here are some good resources in light of this present assualt:
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Jesus is like,
The following thought came into mind after this recent article:
From world powers
From mancentered philosophies and manmade religons
from the rich,powerful and famous from the
arena of politics,media,entertainment,social,educational,economics,military etc
from the wise from all fields of knowledge and science
the only footsteps TIMe has not,never will and never can erase or bury all trace of is: THE FOOTSTEPS OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST FOR UNLIKE THEM JESUS JUST KEEPS GOING AND GOING AND GOING(EVEN BEFORE TIME CAME INTO EXISTENCE AND ALL OF CREATION)and going and going.....
fibxssea
Monday, February 26, 2007
An ignorant, profane, and soul-flattering clergy
An ignorant, profane, and soul-flattering clergy(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity, or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)
A preacher's life should be a commentary upon his doctrine; his practice should be the counterpart of his sermons. Heavenly doctrines should always be adorned with a heavenly life.An ignorant, profane, and soul-flattering clergy, are the greatest pest, plague, affliction and judgment, which can befall a people! There is no rank nor order of men on earth, who have so enriched hell, who have been such benefactors to hell--as the ignorant and profane clergy! How many are there in these days, who are more ready and willing to make a sacrifice of the gospel-- for profit sake, and preferment sake, and honor sake, and lust's sake!Where there is no serious, sincere, faithful, and powerful preaching--there the people grow abominably wicked, and will certainly perish, and go tumbling to hell.Pastors! Either preach as the ministers of Jesus Christ ought to preach-- plainly, spiritually, powerfully, feelingly, fervently, frequently;and live as the ministers of Jesus Christ ought to live-- heavenly, graciously, holily, humbly, righteously, harmlessly, exemplary--or else lay down your names of being the ministers of Jesus Christ. Do not any longer a cheat upon yourselves, nor upon the people--by making them believe that you are ministers of Jesus Christ, when you have nothing of the spirit of Christ, nor of the anointings of Christ, nor of the grace of Christ, nor of the life of Christ in you.
A preacher's life should be a commentary upon his doctrine; his practice should be the counterpart of his sermons. Heavenly doctrines should always be adorned with a heavenly life.An ignorant, profane, and soul-flattering clergy, are the greatest pest, plague, affliction and judgment, which can befall a people! There is no rank nor order of men on earth, who have so enriched hell, who have been such benefactors to hell--as the ignorant and profane clergy! How many are there in these days, who are more ready and willing to make a sacrifice of the gospel-- for profit sake, and preferment sake, and honor sake, and lust's sake!Where there is no serious, sincere, faithful, and powerful preaching--there the people grow abominably wicked, and will certainly perish, and go tumbling to hell.Pastors! Either preach as the ministers of Jesus Christ ought to preach-- plainly, spiritually, powerfully, feelingly, fervently, frequently;and live as the ministers of Jesus Christ ought to live-- heavenly, graciously, holily, humbly, righteously, harmlessly, exemplary--or else lay down your names of being the ministers of Jesus Christ. Do not any longer a cheat upon yourselves, nor upon the people--by making them believe that you are ministers of Jesus Christ, when you have nothing of the spirit of Christ, nor of the anointings of Christ, nor of the grace of Christ, nor of the life of Christ in you.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
On vacation
I will be on vacation this whole week recovering from my disability hearing today in which i was forced to be my own lawyer at thelast possible momment( 3 days before the date) all i ask is to pray that God will touched the judges heart.... i should post again next week......
God bless,
willie
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Homosexuals and the christain
Should the attitude of a christain be like tim hardaway concerning homosexuals? I believe from scriptures the bible clearly condemns homosexuality as a sin....
yet the biblical gospel is for broken people/sinful people and without Christ we stand in the same footing with them before God lost and a rebel....one thing that humbles me from a pharisical attitude is the fact "my littlest sin"nailed my Lord and savior on the Cross...so when we fellowship with sinners be they homosexuals,prostitutes,addicts or clean joes without christ---we can,must truthfully point out that they are sinners in need of Christ but honor Christ by being good samaratians,good neighbors to them and loving them(i corinthians 13,sermon on the mount)the same way christ loved and loves us for we like them are sinners.
