Hi friends,
Cornerstone Fellowship is trying to podcast our sermons. If you are interested you can subscribe at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=333036720 .
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?
What is Christianity? I mean at the very center of our faith what is there? Maybe I am talking about what C.S. Lewis called, “Mere Christianity” and Chesterton referred to simply as “Orthodoxy”. If we were to compare the faith of Adam, Abraham, Peter, Augustine, Calvin, Sproul, Miquel in Belize, Don Michael in Scotland and Thokosani in Malawi, what would they have in common? The expression of their faiths is vastly different but surely the central characteristics would be the same.
I am firmly convinced of Covenant Theology. Covenant Theology believes that the unifying idea of all of Scripture is the covenant of God. The covenant is, simply put, the terms of man’s relationship with God. We can use lots of words to describe it but the central concept of a covenant is a relationship. I think that relationship with the one true God is the heart of Christianity. God initiated a relationship with His image in creation. That relationship was broken by sin but restored through Jesus. This relationship was at the heart of the Old Testament worship which included sacrifices and feasts. In the New Testament it is central to the sacraments of baptism (in which one enters a relationship with God and His church) and Communion. For this reason Jesus describes the greatest commandments as loving God and loving our neighbor. That is to say, maintaining right relationships.
I am sad that too often relationship with God has been replaced with a reliance on religious rites. The rites are good but not as replacements for knowing Jesus, John 17:3. We read and study our Bibles confident that this is the way to eternal life all the while missing Jesus say to us, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” We list our prayer requests in bulletins and web-pages. We read the list to God expecting Him to heal our diseases and make us prosperous all the while missing that God’s plan for us includes suffering and hardship which enable us to trust Him more tenaciously. Our hope is to be His presence through the difficulties rather than the removal of hardship, Psalm 23:4. And yet we go on in our superstitious religion while God still invites us to more, Isaiah 1:14-18, 29:13; Revelation 2:4, 3:18-20.
A friend recently asked me, “How is Jesus exalted in The Shack?” At first I wanted to write about the truths found in The Shack but I hate being an apologist for men and I do not think he really wanted an answer. Non-the-less, my answer to him is this short observation. Jesus is exalted in The Shack as William Young tries to direct people away for the superstitious elements of Christianity and back to the heart of our faith, a relationship with the one true God.
I am firmly convinced of Covenant Theology. Covenant Theology believes that the unifying idea of all of Scripture is the covenant of God. The covenant is, simply put, the terms of man’s relationship with God. We can use lots of words to describe it but the central concept of a covenant is a relationship. I think that relationship with the one true God is the heart of Christianity. God initiated a relationship with His image in creation. That relationship was broken by sin but restored through Jesus. This relationship was at the heart of the Old Testament worship which included sacrifices and feasts. In the New Testament it is central to the sacraments of baptism (in which one enters a relationship with God and His church) and Communion. For this reason Jesus describes the greatest commandments as loving God and loving our neighbor. That is to say, maintaining right relationships.
I am sad that too often relationship with God has been replaced with a reliance on religious rites. The rites are good but not as replacements for knowing Jesus, John 17:3. We read and study our Bibles confident that this is the way to eternal life all the while missing Jesus say to us, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” We list our prayer requests in bulletins and web-pages. We read the list to God expecting Him to heal our diseases and make us prosperous all the while missing that God’s plan for us includes suffering and hardship which enable us to trust Him more tenaciously. Our hope is to be His presence through the difficulties rather than the removal of hardship, Psalm 23:4. And yet we go on in our superstitious religion while God still invites us to more, Isaiah 1:14-18, 29:13; Revelation 2:4, 3:18-20.
A friend recently asked me, “How is Jesus exalted in The Shack?” At first I wanted to write about the truths found in The Shack but I hate being an apologist for men and I do not think he really wanted an answer. Non-the-less, my answer to him is this short observation. Jesus is exalted in The Shack as William Young tries to direct people away for the superstitious elements of Christianity and back to the heart of our faith, a relationship with the one true God.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The Shack: Review of a Review
Recently I had two different people refer me to Tim Challies review of The Shack. I am not a polemicist. Although I loved The Shack, I do not want to defend William P. Young. What i do want to do is encourage God's people to meet the real God who loves us so much that he took on human flesh, died for us, rose again and continues to relate to us through His Spirit. The Shack points us to that goal.
You can access Tim Challies' critique at http://www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/the-shack-by-william-p-young.php
In the following paragraphs I will respond to some of the comments that Challies makes in his critique. Challies breaks down several flaws he sees in The Shack.
THE TRINITY
“Young teaches that the Trinity exists entirely without hierarchy and that any kind of hierarchy is the result of sin. The Trinity, he says, “are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or ‘great chain of being’… Hierarchy would make no sense among us.” Now it’s possible that he is referring to a kind of dominance or grade or command structure that may well be foreign to the godhead.” That is exactly what William Young says he is referring to. The section quoted above begins on page 121 with a question from Mack, “Isn’t one of you more the boss than the other two?” The issue that Young is addressing in his statements about hierarchy in the Godhead is the issue of “command structure.” It is too bad that Challies missed that part of the story and therefore the point. Apparently he actually agrees with Wiliam Young on this point.
