A Call to Extraordinary Prayer for Revival

[referred to by Elder Vince]

Click here. 

Resolved Reflections: Jon Sng

Initially I was skeptical about going to RESOLVED. 12 sermons in the span of 4 days seemed a little heavy. Upon arrival at the conference my mindset shifted from indifference to amazement. Seeing thousands of believers gathered in a room to hear the Word of God through pastors like John MacArthur, CJ Mahaney, John Piper, and the others preach about heaven and hell was a sight I will not soon forget. After this conference I became eager to see heaven and to be able to worship Christ in Heaven. Death does not seem so bad after all.

Pastor’s Desk: Why Do We Sin? (pt. 2)

Our lack of faith leads to sin and our sin leads to lack of faith.

Many sin because their faith or lack of faith allows them room to live with an ongoing, unrepentant presence of sin in their lives. But there are also many who lack faith because of their sins. In 2 Cor.4:4 we are taught that the “god of this age” has blinded the mind of the unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. The reason why our adversary has this kind of control over them is through the presence of sin in them. Sin gives our enemy the foothold to blind people to the reality of God’s glory. As Christians we have been delivered from the ultimate blindness that leads to death but we are also susceptible to momentary blindness when we allow unrepentant sin to exist in our lives. We cannot question why God does not reveal Himself all the while refusing to take off the very blinders that prevent us from seeing Him. God is not playing hide and seek with His people. God is Spirit and we can only connect with Him in spirit. We (mankind) at one point were only flesh (because we were dead spiritually through our sin) God became flesh to make contact with us. But now that we have been born again of the Spirit.. God remains in the Spirit (mostly). We keep asking to see God and yet God is exhorting us to open our eyes. It is our unwillingness to live in the spirit that prevent us from seeing God.

Isa 59:1-2
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
NIV

Thank God that He is gracious enough to forgive us when we are willing to repent. Even if it is over and over again.

Theological Word of the Day

It’s becoming a nice quick stop on my daily websurfing agenda.

It’s nice to have a refresher course (or learn for the first time) words, phrases, and terms thrown around in theological discussions. Anything that will assist us in following along, with greater clarity, the rich explanatory truths of God’s revelation is something we ought to utilize. And it’s good to be reminded that words are to be used with a degree of exactitude and precision, not with sloppiness or relativity.

Bookmark it or subscribe to the feed.

Opening Up…

Appropriate piece of news, considering our team’s imminent departure.

Cardboard Testimonies

Not sure in what context (i.e., when, where, why) this video was taken, but it was encouraging to see the transforming power of the Gospel manifested outwardly in these “cardboard testimonies”. The Gospel saves AND changes.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Cor. 5:17)

The Truth of the Cross Review by Alex Han

In one of the most dangerous and subtle acts that a Christian can do is to say they “know” who Christ is and what He has done. The reason why it is dangerous and subtle is because there can be no level of knowledge that a human can attain to even say we completely know Christ and His work. The Truth of the Cross by R.C. Sproul calls attention to the need of every Christian to study and to continue to dig into what is called “Christology” (the study of Christ).

The beginning of the book starts off with the question, “Why the cross?” As Sproul highlights, there are many subdivisions within the Christian faith. It is evident from the countless theology books that are out in print. So why is it that the Christian faith is a symbol that resembles the letter “t” in our alphabet? As Sproul will state and argue throughout the rest of the book, “the cross crystallizes the essence of the ministry of Jesus.”

If you look briefly at the table of contents, you can guess at what Sproul will be talking about because who can talk about the cross and not talk about the gospel? Sproul carefully and with much detail, breaks down the multi-level facets of the gospel message beginning first with God’s holiness and justice all the way down to saving faith in Christ. With each chapter, Sproul not only highlights the biblical basis for such truths, but also the attacks that are taking place with each aspect of the gospel. Personally, it made the chapters both complete and incomplete. Complete in the sense that you get not only the impact of the gospel upon the heart and soul, but also the impact of the gospel upon the world. But it is also incomplete in the fact that these chapters will not do justice to the fullness and beauty of the cross.

One chapter that stood out to me was chapter 8 titled “The Blessing and the Curse.” The chapter was discussing the doctrine of penal substitution, the truth that Christ receiving the full penalty of sin from God. A hotly debated topic now within evangelical circles, Sproul uses the Old Testament to show that this truth was not something scholars have made to justify Christ’s death on the cross, rather it was a fulfillment of what God had commanded Israel to do before Christ came on earth. Sproul does this by explaining the meaning behind the “blessings” and curses” pattern God gave to Israel if they obeyed His commandments, which is found in Deuteronomy 28:1-6 (blessing) and 28:15 (curses). I would not do Sproul justice if I tried to explain or summarize this chapter, but one thing I would commend any reader of this book to notice is the connection between the goat that is cursed and sent away and the manner Christ was taken to Golgotha to be crucified. Shivers down the spine can only begin to explain the feeling and provoking nature of this truth revealed.

Overall, this book will not replace what the Bible can offer in regard to Christ and His works. This book cannot even come to the true effects the Bible will have if we choose to study the cross. However, “The Truth of the Cross” does a clear job of explaining the details of the cross and does so convincingly. While not a light read, this book is definitely worthwhile investing time into.

Pastor’s Desk: Why Do We Sin? (pt.1)

1.  Because we do not believe that God is real.  Though we do believe Him in the big scheme of things we do not believe that He is real from moment to moment during various times of the day.  When His presence seem real, as in church worship time or when our bible is opened to us, we are able to conquer our sins since the good of resisting outweighs the bad of sinning.  But when His presence does not seem real the benefit of sinning seem to outweigh the consequences for the moment.  At that moment it is our unbelief that take center stage rather than our faith.  When the desire to sin is great the desire to not believe is also great.  We may think at that moment, “Is God really omnipresent?” or even “Does God really exist?”  Our desires often determine whether we want to believe God or don’t want to believe God.  We strongly desire to believe that God exists when we are in times of hardship and in need of help.  The thought of death also invokes a stronger desire to believe that God exists.  But when the existence of God becomes inconvenient to whatever desires that we have then our desire for God not to be real is manifest.

So belief and unbelief may be one of the underlying reasons why we sin.

One of the solutions to conquering sin may be to grow a stronger faith in God and to learn to find pleasure in the things of God rather than the flesh.  When my faith in God is strong my desire to be righteous and holy is strong.  When my faith is weak and doubts are strong my desire to indulge the flesh is also strong.  If I do not find pleasure in God or the things of God then my desire to not believe will take it’s place in my heart, because unbelief empowers me to satisfy my flesh.

How  does my faith in God grow when I do not hear, touch or see God?  We live in a material world and God is not material. But God became flesh so that we can see Him, though He is now in Spirit.  Then we must become spiritual as God had become material.

First for God to become material He needed to empty Himself.  In the same way we cannot become spiritual without emptying ourselves of things that keep us bound in the material things.  What binds me to the flesh keeps me from being spiritual.  As becoming flesh required humility becoming spirit requires dignity.  One is to make oneself lower while the latter is to make oneself higher.  Not in pride but in essence.  We are to live, not down, but UP to the calling we have received.  When I am walking in the spirit I am aware of the presence of spiritual things, mainly God.  When I am aware of God’s presence my desire to live a holy life is strong.  But in contrast, when I am walking in the flesh, I become unaware of spiritual things, mainly God.  When I am unaware of God then my desire to satisfy my flesh is strong–thus leading to sin.

Walk in the spirit and we will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  The flesh bears fruit in the flesh but the spirit bears fruit in the spirit.

More to come………………………….