Random Thoughts for Growth

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AM 6:56의 2009 1월 18에 대한 Joseph In 님의 의견,

Miracle on the Hudson
US Air Flight 1549 didn’t last long. About three minutes. Who could have guessed that minutes after takeoff, the passengers would be in the middle of the Hudson River on a downed jetliner? I’ve been on airplanes in distress. I’ve been through emergency landings. So this one hits pretty close.

We won’t soon forget – and those passengers will never forget – the scenes of them lined up single file on both wings, surrounded by the icy waters of the Hudson. Thank God, this is not a story of carnage, disaster and grief-stricken loved ones. It’s a story of lives saved. A story of people rescued.

Clearly, the only hope for the passengers of Flight 1549 was a rescue. That’s something I understand all too well. Not because I’ve ever needed a physical rescue. But because I was in a situation where I would have died if a rescuer had not come. Thank God, He did. In fact, there are millions of people like me who owe their lives to a Rescuer named Jesus.

In my case, it was my own fault I was in mortal danger. I’ve made the same choice the Bible says we’ve all made – to hijack my life from the One who gave it to me. God’s word for it is “sin.” What it amounts to is me saying, “God, You run the universe, and I’ll run me, thank You.” So a lifetime of “me” choices has left each of in serious danger. Eternal danger.

Here’s how God puts it: “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (Isaiah 53:6 – NLT). And “your sins have cut you off from God” (Isaiah 59:2). Even without the Bible verse, we sort of know in our soul that we’re away from God. To be away from Him right now means living with an incurable hole in our hearts…without a fulfilling reason to live…with no power to change our dark side. It’s hard to live without Him. It’s hell to die without Him.

Like those passengers in that sinking plane, there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves. Oh, we try. It’s called being religious, being nice. But sin carries a spiritual death penalty – “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). If what we needed was a religion, take your pick. But we need a rescue. Being good can’t pay a death penalty. Someone has to die. I deserve to. But that’s where the most amazing rescue in history comes in.

Jesus is God, coming to rescue you and me. In God’s words, “He has rescued us” and He “purchased our freedom and forgave our sins” (Colossians 1:13). But it cost Jesus His life to save ours. They didn’t take Jesus’ life on the cross. He gave it. It’s because He loves us with a love that is willing to give up everything to get us back. I did the sinning - but Jesus did the dying. “He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross” (1 Peter 2:24).

My rescue came the day I grabbed Jesus like He was my only hope. And that’s what it means to “believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). The Bible tells me that the day I acknowledged the danger I was in and trusted Jesus as my Rescuer, my sins were forgiven and I traded my hell for His heaven. It’s what He wants to do for you, too. If you’ll put your life in His hands. It’s as simple – and as serious – as telling Him with all your heart, “Jesus, I’m Yours.”

The passengers of 1549 experienced what they’re calling a “miracle on the Hudson.” Your rescue miracle can happen right where you are as you read this. Jesus is reaching for you. Just grab His hand.

Life's most important relationship can be yours for life and forever. Click here to find out how

By Ron Hutchcraft

AM 7:43의 2009 1월 10에 대한 Joseph In 님의 의견,

Missionary Weapons

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14

Ministering in Everyday Opportunities.

Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.

The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.

Jesus said, "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you" (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.

Do you find yourself responding by saying, "Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field"? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield--you will be killed while trying to do it.

We have to go the "second mile" with God (see Matthew 5:41 ). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, "Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life." But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.

AM 7:05의 2009 1월 4에 대한 Joseph In 님의 의견,

New Year’s Reflection

January 1st, 2009

New Years Eve is the victory lap of the holidays. We expend our energy between Thanksgiving and Christmas and then cap it off with one last party to say good bye (or good riddance) to what just happened and hello to what’s to come.

It’s no wonder so many of us use the New Year as a time to change. We finally have the freedom to glimpse a future with no major holidays for a few months.

