For What it’s Worth…

“AUSTRALIA is marching towards recession while the growth rate is shrinking to a “remarkable” degree, a leading study has found.” [“Australia headed for ‘remarkable’ recession, index shows“, The Australian, April 15.]

What is a Christian response to such a comment?  Trust in God not money?  Do not be afraid, God is in control?  Both of these sentiments are expressed by the Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and so are true beyond doubt.

But, is there more that needs to be said?  Have we ever stopped to consider the role that money and the stuff it buys for us plays in our lives?  Perhaps for the Christian, the G.F.C. should serve as an check on the heart more than the wallet?  Do we need to bring our hearts with our budgets before the Lord and ask whether we honestly seek his kingdom and his righteousness first?  Have you ever considered that a Christian response to recession could be that you become more generous with the way we give?  Something to ponder…

Our preacher said, on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on  the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health.  What do you think?

Sincerely,

Bewildered

…

Dear Bewildered:

Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy  strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his heart; embalm him; put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens.

Sincerely,

Eutychus

See: 1 Cor 15:3-4

Preaching on Hope this weekend and in my research found a very blackly humourous website called despair.com – some of it is downright nasty but they had some great comments on blogging!  I post this as an occassional blogger myself… [Clayton wanted to get this as a T-shirt!]

Anyway, this is not the point of this post.  They have a great little short film on the site that is very thought provoking – I recommend it for a serious ponder.  Have a look at it – I think it is worth 6 minutes of your life – http://despair.com/more.html

Let us know what you think.  C

Worldliness; Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World,  edited by C J Mahaney,  has been sitting on my desk for a few weeks.  I decided that since it’s a collection from a number of authors,  I’d take it chapter by chapter,  rather than review the whole thing.  Chapter 1, Is This Verse In Your Bible, by C J Mahaney establishes the premise for the entire book.

“Today, the greatest challenge facing American (read “Western”) evangelicals is not persecution from the world, but seduction by the world.”

Quoting a Charles Spurgeon sermon from 1860, Mahaney demonstrates that the greater the distinctiveness between the church and the world, the greater the church’s witness. When the church and the world are indistinguishable, the church tends to fail in its mission.

The recent two talks on evangelism are now available to download in PDF and MP3 format.

How do we see evangelism the way God sees it – as part of his mission in the world that he graciously draws us into?  And how do we make the most of the opportunities we have to share the good news of Jesus?

Talk 1 is The Privilege of Evangelism from 2 Corinthians 5.
Talk 2 is The Practice of Evangelism from 1 Thessalonians 2:1 – 13.

Download the PDFs:
The Privilege of Evangelism
The Practice of Evangelism

Download the audio:   
The Privilege of Evangelism
The Practice of Evangelism