Challies continues, “And the Bible makes it clear that there is some kind of hierarchy even within the Trinity. The Spirit and the Son have submitted themselves to the Father. The task of the Spirit is to lead people to the Son who in turn brings glory to the Father. Never do we find the Father submitting to the Spirit or to the Son.” Does not the Father submit to the Son when the Father answers Jesus prayers, particularly the prayer that He glorify the Son, John 17:1. In this the Father shows the mutuality of submission by giving glory to Jesus. The economic unity of the Godhead as displayed in Ephesians 1:3-14 is clear that the members of the Trinity work in concert with one another, all united in purpose all in absolute agreement with one another mutually submitting to each other in the given arenas of their work in salvation.
Challies writes,“There are other teachings about the Trinity that concerned me. For example, Papa says “I am truly human, in Jesus.” This simply cannot be true. God [the Father—a term that the author avoids] is not fully human in Jesus.” Jesus Himself said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” How is Young’s statement any different? Is it possible that when Papa made the statement he was referring to the unity of the Godhead?
Challies himself stumbles over the concept of the Trinity when he refers to the Father as God and Jesus and the Spirit as distinct from God. “but otherwise God is this woman. Jesus is a young to middle-aged man of Middle-Eastern (i.e. Jewish) descent with a big nose and rather plain looks while the Holy Spirit is played by Sarayu, a small, delicate and eclectic woman of Asian descent. By this point many people will choose to close the book and be done with it. But for the purposes of this review, let’s just assume you are able to get past seeing God and the Holy Spirit portrayed in this way and let’s press on.” Obviously when Challies refers to God here he means the Father. Young avoids this rather common error. He always refers to the members of the Godhead according to their titles, Father, Son and Spirit while together they are God. In fact on page 87 Mack asks, “which one of you is God? I am said all three in unison.”
FORGIVENESS
Challies writes, “Nowhere in Scripture will we find the idea that we can or should forgive an unrepentant person for this kind of crime. Rather, Scripture makes it clear that repentance must precede forgiveness. Without repentance there can be no forgiveness.” Actually the opposite is true. Romans 5:7 indicates that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. Ephesians 4:32 calls us to forgive just like God in Christ forgave us. In addition, if repentance precedes forgiveness, have we not made our work a requirement for salvation. Another problem with Challies’ assertion is that it would be possible for someone to be regenerated but not forgiven in that he may not have repented yet. Add to this the difficulty of which sins need repentance before forgiveness? It would be possible, if not probable, that a man has unknown sins that he never repents of doing. By Challies’ statement, he is not forgiven. In fact, no one could be and grace is now removed.
SCRIPTURE AND REVELATION
“’In seminary [Mac] had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course. God’s voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects… Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?’” Here we see Young pointing away from Scripture rather than towards it. Through Mack he scoffs at the idea that God has spoken authoritatively and sufficiently through the Bible. The point that Young is making is the exact same point made by Jesus in John 5:39-40, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life”. God is not silent. Psalm 19 tells us that He screams through creation. John 13 and 16 both have lengthy sections referring to the work of the Spirit in leading and guiding us. Psalm 37:4 speaks of God subjectively giving us desires. A major point of the Shack is to move believers away from formalism and into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ.
SALVATION
Challies states, “He denies that all roads lead to him (since most roads lead nowhere) but says instead, ‘I will travel any road to find you,’ Whether Young holds to universalism or not, and whether he believes that all faiths can lead a person to God, the book neither affirms nor refutes." The contradiction presented by Challies here is mind-boggling. He asserts that the book neither affirms or refutes whether all faiths lead to God one sentence after he observed that Young “denies that all roads lead to him…but says instead, “I will travel any road to find you.” Young is a little Arminian at best on this point but for Challies to refer to the clear statement that Young makes denying universalism and then assert that Young never affirms or refutes it is intellectually dishonest.
CONCLUSION
Challies frequently opines that Young does not give biblical proof. It seems to me that Challies is asking this novel to be an exegetical work. That is not the point. The book is a novel and is held to different literary standards than a systematic theology textbook.
I think that The Shack is an excellent book. It has weaknesses. Young is fuzzy in some of his theology. The book is also kind of preachy; but most of it is supposed to be God speaking. The Shack challenges the formalistic tradition laden Church to think about her practices. For too long we have treated our faith like a superstitious practice rather than a real relationship with the living God. I for one want to worship a real God; one who is able to be utterl transcendant and yet reach into my life. How about you?
You can access Tim Challies' critique at http://www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/the-shack-by-william-p-young.php
In the following paragraphs I will respond to some of the comments that Challies makes in his critique. Challies breaks down several flaws he sees in The Shack.
