Merry Christmas

Joy to the World! The Lord has come. Let earth receive her king!

Our Lord's coming.....

Last night we enjoyed a service of lessons and carols. Joyce and Jessica Terry, Vicki Winstead, Don and Laura Steele did a superb job of choosing and presenting songs coordinated with the bible readings reflecting progression from "promise to fulfillment, prophecy to realization, type and shadow to reality" ....bridging the advent and Christmas seasons. What a blessing!

Here is a quote from St. Augustine on the Lord's "coming."

"The first coming of Christ the Lord, God's Son and our God, was in obscurity, no one recognized him but his own servants; when he comes openly he will be known by both good people and bad. When he came in obscurity, it was to be judged; when he comes openly it will be to judge."

diligence....

Anonymous The diligent man has a hard day, but the lazy man has a hard life.

Missions

A really good NT Wright Quote....."Christianity did not spread by magic. It is sometimes suggested that the world was, so to speak, ready for Christianity: Stoicism was too lofty and dry, popular paganism metaphysically incredible and morally bankrupt, mystery-religions dark and forbidding, Judaism law-bound and introverted, and Christianity burst on the scene as the great answer to the questions everyone was asking. There is a grain of truth in this picture, but it hardly does justice to historical reality. Christianity summoned proud pagans to face torture and death out of loyalty to a Jewish villager who had been executed by Rome. Christianity advocated a love which cut across racial boundaries. It sternly forbade sexual immorality, the exposure of children, and a great many other things which the pagan world took for granted. Choosing to become a Christian was not an easy or natural thing for the average pagan. A Jew who converted might well be regarded as a national traitor. Even slaves, who might be supposed to have less to lose than others, and hence to appreciate an elevation of status through conversion, might face a cost: as we saw, Pliny thought it normal to interrogate, with torture, slave-girls who happened to be part of the early Christian movement. We have no reason to suppose that interrogation under torture was any easier for a young woman in the second century than it is in the twentieth."Why then did early Christianity spread? Because early Christians believed that what they had found to be true was true for the whole world. The impetus to mission sprang from the very heart of early Christian conviction. If we know anything about early Christian praxis, at a non- or sub-literary level, it is that the early Christians engaged in mission, both to Jews and Gentiles....This missionary activity was not an addendum to a faith that was basically 'about' something else (e.g. a new existential self-awareness). Christianity was never more itself than in the launching of the world mission."

Evangelism Opportunity.....

Muslims and Christians at the Table: Promoting Biblical Understanding Among North American Muslims

This book gives a very good analysis of the growth of Islam in North America in context of our culture and theology. I can't find my book at the moment, but intend to read this again when I find it :-). There is a new mosque in Hoover. Another didn't get the permit to build recently. Gilbert and I attended a philanthropic fundraiser put on by one community of Islamists, the Agakahn group, ?sp who were raising money for relief in the middle east....seemed to be a very good work. Pray that we Christians will let our lights shine to the world around us and help these people created in the image of God know Him in a more personal and life-giving relationship, that they will repent and be baptized and brought into the true community of faith. Also pray that the Lord will forgive US already IN HIS COMMUNITY for our lack of enthusiasm and faithfulness, that WE will turn and DO His will (on earth as it is in heaven!). The book gives good practical tips on befriending muslims (and all others of diferent faith)...some basic guidelines for friendship evangelism.

an advent prayer.....

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. BCP

A Faith That is Never Alone

This is a response to Westminster Seminary California. You can order it here: http://www.lulu.com/content/1189642. Our own Pastor Rich Lusk is a contributor.......as well as other respected theologians you will enjoy!

“Combining careful, thought-provoking exegesis with a deep indebtedness to Calvin’s emphasis on union with Christ, the contributors to A Faith That Is Never Alone engage in stimulating theological reflection on the relationship of faith and good works. While their conclusions will no doubt elicit a wide range of responses from the Reformed community, they cannot be easily dismissed. In short, A Faith That Is Never Alone is a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate over justification.” Douglas J. Green Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology Westminster Theological Seminary