This article from Jason Gardner via Cross Rhythms lists the top ten resolutions people make for the new year:


•Get organized
•Help others
•Learn something new
•Get out of debt
•Quit drinking
•Enjoy life more
•Quit smoking
•Tame the bulge
•Fit in fitness
•Spend more time with family and friends
As Jason mentions, “all certainly forgotten by the time February kicks in.” In fact, it’s oftentimes an anomaly to keep a resolution throughout the year.

Personally, I’ve never been one for year-long resolutions, mainly because of how much trouble I have with week-long resolutions. For change to work for me, it needs to come out of a God-placed desire to be a different person. And while there is no extra sprig of spirituality amid the tick of time that takes us from December to January, we’d be remiss not to use any opportunity to reevaluate aspects of our lives, especially the spiritual aspects.

Maybe a positive spiritual change for you this year would be something as simple as committing to reading your Bible for a minute a day, or maybe even reading it for the first time in its entirety. Perhaps it’s going to church every Sunday this year, or getting involved in that ministry you’ve always thought about. Or maybe you want to actually pray this year. Maybe it’s something even more drastic: maybe it’s a complete turn from the path you’re taking.

Whatever it is, even though there’s nothing magic about January 1, it’s a great time to listen to what God might be asking you to consider.

AM 12:09의 2008 8월 15에 대한 Yoon 님의 의견,

I copied and pasted pastor Piper's blog from his website. Even though I tried to be unbiased in my research with Todd Bentley's Lakeland Revival, I could not come to believe that this was a genuine revival of God.
Throughout Church history, revivals were accompanied by brokenness, conviction, call to prayer, and to sound doctrine through the Bible. Yet, Bentley's revivals did not produce much of this. To give his ministry some credit, I am sure that it bore some fruit since many worshippers of God attended ministry. I randomnly met a few people with the AG Master's Commission who had attended the revival (? Did I spell that right Hilton?) while getting my visa, and I was genuinely encouraged by them. However, parts of truth can help a person mature in their faith too.
Whenever I read articles such as this, I feel more inspired to balance both heat and light as Jonathan Edwards wrote. Yet, it is exactly that in which we find an imbalance in especially in American Christianity. My opinion is that somewhere along the line, postmodernism and relativism have seeped into the Church and has robbed her of her intellectual will and desire. Fideism, as it is called, has made us rely on blind faith and not on seeing faith. As Dr. Geisler points out, faith does not indicate stepping into a dark elevator shaft, but putting ourselves into a functioning elevator with the knowledge that it will hold us.
Wasn't the evangelism in Acts apologetics in nature? Did not the Bereans search the Old Testament to validate the claims of Paul? Paul himself was a biblical scholar, a Pharisee in regard to the law (Phil 3:5).
I hate to say this since I too am a Pentecostal/Charismatic, but too many Pentecostals have sought after signs and wonders and not enough of sound doctrine. Their heat has outweighed their light. Yet Acts is full of examples of a balanced ministry; signs and wonders were balanced by an apologetical ministry grounded in the death and resurrection of Jesus and not in the feel-good evangelism of our day.
The gospel is not about what God can do for us and how we can live a victorious life here on earth (Joel Osteen) or being whisked away from the pains of this world and somehow, impossibly, always being so perky and happy because the joy of the Lord is with us (said with tongue in cheek). Yes, we're to be joyful and the Holy Spirit gives us joy. However, this world is not our home and will feel distress and other negative emotions just as our Lord Himself felt. If not, how can we not but inadverdently condemn our brothers and sisters like Issac Watts, the hymnist, who battled life-long depression as a Christian?
No, the gospel is about freedom from sin, salvation from God's horrendous and unspeakable wrath, and the restoration of rightful relationship between a subject and a King. This is the supreme relationship above that of the (ever popular in our day) friend model, which takes out of context friendships of 1st century Jewish culture, and on equal or higher status than the Father-son/daughter model.
What was to be a quick introduction has led to this essay because I feel passionate about the intellectual health of the Church. So in light of what I wrote, I feel compelled to continue and somehow, hopefully and God willing, draw a good conclusion.
Many, even genuine Christ followers, have been and are being led away by false doctrine. Why? Because they do not understand sound doctrine. This is a reason why I commented on the definition of the gospel (though too exhaustive to cover it in a short essay) and the apologetical ministry of Acts. Due to false doctrine, even the foundational doctrine, the death and resurrection of Christ and the redemption of man from God's wrath, have taken a backseat in our churches and evangelism and have been replaced by the feel-good, God will give you a special purpose in your life, me-me-me approach. This is not to nullify God's individual will for our lives nor the hope and joy that comes from being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. No, the problem is that what is not foundational has become foundational and what is foundational has been relegated to the bench due to our lack of study in sound doctrine. This is why the Todd Bentley's, Joel Osteen's, and the Benny Hinn's are hugely popular. We have not emulated the Bereans. This is why many Christians are relativists and syncretistic in belief. Theology is no longer the queen of the sciences.
Todd Bentley may have genuinely followed God but have misled his ministry out of lack of doctrinal study. Pentecostal history has many godly ministers whose ministry was wrecked later in life due to this same problem which is a humble reminder for our own lives. But it could also be that Todd Bentley's ministry was not of God in the first place. We can ask God for clarity in heaven. But until than, we have been given the responsibilities of knowing the scriptures and testing the spirits. I, on one hand, have always felt uneasy with Todd Bentley through my knowledge of the Scripture and research. And whether he was genuine or not, he can no longer lead a ministry due to his impending divorce (Under Canadian law, separation is a preliminary step in divorce proceedings, lasting nine months - The Ledger, Aug 12, 2008) according to 1 Timothy 3.
Let us test revival and everything in life with doctrine.

