Sermon: Defining Love

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we will look at the most well known chapter in the Bible on the topic of love.

1Cor. 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
1Cor. 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
1Cor. 13:3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
1Cor. 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
1Cor. 13:5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
1Cor. 13:6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
1Cor. 13:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1Cor. 13:8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
1Cor. 13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
1Cor. 13:10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
1Cor. 13:11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
1Cor. 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
1Cor. 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

(bleep) bless you

I thought this was funny.....

Some of you may have caught the story about the movie The Queen where it was edited, and all references to "God" were taken out. As you might imagine there has been quite a bit of discussion but it turns out that it was all a misunderstanding.

In an article I read on boston.com, I found this quote....

"....it was the mistake of an overzealous and inexperienced employee for a California company that edits movies selected for onboard entertainment.........In-flight viewers of the film at one point heard "(Bleep) bless you, ma'am," as one character spoke to the queen."

I guess it turns out that it was not some politically correct zealot, just someone who got carried away.

Reformation 21

I have been discovering some new corners of the world wide web in recent weeks. Steve, the PCA Minister on my blogroll had a link to Reformation 21, the online magazine of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. They also have a blog which is now on my blogroll as well. Check it out when you get a chance.

Another addition to the blogroll

To my surprise, I found a fellow minister of the gospel in my Presbytery keeping a blog. I think that makes 3 of us in the Northern New England Presbytery keeping an online Journal.

I added the new blog to my list. Check out Steve's blog when you get a chance!

Enjoy!

Web Magazine of the PCA

I have not mentioned this before, but our denomination has an online magazine called byfaithonline.

Its a good resource and if you have a moment, check it out!

Bryan Chapell @ Gordon-Conwell

One of the prominent leaders in the PCA is the president of Covenant Theological Seminary, Dr. Bryan Chapell. Dr. Chapell has been invited to speak at Gordon-Conwell Seminary near Boston this February. If your interested, click on this link for more information.

I have heard Dr. Chapell a number of times and his book on preaching is the best I have read.

London Telegraph Article

Pete W from WA had a blog entry yesterday about a report out of Burma to rid the country of Christians. The news was broke by the Telegraph and you can read the whole article by clicking on this link.

Here is a quote from the article

"The military regime in Burma is intent on wiping out Christianity in the country, according to claims in a secret document believed to have been leaked from a government ministry. Entitled "Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma", the incendiary memo contains point by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state."

We need to remember these brothers and sisters in prayer.....

Sermon: Diversity in Gifts (Part 2)

After a challenging text last week, Paul continues to press forward in his efforts to "reform" the Corinthians Church. Diversity was a theme last week, and it continues this Sunday as well.

1 Corinthians 12:15-31
1Cor. 12:15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
1Cor. 12:16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
1Cor. 12:17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
1Cor. 12:18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
1Cor. 12:19 If they were all one member, where would the body be?
1Cor. 12:20 But now there are many members, but one body.
1Cor. 12:21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
1Cor. 12:22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
1Cor. 12:23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
1Cor. 12:24 whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
1Cor. 12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
1Cor. 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
1Cor. 12:27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
1Cor. 12:28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
1Cor. 12:29 All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?
1Cor. 12:30 All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?
1Cor. 12:31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
And I show you a still more excellent way.

Sermon: Diversity of Gifts (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 12:4-14

4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.

6There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.

7But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

8For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;

9to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

10and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

11But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

12For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

13For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

14For the body is not one member, but many.

Together for the Gospel

Earlier this week a church attender pointed me to this new organization called, Together for the Gospel. It is an attempt by some prominent ministers such as John Piper to rally churches to be united towards the cause of Christ.

One of the ministers is Ligon Duncan, a PCA pastor from Jackson, MS. I am not sure how many folks in the PCA are aware of this group, and I am just getting to know it myself. They have a blog connected to the website that I have put on my blog list. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

A. W. Tozer Quote

I meant to include this in the blog last week because I used this quote in Sunday's Sermon.

A.W. Tozer says that people who are crucified with Christ have three distinct marks:
1. they are facing only one direction,
2. they can never turn back, and
3. they no longer have plans of their own.

Ice Storm 2007

So here are some picts from our backyard of the ice storm that hit Southern NH. The winds are suppose to pick up today so we may be dealing with more broken limbs and power outages. We lost power twice on Monday. Where is the SNOW!!!!!