THE TRINITY
“Young teaches that the Trinity exists entirely without hierarchy and that any kind of hierarchy is the result of sin. The Trinity, he says, “are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or ‘great chain of being’… Hierarchy would make no sense among us.” Now it’s possible that he is referring to a kind of dominance or grade or command structure that may well be foreign to the godhead.” That is exactly what William Young says he is referring to. The section quoted above begins on page 121 with a question from Mack, “Isn’t one of you more the boss than the other two?” The issue that Young is addressing in his statements about hierarchy in the Godhead is the issue of “command structure.” It is too bad that Challies missed that part of the story and therefore the point. Apparently he actually agrees with Wiliam Young on this point.
Challies continues, “And the Bible makes it clear that there is some kind of hierarchy even within the Trinity. The Spirit and the Son have submitted themselves to the Father. The task of the Spirit is to lead people to the Son who in turn brings glory to the Father. Never do we find the Father submitting to the Spirit or to the Son.” Does not the Father submit to the Son when the Father answers Jesus prayers, particularly the prayer that He glorify the Son, John 17:1. In this the Father shows the mutuality of submission by giving glory to Jesus. The economic unity of the Godhead as displayed in Ephesians 1:3-14 is clear that the members of the Trinity work in concert with one another, all united in purpose all in absolute agreement with one another mutually submitting to each other in the given arenas of their work in salvation.
Challies writes,“There are other teachings about the Trinity that concerned me. For example, Papa says “I am truly human, in Jesus.” This simply cannot be true. God [the Father—a term that the author avoids] is not fully human in Jesus.” Jesus Himself said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” How is Young’s statement any different? Is it possible that when Papa made the statement he was referring to the unity of the Godhead?
Challies himself stumbles over the concept of the Trinity when he refers to the Father as God and Jesus and the Spirit as distinct from God. “but otherwise God is this woman. Jesus is a young to middle-aged man of Middle-Eastern (i.e. Jewish) descent with a big nose and rather plain looks while the Holy Spirit is played by Sarayu, a small, delicate and eclectic woman of Asian descent. By this point many people will choose to close the book and be done with it. But for the purposes of this review, let’s just assume you are able to get past seeing God and the Holy Spirit portrayed in this way and let’s press on.” Obviously when Challies refers to God here he means the Father. Young avoids this rather common error. He always refers to the members of the Godhead according to their titles, Father, Son and Spirit while together they are God. In fact on page 87 Mack asks, “which one of you is God? I am said all three in unison.”
FORGIVENESS
Challies writes, “Nowhere in Scripture will we find the idea that we can or should forgive an unrepentant person for this kind of crime. Rather, Scripture makes it clear that repentance must precede forgiveness. Without repentance there can be no forgiveness.” Actually the opposite is true. Romans 5:7 indicates that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. Ephesians 4:32 calls us to forgive just like God in Christ forgave us. In addition, if repentance precedes forgiveness, have we not made our work a requirement for salvation. Another problem with Challies’ assertion is that it would be possible for someone to be regenerated but not forgiven in that he may not have repented yet. Add to this the difficulty of which sins need repentance before forgiveness? It would be possible, if not probable, that a man has unknown sins that he never repents of doing. By Challies’ statement, he is not forgiven. In fact, no one could be and grace is now removed.
SCRIPTURE AND REVELATION
“’In seminary [Mac] had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course. God’s voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects… Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?’” Here we see Young pointing away from Scripture rather than towards it. Through Mack he scoffs at the idea that God has spoken authoritatively and sufficiently through the Bible. The point that Young is making is the exact same point made by Jesus in John 5:39-40, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life”. God is not silent. Psalm 19 tells us that He screams through creation. John 13 and 16 both have lengthy sections referring to the work of the Spirit in leading and guiding us. Psalm 37:4 speaks of God subjectively giving us desires. A major point of the Shack is to move believers away from formalism and into a vital relationship with Jesus Christ.
SALVATION
Challies states, “He denies that all roads lead to him (since most roads lead nowhere) but says instead, ‘I will travel any road to find you,’ Whether Young holds to universalism or not, and whether he believes that all faiths can lead a person to God, the book neither affirms nor refutes." The contradiction presented by Challies here is mind-boggling. He asserts that the book neither affirms or refutes whether all faiths lead to God one sentence after he observed that Young “denies that all roads lead to him…but says instead, “I will travel any road to find you.” Young is a little Arminian at best on this point but for Challies to refer to the clear statement that Young makes denying universalism and then assert that Young never affirms or refutes it is intellectually dishonest.
CONCLUSION
Challies frequently opines that Young does not give biblical proof. It seems to me that Challies is asking this novel to be an exegetical work. That is not the point. The book is a novel and is held to different literary standards than a systematic theology textbook.
I think that The Shack is an excellent book. It has weaknesses. Young is fuzzy in some of his theology. The book is also kind of preachy; but most of it is supposed to be God speaking. The Shack challenges the formalistic tradition laden Church to think about her practices. For too long we have treated our faith like a superstitious practice rather than a real relationship with the living God. I for one want to worship a real God; one who is able to be utterl transcendant and yet reach into my life. How about you?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
LIES
LIES
I was watching August Rush tonight and was deeply moved by the wonder of innocence. It was not the innocence of never sinning but the innocence of believing the truth. I wept as I thought of my own efforts to make my sons strong by teaching them the lie that pain is natural. Somehow during my life I gave up on hoping that happiness is my natural state. And I have worked to kill that innocence in my own sons. God forgive me and overcome the lies.