Test Revival with Doctrine
August 14, 2008 | By: John Piper
Category: Commentary

Lee Grady, the editor of Charisma, one of the main charismatic magazines, has written a lament and critique of the Lakeland “revival” which is now in a tailspin over the leaders announced separation from his wife. Grady’s summons to pray for the church and our nation is right, and among his commendable questions and observations are these:

* "Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up."
* "True revival will be accompanied by brokenness, humility, reverence and repentance—not the arrogance, showmanship and empty hype that often was on display in Lakeland."
* "A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley’s news hit the fan. He said to me: “I’m now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment.” Ouch. Hopefully we’ll learn our lesson this time and apply the necessary caution when an imposter shows up."

Charismatics will not be the only ones who follow the Antichrist when he rises. So will the mass of those who today in thousands of evangelical churches belittle the truth of biblical doctrine as God’s agent to set us free (John 8:32).

Discernment is not created in God’s people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds. When that happens, then the brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance will have the strong fiber of the full counsel of God in them. They will be profoundly Christian and not merely religious and emotional and psychological.

The common denominator of those who follow the Antichrist will not be “charismatic” it will be, as Paul says, “they refused to love the truth.”

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

Our test for every Lakeland that comes along should first be doctrinal and expositional. Is this awakening carried along by a “love for the truth” and a passion to hear the whole counsel of God proclaimed?

PM 2:16의 2008 7월 24에 대한 Robert Fee 님의 의견,

"The Open Field"

I wandered in the open field,
wondering what my senses would yield.
As I smelled the fresh flowers grass and hay.
I knew then what they had to say.
My nose my eyes became the color of red.
"That's it that's it" I finally said.
What the growing things said to me was
"Welcome back " sincerely, your allergy.


" Choices"
The path to the left was straight and bright,
darkness ,despair lay on the right.
which one to go I rightly thought.
Perhaps to the left to go I ought.
Then suddenly it dawned like a second sight.
There can be no day without a night.
And what about joy at the end of despair,
it was then I chose right with no time to spare.

