Harvest OPC

A friend just sent me a quote from a new book by Rick Holland entitled Uneclipsing The Son.   This quote is so good I ordered the book!   Enjoy the glorious gospel truth that “Jesus died for us to reconcile us to God!”  (See Romans 5:6-11). 

Paul says in Romans 5 verse 6, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."   Few, it seems, have taken the time for such a consideration.  One church's website records this testimony of a new believer: "Here, I have found pastors who teach gently in the way of Christ....absent of judgment, without condemnation,  good people who share the best of what means the most to them."

Do you ever sense something is missing in your Christian life?  Could it be that the “something” is Jesus - at least a true vision of who he is and what he about?   David Platt gives a powerful reminder from the gospel of Luke of the real Jesus and his real call to his disciples.  This video will challenge you…..and show you the glory of Jesus and the need for true discipleship in a dramatic way.  

One caveat -  Platt moves quickly through Jesus' command to “hate” father and mother.  I think Jesus means “hatred” here the way God uses it in Romans 9:13, “Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated”.   These are not words describing God’s emotions but his decision to elect Jacob and to leave Esau in his sin.    Jesus is not commanding his followers to vehemently hate their parents - that would be a very clear violation of the great commandment to “love one another,” even our enemies!   Instead, he is clearly claiming absolute priority and privilege over every other relationship in our life, even our parents.   And, as Platt so vividly explains, Jesus is absolutely worth it!!   

Watch the video and let me know what you think!  

Has the gospel amazed you yet today?   

One of the reasons we fail to be astonished anew each day is that the gospel gets flattened, shrunk into easily digestible dimensions – and we lose sight of the sheer glory and magnificence of what God has accomplished for us in Christ Jesus.  

So here is another, Biblical reminder of what Jesus has done for you – to receive deep into your soul by faith and for your joy!  

When I was in Alabama, I heard Harry Reeder addressing the parents of youth in their congregation. His instruction to them was to never take counsel from your fears.

Isn't it true that we do that so often? As I think back through the past week, I can name numerous times that I did that exact thing.

But as Christians, we have the freedom to turn to a different counselor, a different advocate. Next time you are in need of counsel, turn to the Great Counselor, and the Word of Truth:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  - Philippians 4:6-7

One of my very favorite verses in the Bible is Romans 15:13: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."   Does that describe your life today: full of joy and peace? Abounding in hope?  How do we get that?     

The idea of celebrating God's present goodness has captured my mind and I'm starting to see it everywhere.  I was reading Psalm 40 this morning and found this:  

• "You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us .... I will proclaim and tell of them!" (Ps 40:5).
• "May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, 'Great is the Lord'" (Ps 40:16).

Those who are the recipients of God's wondrous deeds and the objects of his loving thoughts have a story to tell! 

And then I clicked on the Gospel Coalition website and found this new post:  "The Storyframes Collective."  These are audio, video and written stories "celebrating the extraordinary work of God in the lives of ordinary people."

Enjoy.  And tell someone your story of God's wondrous deeds toward you! 

I'm writing from 30,000 ft somewhere over Tennessee on my way back home from a terrific weekend.  Steve VW, Adam V, and I attended Harry Reeder's "Embers to Flame Conference" on Friday and Saturday. We were then invited to observe the Biblical principles of church health "at work" at Briarwood PCA in Birmingham, Alabama.

Here are three "take-aways" for me from this weekend.

Today is the day I step, with trepidation, into the world of blogging. 

There have been several compelling reasons, to date, which have made me hesitant to begin this journey:

1. The Scriptural caution: "when words are many sin is not absent"  (Proverbs 10:19).
2. "Of the writing of blogs, there is no end" (Eccl 12:12 Dale's Revised Version). There are already a gazillion blogs in existence, and many of them are a very worthwhile read.  
3. "Do not worry about tomorrow...sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:34).  I have talked to enough folks to know that blogging quickly becomes a burden; the pressure to continually come up with something worthwhile for the next post can be intense.  I really don't need more pressure at this moment.  Trying to write two fairly coherent sermons each week has provided sufficient outlet for my editorial energies.

So what am I doing beginning a blog? 

Here is a Missionary Update that Pastor Dale alerted the congregation to on Sunday night, March 10.

On November 6, 2012, the Rev. José Dilson, a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in Brazil (the IPB—with which the OPC has ecclesiastical relations) was arrested in Senegal (West Africa) and has been held in a filthy and overcrowded prison since then. Earlier this week, our IPB brothers wrote us to ask you to intercede before the Throne of Grace on Pastor Dilson’s behalf. Up until then, our IPB brothers write:

We have kept this matter much to ourselves, for we had hopes that Brazilian governmental pressures would lead to a quick release, but it doesn’t seem that this will occur. Despite a visit in loco in the city of M’bour by a Brazilian Senator (Magno Malta) at the end of November 2012, and a speech given by him in the Brazilian Senate, as well as after many contacts with our Foreign Relations Ministry, nothing is moving from our government side.

At the last prayer meeting we spent a little time focusing on the Christian discipline of meditation from the perspective of the Puritans.

Some people were interested in reading further on the subject and asked if I could compile a recommended book list on the subject. Though by no means an expert on the Puritans, I am happy to share a few Puritan titles that have been personally helpful to me:

You may have received your New Horizons magazine in the mail last week and tossed it aside in favor of reading something more exciting like the latest John Grisham novel or something.

Well if you did, that would be a big mistake. This month's issue of the New Horizons is especially exciting for Harvest Church members as several of our members are highlighted in the magazine.