We are fed lies throughout our lives. These lies lead us to settle for mediocrity instead of the godish existence that we were designed to experience. I want to consider some of these.
We are told that this is all there is. The idea of heaven is an escape from reality. It is a convenient delusion that makes the pain of our existence bearable. We hear people talk about recently deceased people by saying, "They are better off...” even when these people were truly mean and nasty in their lives. Honest people begin to wonder if all this talk about it being better later is just a smokescreen to hide the pain.
The truth is that there is more than we see. Reality includes things that we simply cannot experience with our five senses. Every child knows it. He expects a Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and a loving God. The failure of the first two brings doubt as to the third. But God is real. Look at the stars, consider a blade of grass, a butterfly and your ability to consider them and then try to doubt. Romans says that God has written in our hearts, the child says, "Well duh!"
The alternate lie occurs shortly after a person believes. When we return to childlike faith in the existence of a loving God we are told that is all that matters. The body is just a prison for the soul. We must endure our sentence on Earth and wait for the day when we will be released to our 'spiritual' existence.
And yet when I look into my wife's eyes and see her loving smile at me I know better. When I hold my child in my arms and feel them release themselves completely to my protection, I know that moment is important. When I listen to a woman explain how she was raped by her step-father every day for eight years, and yet she wants to be a good mother to her daughters, I am convinced that the actions we take in this life matter intensely. Life is now not just later.
Every child knows it. They do not dream of survival but of thriving, succeeding and changing this world. Why would a child ever endure 12 years of school if the future here had no value?
Life is wonderful. It really fills me with wonder. We can see green. We can smell cookies baking; hear music and the waves rolling onto the beach. We can touch skin; that warm soft smooth wonder that covers every one of us. We can think, imagine and dream. We can create wonderful things for our pleasure and use. We have friends and family who show us that we are important. We can love so deeply that we would die to bring good to our loved one's life. In this we can feel as God feels. And that matters.
We have heard that we are small, insignificant and even evil creatures who are repulsive to a transcendent God. When we say the wrong thing as children our parents yell at us. "What is wrong with you?, they ask when we act out in public. We are not sure what the answer is but eventually we assume there must be something wrong with us or why would we make people mad.
We go to church and sing, "Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I." and "that saved a wretch like me." The Church buildings are designed to make me feel small. When we do something very well and feel a sense of pride at our accomplishment, well meaning people tell us to be humble and say, "It wasn't me."
A child is born at ease with the world revolving around him. He expects to be cared for. It is right to the new-born that others should meet his needs without question or thanks. As she grows the child thinks that looking at her twirl will give other people joy. She expects others to delight in her because she knows that she is a wonder to behold. And she is right.
I read in the Bible that every human being is the image of God. God says that He loves men and is not ashamed to call them his brethren or children. He takes joy in us. He bragged about Moses' humility and Job's integrity. He was proud of Abraham's faith, David's heart and Daniel's purity. I think that He may be right. There is no question that we sin in heinous ways but that is not the whole story of who we are.
I really love me. I look in the mirror and see a man that I can trust. He will look out for my well being. He is kind and gentle, sometimes impatient but that isn't his heart. He really loves people and wants them to know Jesus. I see people around me who can calculate pi, create from nothing a useful tool, solve an enormous problem or explain to me ideas about God that fill my heart with joy.
No man can take my choice to live and my choice to love life. I can choose, regardless of the punishment, to enjoy this magnificent life that God has given me. Therefore I will not be afraid. If God is for me, who can be against me?
I think that I am tired of these lies. I am not going to believe them anymore. I am going to tell everyone I meet the truth. I hope that some will believe it.
I was watching August Rush tonight and was deeply moved by the wonder of innocence. It was not the innocence of never sinning but the innocence of believing the truth. I wept as I thought of my own efforts to make my sons strong by teaching them the lie that pain is natural. Somehow during my life I gave up on hoping that happiness is my natural state. And I have worked to kill that innocence in my own sons. God forgive me and overcome the lies.
We are fed lies throughout our lives. These lies lead us to settle for mediocrity instead of the godish existence that we were designed to experience. I want to consider some of these.
We are told that this is all there is. The idea of heaven is an escape from reality. It is a convenient delusion that makes the pain of our existence bearable. We hear people talk about recently deceased people by saying, "They are better off...” even when these people were truly mean and nasty in their lives. Honest people begin to wonder if all this talk about it being better later is just a smokescreen to hide the pain.
The truth is that there is more than we see. Reality includes things that we simply cannot experience with our five senses. Every child knows it. He expects a Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and a loving God. The failure of the first two brings doubt as to the third. But God is real. Look at the stars, consider a blade of grass, a butterfly and your ability to consider them and then try to doubt. Romans says that God has written in our hearts, the child says, "Well duh!"