AM 9:46의 2008 7월 18에 대한 Robert Fee 님의 의견,

" The Road"
There once was a very goodly and benevolent king who loved his subjects very much.The royal geologists brought him a report that disturbed him greatly. An earthquake was imminent which would destroy much of the valley plain where his subjects lived . He began plans to expand his palace and his city to accommodate his subjects and allow them to dwell with him safely on the other side of the kingdom. He would also visit his subjects and explain his plan to rescue them in detail.The plan would include marking a path which would safely lead his people to the palace.The road would be marked, warning of potential dangers, on this perilous journey to the palace.At the same time, word came to the Pretender to the throne. This was a subject of the king who had become wealthy and powerful through deceit and trickery and wanted above all things to be recognized as the king. He soon began construction on a wide thoroughfare littered with shops and banks and began building houses people could purchase and dwell by this road. At first the subjects all faithfully began their trip to the palace. As they observed the other road with its' shops, many wares and easy travel many began to go on that road , since it promised to go toward the palace also. Each day the king would go out and greet each of his arriving subjects and gratefully welcome them to the palace. Each day the pretender would greet the arrival with a boisterous laugh as they realized there was nothing but a bottomless precipice awaiting them.The king wept for these subjects.As each went over and their cries echoed in the sheer canyon walls.The Pretender thought to himself if I cannot be king I shall strip the other one by taking all his subjects from him.The earth shook and the ground rumbled the earthquake had begun....I rejoiced to see the royal palace in the distance and realized the hard journey was more than worth it.

PM 12:03의 2008 7월 17에 대한 Robert Fee 님의 의견,

Why is shampoo called shampoo when it contains neither sham or poo?If you stood at the northern or southern extremes of the International Date Line would you be frozen in time? If you stood directly on the International Date Line would it always be now?Is there more equality on the equator are things fairer?Were the guys that named the two tropics really Capricorns or Cancers or did they name them after the wives' signs?(I'm betting it was the wives')Do individually wrapped cheese slices come from an isolated milk product and is it treated with plastic to produce the wrapper?If we could produce coreless seedless apples how popular would they be?Was the submarine sandwich invented by a navy admiral?And if so was the early edition a little soggy before it surfaced?How do you use mathematic manipulations to show negative numbers?Has anyone ever seen a negative number other than a monthly bank statement?Should only positive numbers be used in the classroom to keep self-esteem at a high level?Then what do we do with all the negative numbers?What if something really was "all gravy" wouldn't that be a little hard to contain and yes just a little bit messy?If you don't have an echo in a hollow room does that mean you're probably dead?Do cats get offended by the name Nine Lives cat food or is this food just intended for "at risk" cats?Is curiosity the cause of all cat deaths?Are ants disappointed when humans cancel their picnic plans?Is it easier to ask questions than to provide answers?Do all foreign languages have a word for blogging, or is it just universally blogging?

AM 10:31의 2008 7월 16에 대한 Robert Fee 님의 의견,

Josh Hamilton watched the 28th home run of the 2008 Home Run Derby settle into the stands of Yankee Stadium. He had accomplished what no other major leaguer was able to do in the history of the competition. If that was the whole story that would have been nice there is however more to the story. Josh was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now the Rays) in 1999 and was considered a very hot prospect. He went up the levels of pro baseball until the year 2001 when he was involved in a car accident and also began experimenting with illicit drugs. From the years 2002-2005 Josh repeatedly tested positive for drugs in the random drug testing that major league baseball conducts. He was given multiple fines and suspension. In 2005 Josh was confronted by his grandmother, Mary Holt, about his lifestyle and it was at that point recovery began.Josh makes no bones about the means of his recovery when he says simply "It's a God thing."
He finally made the major leagues at age 27 in 2006 with the Cincinnati Reds ("his rookie season") where he batted .292 and had 19 home runs. He was traded to the Texas Rangers in 2007 and continues to show the end results that began with such promise. Josh enters the batters box in Texas to the tune of "Saved the Day" by Phillips,Craig and Dean. Yes home run 28 must have been very sweet indeed for the "recovered" Josh Hamilton and it's a little sweeter for me too!