Monthly Archive for July, 2008

Piper On Perseverance

Published
by
LayGuy
on July 29, 2008
in Christianity and Digging Deeper
. 4 Comments

Perseverance seems to be a bit of a buzzword in my life right now.  Deep down in my soul is an “echo” of the word as I struggle to meet the daily demands of life.

Even at church, the topic mysteriously landed on my lap.  I occasionally get asked to share a message and we’ve been going through the Sermon On The Mount found in Mathew 5,6 & 7. Lo and behold, I got asked to share on Mat 7:7-11 - which again talks about perseverance.  The audio of my message can be found below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

And then again tonight as I was checking out some video’s on YouTube, I come across this little beauty by John Piper.  Too often, we choose the path of least resistance in our lives - and this also creeps into our faith.  As a result, faith gets shipwrecked and the hope in God fades away.

When the going gets tough, the tough should get going to God - He is the One that can sustain and deliver us from any obstacle life throws at us.  And if He doesn’t want us to survive that obstacle, He will be there side by side - accompanying us all the way.

I can almost imagine Him looking at the tears streaming down our faces as we face our obstacles and saying to Himself, “in My Kingdom, these tears I will personally wipe away,” - just learn to trust Me.

So in my soul, I’m beginning to thank God for the current hard times because He is teaching me an attribute worth it’s weight in gold - perseverance.  Check out Piper’s video below and I hope you are encouraged by it.

Free Book Offer!

Published
by
LayGuy
on July 24, 2008
in Books
. 0 Comments

If you’re an Aussie or or Kiwi, then this post is for you!  Bernie Dymet form Christianity Works is generously offering a free book to you.

“How To Get Close To God” is yours simply for the asking.  Click here to order your book right now!  I ordered my copy today and look forward to receiving the book and check out Dymet’s view on life and faith.

I must admit, I don’t know too much of where Dymet comes from and am sometimes reluctant to endorse those I know nothing about.  From his website, he is described as:

“Berni is a dynamic preacher of God’s word, with a passion for helping people to connect with God amidst the realities of life. He has a wonderful ability to communicate deep, life changing truths in a way that makes sense to the rest of us - talking about issues that really matter. Things that each one of us experiences in our own lives.”

For those out of Australia and NZ, Bernie offers the book for $5.50 AU plus postage and handling - still a bargain.

I’ll let you know what I think in due course.  But in the mean time, thank you Bernie for the generosity of your ministry.  I really appreciate it!

The theme of book seems very fitting as we are all in the continuum of life and “hecticness.” To be swamped by the everyday demands of modern life is very normal and I look forward to the advice you offer.

My God

Published
by
LayGuy
on July 23, 2008
in Christianity
. 0 Comments

During a season of massive change and upheaval, the following video from North Point Community Church spoke to me is a nice and personal way.  Hope you are blessed by it.

That’s My King

Published
by
LayGuy
on July 18, 2008
in Christianity and Digging Deeper
. 0 Comments

I am often left speechless on the reality of Jesus.  Instead of being a humble peasant living 2000 years ago, I always feel it it my heart that what we know of Him is simply a shadow.  I can’t escape the thought that what the world thinks of Him is drawn from His humble incarnation. But if we were to glimpse into the heavens, we would see a different Jesus.

Revelation does good job for us here:

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.” Rev 1:12-16

This goes far beyond the “Jesus loves you” stickers on the bumpers of our cars.  We’re talking about a Being far beyond our ability to comprehend.  And to think that He shed all His glory to walk on this ball of ours is a mind blowing experience.

But even in His incarnation, the heavily “reductionist” version of Jesus has stumped mankind ever since He graced our planet 2000 years ago.  Mankind is literally defined in time as B.C and A.D - a testimony to this great man/God who visited us.

Below is a video based on the sermon by S. M. Lockridge - Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church from 1953 to 1993.  It’s based on video footage taken from ‘The Passion Of The Christ” and it does a great job in pointing to the fact that even in Christ’s humble incarnation, He still managed to alter mankind forever.

Hillsong Conference 2008 Highlights

Published
by
LayGuy
on July 17, 2008
in Church
. 7 Comments

Check out this cool video summarising the Hillsong 2008 Conference.  So wish I was there.

Blind Faith Gone Wrong

Published
by
LayGuy
on July 12, 2008
in Real Life Stories
. 0 Comments

Meet Lakshmi.  Her story broke in November 2007 when she was a two year old born with 4 arms and four legs.  To make things worse, she also had four kidneys, entangled nerves, two stomach cavities and two chest cavities and shoe couldn’t stand up or walk.

You’d think her family would be shattered with these circumstances surrounding their child.  But instead they, and the village where she was born, considered her to be the reincarnated Hindu goddess of wealth and fortune, Lakshmi.

But the truth is, Lakshmi is a joined to a “parasitic twin” - a headless sibling which failed to develop in her mothers womb and attached itself to Lakshmi’s pelvis.  Click on the picture on the right to see what her skeleton looks like.

This is a life threatening situation for Lakshmi.  But instead of her parents listening to medical advice, they submit Lakshmi to public display and worship as the reincarnated goddess.  Check out the video below for more details:

Removing Parasitic Twin

What a sad reality for this poor little little girl.  Her reality as a child in dire need of medical intervention is hindered by a faith steeped in superstition and idol worship.  I wonder if the goddess she represents would have been something other then “wealth and fortune,” if her parents would listen to medical advice.  After all, they seem to come from a very poor village and the caste system in India would probably have something to do with their hesitation to intervene medically.

This is an example of blind faith gone horribly wrong.  This is religion and superstition at it’s ugly worst and it’s not only prevalent in Hinduism, but rampant in all the world’s religions - including Christianity.  And that’s really sad.

But there is a litmus test exemplified in scripture for us that should guard us from error and it’s found in Acts 17:11:

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

The Bereans listened to Paul’s teaching and instruction - but they also wanted to prove if what he was saying was true. So what did they do?  They listened with open ears and then they searched the scriptures with open eyes and minds.  This kind of attitude and discipline can guard us from believing all kinds of things and guard our minds and hearts.

We’re not Hindu’s - therefore goddess worship should not really show up on our faith radar.  But when you think of it honestly, how many things do we blindly follow out of ignorance also?

As for Lakshmi, the beautiful little girl ended up having her surgery and it was reported in June 16 2008, that she took her first steps after having her conjoined twin removed.  Check out the video here. I hope she gets the chance to live a normal life as any little girl has the right to do.