For those of you who would like to get more information on fasting as a result of the sermon last week, let me recommend a wonderful book by John Piper called A Hunger for God.  It is very readable, both because of Piper’s style, and the fact that it is only around 200 pages long.  You can get a copy for around $10 at:

Amazon

Westminster Book Store

There is even an audio book that you can get now in a download form for $5, and is ordinarily around $20.

The Christian perspective is that suffering in this world is neither  random nor meaningless.  God controls and limits it.  We are not responsible to understand why but only to keep the faith until He appears.

I Peter 5. 4-11 says:  And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

It is refreshing to hear from someone who in the face of great suffering continues to give God the glory.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/9796056[/vimeo] Here is the testimony of a young husband and father who is trusting God for recurring inoperable cancer.

Have you ever spent a day in prayer?  If you think that sounds like a challenge for a spiritual Rambo, I have good news.  Years ago as a young Christian, I read this article by Lorne Sanny.  Over the years it has been helpful to me in taking extended time for prayer.  Even if you think you could never take a whole day for prayer, I encourage you to read this and think again.  This could prove to be the best day (OK, or part of a day)  you have had in years.

Click on this link to see the article:  How to Spend A Day In Prayer

Mark 1.35 ESV And [Jesus] rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

In the past week or so there has been a great deal of news and commentary following a special meeting of the General Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (the ARP). The General Synod of the ARP is the church court that represents the whole denomination. Elders from all over the country participate in the deliberations and voting at Synod. The Synod is analogous to the PCA’s General Assembly, which typically meets in June. Because of concerns about the direction of Erskine (which is actually two institutions, a College and Seminary), the ARP Synod passed several recommendations of a Commission it had former earlier this year.

As soon as the results of Synod became public, a flurry of activity and commentary appeared all over the internet, from blogs to newspaper websites. Then on Wednesday, everything changed when a lawsuit was filed against the ARP. Instead of merely being a matter about the internal governance of a school, the matter became a very public example of Christians suing other Christians in a State civil court. For me, that is a very important matter for the Church at large to speak to. Because of that, and because of the request of a good friend, I wrote a commentary piece on the application of 1 Corinthians 6 in the context of the Erskine situation (I say “context” because the principle is more important and broader than the current controversy).

The Apostle Paul was very concerned about the effect of Christians taking their disputes to a civil (as opposed to a church, or “ecclesiastical”) court. He voiced this concern under inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 6:1-8. This passage in 1 Corinthians has been the place where Christians have turned throughout the centuries to warn each other about the dangers of bringing conflicts and disputes into the civil legal system. This passage speaks so powerfully to the dangers of lawsuits among Christians that many have heeded Paul’s call to “rather suffer wrong…rather be defrauded” than to involve the State in disputes among believers.

Read more at The Aquila Report.

At Christ Church, one of my callings is to constantly remind the congregation of the reality of the Lord in their life, and to direct their eyes to the risen Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  We gain our meaning and see our true reality by looking to the worth of the Lord, not by trying to find meaning apart from God.  That means that the Christian life is one of constantly moving toward the Lord, seeking His will for our life, and trusting in His promises by faith.  That is what faith is – it is believing and trusting in another, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Modern (or Post-modern, take your pick) “Christianity” starts in a very different place.  It does not start with God, it starts with us.  It tries to convince us of how great we are, how worthy we are, how much faith God has in us.  This is the exact reverse of the Biblical narrative and directive.  I believe this false teaching is captured well by the Emergent Church’s poster-boy, Rob Bell.  Bell in the following video clip manipulates the Scripture to make it say what he wants: that people are so great that God places His faith in us.  He actually thinks that is the main point of Matthew 14, where Peter walks on water.  If you ever thought that the Emergent Church was not dangerous, watch this video from about 0:14 until 2:20 (after that, this Australian pastor does a good job of correcting the false teaching).

Pastor Greco’s message on the spiritual discipline of meditation yesterday was extremely challenging and practical. You may be interested in starting an orderly program of Scripture memory. One of the best I know is the Navigators Topical Memory System. I checked several online booksellers and the best price was at Amazon.

The Topical Memory System has been around for over 40 years. It comes with 60 verses on cards, a plastic carrying case to keep your verses handy, and a book which explains the program and gives tips on memorizing (and remembering) Bible verses and references. The verses are printed on card stock and come in 8 different Bible translations including ESV, NIV, NASB and NKJV. No more saying, “somewhere there’s a verse that says…”

The end goal of this system is not just to be able to quote 60 verses on 30 topics but to begin a life long habit of regular consistent Scripture memory. I heartily recommend this program.

Edit from Pastor Greco:

There is also a Bible Memorization plan that has one verse per week from the ESV.  It is entitled “Bible Memorization 2009″ but could be used for any consecutive 52 week period.  You can download that here:

2009BibleMemorization-ESV