Knowledge or Jesus?

Read an interesting post on Fools Gold talking about why it's ok if you can't remember last Sunday's sermon.

Quoting Jonathon Edwards as saying

“The main benefit that is obtained by preaching is by impression made upon the mind in the time of it, and not by the effect that arises afterwards by a remembrance of what was delivered”

the writer argues that remembering the 'five points' of a sermon at some stage in the future is no where near as important as whether or not it causes us to "see Jesus" at the time of hearing.

I think there's a problem within some circles (myself included in this) of seeing sermons at times only as an academic exercise, and rating pastors on their ability to essentially lecture on theology - neglecting to place any emphasis on the sermons devotional aspects. 

In todays 'myspace culture' its easy to sit under the teaching of high profile pastors like Driscoll, Piper or Bell whilst living on the other side of the planet. But when we're reading whoever it is we read and spending time downloading sermons etc. what are we looking for?

The same applies to those of us who preach a bit - when we're preparing our messages what are we trying to achieve? Are we trying to show people what we know? Or are we trying to show people Jesus?

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“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Sex sells!

A recent post on oral sex seems to have done an unintentional job in outreach! 

The hit counter I use tells you what link people have clicked on to get to your site. Some chinese guy (I'll assume it was a guy!) searched for "oral sex" on the chinese google, and after searching through 16 pages of results to porn clicked on the relevant? link - and instead of seeing some porn clip got Driscoll instead! 

Hopefully he read on down the blog and clicked on the X3 link too!

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SONshine Club Kenya Project

I asked Brenda Stewart recently would she mind contributing to the blog by giving a bit of an introduction to the SONshine club - she kindly sent through the following...

"The SONshine Club was formed in May 2006 after a visit to Kenya delivering school stationery and clothes to many extremely poor people (85% of the population in Tharaka, Turkana & Samburu regions are unable to earn £10 per month to feed their families). We set out to find sponsors for 40 children and dig 2 wells.... 

...we now have over 120 children sponsored, have opened & run a medical clinic, set up a medical sponsorship programme, have completed the 2 wells and dug a bore hole, completed the first 3 classrooms in Gaceuni! 

To get a better picture of what we are doing and how you can help, why not visit our website - SONshine Club Kenya Project"

Cheers to Brenda for the information, check out their site and try not to be convicted!

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Random, but funny!

This clip is called "if you watch this 100 times you'll still laugh". If you're an immature male who laughs at other peoples misfortune you will. I did!

clip length: 4sec

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Prayer Request - Steven Curtis Chapman

I just read the tragic news that Steven's youngest adopted daughter, 5 year old Maria, died yesterday when she was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother in the family's driveway. What a horrendous thing for the family to have to go through, not only losing one child, but for another to have to deal with being involved. 

Please pray for the family. 

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news report

The Shack - Review by Tim Challies

One of the recommended books in our Shefari widget is "The Shack" by William P Young. I haven't read this book myself but Pete read it recently and really enjoyed it. It seems to be this years, Purpose Driven Life, with people going nuts over it - either because they love it, or because they hate it! With blogs and websites seemingly dedicated to discussing it!

Tim Challies,  a guy I know only a little about - but who comes highly recommended has written a very substantial review of the book here - its about 15 pages long, but worth a look if your interested in seeing what all the fuss is about. I originally read a more condensed review that he did a while ago and would recommend you read this first if you just want a quick read. 

I've read a few of Challies reviews now and they are all extremely fair and well written, so much so that even if you disagree with what he's saying its hard not to respect it!

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Maximum term for abortion remains 24 weeks

MPs vote to maintain maximum age for abortion at 24weeks. BBC news article.

Homelio has an interesting post on this, along with links to various resources on the topic.

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"As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything" Ecc 11:5

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"Some things cost more than you realise"

Check out the below clip from Radiohead - All I Need. It follows two young boys for a day - one in a nice middle class school, the other in an oriental sweat-shop. Radiohead have produced this is partnership with MTV Exit (End Exploitation and Trafficking). 

I have to admit that child trafficking and exploitation is not something that I am particularly knowledgeable on, or even something that has been close to my heart for any length of time - I'm very much guilty of having the  "what I can't see..." attitude, and ignoring it. It is probably through the influence of Pete C that I've started thinking about this kind of thing a bit more, and considering what part we play in it. 

The LA Times have a pretty eye opening article on slavery in the 21st Century here. Maybe its about time we starting taking notice of these things and others like them that are maybe even happening a lot closer to home, but are hard to see with your head in the sand!

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Links to video and article courtesy of Eugene Cho 

Worshipping God with your body

In Sept 2005 worship 24/7 organised a weekend away down south. On the Saturday night Tim Millen gave a talk entitled "Worshipping God with your body". I remember getting up to lead worship when he had finished and feeling nothing but worthlessness - I think most people there felt exactly the same. In it he talks about guarding where your body goes, what it does and what it ponders, covering sex, gluttony, pornography, alcohol and clubbing.