1 Corinthians 13
The Way of Love 1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
The Way of Love 1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Luke 10:30-37
30Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' 36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" 37He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."
Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' 13But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
Matthew 18:23-35
23"Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.[a] 24When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[b] 25And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26So the servant[c] fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,[d] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' 29So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' 34And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,[e] until he should pay all his debt. 35So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
Matthew 25:34-46
34Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,[a] you did it to me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' 45Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' 45Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Matthew 22:38-40
38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[a] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
when the church is,
This happens when the church is run as a buisness
and not as a hospital for sin sick souls nor a haven for the spiritually homeless
nor as a fortress for the spiritually defenseless and oppressed
nor as a food pantry for the spiritually hungry
This happens when the pastor becomes a CEO and not a shepherd of lost sheep
this happens when the bible is not the Word of God But madison ave and wall street......
thia haPPENS WHEN DECISIONS are made not on application of biblical principles and prayer but decisions are made based on the value of your market portifolio not held in the hands of our Lord and Savior but in the cold indifferent hands of capitalism
sadly as you read this article it is not simply a roman catholic thing but it has happend in protestant circles as well........
Sunday, February 11, 2007
cults
By entertaining of strange persons, men sometimes entertain angels unawares: but by entertaining of strange doctrines, many have entertained devils unaware.-- John Flavel
Friday, February 09, 2007
congrats to Redeemer nyc
I was hoping Redeemer PCA pastored by Tim Keller would post the good news of their buying a building for their church-yet as of February 9 they have not posted their February newsletter. I love redeemer because:
1.they preach and teach the Biblical gospel AND
2. they plead,declare,teach ,woo their congregation to live out and work out their faith in the real world-not to be christains only on sundays and the rest of the week live out as pagans who need christ.
3. their minstries helps out individuals,churches amnd other parachurch organizations.
AND
4. They could but do not have the megachurch philosophy they love to plant churches-among all races.( if only the PCA denomination itself had the same mentality and heart of this local church Pca)
PS: My fondest memories are when they originally meet at the 7th day adventist church @87th st. and park,Jeff White with his guitar and Bug juice.
Con grats again!!!
I checked today and they finally posted the good news:
(See link above in blue Letters click on post title : congrats to redeemer nyc))
Anna Nicole smith
The recent passing of Anna nicole Smith is a tragic ending to a sad and troubled life. It is a living sermon that reminds us;
1.the shortedness and uncertainity of life:
Job 14:5
Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass
Ecclesiastes 6:12
12For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?
Isaiah 38:12
12My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent;like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom;from day to night you bring me to an end;
Job 14:2
2He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.
1 Peter 1:24
24for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.The grass withers, and the flower falls,
James 4:13-15
13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."
2. Be thankful for God for our life
Acts 17:28
28for "'In him we live and move and have our being';[a]
as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'[b]
as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'[b]
Job 12:10
10In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
3. the present and future state of our lives and souls of us and our loved ones before God
Psalm 90:12
12So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom.
Romans 5:12
12Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [[a]no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.
Hebrews 9:27-29
27And just as it is appointed for [all] men once to die, and after that the [certain] judgment,
28Even so it is that Christ, having been offered to take upon Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and [a]once for all, will appear a second time, not to carry any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring to full salvation those who are [eagerly, constantly, and patiently] waiting for and expecting Him.
28Even so it is that Christ, having been offered to take upon Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and [a]once for all, will appear a second time, not to carry any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring to full salvation those who are [eagerly, constantly, and patiently] waiting for and expecting Him.
