Tuesday, 22 September 2020

Feminism robs women twice!

“A society in which conjugal infidelity is tolerated must always be in the long run a society adverse to women. Women, whatever a few male songs and satires may say to the contrary, are more naturally monogamous than men; it is a biological necessity. Where promiscuity prevails, they will therefore always be more often the victims than the culprits. Also, domestic happiness is more necessary to them than to us. And the quality by which they most easily hold a man, their beauty, decreases every year after they have come to maturity, but this does not happen to those qualities of personality—women don’t really care two cents about our looks—by which we hold women. Thus in the ruthless war of promiscuity women are at a double disadvantage. They play for higher stakes and are also more likely to lose. I have no sympathy with moralists who frown at the increasing crudity of female provocativeness. These signs of desperate competition fill me with pity.”

Written as his last word but oh how prophetic from C.S. Lewis

Feminism hasn't sold out even if it's being used as a marketing tool

Wednesday, 16 September 2020

The church must prepare for war

The church of the present and the future must be a wartime church. The days of peace are over, whether you want them to be or not. Prepare.

Rod Dreher warns us of what is coming

The points Dreher makes are more the case for the Church in the West but if those of us in other parts of the world think that the battle is not ours to fight, we are rather deluded. We all - the body of Christ - need to prepare for war always remembering of course that He will win every battle.

 



On why the Church is failing to produce manly men

If the church largely neglects the task of dominion and the development of truly Christian forms of power and mission in the wider society and mostly focuses on the internal concerns of its communities, it is unlikely that it will be a place that produces mature Christian manliness.

For more on this read Alistair Roberts' excellent piece

Tuesday, 18 August 2020

Covid = a crisis + an opportunity for the Church

We're living through a crisis of faith, love, and hope. The coronavirus didn't create the crisis, but it has shone a spotlight on it and made it worse. 

Healthy societies thrive when guided by recognized, trusted authorities. Whom do we trust? Science? Have you seen the models? Bureaucrats? The media? Experts? Institutions of higher education? Sports heroes or celebrities? Politicians? You're joking! Try to think of any authority recognized and respected by everyone?

With no common objects of trust, it's no surprise we're divided. Some of us trust some experts, others trust other experts. Some watch CNN and read the New York Times; others watch Fox and read Breitbart. More than anything, we're united by our cynical distrust. 

Scattered like sheep without a shepherd, we lose hope. Will the centre hold? Will things ever return to "normal"? Hopelessness is dangerous, as we're tempted to latch onto the first person who tells us he can lead us to green pastures. 

This leaves the church with an immense mission challenge and mission opportunity: To be truthful and trustworthy so as to gain trust, to love without hypocrisy, to hope against hope as we serve the God who raises the dead

Are we up for it? I don't know. I pray we will be.

Slightly adapted from Theopolis

Monday, 29 June 2020

Neither happy-clappy nor liberal progressives will survive Corona

More wisdom from Dreher:
The happy-clappy entertainment-focused Christianity won’t survive this test. Neither will Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. Only a hard charity, based on deep repentance, self-sacrifice, prayer, and spiritual discipline will.
Read the full thing here

Friday, 26 June 2020

The end of coronavirus is either condemnation or consolation

Coronanvirus is going to be costly at many levels. There is going to be deep pain ahead but the end will be one of two options:
“Remember, there is no way to avoid walking this road. It will either lead us to God, or to condemnation. It’s the same road, but the destination at the end depends on us.”
From Rod Dreher which even though it is a few months old is spot on.

Saturday, 25 April 2020

God is the One who shut down the world

It really is marvelous to stand back and see what God has done. God closed down the world. The mighty modern nations of the earth have been shut down. 91% of the population of the world is under some kind of restrictions, with somewhere between a third and a half of the world’s population in some kind of lockdown. God closed down the world because He can, because He is the Lord.

However, it appears that the primary switch God used to shut everything down was fear. And what is it that people fear? People fear death. Why? Because they are guilty, and they fear the judgment of God for their sins.

But Christ died in order to deliver us from the fear of death and our slavery to that fear. And He did that by taking our sin, dying in our place for our sin, and thereby disarming the devil’s power of death – His power to accuse us for our sin.

So then, are you fearful? The same God who shut the whole world down, numbers the hairs on your head. Our Jesus holds the keys of death and Hades, and there is no condemnation in Him.    





Monday, 20 April 2020

He tasted death that I might drink wine

Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine.
From George Herbert's poem, The Agonie. You can listen to it here

Wednesday, 15 April 2020

Trying to remove God from His position

Modern technocratic man does not object to predestination at all. He objects to predestination by God. He wants to remove God from His divine position in such a way as to create a job opening. 
That is deep!