It covers a lot, but does it really well - it should only take about 5-10mins to read. Read it in five parts here - remember to start at Part 1 at the bottom of the page and work up!

Sample quote "When we are in danger of such sin [sexual], we should not argue or debate or explain, and we certainly should not try to rationalise. We are not to consider it a spiritual challenge to be met, but a spiritual trap to be escaped. We should get away as fast as we can".

Cheers to Gary at Homelio for getting this up

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“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Cor 6:19–20

Say no to crack!

In the spirit of loving all things Seattle related, stumbled across this guys blog today. Eugene Cho - he pastors Quest church in Seattle. Haven't looked into the church too much but this post deserves a link for the title alone! You'll get it if you read the article!

Say no to crack

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This is Patrick!

No reason - its just really funny. At least I think so...

...Fishpaste

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Oral Sex - too far?

Definitely don't want this to become a Driscoll fan site, but unfortunately he's good at answering topical questions. and putting them into short video clips for me to use!

The following is a clip where he answers the question "If I've given or received oral sex, would you consider me a virgin?" I haven't uploaded this for shock value, or to be intentionally controversial - but think the whole "how far is to far?" question remains unanswered to a lot of peoples satisfaction, and Driscoll takes a good stab at answering this.



clip length: 5min 37s

There's a lot of my own opinion I could waffle on about on the topic of purity, but Driscoll does it much more concisely! Hopefully this is something to get you at least thinking about this if "drawing the line in a relationship" is something your struggling to do. If it is then please talk to someone about it, we've all been there - if you're at the church then speak to the pastors, solid christian friends, or myself and Pete - we'll all be more than happy to help you work through things in your head. 

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Eph 5:3 "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints"

Sex and dating - Playing the field?

In response to a question from Petey Nickell regarding "playing the field" when you are younger, my good friend Gary Boal replied with the following:

"Honestly, I believe that the desire of a young person to have a girlfriend or boyfriend is a great motivating factor to become a man or woman worthy of dating and marriage.

I believe that we should only date members of the opposite sex who we could honestly see ourselves spending our future with. In this I'm aware that a certian amount of 'dates' and 'getting to know eachother' need to happen before that conclusion can be drawn.

What I'd say is that to play the field is wrong and has at core a sinful attitude of self gratification (not even speaking sexualy), but that when we date, we should be aware that for that time God has placed that girl in our possession for His glory. That she is a sister in Christ and not yet one with us and so should be treated with respect as we persue relationship with her.
Also that we should be a blessing to her walk with Christ and in our example of what Godly manhood looks like.

It is a sure thing that alot of relationships don't last, so as Christians date, we must find a God exalting, Christ centered way of doing that. I think the Song of Solomon is great on this, in that the couple spend time getting to know each other - they date. So dating's biblical! Chapter 2:8-10 shows him coming and asking for a date.

I have to hold my hands up and say I do have some extreme veiws that are shaped from Song of Solomon. I am leaning on the side of french kissing as being for marriage alone - the only time we see it is after the couple are married and are in foreplay getting ready to make love. (4:11) But I'd only advise this, the main thing is that each person doesnt ask the question 'how far can i go' but rather asks 'How can I best glorify Christ in this?'

1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of Christ". I reckon that dating falls under "whatever" and "all".

So although I do believe in dating and wouldn't put an age limit on it, and would even encourage the awareness that a particular relationship may not last, I'd say that to 'play the field' holds a wrong heart motive, one that is about onesself getting around as many delightful partners as possible and getting self enjoyement in this area and doesn't first point to God in it".

Go on the G Boal!

Gary posts almost daily on Homelio, and can't help but bring everything to Song of Solomon eventually! Pervert! You should check it out.

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Sex and Dating - Links

The first in hopefully a series of posts to resources relating to this. 

This is a webzine with nearly 2000 articles on dating and sex! Some will no doubt be rubbish, I've read a few good ones so far. The opinions expressed here might be way out there or might be spot on - hopefully you'll have a bit of discernment of your own. If someone reads a few and finds some that are particularly good - leave a comment directing us to it.

From what I've read so far it seems to be very practical based and not a huge amount of scripture but we can try and correct for the next few posts!

Enjoy...     
dating and courtship
sex

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Sex and Dating

The post below mentions how there is going to be an action night coming up in the church dealing with the topics of sex and dating. I thought it night be a good idea over the next four weeks to post on that topic to equip people a bit for when this night comes.

If you have any links to resources, sermon clips, video clips, quotes from books, personal testimonies etc. in relation to this get in touch and we'll get them posted up so everyone can benefit from them.

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re: late barbeque

re: late barbeque this Saturday night at 8 in the church grounds. 

There'a also another action night coming up on Wed 4th - I'm told the topic this  time will be "physical attraction and courtship" - think we can assume this means 'sex and dating'. Should be a good one - see re: late blog for all details. 

What is normal?