Ecclesiastes 11:9
9Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Ecclesiastes 12:14
14For God will bring every deed into judgment, with[a] every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Acts 17:30,31
30Such [former] ages of ignorance God, it is true, ignored and allowed to pass unnoticed; but now He charges all people everywhere to repent ([a]to change their minds for the better and heartily to amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins),
31Because He has fixed a day when He will judge the world righteously (justly) by a Man Whom He has destined and appointed for that task, and He has made this credible and given conviction and assurance and evidence to everyone by raising Him from the dead.(A)
16"For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
resources:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonsspeaker&sermonID=1160617553http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonsspeaker&sermonID=11160484059
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?currSection=sermonsspeaker&sermonID=921047454
http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/0635.HTM
http://www.mountzion.org/fgb/Spring02/FgbSP1-02.html
http://berbc.org/onlinesermons/Messages%20by%20Nick%20Needham/The%20Biblical%20View%20of%20Death.mp3
http://www.sermonaudio.com/mediapdf/7305102758.pdf
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
let God be God john stott
777. Let God be God Our greatest need in evangelism today is the humility to let God be God. Far from impoverishing our evangelism, nothing else is so much calculated to enrich, deepen and empower it. Our motive must be concern for the glory of God, not the glory of the church or our own glory. Our message must be the gospel of God, as given by Christ and his apostles, not the traditions of men or our own opinions. Our manpower must be the church of God, and every member of it, not a privileged few who want to retain evangelism as their own prerogative. Our dynamic must be the Spirit of God, not the power of human personality, organization or eloquence. Without these priorities we shall be silent when we ought to be vocal. --From "Our Guilty Silence"
actions speak louder than words
God calls us to seek racial reconciliation, loving our neighbor as ourselves. Racism can prompt sins of omission, that is, the failure to stand for what is just and merciful in the treatment of others. Racism can also be manifested in active and passive forms. Some examples:· Failure to evangelize people of other cultures and races within our communities and within the areas covered by our regional church, the presbytery.· Exclusion or discouragement on the basis of race of any person from membership, privilege or responsibility, including leadership, in any church, or in the presbytery or General Assembly. · Discrimination, based on race, against a Christian participant in worship services or other services or functions of the church. · Disassociation with other branches of Christ’s Church due to differences in racial composition.· Hiring based on matching particular races with particular jobs.· Failure to apply God’s Word to racial issues, allowing the perpetuation of racist attitudes and practices within the church.
God calls us to develop cross-cultural relationships and ministries and to plant churches among the people groups of North America as well as the other regions of the world. Cross-cultural ministry is a foundational commitment of the PCA, most often expressed in the call to missions in other regions outside of North America. God calls us to cooperate with others in His Church as well as to minister directly among all the races and cultures of North America as well. Often the need of the rest of the world is emphasized more than the need in North America because of the perceived relative absence of the Gospel in other regions of the world. In truth, however, geographical location is not the only, or even the primary, consideration in determining where cross-cultural ministry is to occur. In the case of peoples in North America, while there might be disparities of historical Gospel presence among different cultures, there is the ongoing need for cross-cultural Gospel ministry among all peoples, irrespective of ethnicity, language, culture or race.
As a people, we pledge to work hard, in a manner consistent with the Gospel imperatives, for the encouragement of racial reconciliation, the establishment of urban and minority congregations, and the enhancement of existing ministries of mercy in our cities, among the poor, and across all social, racial, and economic boundaries, to the glory of God. Amen.
Above from pca pastoral letter: http://www.wrfnet.org/news/printnews.asp?ID=1109
Unfortunately, it is also true that many minority groups have given up on the white church. They tend to believe that there is no use in constructive criticism because no one will really change anyway. Yet if we are God's children we will be eager for Bible-based criticism from them. God's law does not threaten us. It points us to Christ; shows us God's glory and lights our path for the Christian life. We should not be averse to criticism when we deviate from Gods justice and Christ's (Authors note*I have given up wm)
b. Past neglect in this area
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is largely white for two reasons:
(1) It came out of the Presbyterian Church in the USA which had lost the allegiance of blacks during the ecclesiastical discrimination against blacks in the post-civil war period. (Andrew E. Murray, Presbyterianism and the Negro—A History, Presbyterian Historical Society)
(2) Our church has passed on the situation as we received it in 1936. We have done little to oppose drifting along with the culture. We have rather concentrated our energies on preservation and growth of our struggling churches. Our ministry to minority groups has been almost non-existent. A significant number of urban congregations have gone out of existence since 1936. There has been little or no interest in healing the separation between black and white Christians that occurred after the Civil War. This has shown itself in various ways.
