Sky Is Black: August 2008

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Graffiti KL (VII)

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Jim Petersen - Living Proof: Sharing the Gospel Naturally

Book excerpts from Jim Petersen's work:

*We are not dealing merely with ideas and philosophies; we are dealing with people. Ideas find their existence only in people's mind. In the zeal of our battle against ideas, we Christians often confuse matters by placing ourselves in a position of war against those who hold to those ideas. But we must always remember that we are sent to such people.

*In making a decision to become a Christian, the involvement of the will is fundamental. This is because it was our will that got us into trouble with God in the first place. Conversion is laying down our arms and coming out with our hands up. It is submitting again to God's sovereign rule over one's person.

*Faith: We must take care that faith is constructed on the only sure foundation, the rock of the living Word of God, incarnate and written. Faith cannot rest on anything else without being compromised. It cannot be syncretised with other religions, beliefs, or pagan or humanistic presuppositions. We come to God on His terms, not ours.

*Over the centuries, as Christians have sought to strike a balance between these two seemingly contradictory commands, we have swung from one extreme to another - from hermit like isolation to conformity to the world. But either extreme defeat God's purpose. Conformity to the world obscures the glory of God. Isolation renders the Christian model useless. The value of the congruence between our lives and our faith will be lost to the world if separation becomes isolation.

* a cool perspective on doctrines:
most of us emphasize certain doctrines far more than others. We favour certain forms of expressing our faith because they are so natural to us that we can't envision a Christian functioning without them. Often we consider certain behaviour to be normative and essential. Our strong feeling prompts us to elevate or emphasize these ideas to a point where they become requirements for anyone we minister to. This tendency restricts the Gospel.
We need to be careful of our religious traditions, our forms of worship, our personal doctrinal emphases, or our persuasions concerning Christian conduct- anything that is not in balance with the whole of scripture. If we are not in balance, then we offer a Jesus who is identified with things that may be important to us but are a stumbling block to those we seek to win. They won't take him because of the wrappings.
In the reality of his fullness, Jesus cannot e confined to any system. Did He became a Protestant with the reformation? Was he ever a Roman Catholic? Rather, He stands above our ecclesiastical structure and our theological systems. He is the gospel focus of all time, for all people. When we identify Him with our particular ecclesiastical persuasions, we isolate him in a limited space. In the process, we exclude much of the rest of the world.

Friday, August 8, 2008

The Gospel in Six Minutes - by John Piper

What’s the gospel? I’ll put it in a sentence.

The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy.

That’s the gospel.

You Can't Outgrow the Gospel

You never, never, never outgrow your need for it. Don’t ever think of the gospel as, “That’s the way you get saved, and then you get strong by leaving it and doing something else.”

No! We are strengthened by God through the gospel every day, till the day we drop.

You never outgrow the need to preach to yourself the gospel.

How the Gospel Strengthens

Here’s an illustration, and I use it not because it’s any big deal to speak from my life, but because it’s what I walked through and where I most pointedly in the last year experienced the power of the gospel to make me strong. (Many of you are walking through things much heavier than prostate cancer—much heavier.)

Do you remember the verses that I shared with you back in February that were almighty for me? It was that moment right after the doctor says, “I think we need to do a biopsy,” when this stab of fear comes. It didn’t last long, mercifully.

And then came—what? 1Thessalonians 5:9-10. It’s just as pure gospel as you can get.

God has not destined you for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for you so that whether you wake or sleep you will live with him.

Settled. Peace like a river.

The Gospel Is Perfect for Your Needs

That’s just gospel—perfectly timed, perfectly applied, perfectly suited to my need. That’s why the Bible is so thick—because there are so many different needs that you have. And there are suitable places where the gospel is unfolded for you, so that if you immerse yourself in the whole book, always with an eye for what Christ has wrought for you and purchased for you in this thick, glorious history of God’s interaction with people, he will give you what you need.

Therefore, everything in me says, and I hope to say until the day I die, “Now, to him who is able to strengthen me, according to Paul’s gospel, to him—to that God—be glory forever and ever.”

God came into history in Jesus Christ; he died in order to destroy the power of hell and death and Satan and sin; and he did it through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Plea to Believe

I know that there are people reading this who are not trusting Jesus Christ, and therefore can only expect condemnation. So I’m just going to plead with you here at the end, lay down that rebellion. Lay it down. And simply embrace the gospel that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Righteous One, died for your sins. He was raised on the third day, triumphant over all his enemies. He reigns until he puts all of his enemies under his feet. Forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God comes freely through him alone, by faith alone.

I plead with you, don’t try to be strong in your own strength; it will not be there when you need it. Only one strength will be there—the strength that God gives according to the gospel.

Don’t put it off.

*you may visit Piper's website for Sermon/article archive:
http://www.desiringgod.org/

Sunday, August 3, 2008

On Serving God - Warren W. Wiersbe

This book(On Being A Servant of God) by Wiersbe focus on the whole areas on serving God. Wiersbe really write straight to the point...This is the book you must read, especially those serving God/planning to do so. The major point that he stressed is, whatever you did, only the name of God should be glorified, and not us.

As usual, some quotations to share with:
*Once you accept yourself as a distributor of God's riches ad not a manufacturer, you will experience a wonderful new freedom and joy in service. You won't be afraid of new challenges because you know God has the resources to meet them. You won't be frustrated trying to manufacture everything needed to get the job done; and when God bless your work, you won't be tempted to take the credit.

*The next time people failed you and you feel like you've failed, go to the mount and ask God to show you his glory. Don't focus on yourself or the people you serve; focus on God and his glory. Before long, you'll get the perspective God wants you to have, and you'll get ready to do what He wants you to do.

*Focus on serving the Lord can make a big difference in your ministry. For one thing, you will be motivated to do your work and not look for excuses. If you serve only to earn a salary, you will never do your best as long as you think you're underpaid. If you minister to get recognition, you will start doing less when people don't show their appreciation.

*Ministry isn't easy, but you make it more difficult for yourself if you serve people instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't please everybody, so don't even try. Just live and work in such a way that your master will be able to say,"You're my beloved servant in whom I can well pleased".

*When the people we serve irritate us or disappoint us, the first thing we usually do is pray for them and tell the Lord to change them. What we ought to do first is pray for ourselves and ask God to increase our love.

*Ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.

*Something else happens when you put Jesus Christ first in your ministry: you stop watching other Christians and passing judgement on what they do or what God does with them. People watching is a popular pastime among Christian workers, but it's a dangerous one. If you keep your eyes on faith on Christ and seek to please him alone, you won't have either the time or desire to watch others.

*God often allows problem people to come into your life so that you'll learn to depend more on His power and not your own resources.

*Keep in mind that while you're serving others, the Lord is serving you. He's working with you on earth (Matt 16:20) and equipping you from heaven. No matter how painful or disappointing your service may seem to you, it's not being wasted. God is building your character while he is building His church, and what He does will last forever.

*Keeping in mind that the Lord is the final judge of our service helps sets us free from the fear of people and desire to please them at the expense of pleasing God. We can't please everybody, nor should we try. Our aims should be to walk ans to please God.(1 Thess 4:1) My experience is that God is easier to pleased then most people: He knows us intimately, He loves us perfectly, and therefore He can evaluate our work accurately.

*No matter what task God has called you to do, always remember that your ministry touches a whole world if you are trully serving the Lord. You may not see how God is using your ministry, but that's not important. You may think that your place in His vineyard is a small one, but it isn't