Lake Merced

Am in California for the week. Flew in Friday evening and was greeted by my daughter and son-in-law, whom I hadn't seen for a year and a half. Very gratified to see their growth in Christ, maturity, poise and assurance. Saturday morning we relaxed and then went to the annual Arts Splash in Carlsbad in the afternoon, where we saw my friend Ron and many other artists. I'm not a big arts guy myself but I appreciate that God gave each one separate gifts to use for His glory. Saturday evening went to a place called the Gastro Pub. Sunday headed off to their regular church where the brother preached on Romans 10:5-13. He has been working his way through Romans for several years. They are getting a solid foundation.
In the afternoon had a good, fruitful conversation with my daughter before my friend Bill came. He is an old GO guy, a gifted musician,a and a thinker who is not full of himself. We hung out for about two hours. Sunday evening she prepared a meal and the three of us relaxed. Monday morning up early, my son-in-law took me to the airport and I flew up to the Bay Area. One hour actual flying time replaces nine hours of driving. My friend Andrew picked me up, took me out to breakfast, and then to his neighborhood. He showed me around and then he had to head off to a work assignment in the south. Yesterday I walked to the nearest subway station, and then off to Fremont to see my brother. He picked me up, took me out to eat at a non meat buffet restaurant, and then back to the BART station again. He is one of the most non intentionally humorous people I know. The whole process, including walking back to the apartment from the BART station took six hours.
This morning I walked around Lake Merced's muddy green water, enjoying the different vegetation than we have in New England. "For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." (Isa 55:12 ESV)

Hope of the Gospel

When one thinks of the hope of the gospel, one may think of the promise of eternal life for those who genuinely place their trust in Christ, and this is true. Today, I write of another aspect, that of hope in this life. Over the course of the last four decades I have encountered many believers. Far too many seem little changed over time. Some use Jesus as a coping mechanism. Others rely on the promise mentioned above of eternal bliss with Christ. Too few seem to have victory in this life. I don't refer to perfection, but to an ongoing growth, bearing good fruit, becoming, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, more like Christ. Now I understand that some receive a better start in life than others, that some have experienced horrific abuse or neglect yet we all have the same sin nature, and all require the same salvation found in Christ. What is the difference between the person who, thirty years ago, received Christ but is still bound by old wounds, unforgiveness, and intransigent sin, and the person that is faithfully denying himself, taking up his cross daily, and following Jesus? Does it really boil down to faith in what God says and acting on that faith? I believe it does. Even the smallest act of obedience is rewarded. Each one has received the measure of faith. ( Romans 12:3) We are no longer helpless losers but more than conquerors through Him who loves us. (Rom. 8:37)
Blessed by fellowship this week with the Monday morning men's group, Bruce G, Juliano & Mariana, Ken K, John R, the Thursday night men's group, Josh, and Juli.

Advance

God surpassed my expectations during our recent church advance (retreat.) We enjoyed good fellowship, prayer, worship, teaching, eating together, and even a little Frisbee. Again i am reminded of an orchestra, with all the different instruments. Occasionally one solos, sometimes a section (like strings or horns) plays, and then the entire orchestra plays together. But it is the conductor that sets the pace, the one on whom each musician looks and depends for the right timing. All analogies break down at some point but in the one described above the Holy Spirit is the conductor. He chooses the music, and we play at His direction. There is some structure but within it, each person gets to play to the peak of their gift and ability.
I had become concerned that we were simply a collection of individuals rather than a group established by God to work together in glorifying Him and bearing good fruit. What I saw encouraged me that we had some cohesion and worked well together. One attendee was a fourteen year old teenager who had never met any of us before. In the beginning he wanted to go home right away. By the end, after hanging out with us, being prayed for and praying for others, he thanked us for inviting him. Three young men, college students, came. Each added a lot to us. Our sisters excelled in hospitality, as they always do. We also thank John & Debra for their generosity in loaning their immaculate home to us for the weekend.
Am also thankful to God for time spent with Gary, looking into, among other things, the father heart of God. Also thankful with what He is doing with Sanford and Co. brothers gathering for prayer at the home where I live, on Monday mornings.

Early September reflections

The following thought has been posted before; as the Holy Spirit has brought it to my remembrance, I'll pass it on. Regarding the idea of "gleaning", if the fact of disagreeing with one thing that someone says or teaches causes us to no longer listen or receive that person, what does that actually say? It seems to say that unless we can have 100% agreement, then we have nothing. Is this a realistic expectation, to agree with everything a person says or teaches? It also seems to say that we have 100% accuracy in everything we believe, that there is nothing further that we can or need to learn. Isn't this a high level of hubris? Aren't we then unteachable?
On another note those who attended the most recent regional gathering received mutual encouragement and edification. May God continue to work in our hearts.
Was blessed to visit a group near Willimantic, CT. on Sunday. This is the largest of the twenty groups that I visit, a number of homeschooling families, some of whose children have now grown up and married. Shared a little on the themes that I believe that God wanted me to bring back from Brazil, i.e. loving one another and discipleship.
This morning was the inauguration of a men's group. Four of us joined together to share, pray, get in the Word and glorify God. May we not despise the day of small beginnings. (Zech. 4:10)

Spiritual Pride

In the battle of the Christian against sin, it seems that external, visible sins are easier to combat, for example, to quit smoking or cursing. The internal ones like lust or pride are far more intractable. Yesterday as I reflected on this, i believe that the Holy Spirit revealed to me that pride meant loving ourselves more than God. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment of all, He responded "and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." ( Mark 12:30)Pride places our love for one's self as more important than our love for God. The Scripture acknowledges that we love ourselves when it says "for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it..." (Ephesians 5:29) Yet this understanding of our love for ourself should lead us to a greater love for God.
Spiritual pride seems like the worst manifestation of our love for one's self over God. What do we have that we have not received? We deserve eternal punishment. Romans 14 says in three separate places not to judge our brothers. In context, this refers to things which are not foundational doctrine. In other words, it is permissible to see some things differently. Yet our pride says that we are 100% correct in all our convictions, doctrines, interpretations and applications, even when we change our position. Lord God, may i love you more than myself.

House Church Blues

Some of the readers of this blog are familiar with a teaching utilizing the parable of the wine poured into new wine skins ( Luke 5:36ff) In this teaching Jesus is the wine and New Testament patterns a.k.a. apostolic traditions is the wineskin. As usually expressed, the lack of a new wineskin (rather than the old wineskin of traditional church practice) is needed to contained the wine so it doesn't fall to the ground. While we should adhere to the Bible rather than human tradition, no wineskin has a purpose if there is no wine to put in it. For some time people have been telling me their concerns about people in house churches in New England. In the last several weeks this has accelerated. It comes from brethren whom I respect in the Lord. No longer can I ignore it. Have we become so enamoured of the structure that we have lost the life? Jesus is clear. Apart from Him we can do nothing. ( John 15:5) He told the disciples to wait until they were clothed with power from on high. ( The promise of the Holy Spirit) As I reflect back on eleven plus years of following the original apostolic traditions of the NT, which I do believe are for today, I see a trickle of seasoned believers from traditional churches into home gatherings. Several groups have become twenty with whom I have relationship. Yet except for one group, there are hardly any new converts. Are we just shuffling the deck? Does the wineskin have any point if we have no wine to put into it?