Make Sin Visible

I do a lot of reading to prepare for my Sunday School class with my primary sources, outside of simply reading the passage over and making sense of it myself, are the notes in my Study Bible, my Bible College notes on Galatians, Precept-Austin and the commentaries it leads me to on Galatians, and John Piper's sermons on Galatians.

This conclusion to a Piper sermon really struck me this afternoon. After explaining one primary purpose of the law throughout the Bible was to expose sin and make it visible he says:

Finally, if God thought it wise and helpful not to let the sediment of pride and rebellion and distrust lie quietly at the bottom of the human heart, but instead, stirred it up and made it visible by demanding the obedience which comes from faith, then that's what my preaching should aim to do. More than ever I see the need for pastors to preach and Sunday School teachers to teach and members to admonish each other in such a way that the sediment of sin in the lives of so-called "carnal Christians" be stirred up and come to a crisis. Could it be that one of the reasons we see raindrops of blessing at Bethlehem instead of showers is that week after week several dozen people sit in these services with a layer of sinful muck at the bottom of their lives with no intention of doing anything about it? If so, let's pray that God use the Word to stir it up, so it can be seen for what it is, so there can be repentance and forgiveness and cleansing and renewal.

3 Families

Families are great. Averil and I have three of them. The Smiths, The Bibbys, and The Lansings. We had a great time with the Smiths for a week of Christmas: playing games, laughing, hanging out, eating, etc. Great time. Now we're having a great time with the Bibbys: a second Christmas, more games, laughs, and food. The Bibbys are taking great care of us now that we are "homeless" for a little while. The Lansings are also taking great care of us. For example, when Pastor Jack and I decided to move some big stuff today, Averil suggested that I call a couple people and both were immediately up for dropping whatever they were doing and coming to help. And Chris was in the office and happy to help too. Thanks Jack, Chris, Josh, and Matt for helping move all the big stuff today - and for actually lifting most of the big stuff yourselves. Who knew that a fridge that big could seem small and easy to carry, so much so that you can answer your cell phone while doing it? And who knew that saying, "I'm carrying a fridge right now" could sound so casual and get you off the phone with your mother-in-law so quickly?

One Solitary Life

Averil and I drove to Windsor on Saturday to avoid the bad weather that was on the way for Southern Ontario on Sunday. The result was that I missed church at Lansing on Sunday which I'm sad about because I love our church and really miss everything when I'm not there. But church in Windsor was good and I got in on their potluck Christmas lunch afterward. One thing I really liked about being here was getting to hear my Dad preach again and, in particular, being reminded in his sermon about the poem One Solitary Life.

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn't go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned--put together--have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.

Check out the movie version online here. (or at http://www.onesolitarylifemovie.com/)

Exercise Comic

As I was putting together the booklet I've been working on for the next Training Session at church I came across this comic, which I ended up putting on the title page. It works.

I Love The Church

I was just thinking today about how much I love the church. I love the church in general, and more specifically, I love Lansing. No church is perfect, and Lansing is no exception. But I love it. I get so excited thinking about Sundays and Tuesday Nights. And I get so excited thinking about ways to help Lansing grow in health and reach more people.

The Truth Project

I'm really looking forward to doing The Truth Project again. I went through it last Spring but I forget so much and really look forward to getting to do it again and to sharing it with so many friends. I've been enjoying some of TTP youtube videos today as I've worked on the C&C website.

If it's true that....

“The two factors that will influence you the most in the years ahead are the books you read and the people you’re around.” (Dr. Howard Hendricks)

...then Tuesday Nights (and reading The Purpose Driven Life), Sundays, hanging out on weekends, and reading other good books (and the Bible too!) are even more important than we may realize.

New Church Website

I'm so happy with how the new church website turned out! Now it will just be a matter of finishing up a few more parts of it and of keeping it up to date. I'm going to have to keep my camera around often to keep taking more pictures and stuff. But I just have to say that Moonfruit is great and Brian Mullins was a huge help getting it going and setting it up so that I just had to fill in information and change things here and there.