HT: DW

Corona versus Christ? We know how this battle ends


Monday, 13 April 2020

God rules over coronavirus

Nature is not sovereign. Satan is not sovereign. Sinful man is not sovereign. God rules them all (Lk 8:25; Job 1:12; 2:6; Acts 4:27-28). And so we say with Job, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). Therefore, God not only comprehends the coronavirus; he has purposes for it. God does nothing, and permits nothing, without wise purposes. Nothing just happens. Everything flows from the eternal counsels of God (Eph. 1:11). All of it is wisdom. All of it is purposeful. For those who trust Jesus Christ, all of it is kindness. For others, it is a merciful wake-up call: “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rv 22:17)

Monday, 30 March 2020

Saturday, 28 March 2020

1 thing a pastor must do!

The pastor’s vocation is to minister the Word and Sacraments, which give what they promise. He must carefully distinguish guilt and shame in those whom he treats. Almost always we are both sinning and sinned against, but it is harmful to confuse these and to produce a false guilt or fail to deal with a sense of shame, however unjustified that might be.

Pastors must listen carefully enough to differentiate shame and guilt. The medicine for the 2 are very different.

Wednesday, 25 March 2020

The Lord's Prayer as divine conversation

Packer on the Lord’s Prayer as Model Answers to God’s Questions:


In Praying the Lord’s Prayer, J. I. Packer says the the Lord’s Prayer offers model answers to a series of questions God puts to us to shape our conversation with him. 

What do you take me for, and what am I to you?

Our Father in heaven.

That being so, what is it that you really want most?

[1] The hallowing of your name;

[2] the coming of your kingdom;

[3] to see your will known and done.

So what are you asking for right now, as a means to that end?

[1] Provision,

[2] pardon,

[3] protection.

How can you be so bold and confident in asking for these things?

Because we know you can do it, and when you do it, it will bring you glory!


Pray then like this:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.
—Matthew 6:9–13

Saturday, 21 March 2020

Is Coronavirus making us jump blindly?

It seems we're rushing to make big decisions when the picture on COVID-19 is still unclear:
The data collected so far on how many people are infected and how the epidemic is evolving are utterly unreliable. Given the limited testing to date, some deaths and probably the vast majority of infections due to SARS-CoV-2 are being missed. We don’t know if we are failing to capture infections by a factor of three or 300. Three months after the outbreak emerged, most countries, including the U.S., lack the ability to test a large number of people and no countries have reliable data on the prevalence of the virus in a representative random sample of the general population.
For more see A Fiasco in the Making

Friday, 20 March 2020

Why men should love & women respect their husbands

As you know, the Bible instructs husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands. This doesn’t mean that husbands are free to disrespect their wives or that wives need not love their husbands; rather, the commands are ordered to each one’s needs. Men are blessed when they are respected by their wives, and women are particularly blessed when they are loved by their husbands. 
As it turns out, these commands are also ordered to the weaker sides of each sex. Men naturally function in terms of respect, and so they often need to be reminded to love their wives. And women naturally function in terms of love, and so they often need to be reminded to respect their husbands. 
And what do these commands mean? Love is defined by the gospel. It is sacrifice for the good of the other, but it is thoughtful, intentional sacrifice aimed toward a goal. Christ did not die on the cross in order to put a generic pay check on some cosmic counter. He died for particular people, to pay for their sins, to make them clean, to bring them to glory. His love took thought for the needs of His particular people, and His love went out of its way to make a way for them. Husbands, this is what love does. 

Respect is defined by the response of the Church to this love, and that is primarily embodied by glad submission and obedience. Respect looks up to, honors, speaks highly of, is eager to serve. In Peter’s letter, he points to Sara’s example with Abraham, calling him “lord.” While this need not be applied in a wooden way, the spirit must be applied. And in our common parlance, perhaps the closest we have to such an address is the word, “sir.” When we say “yes, sir” we express respect and honor for a man. And the point is that respect is leaning in with a readiness and gravity and eagerness to follow. What are his preferences? What does he like or dislike? Respect thinks highly of those inclinations, just as the Church responds to Christ’s love. 

Thursday, 19 March 2020

2 words to avoid when in an argument

Two of the most unhelpful words whenever you are in the middle of trying to sort out a disagreement are the words “always” and “never.” It’s often the sign of a subtle (or not so subtle) bitterness or resentment that begins sentences like “You always…” or “You never…” And sometimes defensiveness does the same thing the other way around, “I always…” or “I never…” So sometimes when I’m involved in a tense counseling situation, I have been known to tell people that those words are under the ban.