The alternate lie occurs shortly after a person believes. When we return to childlike faith in the existence of a loving God we are told that is all that matters. The body is just a prison for the soul. We must endure our sentence on Earth and wait for the day when we will be released to our 'spiritual' existence.
And yet when I look into my wife's eyes and see her loving smile at me I know better. When I hold my child in my arms and feel them release themselves completely to my protection, I know that moment is important. When I listen to a woman explain how she was raped by her step-father every day for eight years, and yet she wants to be a good mother to her daughters, I am convinced that the actions we take in this life matter intensely. Life is now not just later.
Every child knows it. They do not dream of survival but of thriving, succeeding and changing this world. Why would a child ever endure 12 years of school if the future here had no value?
Life is wonderful. It really fills me with wonder. We can see green. We can smell cookies baking; hear music and the waves rolling onto the beach. We can touch skin; that warm soft smooth wonder that covers every one of us. We can think, imagine and dream. We can create wonderful things for our pleasure and use. We have friends and family who show us that we are important. We can love so deeply that we would die to bring good to our loved one's life. In this we can feel as God feels. And that matters.
We have heard that we are small, insignificant and even evil creatures who are repulsive to a transcendent God. When we say the wrong thing as children our parents yell at us. "What is wrong with you?, they ask when we act out in public. We are not sure what the answer is but eventually we assume there must be something wrong with us or why would we make people mad.
We go to church and sing, "Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I." and "that saved a wretch like me." The Church buildings are designed to make me feel small. When we do something very well and feel a sense of pride at our accomplishment, well meaning people tell us to be humble and say, "It wasn't me."
A child is born at ease with the world revolving around him. He expects to be cared for. It is right to the new-born that others should meet his needs without question or thanks. As she grows the child thinks that looking at her twirl will give other people joy. She expects others to delight in her because she knows that she is a wonder to behold. And she is right.
I read in the Bible that every human being is the image of God. God says that He loves men and is not ashamed to call them his brethren or children. He takes joy in us. He bragged about Moses' humility and Job's integrity. He was proud of Abraham's faith, David's heart and Daniel's purity. I think that He may be right. There is no question that we sin in heinous ways but that is not the whole story of who we are.
I really love me. I look in the mirror and see a man that I can trust. He will look out for my well being. He is kind and gentle, sometimes impatient but that isn't his heart. He really loves people and wants them to know Jesus. I see people around me who can calculate pi, create from nothing a useful tool, solve an enormous problem or explain to me ideas about God that fill my heart with joy.
No man can take my choice to live and my choice to love life. I can choose, regardless of the punishment, to enjoy this magnificent life that God has given me. Therefore I will not be afraid. If God is for me, who can be against me?
I think that I am tired of these lies. I am not going to believe them anymore. I am going to tell everyone I meet the truth. I hope that some will believe it.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
THE MOVE
Well we are "settled" in. Most of the empty boxes are stored and all we need to do is place pictures on walls, along with our map of the UK.
We packed up the truck on Friday May 22. We had some good help from some dear friends in Mesa. I appreciate the willingness of these people to help us. I left Saturday around 9:00 while Mike went to a Karate seminar until noon when he and Robin headed East. We met up outside of Albuquerque where we stayed the night. Vince preached at Providence PCA and we said good bye to the Steels.
We arrived in Chattanooga on Wednesday evening and had a great time with Pat, Brit and Britney's brother, Joel. Patrick surprised us with his latest addition, a piece of metal piercing his left ear lobe. It looks very good on him. We ate TGIFridays so that Vince could have some fried green beans. Then we hung out at the river and simply enjoyed each other.
Thursday was a long drive to Melbourne. We left at 4:00 am so that we could take Joel to the airport in Atlanta. We arrived in Melbourne around 6:00 pm and crashed for the night. Friday was moving day in which lots of folks from Cornerstone showed up to help us into the second story apartment. These folks even helped take some of our stuff up to the loft.
Our apartment is wonderful. It is very roomy with a great area for the office. Mike and I spent many hours assembling bookcases and a desk but it almost finished. Maybe one more bookcase. Our complex has a pool table which accommodated Mike and Jamie for a quick game. We have all played a few times. Our building has eight units with one currently empty. We have met all of the neighbors except one. Please pray for us to build relationship with our neighbors.
We discovered that Disney lets you get in for free on your birthday. Robin's birthday was June 1 so we decided to celebrate at Epcot. A lady from Cornerstone had a free pass so for the price of one we got three of us into Epcot. It was a great day. We got to see replications of the UK, Morocco, China and France. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and did not even get sun burned. It was a great time to remember just how perfect Robin is. I love her so very much and thank God that I get to spend my life with her.
