There Are No Dumb Questions
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
One Body, One Faith, One Baptism
Paul defines what unity of the Spirit actually looks like from a kingdom perspective. Ephesians 4:4-6 (ESV), There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. There is no room here for a denomination to say to another bible based and bible teaching, obedient to Christ body of believers that they are not. In fact, Paul is saying that there are not actually different bodies, but part of the same body…Christ's body.
Seven times in in these three verses Paul uses the word "one"…one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father. Then he uses the word "all" four times. God and Father of all, who is over all, through all and in all! There is no shopping list here; but only one God who gifts humanity with the one true faith through the work of the Holy Spirit…and everything that exists is His…full stop…go no further! And unless we both understand and assent to that premise first, there will be no authentic Christian faith, no unity and no peace.
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Wednesday, 19 February 2014
Dead in Sin - Alive in Christ
There is a trinity of sorts that Paul names as being responsible for the mess that people are in prior to coming to Christ. Three things that are progressively responsible for the condition of fallen humanity. They are: the world, the devil and the flesh.
The first, the world has a value system that stands in direct opposition to the will and purposes of God. People don't just, "fall into sin"...an intent and decision is required. That is, a decision to choose the value system of the world instead of God's.
As I said above, this is progressive. There are two consequences of choosing the world. Firstly, when we reject God's will and purposes, he removes the hand of protection from us. Secondly, by choosing the world and rejecting God, we open ourselves spiritually to Satan and his demons.
Once Satan has been given access and God's protection is removed, once godly values have been replaced by worldly (read satanic) ones, what Paul refers to as the "flesh" takes over. We have become the "sons of disobedience". Our godly inhibitions are dismantled and the unfettered physical desires which deviate so radically from the morals of the kingdom are given free reign.
It is not popular to speak of the non-believing public in this manner. In fact, in many circles it is considered abusive. Many don't ever come to realize there need for redemption, because they are constantly told by the world that their condition is the normal state of humanity, they were born that way and it should be celebrated rather than challenged!
But God...I love it when I hear that! "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love...made us alive in Christ. By grace you have been saved through faith" Eph.2: 4 & 8 (ESV). There is no place we have been that cannot be redeemed by the blood of the lamb. All he asks us to do is to acknowledge his sacrifice and turn to him.
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Saturday, 8 February 2014
The Eyes of Your Heart
What we are actually hearing here, is the result of Jesus working in Paul's life. The Lord has taken this vicious and violent Pharisee who once pursued and persecuted Christians, and transformed him into a wise and spiritually powerful teacher. Paul, in turn, is now praying for the Ephesian believers to be transformed in like manner.
Paul is showing them some of what he speaks about in 1Corinthians as "the most excellent way" or the way of love. Because he has heard about them, he prays for them continually. The other thing that Paul does is give thanks for them. He is not jealous of their success in ministry, but joyful and thankful…and willing to affirm that publically. Let me ask you…how do you think that things would be different for the church in Squamish, in every community, if every pastor and leader publically praised God and gave thanks for the ministry of the other leaders?
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Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
The Man Born Blind
Reflecting on “The Man Born Blind” John 9:1-41
This is a phenomenal teaching passage with lessons for both the congregation and its shepherd. Jesus is far more concerned with the people than the rules which govern their religious life. The goal is for us to have the eyes of Jesus instead of the heart of the Pharisee. We need to actually see the least, lost and broken and engage with them as equals rather than someone we take measured time out of our busy schedule to “do” something to.
The Lord shows us clearly that the package, that which we see from our human perspective does not necessarily reflect the image or the purpose of God. Neither is our timing God’s. To us, it is a horrible thing that this man, according to God’s will and purposes, grew up blind. However, from an eternal perspective, the blindness is but a fleeting moment and his disability naught but a scratch.
God may well have a purpose for each of us, as he did for this blind man, that will be completed in an afternoon…perhaps even in a instant. He could, at this very moment, be setting you up as a marvelous sermon illustration that will bring thousands to faith, but take only an second. He may ask us to do things that make little sense from the perspective of the world around us, but which effect things beyond us that we cannot ever conceive. All it takes for fulfillment is obedience to see the miracle of his perfect will come to fruition.
And we answer in awe, from our place of restoration, “Whether this man was a sinner I do not know. But one thing I do know…I was blind, but now I see.” The miracle of our Lord’s undying love is seared into the minds of even his detractors.
Thursday, 13 June 2013
Cuba 2013 with Pics!
were thrilled to witness God's work in growing and multiplying faithful Anglican congregations, the hunger for the Word, and the opportunities for us in ANiC to play a vital part. What a privilege! Bishop Trevor Walters and Hungry for Life Team Leader, Edith Watt led a Vision Trip to Cuba from May 21st to June 1st. They were joined by Kristina Nilsson from St. John’s, Vancouver, Ines Gonzales from St. Matthew’s, Abbotsford, and The Rev. Barclay Mayo from Mountain Valley Mission, Squamish. The purpose of the trip was to begin the process of developing sister parish relationships between ANiC congregations and the growing REC Cuban churches.