Miscellanea

Rob Bell:
I finished read Rob Bell's "Love wins" this week. It is a very interesting read indeed. But I believe that the reviews are on the button: He is at best heterodox and at some points he is very close to the edge of heresy. But his style of writing makes it very hard to peg him down. At the heart of Bells book is a fundamental misunderstanding of God's love. The love Bell portrays is a sentimental kind of love not the truthful, just and holy love the scriptures paint. ..I'd give it a read if you are interested in the debate and have a strong solid theology yourself, but I certainly would be very careful who I passed it on to.

Some other web links:
Speaking of Rob Bell and the emerging church, here is a good article on navigating the emerging church.

A brilliant poem by John Piper

A good article on pornography. I recently was counselling a family who have two teenage boys. I told them I am sure they, like all boys, will be looking at porn. They disagreed, but two weeks later they humbly came back after finding a stash of the stuff in the one boys room. Here is an ebook that is worth reading on the same subject.

Some good resources:
Tim Keller's The Prodigal God
Anything by Philip Yancey, CS Lewis, John Piper or Mark Driscoll
If you are looking for a good Systematic Theology book, Wayne Grudem's is simply brilliant. A must very every home group leader or elder.
For those who battle with election and similar doctrines, Michael Horton's "Putting amazing back into Grace" is outstanding.

Fundraising Auction Dinner

We had an awesome fundraising dinner and auction last night at Meerendal. It was a great evening of laughter and fellowship and we had a great turnout and wonderful items donated by so many people! There was a one large anonymous donation and that added to the money raised through the auction and all in all we landed up at R283 000!!!

I was gob-smacked!

That is brilliant and I honour God for the generosity he has put into peoples hearts for this project. A special vote of thanks to Kim who organized it all and to Rynhard who was an unbelievable auctioneer!

One step closer to our new building! All for Jesus glory!

A great lenten testimony

One of our members wrote me this week:

Hi Brent

Just wanted to share a story with you about Lent.  I have decided to give up coffee and I am struggling a lot! I was telling my kids all about this, and what Lent is about and how we need to think about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins every time we can't have the thing we have given up!  My boy ,who is 8 years old, went to bed reading his Veggie Tales Bible, and read one of the cartoons on Easter.

Anyway, this morning he walked into the kitchen and announced that he is giving up his PSP for Lent, until Easter!  I was so surprised, as I have not asked the kids to give up anything, just told them all about it, and was just struck by how our children follow our lead by example.  I think this is one of the biggest struggles of following Jesus - trying to live by His
example!

But I was just amazed at how kids follow when we live by Jesus' example - my day started off well!

Elders Retreat

The elders spent a lot of time this weekend debating together about the life and ministry of PVFC at an amazing retreat.

Our congregation has grown phenomenally over the last years and we're at a stage where a bunch of things need to be made more formal to deal with the numbers in the congregation. Most importantly we believe that we need to assist our members and those desiring to be part of us to follow Jesus with all their heart, mind soul and strength.

We've made some pretty big decisions and we're going to be implementing them slowly over the next months and some probably only into next year. This is going to require some work, lots of prayer and volunteers to make these things a reality. With a new building looming before us and the increase in members that will create, we need to make some key decisions and put in place systems to help us become everything that Jesus desires us to be. We'll keep you up to speed with these things as time goes on.

Please keep the elders in your daily prayers that we'd be faithful in following Jesus, that we'd be zealous in our service of the church, that we'd be gracious in our challenging our family to step up and serve and love Jesus and his church!

Rob Bell Part II

OK so in a previous post I mentioned that Rob Bell's new book is coming out and there has been a lot of debate about it. Whilst the internet is a nasty place and in the Christian world often more so as various theological sides up the ante against each other, there are some things that are worth looking at.

With Bell being such a popular writer and video speaker it is important that we know where he is.

Well he has now pegged his colours to the mast and you can read a review of the book "Love Wins" here. Needless to say I think we must now take everything Bell says with a pretty big bag of salt.

A sad day.

The School of Prayer: The Love of a Father

Do You hold fast to God's Promises?

Jesus assures us in the Sermon on the Mount that we have a Heavenly Father who delights in us needing Him and who fulfills our needs out of a deep love that He has for His children.

"Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matt 7:9-11)

This means that if we are children of Christ, and we stand in a loving, dependent, obedient relationship with Him, we can be sure that the Father will hear our prayers and that He will provide for our needs in the best possible way.

The value is in the relationship of God knowing you and you getting to know Him more and more...

Jesus calls the little children to come to Him and He says "for such belongs the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:16), not because of their perceived innocence, but because of their ability to have total faith and dependency in their Father.

If you have ever walked past your child standing on a step, you'll know that he will take a flying leap into your arms in total faith that you will catch him. God the Father wants us to trust Him in the same way.

We are all sinful and God wants us to run to Him like a child with open arms when we have done wrong and ask His forgiveness, because He is the same Father in the parable of the Lost son that comes running towards us first.

Just as little children are completely dependent on their parents for love and fulfilling their needs, God wants us to be dependent on Him for our every need. No matter how big or small, He wants you to come to Him, because behind the asking and receiving lies a relationship of trust and love that grows between you and the Father.

How do we know that He listens when the answer to our prayer is not yes?

Egg on my face

So in Sunday's sermon on the creation, I mention that the Rob Bell video "Everything is spiritual" is really excellent. Then I catch up some reading and I find that there is quite an upset with some things Rob is saying regarding his upcoming book "Love Wins" that I have on pre-order and will read as soon as I can access it via Amazon.

Rob is one of the most gifted communicators in the world. He seems to have a knack to take parts of scripture that many consider dead and bring life to them. He started his church in Grand Rapids Michigan by preaching through Leviticus of all books! Kudos!

The stuff that Rob talks about is excellent, but I have repeatedly stated in many ways that I am concerned about what Rob does NOT say. One of the key areas that he is silent on is atonement, redemption, confession and many of the other great themes of the cross that the New Testament is built on. He simply ignores the great book of Romans and the themes of Jesus saving work of the cross. Driscoll once commented about the Emerging church and said that the they believe in a salvation by association rather than by confession and faith. Basically: hang with Jesus people and you're OK. Rob is one of the Emerging leaders, and there have been question asked about this very influential pastor's theology and how orthodox it is. Brian McLaren another Emerging author has laid his cards on the table about his unorthodoxy, Rob Bell has never done so....until now.

So after recommending Rob's video on Sunday (which is really excellent!) He comes out with this video introducing his book where he makes it pretty clear that in his opinion, God would never send anybody to eternal punishment, let alone the billions who mock, ridicule or simply ignore God's Son. The question then has to be asked about how Rob understands the scriptures?Repeatedly Jesus talks about hell, punishment, God's wrath and his role in saving us from God's just anger at our sin. Most of Romans is a reminder of God's grace and saving work done through the cross and it reminds us that to ignore God will result in the outpouring of God's wrath, because sin demands justice.

I cannot wait to read the book, mostly because I hope that Bell's video is more of a marketing scheme and not what he really believes. Because if it is what he believes then he is so far outside of orthodoxy, that I am not sure we're even sitting at the same table, let alone worshiping the same God, who has clearly revealed these things through scripture.

So I am waiting, hoping and praying....

God's sovereingty

I think Sundays sermon about God's sovereignty went well although a number of people where quite upset by it and in time, as they read, reflect and pray over it, they will come to see the glorious, magnificent and all powerful God whom we worship!

The one part of the doctrine that I did not tackle was how God's sovereignty relates to salvation, and I will address it in a few weeks time. This part is called predestination and it is a topic of conversation that should be avoided around the dinner table unless you want to lose friends! Mnay people don't like it but fail to see how clearly the scriptures tell the story in so many places. This is a clear doctrine of teaching from the scriptures and cannot be avoided if one is honest with the text. Augustine, Luther and Calvin held to this and are of the greatest influence over time in this regard. However humanistic thinking has allowed us to elevate humanity and our 'free' will to unbiblical proportions.

As with many things, the scriptures do not paint a picture that is as clear as us western minded people would like it to be. As with many truths in the scriptures, there are a number of passages that hold ideas in tension. In this case God's will vs human responsibility.