God has blessed the Reformed churches with gifted teachers of Scripture; yet we have not done all that we could have done to recruit black students into Reformed seminaries. Are we seeking to share our wealth with the minority churches that are starved for trained teachers of the Word?
We have, with some justification, clone our home missions work where there was the greatest interest, not necessarily where there was the greatest need. Consequently, we have emphasized rural and suburban missions. Yet in the New Testament great metropolitan centers formed the focal point of the Apostle Paul's strategy and it proved very effective. The cities are desperately in need of the Reformed faith. "Where there is no revelation (vision) the people perish." What other force on earth except the gospel of Christ in its fullness, both lived and spoken, has the power to prevail in our modern Babylons?
c. Present responsibility
Yet it is not even the great need which constitutes the heart of the church's home mission calling. It is rather the command of Christ and our debt to all men that constitutes our calling. The Apostle Paul understood clearly that he owed the gospel to both Jew and Greek, bond and free, wise and foolish (Romans 1:14). We are actually stealing if we do not do our best to bring the gospel to those cultural-racial groups around us.
Paul says, "So, as much as it is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also in Rome" (Romans 1:15). The commission given the apostle has now been passed to the church. Are we ready with as much as is within us to preach the gospel to all those in our land that are without the gospel of sovereign grace? Can we say with Paul, "I am free from the blood of all men" (Acts 20:26)? We can say it with joy and truth only as our church seeks to evangelize all races and cultures within our nation.
d. Special problems of urban churches in a changing neighborhood.
The church located in an urban area has two major responsibilities in fulfilling the Great Commission. First, rather than assume that the church must remain as it is, the people must make every effort to bring the gospel to the new surrounding community. Certainly no church can move to the suburbs without fulfilling the opportunities it has providentially been given in the changing community. A church which wants a hearing of the gospel among the people of the surrounding neighborhood will not stop at trying a few token projects and giving up. Rather, earnest prayer will be offered over a period of time, men experienced in urban work will be called in to give counsel and help and the whole congregation will commit itself to the task. The real question is whether we are willing to sacrifice and make changes in order to reach the unreached with the gospel. It is too easy to blame the unresponsiveness of the community completely on the unbelief of the neighborhood, when often there is also substantial guilt on the side of the church.
Second, the church must examine itself to see if it is really open to receiving other racial-cultural groups for the sake of Christ. Has it bent every effort to practice the terms and nature of Christian communion as outlined above? Not until the church in question has done all in its power to obey the gospel can it "shake the dust from its feet" and move to the suburbs.
4. Practice of the Interdependence of Christ's Body
Christians from different cultural and racial backgrounds have unique contributions to make to the church's knowledge of and sensitivity to the fullness of God's glory. Christians from different backgrounds are not threats to each other, but rather are teachers providentially provided to enrich, broaden, admonish, deepen and purify each other. An illustration will clarify the point.
In the contact between Jew and Gentile in the early church, the Jew guarded the law and had a very hard time understanding Christian freedom. He often fell into legalism and self-righteousness. The Gentile, on the other hand, found Christian liberty no problem. Salvation by faith alone was more easily grasped. His problem was a lack of respect for the moral law of the Old Testament and consequently he was often led away into sin (I Corinthians 5). The Jew needed the Gentile's sense of Christian freedom and the Gentile needed the Jew's reverence for the moral law. God providentially prepared both Jew and Gentile to teach each other in areas of strength. What a victory Satan could have achieved if he had isolated Jew and Gentile, sending each off in opposite directions, each over-reaching and anathematizing the other.
If any Christian group gets to the place where it has no desire to share in the spiritual riches of others because they are of "another culture," then it is saying, "I have no need of thee" (I Corinthians 12:23-25). God has tempered the body together through that which every joint supplies (Ephesians 4:11-16). This is certainly part of what is involved in counting one's brother better than himself (Philippians 2:1-4).