We have been at Cornerstone for three Sundays. We are getting to know the folks and can almost recall all of their names. This week was my first in the pulpit. Cornerstone has chosen to do a program called 40 days of love through Saddleback Community Church in California. Each of the families read a chapter a day from "The Relationship Principles of Jesus"We meet on Wednesday, share a meal discuss our readings and watch a video expounding 1 Corinthians 13. In conjunction with this I am preaching on some of the "reciprocal" commands in the New Testament. Today, I opened up John 13:34-35 and Jesus new commandment to love one another. I plan to look at serve one another, submit to one another, honor one another and forgive one another. We hope that this will help Cornerstone move forward after the devastating last couple of years.
We would love to hear from you. And begin to make plans to come visit. We are only 10 minutes from the soft and and warm waters of the Florida coast.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Farewell to Scotland
Acts 16:6-10
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Dear friends,
I recently took some time to meditate on Paul's experiences that led him to Philippi. His first desire was to go to Asia. Vast multitudes of unsaved people lived without the gospel and yet he was forbidden by the Spirit of God to preach in Asia. How would Paul respond to this prohibition? Obviously he would obey but was he as perplexed by it as I am? I can see Paul wrestling with God, reminding Him of the great commission to make disciples of ALL THE NATIONS. And yet God resolutely said, "no".
He then turned his attention to Bithynia; another land in great need of the gospel. Once again the Spirit opposes him. How did the Spirit "prevent" Paul? Was there a voice? A vision? Or were the circumstances orchestrated in such a way that Paul understood the movement of God in His life? It would be easy to be discouraged at this point but instead Paul went on to Philippi where he would hear the beautiful question, "What must I do to be saved?"
I find this passage very instructive. First it teaches me that God is actively involved in my life. He has not given a command and then left me alone to figure it out. He leads and directs sometimes in very confusing ways.
We have sensed His call to Scotland. Mostly because we long to reach the world for Jesus and we were invited to serve in Scotland. Over the last year, we have found a deep passion to bring the gospel to the unbelievers in Scotland. This passion has guided us to work diligently in recruiting and leading our team. It has also sustained us as we traveled around the world trying to raise the necessary financial support. Everyone involved expected this to take about two years.
After one year we are still at around 25% of our needed funds. We know that our job is to make contacts and then present the vision and the need. It is up to God to move the hearts of His people to send us to Scotland. He has not so moved them. People see the need, acknowledge our unique giftedness to reach the need and yet not enough people and churches are able to support us. The best conclusion that we can draw from this is that God will not permit us to go into Scotland. We, like Paul, do not want to fight God.
After Paul was prevented from entering Bithynia, God gave him a vision of a man in Macedonia pleading with him to come over and help them. Paul wisely chose to follow the vision.
Just when we were considering if God was blocking our path to Scotland through the lack of support, we received an email from one of our supporters asking if I would be interested in serving as the pastor of their Church. After much prayer, many discussions and seeking counsel, we decided to send a resume to the Church and ask God to reveal His will through the process. In the end, Cornerstone Fellowship has called me to serve as their pastor. They have a deep desire to reach their community and the world with the good news of Jesus. We have therefore concluded that God has not only closed the door for us to go to Scotland but that He is opening a field of rich service in Florida.
We will begin our work with Cornerstone in mid-June. Until then we will still receive our salary from MTW. Thank you for your gifts over the last year. We have seen God bear fruit through our labors. Our vision for the Church has grown and we are again ready to enter the pastoral ministry. Please pray for our labors as we seek to help Cornerstone develop and implement an outreach strategy for their neighborhood. We will likewise work to find how we can impact the world through cross-cultural missions.
You have been God's instruments to care for our family for the last year. Your prayer has kept us strong against the many temptations that we have faced. Your financial gifts have driven away our discouragement and met our needs allowing us to reach out beyond ourselves. We thank you and we thank God for you.
In Jesus' love,
Vince
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Dear friends,
I recently took some time to meditate on Paul's experiences that led him to Philippi. His first desire was to go to Asia. Vast multitudes of unsaved people lived without the gospel and yet he was forbidden by the Spirit of God to preach in Asia. How would Paul respond to this prohibition? Obviously he would obey but was he as perplexed by it as I am? I can see Paul wrestling with God, reminding Him of the great commission to make disciples of ALL THE NATIONS. And yet God resolutely said, "no".
He then turned his attention to Bithynia; another land in great need of the gospel. Once again the Spirit opposes him. How did the Spirit "prevent" Paul? Was there a voice? A vision? Or were the circumstances orchestrated in such a way that Paul understood the movement of God in His life? It would be easy to be discouraged at this point but instead Paul went on to Philippi where he would hear the beautiful question, "What must I do to be saved?"
I find this passage very instructive. First it teaches me that God is actively involved in my life. He has not given a command and then left me alone to figure it out. He leads and directs sometimes in very confusing ways.
We have sensed His call to Scotland. Mostly because we long to reach the world for Jesus and we were invited to serve in Scotland. Over the last year, we have found a deep passion to bring the gospel to the unbelievers in Scotland. This passion has guided us to work diligently in recruiting and leading our team. It has also sustained us as we traveled around the world trying to raise the necessary financial support. Everyone involved expected this to take about two years.
