is an active mechanism of not just teaching us of righteousness, but holding us to it. One of the Churches key functions is the accountability of believers. In cases of secret sin, accountability looks like bold, public rebuke by Church leaders of the individual that the rest of the body can 1) respond in fear leading to righteousness 2) come around in hard love and support of the individual. Both are necessary…both are needed. Both are being the Church.
I wonder if Tiger is getting either. If the only spiritual take away is that we fear our own secret sin ….than I think some worthy good has come from it. Definitely will change the way I watch golf…
~Deep thoughts by a shallow guy~
mn
I have been dealing with how to draw spiritual implications and applications from this. I don’t know Tiger’s faith, but I do know that he lived a life of secret, hidden, patterned sin. Let’s assume for a second that Tiger is a follower of Jesus Christ. He would not be that different than many of us. While we may not be having affairs with multiple women, many of us do entertain secret, hidden, patterned sin. We think we are fooling everybody around us…and worst of all, think we are fooling God.
Rather than give you an opinion, I’d like to point you to a text. 1 Timothy 5:20 says:
“As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the
presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear”.
Lets go from end to start. First off…we are too live in FEAR. Fear of the Lord is a common theme that runs throughout scripture, and I think finds its climatic definition in passages like this. Our sin will find us out. A DEEP love relationship with God and a habitual life of sin cannot co-exist. One should and will cancel out the other. Our fear should also lie in that our sin will come to light. Therefore, when we see people fall…it should turn us inward and call us back to a fearful response of motivated righteousness. Our second response is active rebuke. This is tricky, and one that I find a lot of comfort in being a part of a community called the Church. The Church is an active mechanism of not just teaching us of righteousness, but holding us to it. One of the Churches key functions is the accountability of believers. In cases of secret sin, accountability looks like bold, public rebuke by Church leaders of the individual that the rest of the body can 1) respond in fear leading to righteousness 2) come around in hard love and support of the individual. Both are necessary…both are needed. Both are being the Church.
I wonder if Tiger is getting either. If the only spiritual take away is that we fear our own secret sin ….than I think some worthy good has come from it. Definitely will change the way I watch golf…
~Deep thoughts by a shallow guy~
mn
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Spiritual Life
by Eugene Peterson
“Our Spirituality begins in Theology (the revelation and understanding of God) and is guided by it. And theology is never truly itself apart from being expressed in the bodies of the men and women to whom God gives life and whom God then intends to life a full Salvation Life (spirituality)”.
“Our Spirituality begins in Theology (the revelation and understanding of God) and is guided by it. And theology is never truly itself apart from being expressed in the bodies of the men and women to whom God gives life and whom God then intends to life a full Salvation Life (spirituality)”.
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