OMF Conference in Peabody, MA

We have had some busy weekends, and will continue I am sure.

This past weekend the family attended an Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) conference in Peabody, MA.

If you are not familiar with OMF, it is the descendant of Hudson Taylor's Missionary Group, China Inland Mission. They are based out of Singapore and are focused solely on Asia.

It was great to spend time with these folks, and hear from people who have a passion to spread the gospel. The highlight was watching a DVD called "Breakthrough" I bought a couple copies to share, it is very moving.

Dr. David Wells on Recent Book

This was something I was very fortunate to be apart of.....

I am the fraternal delegate to the Southern New England Presbytery and 2 weekends ago they met in Manchester, CT.

As part of the meeting, the Presbytery invited Dr. David Wells from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary to speak on his recent book, the Courage to be Protestant. It was a good talk and it included the future of the PCA. You can download the talk at this website. Enjoy!

Sermon Text: John 1:29-51

John 1:29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:30 “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’
John 1:31 “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.”
John 1:32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.
John 1:33 “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’
John 1:34 “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
John 1:35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,
John 1:36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
John 1:37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
John 1:38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?”
John 1:39 He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
John 1:40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
John 1:41 He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ).
John 1:42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
John 1:43 The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He *found Philip. And Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me.”
John 1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
John 1:45 Philip *found Nathanael and *said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
John 1:46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.”
John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
John 1:48 Nathanael *said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
John 1:49 Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”
John 1:50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
John 1:51 And He *said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Back to Church Sunday in Great Britian

I read this article today, thought it was not a bad idea.

Looks like the churches in England are aware that many folks would appreciate an attempt to make them feel welcome. I like it, what do you think?

Sermon Text: John 1:6-8, 19-28

John 1:6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
John 1:7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
John 1:8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
John 1:19 This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
John 1:20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
John 1:21 They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
John 1:22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
John 1:23 He said, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
John 1:24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.
John 1:25 They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
John 1:26 John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know.
John 1:27 “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
John 1:28 These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Common Ground Online Conference

One of the PCA ministers in our Presbytery alerted me to this.

Apparently there is quite a discussion going on among younger PCA ministers ( which I am one of, but had no idea) about the future of the PCA.

Sounds good, but apparently it has sparked some debate. That debate has reached the 21st century and can be found here.

I am still trying to get my head around this, but I thought I would pass it along. Tim Keller, Ligon Duncan, Mark Driscoll, Phil Ryken are all weighing in on this discussion.

An interesting Article in the Telegraph

A church member pointed me in the direction of this article.

A study done by a professor from Cambridge in London set out to do a personality map of the U.S. It sounds like any interesting study. New Hampshire ranks 50th in the U.S. when it comes to be an extrovert.

This explains a lot from my perspective. I guess the silent New Englander seems to have some validity.

New Sermon Series : Gospel of John

John 20:30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
John 20:31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

The purpose of the Gospel of John is made clear in these 2 verses. This Sunday we will begin this new series with a brief introduction of the Gospel of John. Please plan to join us!

Young Scots embracing Christianity, what a surpise!

Read this article today, and I could not help but smirk a bit.

Presbyterianism has its roots in Scotland, and so when I hear about the church in Scotland I naturally am interested.

Secular Europe seems like to me as an impenetrable fortress. It has evolved to a more secular view of the world. Christianity has nothing to offer, and is seen by some as a lame duck.

And yet I have seen over and over again, that out of that kind of environment, people begin to rethink whether secular though has all the answers. Is it possible that there is a God? Apparently, more and more young people in Scotland are saying yes.

This is why I have hope in a place like New England, that has followed the trends of Europe. God's Spirit is always at work in our world.

Sermon Text: Psalm 41

Our last visit with the Book of Psalms this year. Psalm 41

Psa. 41:1 How blessed is he who considers the helpless;
The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble.
Psa. 41:2 The LORD will protect him and keep him alive,
And he shall be called blessed upon the earth;
And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
Psa. 41:3 The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You restore him to health.
Psa. 41:4 As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
Psa. 41:5 My enemies speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
Psa. 41:6 And when he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
Psa. 41:7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they devise my hurt, saying,
Psa. 41:8 “A wicked thing is poured out upon him,
That when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
Psa. 41:9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
Psa. 41:10 But You, O LORD, be gracious to me and raise me up,
That I may repay them.
Psa. 41:11 By this I know that You are pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
Psa. 41:12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me in Your presence forever.
Psa. 41:13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

Day Trip to Boston

We spent Labor Day 2008 in Boston. And it was a beautiful day. It began on Spectacle Island hiking to the top of the highest point and see a 360 view of Boston Harbor. Very nice.

After taking the ferry back to Boston, we decided to walk around Faneuil Hall & the North End. Highlights include:

* Eating at Quincy Market
* Eating Cannolis in the North End
* Walking the Freedom Trail
* Getting a Tour of the Old North Church
* Spending time together as a family