After one year we are still at around 25% of our needed funds. We know that our job is to make contacts and then present the vision and the need. It is up to God to move the hearts of His people to send us to Scotland. He has not so moved them. People see the need, acknowledge our unique giftedness to reach the need and yet not enough people and churches are able to support us. The best conclusion that we can draw from this is that God will not permit us to go into Scotland. We, like Paul, do not want to fight God.
After Paul was prevented from entering Bithynia, God gave him a vision of a man in Macedonia pleading with him to come over and help them. Paul wisely chose to follow the vision.
Just when we were considering if God was blocking our path to Scotland through the lack of support, we received an email from one of our supporters asking if I would be interested in serving as the pastor of their Church. After much prayer, many discussions and seeking counsel, we decided to send a resume to the Church and ask God to reveal His will through the process. In the end, Cornerstone Fellowship has called me to serve as their pastor. They have a deep desire to reach their community and the world with the good news of Jesus. We have therefore concluded that God has not only closed the door for us to go to Scotland but that He is opening a field of rich service in Florida.
We will begin our work with Cornerstone in mid-June. Until then we will still receive our salary from MTW. Thank you for your gifts over the last year. We have seen God bear fruit through our labors. Our vision for the Church has grown and we are again ready to enter the pastoral ministry. Please pray for our labors as we seek to help Cornerstone develop and implement an outreach strategy for their neighborhood. We will likewise work to find how we can impact the world through cross-cultural missions.
You have been God's instruments to care for our family for the last year. Your prayer has kept us strong against the many temptations that we have faced. Your financial gifts have driven away our discouragement and met our needs allowing us to reach out beyond ourselves. We thank you and we thank God for you.
In Jesus' love,
Vince
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Michael
I guess it is appropriate for a Father to be proud of his sons. The Father expressed His pride in Jesus when he said, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him!" Here is a video of Michael hitting a buzzer beater. Not only did Michael show athletic prowess this season, he demonstrated a great character, extending grace to those who did not deserve it. I am so very proud of him!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Scotland
Our Goal in Scotland is to establish Church Planting movements in the 5 major population centers of Scotland.
Once the Church in Scotland was a city on a hill; sending missionaries throughout the world. Scotland produced such shining lights as David Livingstone and Eric Liddell who carried the message of salvation by God’s grace to the uttermost parts of the world. Today less than 3 percent of Scotland’s population is Evangelical Christian. It is heartbreaking to see the light slowly covered up by the darkness.
Scotland is a team of church-planters and resource workers working to reap a harvest among the Scottish people. It is their plan to work with various Scottish denominations to establish church-planting movements in all five major population centers in Scotland. They will be involved in churches that are strongly committed to growth through evangelism; believing that Jesus will build His Church, Matthew 16:18, by the power of the Gospel, Romans 1:16.
Our team intends to help reach Scotland through the following areas of ministry.
Church planting
The goal is to build church-planting movements, whose energy continues to grow far into the future, long after our workers are gone. In keeping with this goal, we will help plant Churches that focus on reaching Scottish communities with the life transforming message of the gospel.
Church Revitalization
We will seek to place workers in her partner Denominations in order to help facilitate revitalizing strategic congregations. These workers will be involved in a wide variety of ministries designed to rebuild the Church in Scotland and help her effectively reach her nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Family Support Scotland
Family Support Scotland is a charity-based counselling service that offers support to individuals, couples and families as they deal with a wide range of issues including: depression, marital problems, anxiety and child-parent problems.
Evangelism and Discipleship
Our team members will all be involved in sharing the gospel in their neighborhoods and through the various ministry fields in which they serve. Her members will actively serve in local congregations to strengthen the faith of believers in Scotland.
Youth and University
God is moving among the youth in Scotland. We will seek to educate young people about the work of Jesus Christ and its implications for their lives.
Short-term teams
Many American Churches have a great interest in the work in Scotland. This interest will find expression through one and two week mission trips. We will help to connect US and Scottish churches of similar convictions to work together in the expansion of the gospel throughout Scotland.
We need people to pray for our success, support us financially or join us in Scotland. Is God calling you to join in our effort to reclaim Scotland for Jesus Christ? Join us in praying like John Knox “God, give me Scotland or I die!”
For more information contact
Vince Wood
vrwood@live.com
Once the Church in Scotland was a city on a hill; sending missionaries throughout the world. Scotland produced such shining lights as David Livingstone and Eric Liddell who carried the message of salvation by God’s grace to the uttermost parts of the world. Today less than 3 percent of Scotland’s population is Evangelical Christian. It is heartbreaking to see the light slowly covered up by the darkness.
Scotland is a team of church-planters and resource workers working to reap a harvest among the Scottish people. It is their plan to work with various Scottish denominations to establish church-planting movements in all five major population centers in Scotland. They will be involved in churches that are strongly committed to growth through evangelism; believing that Jesus will build His Church, Matthew 16:18, by the power of the Gospel, Romans 1:16.
Our team intends to help reach Scotland through the following areas of ministry.