The above is actually part of Lord's Supper mediation but very applicable to many relationship chats! HT: Always & Never:


Wednesday, 18 March 2020

Thanksgiving even during Corona

Reasons for Thanksgiving:

Reasons for Thanksgiving


In times of viruses, quarantines, economic upheaval, fear and change, the Christian's great comfort comes, as always, through prayer. When Paul was explaining his great suffering to the Corinthian Christians, he revealed God's purpose in all hardship: "But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (2 Cor. 1:9) So all of this is designed to make us rely on God. But how? The primary way Christians rely on God is prayer.

This is why Philippians 4:6-7 has come mind several times recently. "...do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." It's always those two words in the middle that get me: "with thanksgiving." If we want that peace which surpasses all understanding, it will come only after we pour out our hearts to God, with thanksgiving.

So here is my attempt to be more thoughtful about reasons to give God thanks during the current crisis. I'd love for you comment on this post with other reasons!

-I'm giving thanks to God for technology which allows us to broadcast sermons online and stay connected to many we would otherwise not see for quite a while.

-I'm giving thanks to God for the health of our economy for many years now, which has allowed many to build up considerable wealth...wealth that can now be used to help those in need.

-I'm giving thanks to God for the doctors and nurses and scientists who have spent most of their lives preparing for this moment in our history.

-I'm giving thanks to God for the general peace and order of our society. Despite shortages on some items, we aren't panicking.

-I'm giving thanks to God for newly open roads for the gospel. Our neighbors are being shown their mortality and limits in an undeniable way. When eyes see the true darkness around us, Jesus will shine all the brighter.

-I'm giving thanks for the amazing examples we have from the church throughout history in responding to medical crises.

-I'm thankful for extra time with our kids at home. We've had such a busy year, playing taxi to teenagers...I know it's not a relief for everyone, but we are thankful for some relaxed down time with them.

-I'm thankful for the many stories of people already taking care of each other in significant ways: grocery stores opening early for the elderly, kids playing concerts on porches of shut-ins, groceries being delivered by thoughtful neighbors, and so many more. What beautiful examples of Christlike love!

What about you? What thanksgivings are you bringing to God?

Attachments:
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Monday, 16 March 2020

A Christian response to the Corona virus

Following the recent outbreak of the Corona virus in Kenya, we've made the difficult decision to suspend our weekly Bible study gatherings. Below is what I have written to our members...

------

Hello everyone,

Trust this finds you all ok.

As you're aware, Corona virus is now in Kenya and so we all are now included in the health crises affecting the world. As a way of limiting the spread of the disease, our president has given instruction that attendance at social gatherings be minimised. I think this is wise and are therefore writing to say we will not be meeting for Bible study this Thursday and for the foreseeable future. I'm sorry that we have to stop our meetings in this way (and for this reason) but we should all want to do our uttermost to overcome to this pandemic and we also want to love our neighbours as we love ourselves and so not do things that might risk its spread. Over the next few days, we will keep listening to the news and medical advice from agencies like WHO and then make a decision as to when to resume the studies. It is our hope and prayer that things will be settled sometime after Easter and that we can get back to our usual routine towards the end of next month.

I want to say one other thing - let us not lose heart. It is true that these are difficult times that we are living in. Many are unsure about the future and questions abound about what all these challenges that we face at the moment mean (of which Corona virus is just one). However, that we have challenges and hardships should not surprise us. We who are disciples of Christ should never forget that in this life there will be trouble. Jesus himself spoke of it (see John 16:33). The wonderful thing is, because of what Jesus accomplished at Calvary, we are confident that this life is not all there is. As forgiven sinners, made new in Christ, we can look forward in hope to that day when all sickness and sorrow will be no more. The book of Revelation chapter 21 describes that great day when Christ will come back like this:
He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
So let us not be discouraged. Times are tough yes but in Christ our Saviour all will be well in the end. Over the coming days, I will be putting various  resources here on Bitrix that we can ponder and reflect on to help us fix our eyes on Him who holds all things in His hand and who is working out everything (including the Corona virus) for the good of those who love Christ.

Again let me say, let us not lose hope and of course, it goes without saying, let us also wash our hands :)

May God in Christ, be our hope and strength at this time.

Friday, 13 March 2020

Another gem from John Stott

The Real Move:
“The preacher with a humble mind will refuse to manipulate the biblical text in order to make it more acceptable to our day and age. Any attempt to make it more acceptable is really about making ourselves more acceptable or popular.”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 95


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Thursday, 12 March 2020

Pride as Pest

Pride as Pest:
“In other preachers, however, pride is more indirect, more deceptive, and more troublesome. It is possible to seem humble while constantly longing for praise. At the very moment we are glorifying Christ, we can actually be looking for our own glory. When we are pleading with the congregation to praise God, or even leading them in praise, we can be secretly hoping that they will spare a bit of praise for us”
Stott, The Challenge of Preaching, p. 94.


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