This article is really helpful and provides some information on the variety of views but is written from a Calvinistic (that means biblical :) ) view. It is really well written and will prove helpful for those who desire to unpack this most important but contentious issue.

Children's Bibles

Many Children's bibles are well illustrated but the content often lacks detail that is really important. Like the central character of the Bible - Jesus!

We've been reading our kids the Jesus Storybook Bible on the Kindle. It is simply brilliant and every story in it points to Jesus. I really recommend this to anyone with kids 4 and up. For those to whom the name might seem familiar Sally is NOT related to the famous theologian and preacher  D Martyn Lloyd Jones :)

Mercy Always Comes Running

Mercy Always Comes Running

God's Sovreignty

Three weeks back we listened to an outstanding sermon on Sunday from John Piper called 'skeptical grumbling and sovereign grace' you can listen to it here if you missed it. It certainly raised some eyebrows and I hope it got people thinking, reflecting and reading God's word so that we might know him better.

John Piper has posted a useful and short note about the two wills of God. Have a read:

I would like to help you distinguish between God’s moral will and his sovereign will. This will help you make sense of the apparent contradiction between these two statements:

1. God does all things according to his will (sovereign will).

“He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand” (Daniel 4:35).

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalms 115:3).

2. Some things happen that are not God’s will (moral will).

“Whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17)—implying some don’t.

“The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)—yet some do perish.

In other words, the Bible makes a distinction between God’s will, understood as his purpose that is never frustrated in any event; and God’s will, understood as his moral command to act a certain way.

One of the clearest evidences of the difference between God’s sovereign will and his moral will is the fact that God morally forbids murder:

“Do not kill the innocent” (Exodus 23:7).

And yet he willed the murder of his Son:

“Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:27–28).

One of the high and holy truths about God that we embrace in submitting to biblical truth is that God does not sin in willing that sin be. This is crucial, because the design of God in the cross hangs on it.

God’s ways and will are pure. He has his holy purposes in ordaining all that comes to pass.

“He works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

“All his works are right and his ways are just” (Daniel 4:37).

Let us worship and bow down.

The School of Prayer: Alone with God

Hi Team, from now on you will get occasional postings from our prayer team via Inge. These are meant to encourage you in your prayer life....enjoy! Brent


What is God’s heart for us?

His Word tells us through Paul in 1 Cor 1:9 “ God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” He has given us His Son and the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we may have an intimate relationship with Him. If we miss this we have failed the calling God has for our lives.

How do we do this?

Matt 6:6 “ But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Jesus teaches His first public teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that we should pray not to be seen or heard by others, but that we should pray to meet with our Father alone in secret.

When we want to spend a special evening on a date with the one we love, how intimate is our conversation when it is just the two of you versus the whole family? And yet we love our family, but we also need these special times alone to nurture our relationship. This is exactly what Jesus was teaching his disciples on the mount: spend time ‘dating’, getting to know Jesus in prayer.

If you set aside a little time each day somewhere special, He will meet you there & He will make Himself known to you - Jesus teaches that.

The Visible Signs of Sanctification

The work of the Holy Spirit is twofold in Jesus work in us. The first is our being saved - Justification is the single step of us being counted legally right with God. But there is a second part, often neglected in some parts of the church: sanctification. This is the contiuous working of the Holy Spirit in us to cause our lives to be Christlike in character and action. Here are some great comments on visible signs of Sanctification by JC Ryle.

Ryle: The Visible Signs of Sanctification

First Most Popular Post of 2010: The Parable of the Boat: Illustrating Differences Between Pelagianism, Semi-Pelalgianism, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Arminianism, and Calvinism

For the theologically minded, (if you love Jesus that means YOU!) here is a really helpful illustration on some of the different theologies out there. In case you're wondering we are reformed (Calvinist) theologically because as Ephesians reminds us we are dead in our sin and we are saved by grace through faith and even that faith is a gift from God to us...our salvation is ALL God's initiative!

Read The Parable of the Boat: Illustrating Differences Between Pelagianism, Semi-Pelalgianism, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Arminianism, and Calvinism

Remember The Duck

A great illustration on how sin can hold us captive when God is itching to forgive us.....if only we'd run to him sooner we'd suffer so much less!

Read Remember The Duck