5. Practice of Earnest Prayer and Trust in God for the Church's Racial Divisions
This is the most basic step to biblical race relations. The problems of alienation between racial-cultural groups go so deep that God alone is able to bring about the heart changes necessary. Our attempts to obey God in the matters outlined so far will be futile apart from our seeking God for his strength and grace. "Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit are ye now perfected in the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). We should all be convicted of our lack of prayer regarding the racial inequities and conflict in our society (I Timothy 2:1-3). We should beseech our Sovereign Lord not to answer in judgment (Revelation 2:5), but in mercy to all. Prayer is the measure of our faith. Who is equal to the task at hand but the living Lord of grace who rules heaven and earth in behalf of his kingdom?
V. Recommendations
The committee recommends:
that the 41st General Assembly remind the churches that the mandate given the Committee on Race by the 38th General Assembly to seek "proper Christian action for the church of Jesus Christ in meeting the problems of race based upon plain and consistent Biblical principles" is an abiding mandate for the whole constituency of the O.P.C.;
that the several presbyteries and sessions implement the principles of Biblical race relations as outlined in part IV of the report;
that the Orthodox Presbyterian Church actively seek through the work of its Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension and the home missions committees of the several presbyteries to establish and maintain a Reformed witness within the major urban areas of our nation;
that the 41st G. A. recommend to the presbyteries and sessions that they have seasons of prayer and regional conferences dealing with the problems raised in this report;
that in the light of the abiding mandate adopted by this Assembly that Chapter X, Section 2, of the Form of Government be called to the attention of the Committee on Revisions to the Form of Government;
that this report, and the attending actions of this assembly, be sent to the General Secretary of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod for his information;
that this committee be dissolved.
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church is largely white for two reasons:
(1) It came out of the Presbyterian Church in the USA which had lost the allegiance of blacks during the ecclesiastical discrimination against blacks in the post-civil war period. (Andrew E. Murray, Presbyterianism and the Negro—A History, Presbyterian Historical Society)
(2) Our church has passed on the situation as we received it in 1936. We have done little to oppose drifting along with the culture. We have rather concentrated our energies on preservation and growth of our struggling churches. Our ministry to minority groups has been almost non-existent. A significant number of urban congregations have gone out of existence since 1936. There has been little or no interest in healing the separation between black and white Christians that occurred after the Civil War. This has shown itself in various ways.
God has blessed the Reformed churches with gifted teachers of Scripture; yet we have not done all that we could have done to recruit black students into Reformed seminaries. Are we seeking to share our wealth with the minority churches that are starved for trained teachers of the Word?
We have, with some justification, clone our home missions work where there was the greatest interest, not necessarily where there was the greatest need. Consequently, we have emphasized rural and suburban missions. Yet in the New Testament great metropolitan centers formed the focal point of the Apostle Paul's strategy and it proved very effective. The cities are desperately in need of the Reformed faith. "Where there is no revelation (vision) the people perish." What other force on earth except the gospel of Christ in its fullness, both lived and spoken, has the power to prevail in our modern Babylons?
c. Present responsibility
Yet it is not even the great need which constitutes the heart of the church's home mission calling. It is rather the command of Christ and our debt to all men that constitutes our calling. The Apostle Paul understood clearly that he owed the gospel to both Jew and Greek, bond and free, wise and foolish (Romans 1:14). We are actually stealing if we do not do our best to bring the gospel to those cultural-racial groups around us.
Paul says, "So, as much as it is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also in Rome" (Romans 1:15). The commission given the apostle has now been passed to the church. Are we ready with as much as is within us to preach the gospel to all those in our land that are without the gospel of sovereign grace? Can we say with Paul, "I am free from the blood of all men" (Acts 20:26)? We can say it with joy and truth only as our church seeks to evangelize all races and cultures within our nation.
d. Special problems of urban churches in a changing neighborhood.
