Chandler Chapel Message at Southern

Matt Chandler's Chapel Message at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is well worth taking the time to watch, or listen.



*Pray for Matt as he was taken to hospital yesterday after having a seizure.

Praying For Hurting Children

LORD there are children suffering at the hand of the evil doer,
Lives ruined, souls tormented and in despair.
Knowing only sorrow, loneliness, suffering and pain,
Crying for help, to feel joy and peace again.
Souls are marred on earth for all of their days
When wicked prevail in evil ways.
Children, defenceless against evil schemes,
Suffer in silence at the hands of fiends.

Oh Christ look down with justice from above,
Rescue the children, may they know pure love.
Send forth to the victims some rescuers
To protect them from horrid monsters.
May You heal hearts, souls and minds
to live and reclaim normal lives.
May children who've been deeply abused
Once again sing childhood songs and be amused
With toys and games and fun filled days.
May they know You and Your redeeming ways.



I was overwhelmed yesterday on my way home from work by the awareness of the suffering of abused children in our world. My journey home was tear filled and prayerfully asking that Christ would move in our world to restore the broken lives to fullness and normality. That He would bring justice upon those who would hurt children, and send compassionate protectors forth into their lives. The above is an overflow of this.

Sabbath

Last Sunday Matt Chandler looked at the Sabbath, what it is and what it's not.

Talitha Piper on Adoption

Here's an interesting interview with Talitha Piper about adoption

Balancing Two Homes . . .

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus. . ."

Ephesians 1:1

"Paul’s description of his readers is thus comprehensive. They are ‘saints’ because they belong to God; they are ‘believers’ because they have trusted in Christ; and they have two homes, for they reside equally ‘in Christ’ and ‘in Ephesus’. Indeed all Christian people are saints and believers, and live both in Christ and in the secular world, or ‘in the heavenlies’ and on earth. Many of our spiritual troubles arise from our failure to remember that we are citizens of two kingdoms. We tend either to pursue Christ and withdraw from the world, or to become preoccupied with the world and forget that we are also in Christ."

John Stott

Job 13:28

D.L.Moody on False God's In Our Day

"You do not have to go to heathen lands today to find false gods. Our country is full of them. Whatever you make most of is your god. Whatever you love more than God is your idol. Many a mans heart is like some Kaffirs' huts, so full of idols that there is hardly room to turn round.
Rich and poor, learned and unlearned, all classes of men and women are guilty of this sin. . .

. . .A man may make a god of himself, of a child, of a mother, of some precious gift that God has bestowed upon him. He may forget the giver, and let his heart go out in adoration toward the gift.

Many make a god of pleasure; that is what their hearts are set on . . . Others take fashion . . . With many it is the god of money. We have not got through worshipping the golden calf yet."

Job 12:10

Strength For The Battle

Here's a great message by Major General Doug Carver. 'Strength for the battle (Psalm 144).

He brought it at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Some of my Thoughts on the humanist advertising campaign

The Humanist's new advertising campaign will undoubtedly cause some Christians to criticise it. Here's a couple of thoughts:

Humanists have the right to advertise their beliefs just as much as Christians do.
We all thought, and indeed prayed for the Consider Christ campaign that recently had billboards and banners on buses etc all across Ulster.
It is a great freedom that our country permits and one that is shared by all beliefs. Any move to stop one group from holding that right, would in fact be a move to stop all groups from having this right.

It is a great reminder that children born within Christian marriage are not automatically Christians.
In fact the Bible is clear that they are not Christians.
No one is a Christian because of birth, a moral code or even a mere acknowledgment of Biblical truth. So a child can grow up in church, live a moral life and affirm Biblical teachings as true, get baptised, take communion, and yet be a non-christian.


It is only by God's grace through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that someone becomes a Christian. More than affirming facts, this is when the Spirit of God drives them deep into the very core of our being (we describe it as our 'heart'). Our lives are transformed because we have become Christians, not in order to become Christians.

As we see these signs around the place lets remember that our children aren't born Christians. Let this drive us to our knees in prayer to our great God, asking that He would be pleased to work into their lives. And lets make the effort to tell them of Jesus' glorious person and the works He has done.


Further Thoughts
One important phrase in this campaign is ". . . let me choose for myself." (I'm not sure whether the humanist society actually means this, or whether they simply want children to grow up into adults without religion, which would in fact make a hypocrisy of this campaign).

Aside from my doubts, i actually agree that children must grow up and find their own faith and beliefs. Rather than simply going along with what our parents say, each one of us need to 'own' our faith.
However making a choice requires knowledge so that we can make informed decisions.
This brings me back to my point on parents teaching their kids about Jesus. In a world that increasingly teaches evolutionary and atheistic beliefs, children also have the right to hear the Christian beliefs. In fact this is a God given duty and calling for Christian parents.