Hey Everyone,

Pete Nick here. Just been asked to do a brief preface/synopsis for this video below. So anyway, for those of you who have had your heads under a big rock or having been living in a closet for the past year, will probably not have heard of Pastor Mark Driscoll. He is the preaching pastor at one the fastest growing churches in the U.S, Mars Hill Church, Seattle. I think a lot of people, including myself have really benefited by what this guy has to say. Its stuff that has been around for thousands of years, Timeless answers to timely questions, but has just been presented in the right way, to this current culture. This video is a clip from the latest series "Doctrine: What Christians should believe" and is all about the Image of God, and how we try to find normality in ourselves, whenever Jesus is really the only form of normal that has ever existed.

So enjoy!

P



clip length: 3min 42s

comments

Apparently I once again disabled comments on the blog - should be enabled now - forgive me!

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Constance

Really the only two topical posts so far have been related to porn and child trafficking. That is not all that this blog is about by any means, but they are important none the less. In continuing the theme please watch the below clip. If you haven't seen this before it is a track from an american hip hop artist called Mr J Medierous. Its about the plight of a 13 year old Phillipino girl sold into the sex industry and about how we ourselves help fund and finance her pimps when watching pornography. 

Its an extremely powerful clip - that not only forces us to acknowledge the fact this horrendous practice exists - but also to consider the part that we play in it.

Pray for girls and boys like Constance being exploited the world over - for who's gain?

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re: late

I've kind of assumed that everyone who ever visits this blog will know what re: late is. For anyone who doesn't...

...re: late is a new ministry, recently started in Glenmachan Church of God, aimed at providing something for those in the church between the ages of 18 and 30. Its pretty much the aim that it will be based around social events, be that as simple as all heading to someone's house or hiring out coffee shops for our own use. We intend that by rebuilding social ties within the church that true fellowship will increase.

The first event was held at Cafe Culture on Belmont Road, last Saturday night and was pretty successful. We had couple of girls, Karen and Leah there to play (who were awesome) and there was a really good atmosphere to the place. For more information as well as photos and stuff of the night visit the blog.

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Contributers Required

This site is maintained by myself and Pete, but we have no intention that the posts will be made exclusively by us. We welcome contributions. I've already approached a few people about writing articles for us regarding, mission trips away, child trafficking, and the persecuted church. At the time this was for the re: late blog, but since the change of plans these will be posted here.

Anyone else who has anything they feel is worth contributing get in touch. It could be a prayer request, book review, an issue you feel passionately about, a testimony, web site recommendations - whatever! Everything will be considered.

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re: late - relevant?

I've no doubt people we will be wondering what the need was for another site. We've decided that it would be a better idea to have two sites running for a fairly simple reason.

The re: late site will be used exclusively for promoting and reviewing events run by re: late. This new site actually has nothing to do with re: late and is entirely the responsibility of myself and Pete. By separating the two it allows discussion on this site of topics, and the expression of opinions that may not be appropriate on a site run by the church.

Myself and Pete are no less involved in re: late and this new site will continue to promote it - its just more logical to run discussions here. Hopefully both sites will continue to be used to their full potential.

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What's Relevant?

Not a clue! This blog is primarily run by Pete C and myself, although we will be actively seeking additional contributors. We're not 100% sure what our intention is with it. We see a few main aims:

- We want something that encourages the church to look past its four walls, to see what is happening in the city/country/world in which we live, and to encourage people to be open to God's leading to do something about it

- We want somewhere were issues within the church, and within our generation can be dealt with and discussed openly - somewhere were seemingly 'controversial' issues like pornography can talked about honestly and where this and other struggles are no longer ignored

- We want to produce something that encourages fellowship within our generation in the church, promoting social events, and spiritual support between each other

- We want something that in the end will build us all up as God's people, and allow him to be more glorified in our lives

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Who's watching you?

Not quite sure what we intend to achieve with this blog, or really what qualifies as suitable content - but I think a big part of it should involve making people aware of resources online be it software, videos, sermons, certain websites etc.

The single most vital piece of software I've ever been directed to is X3 watch. It is developed by xxxchurch.com and basically watches everything you look at online - before reporting any seemingly dodgy sites at the end of each week/month to any number of accountability partners nominated by you.

Any male reading this (and likely some females) will be more than aware of the huge damage that pornography addiction, and habitual masturbation is doing within the worldwide church - it would seem that very very few men are exempt from this issue. Yet, as individuals and as a church, we're afraid to do anything about it, instead we're happy to ignore it!

Don't want this to be a full blown porn post - although that will without doubt come soon - just didn't want anyone to be without excuse for not having x3 on their computer any longer! Watch how quickly the porn consumption drops when you know your friend/pastor/wife is getting an email detailing it at the end of the week!

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"For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness"

1 Thes 4:7

Madeleine McCann

Got this text from Pete Nickell last night - don't know who got it, but for anyone who didn't...

"Don't know if any of you watched that crazy Madeline McCann documentary tonight, it was very moving. But I just ask you to pray for her and her family, for what they've gone through, that God will show his love on this family, and if its in God's will, work a miracle. Pete"

Thought it was something we should all be thinking about - its sometimes too easy to be in the church, and ignore the needs of the world because they're not affecting us. Please pray for the McCanns.

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