Church planting
The goal is to build church-planting movements, whose energy continues to grow far into the future, long after our workers are gone. In keeping with this goal, we will help plant Churches that focus on reaching Scottish communities with the life transforming message of the gospel.
Church Revitalization
We will seek to place workers in her partner Denominations in order to help facilitate revitalizing strategic congregations. These workers will be involved in a wide variety of ministries designed to rebuild the Church in Scotland and help her effectively reach her nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Family Support Scotland
Family Support Scotland is a charity-based counselling service that offers support to individuals, couples and families as they deal with a wide range of issues including: depression, marital problems, anxiety and child-parent problems.
Evangelism and Discipleship
Our team members will all be involved in sharing the gospel in their neighborhoods and through the various ministry fields in which they serve. Her members will actively serve in local congregations to strengthen the faith of believers in Scotland.
Youth and University
God is moving among the youth in Scotland. We will seek to educate young people about the work of Jesus Christ and its implications for their lives.
Short-term teams
Many American Churches have a great interest in the work in Scotland. This interest will find expression through one and two week mission trips. We will help to connect US and Scottish churches of similar convictions to work together in the expansion of the gospel throughout Scotland.
We need people to pray for our success, support us financially or join us in Scotland. Is God calling you to join in our effort to reclaim Scotland for Jesus Christ? Join us in praying like John Knox “God, give me Scotland or I die!”
For more information contact
Vince Wood
vrwood@live.com
February
The Wood Family
vrwood@live.com
February 2009
Dear friends,
Recently we had the opportunity to speak at a Mission's Conference. The theme of the conference was The Gospel Under Attack. The keynote speaker gave a stirring presentation of the attack on believers in Muslim countries. It was eye-opening to consider the dangers faced by those who give their life to Jesus.
In one of the 'break-out' sessions, Vince was asked to describe how the gospel is being opposed in Scotland. This provided us the opportunity to seriously consider the warfare being waged for souls in Scotland. In addition we realized that as we seek to take the Gospel to people who are perishing, we face opposition from a demonically cruel and angelically powerful enemy. Peter describes our enemy as a roaring lion. We have seen and heard a roaring lion. We grasp the seriousness of Peter's warning.
One of the difficulties we face is that we are here in the US and our work is in Scotland. As we are in the States, the need to build trust with our Scottish partners remains. Satan tirelessly tries to drive wedges between those committed to reaching the world for Jesus. Distance is a great tool that Satan uses to breed distrust. We have seen some of this develop recently with our brothers in Scotland. We need to be on site to sit face to face and reassure our coworkers in Christ.
Our separation from the field also brings difficulty to our team. Some of our members are struggling and we cannot assist them. Others will be moving to Scotland unaided, trying to begin a ministry without the leadership they need. Recruits need to visit Scotland to get a feel for the ministry to discern God's call. Vince, as Team Leader, needs to be there to provide the necessary leadership.
In addition to these difficulties, we also face personal attacks. As Vince was away traveling recently, he experienced great waves of discouragement. While we are raising support we are limited in the amount of service we can render to our local church. We love Christ's church. We love to serve her. And yet, as we are frequently gone, our involvement is greatly limited. On a positive note, recently at our apartment complex, the three of us were able to share the gospel with two couples, one of whom admitted that Vince was the first pastor she had ever met. Please pray for these couples and for more ministry opportunities to our neighbors.
Will you please pray for us? As we face such attacks from that roaring lion, please ask God to place a hedge of protection around us keeping us strong against the temptation for discouragement. As the armies of Joshua were strengthened while Moses prayed, may God empower us to resist the devil through your intercession on our behalf.
Will you join our team? Our monthly support is currently about 25% of our total need but we draw close to 40% from our account each month to cover living expenses and travel costs. We also need to have 80% pledged by June if we are to meet our January 2010 goal to move to Scotland.
• Have you planned to support us but you haven't gotten around to it yet? Have you forgotten or lost our pledge information? We understand how that happens!
• Will you jump on board now? Will you give monthly or a one time gift?
• Please contact MTW at the address below and commit yourself to sending us to Scotland.
Let us know if you or your church would like us to visit and share more specifics about our work. We are open to speak at any gathering in which we can promote the work of Jesus around the world.
We are very confident that you pray for us regularly. We are very thankful for those who are faithfully supporting us financially as well. Thank you! We thank God for you and your participation in the gospel.
In Jesus’ love,
Vince, Robin and Michael
please send support or pledges to
MTW
PO Box 116284
Atlanta, GA 30368-6284
Account #18279
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About Me
- Vince Wood
- I have been a PCA pastor since 1993, having been a pastor in Arizona, Florida, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and as the Team Leader for MTW’s work in Scotland. I am currently the Senior Pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church in York, PA. As a pastor, my desire is to help everyone I meet live out Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in Heaven but You, and besides You I desire nothing on earth.” I love my Wife Robin, my two sons, Patrick and Michael and my daughter in law, Britney. I am firmly wrapped around the fingers of my granddaughters.