The church located in an urban area has two major responsibilities in fulfilling the Great Commission. First, rather than assume that the church must remain as it is, the people must make every effort to bring the gospel to the new surrounding community. Certainly no church can move to the suburbs without fulfilling the opportunities it has providentially been given in the changing community. A church which wants a hearing of the gospel among the people of the surrounding neighborhood will not stop at trying a few token projects and giving up. Rather, earnest prayer will be offered over a period of time, men experienced in urban work will be called in to give counsel and help and the whole congregation will commit itself to the task. The real question is whether we are willing to sacrifice and make changes in order to reach the unreached with the gospel. It is too easy to blame the unresponsiveness of the community completely on the unbelief of the neighborhood, when often there is also substantial guilt on the side of the church.
Second, the church must examine itself to see if it is really open to receiving other racial-cultural groups for the sake of Christ. Has it bent every effort to practice the terms and nature of Christian communion as outlined above? Not until the church in question has done all in its power to obey the gospel can it "shake the dust from its feet" and move to the suburbs.
4. Practice of the Interdependence of Christ's Body
Christians from different cultural and racial backgrounds have unique contributions to make to the church's knowledge of and sensitivity to the fullness of God's glory. Christians from different backgrounds are not threats to each other, but rather are teachers providentially provided to enrich, broaden, admonish, deepen and purify each other. An illustration will clarify the point.
In the contact between Jew and Gentile in the early church, the Jew guarded the law and had a very hard time understanding Christian freedom. He often fell into legalism and self-righteousness. The Gentile, on the other hand, found Christian liberty no problem. Salvation by faith alone was more easily grasped. His problem was a lack of respect for the moral law of the Old Testament and consequently he was often led away into sin (I Corinthians 5). The Jew needed the Gentile's sense of Christian freedom and the Gentile needed the Jew's reverence for the moral law. God providentially prepared both Jew and Gentile to teach each other in areas of strength. What a victory Satan could have achieved if he had isolated Jew and Gentile, sending each off in opposite directions, each over-reaching and anathematizing the other.
If any Christian group gets to the place where it has no desire to share in the spiritual riches of others because they are of "another culture," then it is saying, "I have no need of thee" (I Corinthians 12:23-25). God has tempered the body together through that which every joint supplies (Ephesians 4:11-16). This is certainly part of what is involved in counting one's brother better than himself (Philippians 2:1-4).
5. Practice of Earnest Prayer and Trust in God for the Church's Racial Divisions
This is the most basic step to biblical race relations. The problems of alienation between racial-cultural groups go so deep that God alone is able to bring about the heart changes necessary. Our attempts to obey God in the matters outlined so far will be futile apart from our seeking God for his strength and grace. "Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit are ye now perfected in the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). We should all be convicted of our lack of prayer regarding the racial inequities and conflict in our society (I Timothy 2:1-3). We should beseech our Sovereign Lord not to answer in judgment (Revelation 2:5), but in mercy to all. Prayer is the measure of our faith. Who is equal to the task at hand but the living Lord of grace who rules heaven and earth in behalf of his kingdom?
V. Recommendations
The committee recommends:
that the 41st General Assembly remind the churches that the mandate given the Committee on Race by the 38th General Assembly to seek "proper Christian action for the church of Jesus Christ in meeting the problems of race based upon plain and consistent Biblical principles" is an abiding mandate for the whole constituency of the O.P.C.;
that the several presbyteries and sessions implement the principles of Biblical race relations as outlined in part IV of the report;
that the Orthodox Presbyterian Church actively seek through the work of its Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension and the home missions committees of the several presbyteries to establish and maintain a Reformed witness within the major urban areas of our nation;
that the 41st G. A. recommend to the presbyteries and sessions that they have seasons of prayer and regional conferences dealing with the problems raised in this report;
that in the light of the abiding mandate adopted by this Assembly that Chapter X, Section 2, of the Form of Government be called to the attention of the Committee on Revisions to the Form of Government;
that this report, and the attending actions of this assembly, be sent to the General Secretary of the Reformed Ecumenical Synod for his information;
that this committee be dissolved.