Still No Snow

One of the biggest skiing holiday's of the year is the Martin Luther King Weekend, and I am happy to report that ski resorts up north are doing a lot better, and have snow. For ski conditions, click here.

But the problem lies in the fact that here in Southern NH, we still have yet to see a significant snow fall this Winter Season.

And it is January 15

Today we have freezing rain, ice and the possibility of snow showers later in the evening. I feel like I am living in NC or VA or TX. Not NH.

Here is to hoping that at some point, Winter Snow will make its way to Nashua.

News on the Political Front

Well things continue to get interesting here in the Grantite State....

CNN, WMUR and The New Hampshire Union Leader will hold the back-to-back debates on April 4 and 5, the first such events to be held of the 2008 presidential campaign. CNN's Wolf Blitzer will moderate the debates with questions coming from WMUR's Scott Spradling and Union Leader's John DiStaso. WMUR's Jennifer Vaughn will be moderating questions from the audience. The debate will be televised live nationally on CNN and throughout New Hampshire on WMUR.

For the entire article, click here

Sermon: First Things First

1 Corinthians 12:1-3 (New American Standard Bible)

The Use of Spiritual Gifts

1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.

2You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led.

3Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

We start a new sermon series in 1 Corinthians and we begin with Chapter 12. I think this will be very profitable. I am looking forward to exploring Paul's teaching on worship, spiritual gifts and what the Body of Christ is suppose to look like.

Washington Post Article

Pete W a church planter in Bellingham, WA mention on his blog yesterday this article in the Washington Post. The title of the article is "Why we left the Episcopal Church" written from 2 ministers from VA. It is worth a read if you have a chance. Here is a quote from the article.

"The core issue in why we left is not women's leadership. It is not "Episcopalians against equality," as the headline on a recent Post op-ed by Harold Meyerson put it. It is not a "leftward" drift in the church. It is not even primarily ethical -- though the ordination of a practicing homosexual as bishop was the flash point that showed how far the repudiation of Christian orthodoxy had gone.

The core issue for us is theological: the intellectual integrity of faith in the modern world. It is thus a matter of faithfulness to the lordship of Jesus, whom we worship and follow. The American Episcopal Church no longer believes the historic, orthodox Christian faith common to all believers. Some leaders expressly deny the central articles of the faith -- saying that traditional theism is "dead," the incarnation is "nonsense," the resurrection of Jesus is a fiction, the understanding of the cross is "a barbarous idea," the Bible is "pure propaganda" and so on. Others simply say the creed as poetry or with their fingers crossed."

PCA Position Papers

The Presbyterian Church of America has from time to time addressed certain issues facing the church. When a particular issue needs to be address, a group of men would be assembled to write a paper to answer certain questions. All kinds of topics are covered.... Baptism, Divorce, Lord's Supper, Creation, Taxation, etc.....

As I have read these papers, I have been impressed with the thoughtfulness and careful handling of difficult issues. I have found as a minister it has given me opportunities to think through some of my own questions.

It turns out that the Position Papers of the PCA are online and available for anyone to download and read for themselves. I think you will find them very insightful.

Insane Temps

It is officially 65 degrees at the Wakefield Home at noon.

We are heading to easily over 70 degrees today.

January in New Hampshire, this is indeed insane.

Body is a Temple (Part 2)

Our Sermon Text is 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Last week I had so much to cover that I divided the sermon text up into 2 parts. Last week we looked at the text specifically, made some observations and came to a conclusion on a summary of the passage.

This week I will give a brief overview of Paul's usage of the word "body" and how this text differs from his other passages on the subject. Then we will look at Application.

The Application will consist of two parts

Our Body as a Temple

Modern Dualism

For more info, come on Sunday......

It must be 2007, I just saw my 1st Presidential poster

For those who are politically savvy, you know NH is a hot bed for presidential politics. We have had a lot of recent Democratic visitors recently in the Granite State and it seems to be going up a notch.

Right outside my office window in downtown Nashua, I saw my first Presidential poster, John Cox for 2008. If you interested, click on this link to find out more about him.

I will do my best to keep you guys posted on how things heat up. Folks around here tell me, I haven't seen anything yet. Just wait till we are in full swing for the primaries, I won't be able to swing a dead cat without hitting a satellite truck or a political candidate.

I will let you know if they are right.

Happy New Year 2007

Just simply want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!