I'll be leaving by train later today to go Brasov as tomorrow I will be preaching at the Calvary Chapel there. Keala is in England with his family and his parents, who have been visiting, to watch his son Jonah play in a rugby tournament. I am sure they will have a great time.
It will be fun to see everyone and to share a little on what I have been learning about idolatry as that is what the Lord seems to have put on my heart for tomorrow. It all started last July when I was teaching in Luke 4 about the three temptations Jesus went through in the desert from Satan. At the time it struck me that at the core of the temptations what Satan was trying to do was get Jesus to doubt the Father's goodness and provision and take things into his own hands. And within a short period of time of this I just "happen" to see a vodcast of Mark Driscoll's sermon on idolatry also. These two things really got me thinking about idolatry. May the Lord give me grace to share it.
This won't be my first trip up to Brasov this week. On Wednesday I went there to pack my stuff at my old apartment and on Thursday Jamie came from Bucuresti with the church van and Dan and we moved most of my small stuff to Bucuresti. It is all sitting in a room at the ministry building right now cause I am still living at the ministry building. Why haven't I gotten an apartment yet? Well, that will be a topic for another post next week.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Good Speaking Advice
Here is a video with good advice on public speaking. It takes awhile to load the video- be patient.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Recovered From the Flu
A few weeks ago I had the flu which kept me in bed for a handful of days then over a week of recovering and getting my strength back bit by bit after that. When I moved to Bucuresti a lot of those working at the ministry building were sick so I knew chances would be that it would catch up to me at some point. Still have a slight cough and get tired easily but feel much better.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Stella Sings - Video
Here is a video of Stella singing a few songs. Stella, whom I call Stelutza (little Stella), was about one year old and living at the orphanage in Petrosani when I first started working there. She is about 10 years old now and living at a Christian orphanage called Betania. Kelly Stark, of Isaiah's House, has a ministry to orphan kids in Petrosani and sometimes Stelutza comes and spends the weekends with her.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Quotes from Gospel Primer
Here are some quotes from part one of the "Gospel Primer" that I gave a link to in the last post.
“...the gospel...of first importance...” (1 Corinthians 15:1,3)
“If there’s anything in life that we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel. And I don’t mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be.” (C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 20-21)
“The gospel isn’t one class among many that you’ll attend during your life as a Christian – the gospel is the whole building that all the classes take place in! Rightly approached, all the topics you’ll study and focus on as a believer will be offered to you ‘within the walls’ of the glorious gospel.” (C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 75-76)
The essence of eternal life is not found in having my sins forgiven, in possessing a mansion in heaven, or in having streets of gold on which to walk forever. Rather, the essence of eternal life is intimately knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Everything else that God gives to me in the gospel serves merely to bring me to Himself so that this great end might be achieved. Christ died for the forgiveness of my sins so that I might be brought “to God.
The “gospel of God” is from God, comes through God, and leads me to God; and it is in Him that my soul finds its truest joy and rest.
Understanding that I am not the ultimate end of the gospel, but rather that God’s glory is, actually enables me to embrace my salvation more boldly than I would otherwise dare to do. For example, when my timid heart questions why God would want to love one so sinful as I, I read the answer, “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” I figure, then, that my unworthiness must actually be useful to God, because it magnifies the degree to which His grace might be glorified as He lavishes His saving kindness upon me. This line of reasoning makes perfect sense to me and convinces me to embrace the gospel with greater passion so that God might glorify Himself through me, an unworthy sinner. Indeed, the more I embrace and experience thegospel, the more I delight in the worship of God, the more expressive my joy in Him becomes, and the more I yearn to glorify Him in all I say and do.
“...the gospel...of first importance...” (1 Corinthians 15:1,3)
“If there’s anything in life that we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel. And I don’t mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be.” (C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 20-21)
“The gospel isn’t one class among many that you’ll attend during your life as a Christian – the gospel is the whole building that all the classes take place in! Rightly approached, all the topics you’ll study and focus on as a believer will be offered to you ‘within the walls’ of the glorious gospel.” (C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 75-76)
The essence of eternal life is not found in having my sins forgiven, in possessing a mansion in heaven, or in having streets of gold on which to walk forever. Rather, the essence of eternal life is intimately knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Everything else that God gives to me in the gospel serves merely to bring me to Himself so that this great end might be achieved. Christ died for the forgiveness of my sins so that I might be brought “to God.
The “gospel of God” is from God, comes through God, and leads me to God; and it is in Him that my soul finds its truest joy and rest.
Understanding that I am not the ultimate end of the gospel, but rather that God’s glory is, actually enables me to embrace my salvation more boldly than I would otherwise dare to do. For example, when my timid heart questions why God would want to love one so sinful as I, I read the answer, “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” I figure, then, that my unworthiness must actually be useful to God, because it magnifies the degree to which His grace might be glorified as He lavishes His saving kindness upon me. This line of reasoning makes perfect sense to me and convinces me to embrace the gospel with greater passion so that God might glorify Himself through me, an unworthy sinner. Indeed, the more I embrace and experience thegospel, the more I delight in the worship of God, the more expressive my joy in Him becomes, and the more I yearn to glorify Him in all I say and do.
Worth Reading
Here are links to some articles I found on the web that I found interesting and thought provoking.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54346
The Secret Curse of Holywood 'Stars'- excellent article that gives you a lot to reflect on for yourself
http://www.eucatastrophe.com/blog/archives/2007/02/19/preaching-the-gospel-to-yourselffrom-the-old-testament/
Preaching the Gospel to Yourself…From the Old Testament - For some reason I could not open it correctly in Firefox so I used another browser
http://www.cornerstonebible.org/Resources/gospelprimer7.6.pdf
A Gospel Primer- right click and save to hard drive
http://www.digital-web.com/news/2007/02/top_five_articles_for_presenters/
top 5 articles for presenters
http://www.worldnetdaily.com
The Secret Curse of Holywood 'Stars'- excellent article that gives you a lot to reflect on for yourself
http://www.eucatastrophe.com
Preaching the Gospel to Yourself…From the Old Testament - For some reason I could not open it correctly in Firefox so I used another browser
http://www.cornerstonebible
A Gospel Primer- right click and save to hard drive
http://www.digital-web.com
top 5 articles for presenters
Monday, February 19, 2007
My New Website is Up
I finally finished updating my personal website. You can check it out at godswill.ro You will find photos, videos, links to Calvary Chapel and Romanian sites and a place at the bottom of the home page to add yourself and your location to my map.
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