Serving in the Ministry

1. Being an ambassador

2. Living as you are called

3. Before You I Kneel

Random Thoughts

1. Don't worry about distinction, but commitment to the core.

2. Religious Exclusivism vs Political Exclusivism

3. Things may happen step by step, and may change along the way. The most important step is the next step.

God the Wedding Planner

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."" - Revelation 21:1-4

Blessed Easter

Jesus is alive and the body of Christ is the Church. We testify to His resurrection.

Blessed Easter!

Blessed New Year

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." - Psalm 1:1-2

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." - Isaiah 43:19

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" - Romans 8:32

"From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him." - Isaiah 64:4

If God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how much more will he also with him graciously give us all things!

As the years go by, God brings about new things which I could not have imagined at the start of each year (in 2017, it was Vienna). Above all, we must be at peace with God and rest in His will.

You do not know what tomorrow will bring

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."" - James 4:13-15

Do not be anxious about tomorrow

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:33-34

Do not be anxious about anything

"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." - Philippians 4:6-7

Seek the things that are above

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." - Colossians 3:1-2

Set your minds on things that are above

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock." - Isaiah 26:3-4

My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To Him who reigns above
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace
Whose every thought is love
For every day I have on earth
Is given by the King
So I will give my life, my all
To love and follow Him

Holy Spirit, Living Breath Of God

Holy Spirit, living breath of God
Breathe new life into my willing soul
Let the presence of the risen Lord
Come renew my heart and make me whole
Cause Your Word to come alive in me
Give me faith for what I cannot see
Give me passion for Your purity
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me

O Father, All Creating

Except Thou build it, Father, the house is built in vain
Except Thou, Saviour, bless it, the joy will turn to pain
But naught can break the union of hearts in Thee made one
And love Thy Spirit hallows is endless love begun

All Glory Be To Christ

Should nothing of our efforts stand, no legacy survive
Unless the Lord does raise the house, in vain its builders strive
To you who boast tomorrow's gain, tell me what is your life
A mist that vanishes at dawn, all glory be to Christ

All glory be to Christ our King, all glory be to Christ
His rule and reign we'll ever sing, all glory be to Christ

Undivided

Give me an undivided heart
That I might fear Your name
Teach me to walk in righteous paths
And follow in Your ways
For You are gracious and forgiving
Hear, O Lord, and answer me

Give me an undivided mind
That I might love Your Word
Help to hunger for Your voice
And know Your Spirit's sword
For You are good, Your truth unchanging
Life is found in serving You

Undivided, I want to live for You
Single-minded, all that I say, all that I do
Sanctify me, take me and make me new
That I might live for Christ, my Lord

Give me an undivided love
For all that You desire
Make me a living sacrifice
Ignite in me Your fire
For You, O Lord, are God eternal
All my ways are known to You

Undivided, I want to live for You
Single-minded, all that I say, all that I do
Sanctify me, take me and make me new
That I might live for Christ, my Lord

Undivided, counting my gains as loss
Single-minded, whatever the pain, whatever the cost
Sanctify me, help me take up my cross
And live for Him who died for me

Ambassadors

The only thing an ambassador does, if he's interested in keeping his job, is to faithfully represent the message, methods, and character of the leader who has sent him. He is not free to think, speak, or act independently. Everything he does, every decision he makes, and every interaction he has must be shaped by this one question: "What is the will and plan of the one who sent me?" The ambassador does not represent his own interest, his own perspective, or his own power. He does everything as an ambassador, or he has forgotten who he is and he will not be in his position for long.

- Paul David Tripp, Parenting

Awe

Creation is awesome. God designed it to be awesome. And God designed you to take in creation's awesome display. You are meant to be inspired and to celebrate the awesome things that come from the Creator's hand. But as you participate and rejoice in the awesome display of creation, you must understand that these awesome things were not intended to be ultimate. They were not made to be the stopping place and feeding station for your heart. No awesome thing in creation was meant to give you what only the Creator is able to give. Every awesome thing in creation is designed to point you to the One who alone is worthy of capturing and controlling the awe of your searching and hungry heart.

As it is true of a street sign, so it is true of every jaw-dropping, knee-weakening, silence-producing, wonder-inspiring thing in the universe. The sign is not the thing you are looking for. No, the sign points you to what you are looking for. So you can't stop at the sign, for it will never deliver what the thing it is pointing to will deliver. Created awe has a purpose; it is meant to point you to the place where the awe of your heart should rest. If awesome things in creation become your god, the God who created those things will not own your awe. Horizontal awe is meant to do one thing: stimulate vertical awe.

- Paul David Tripp, Awe

Real Faith In Our Faithful God

Please keep these two foundational perspectives in mind as you read these pages:

First, our journey in this life is about what God wants to do through our lives, not about our using God to accomplish our dreams.

Second, our impact and effectiveness as followers of Christ is in direct proportion to our faith-filled obedience as we face the challenges and opportunities God places before us.

May our great God fill your heart and mind with such a glorious vision of His power and love that you will see Him as greater than all of your fears and more than sufficient to meet all of your needs.

- Crawford W. Loritts Jr., Real Faith In Our Faithful God

The Lucifer Effect

If prison is anything like what I went through here, I don't know how it could help anyone. (pg 162)

The System includes the Situation, but it is more enduring, more widespread, involving extensive networks of people, their expectations, norms, policies, and, perhaps, laws. Over time, Systems come to have a historical foundation and sometimes also a political and economic power structure that governs and directs the behaviour of many people within its sphere of influence.

Systems are the engines that run situations that create behavioural contexts that influence the human action of those under their control. At some point, the System may become an autonomous entity, independent of those who initially started it or even of those in apparent authority within its power structure. Each System comes to develop a culture of its own, as many Systems collectively come to contribute to the culture of a society. (pg 179-180)

The line between Good and Evil, once thought to be impermeable, proved instead to be quite permeable. (pg 195)

The primary simple lesson the Stanford Prison Experiment teaches is that situations matter. Social situations can have more profound effects on the behaviour and mental functioning of individuals, groups, and national leaders than we might believe possible. Some situations can exert such powerful influence over us that we can be led to behave in ways we would not, could not, predict was possible in advance. (pg 211-212)

The most important lesson to be derived from the Stanford Prison Experiment is that Situations are created by Systems. Systems provide the institutional support, authority, and resources that allow Situations to operate as they do. (pg 226)

You get confessions and admissions by building rapport not by bullying, by earning trust not by fostering hatred. (pg 377)

By developing a balanced time perspective in which past, present, and future can be called into action depending on the situation and task at hand, you will be in a better position to act responsibly and wisely than when your time perspective is biased toward reliance on only one or two time frames. Situational power is weakened when past and future combine to contain the excesses of the present.

For example, research indicates that righteous Gentiles who helped to hide Dutch Jews from the Nazis did not engage in the kind of rationalising their neighbours did in generating reasons for not helping. These heroes depended upon moral structures derived from their past and never lost sight of a future time when they would look back on this terrible situation and be forced to ask themselves whether they had done the right thing when they chose not to succumb to fear and social pressure. (pg 455)

- Philip Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.

"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

"And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect." - Hebrews 11:1-2, 13, 39-40 (ESV)