from:Report of the Committee on Problems of Race
[Note: General Assembly reports (whether from a committee or its minority) are thoughtful treatises but they do not have the force of constitutional documents—the Westminster Standards or the Book of Church Order. They should not be construed as the official position of the OPC.] http://www.opc.org/GA/race.html
[Note: General Assembly reports (whether from a committee or its minority) are thoughtful treatises but they do not have the force of constitutional documents—the Westminster Standards or the Book of Church Order. They should not be construed as the official position of the OPC.] http://www.opc.org/GA/race.html
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
art of fishing
When the solidly biblical churches of the reformed baptists,orthodox presbyterian church and presbyterian church in america decide ever to plant churches in the urban centers such as new york city(they seem to mistake the suburbs as being urban) among the hispanics,african americans they should keep to mind this old wise adage:
help a man to fish he will fish for a day BUT
teach a man to fish and he will fish for a day...
Sunday, February 04, 2007
this is one of the things that happen when society removes God
Yes,not only remove God from school but church as well-
and teach them :
that god is dead
that religon is the drug tht the powers that be created to control the masses
that god is nothing more than a social construct
that god is just a temporary crutch that man needed to evolve higher
survival of the fittest
we have no purpose
men are just a higher form of animals
live as you please
we are accidents in the universe(all these concepts bombard us/infect us thru the media as well)
The society has no moral framework to stand
on,nurture on,sustain on and guide itself---so it must always try hopelessly,blindly and foolishly fill that void with itself and its idols........
Hosea 4:10-12
4-10 "But don't look for someone to blame. No finger pointing!You, priest, are the one in the dock. You stumble around in broad daylight,And then the prophets take over and stumble all night. Your mother is as bad as you.My people are ruined because they don't know what's right or true.Because you've turned your back on knowledge, I've turned my back on you priests.Because you refuse to recognize the revelation of God, I'm no longer recognizing your children.The more priests, the more sin. They traded in their glory for shame.They pig out on my people's sins. They can't wait for the latest in evil.The result: You can't tell the people from the priests, the priests from the people.I'm on my way to make them both pay and take the consequences of the bad lives they've lived.They'll eat and be as hungry as ever, have sex and get no satisfaction.They walked out on me, their God, for a life of rutting with whores.
They Make a Picnic Out of Religion 11-14 "Wine and whiskey leave my people in a stupor.They ask questions of a dead tree, expect answers from a sturdy walking stick.Drunk on sex, they can't find their way home. They've replaced their God with their genitals.They worship on the tops of mountains, make a picnic out of religion.Under the oaks and elms on the hills they stretch out and take it easy.Before you know it, your daughters are whores and the wives of your sons are sleeping around.But I'm not going after your whoring daughters or the adulterous wives of your sons.It's the men who pick up the whores that I'm after, the men who worship at the holy whorehouses— a stupid people, ruined by whores!
job 8;8
[ To Hang Your Life from One Thin Thread ] "Put the question to our ancestors, study what they learned from their ancestors. For we're newcomers at this, with a lot to learn, and not too long to learn it. So why not let the ancients teach you, tell you what's what, instruct you in what they knew from experience? Can mighty pine trees grow tall without soil? Can luscious tomatoes flourish without water? Blossoming flowers look great before they're cut or picked, but without soil or water they wither more quickly than grass. That's what happens to all who forget God— all their hopes come to nothing. They hang their life from one thin thread, they hitch their fate to a spider web. One jiggle and the thread breaks, one jab and the web collapses. Or they're like weeds springing up in the sunshine, invading the garden, Spreading everywhere, overtaking the flowers, getting a foothold even in the rocks. But when the gardener rips them out by the roots, the garden doesn't miss them one bit. The sooner the godless are gone, the better; then good plants can grow in their place.
Psalm 14:1
1The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.
Isaiah 44:14-19
14He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, "Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!" 17And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!"
18They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. 19No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, "Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?"
14He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. 15Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, "Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!" 17And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!"
Deuteronomy 4:19
And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven
Romans 1:19-34
19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
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