27 Jan 2011
Reading: Ephesians 4:11-16 (NIV)
In what ways are you an infant? In what ways do you act like a child? In what ways, then, do you act like a man of God?
I see two possible outcomes of being an infant that is pointed out here in scripture (not mutually exclusive but non-conflicting), and I'd like to focus on the second. I've had some pretty painful experiences this week in this area, so this section not only rings some bells but also inspires me to be more than I am.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by (1) every wind of teaching and by (2) the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
I don't see any other way to read this other than that if we do and achieve the first part of the passage (as indicated by the "then we will no longer...") the second parts will occur. So, this unity, maturity, and fullness of Christ that Paul is talking about is what is required to no longer be blown here and there by the "cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming". This week has been particularly difficult. But the only person I can really change is myself. If there is something about me that is perpetuating this effort, this behavior that seems to be so pointed at me, it is me that needs to change. When we as the body of Christ pull together in unity (defined or described in the previous verses), the knowledge of God, and become mature, we can move on from infancy to adulthood.
In what ways do I act like a child?
Prayer Requests:
Todd's Condition
> Praise that Todd is showings sings of being on the path to engraftment.
> Praise that Todd is feeling well and that he is able to be relatively independent in the hospital right now.
> Continued prayer that the donor cells are strengthened and take over the body. When the hospital does a Chimerism test, we want it to see 100% donor cells.
> Continued prayer that God would strengthen Jen, as she is taking care of most of the things at home, while visiting Todd in the hospital.
> Continued prayer for Todd's health, that when his immune system is so low, that he would not get sick at all. Todd's White Blood Cells (WBC) are up to 0.4, the last I heard.
See Todd's Blog.
Showing posts with label act like a man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label act like a man. Show all posts
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
The Talk of Men: 14 Jan 2011
14 Jan 2011
Please read Todd's prayer requests and pray today. Today is transplant day.
Reading: Ephesians 5
Again, I direct you back to the audio sermon files at http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/sermons starting 12 Aug 2007, in the 3-week sermon series "The Role of Men".
I began reading this passage in verses 22 and 25, but then looked back to the beginning of the chapter, and immediately stopped short. Yesterday we were talking about courageous love, love that not only risks a loving action, but endures with this love [Thank you Brian].
To relate this to Pastor David's sermon on Sunday, if in talking about this kind of love yesterday, we would be focusing on looking outward. This passage today strikes deeply inward.
Verse 3 is one TALL order:
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
In my experience, guys (I fully included here) are overtly guilty in the area discussed in verse 4. However, as we read further into this chapter, I fully believe that Paul is scaling up in his challenges. First, is this personal purity area. Second, Paul challenges us to live as children of light (verse 9-11) and to understand what the Lord's will is (verse 17). Instead of living in and doing evil deeds, Paul says that we are supposed to expose them and bring them to light. Now, I don't think that Paul intends for us to expose others' sins by "outing" them on a public blog or in front of the church, but rather for one man to sharpen another, just as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). But remember, Paul is still talking to both men and women here, this is not exclusive for us males to be doing. It isn't until verse 25 that Paul addresses the men specifically.
I think that it is no coincidence that Paul only spends 3 verses on the women, and then spend 8-9 verses on the men. As head of the household, there is much more call on the man. And this is where I think it gets really hard. Specifically, Paul commands the women to submit to their husbands. Paul commands the men to die (love your wife as Christ loved the church: What did he do for the church?). What does he mean? Well, how can you die?
Ways to die:
Die (physically), though through the movies we worship, we should be familiar and already comfortable with (Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, etc).
Die to the world.
Die to sin (might be considered the same as the previous).
Die to yourself.
While you may be called to do the first, I think this is the one we shouldn't be seeking out. :) However, step 1 is to die to the world. If we are a Christian, we have already begun the process. But in referring to our wives, I think we are dying ourselves. This is the hardest for me: To be strong, to stand firm, to put my wants and needs behind my wife's needs, all day, every day, and to not cry about it in the process.
My thoughts and questions:
Why is it so dang hard to love her in her love language when I am not feeling like doing it? Why is it sometimes easier to change the oil (something I also don't like doing) than to buy flowers when I am not feeling loved myself?
Do I know my wife's needs? Could I name them? If someone asked me what she needs me to do for her to feel love, would I be able to tell them? Would I be able to say that I regularly do those things?
What are other ways that I should be "dying to myself"?
Changing the subject....
Prayer Requests:
That God would prepare Todd's body for his transplant TODAY.
That God would strengthen Jen, as she is taking care of most of the things at home, while visiting Todd in the hospital.
Pray for a boring and uneventful day.
Pray for the donor cells to completely take over Todd's body.
See Todd's Blog, specifically "T-1: Thankful!".
Please read Todd's prayer requests and pray today. Today is transplant day.
Reading: Ephesians 5
Again, I direct you back to the audio sermon files at http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/sermons starting 12 Aug 2007, in the 3-week sermon series "The Role of Men".
I began reading this passage in verses 22 and 25, but then looked back to the beginning of the chapter, and immediately stopped short. Yesterday we were talking about courageous love, love that not only risks a loving action, but endures with this love [Thank you Brian].
To relate this to Pastor David's sermon on Sunday, if in talking about this kind of love yesterday, we would be focusing on looking outward. This passage today strikes deeply inward.
Verse 3 is one TALL order:
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.
In my experience, guys (I fully included here) are overtly guilty in the area discussed in verse 4. However, as we read further into this chapter, I fully believe that Paul is scaling up in his challenges. First, is this personal purity area. Second, Paul challenges us to live as children of light (verse 9-11) and to understand what the Lord's will is (verse 17). Instead of living in and doing evil deeds, Paul says that we are supposed to expose them and bring them to light. Now, I don't think that Paul intends for us to expose others' sins by "outing" them on a public blog or in front of the church, but rather for one man to sharpen another, just as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). But remember, Paul is still talking to both men and women here, this is not exclusive for us males to be doing. It isn't until verse 25 that Paul addresses the men specifically.
I think that it is no coincidence that Paul only spends 3 verses on the women, and then spend 8-9 verses on the men. As head of the household, there is much more call on the man. And this is where I think it gets really hard. Specifically, Paul commands the women to submit to their husbands. Paul commands the men to die (love your wife as Christ loved the church: What did he do for the church?). What does he mean? Well, how can you die?
Ways to die:
Die (physically), though through the movies we worship, we should be familiar and already comfortable with (Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, etc).
Die to the world.
Die to sin (might be considered the same as the previous).
Die to yourself.
While you may be called to do the first, I think this is the one we shouldn't be seeking out. :) However, step 1 is to die to the world. If we are a Christian, we have already begun the process. But in referring to our wives, I think we are dying ourselves. This is the hardest for me: To be strong, to stand firm, to put my wants and needs behind my wife's needs, all day, every day, and to not cry about it in the process.
My thoughts and questions:
Why is it so dang hard to love her in her love language when I am not feeling like doing it? Why is it sometimes easier to change the oil (something I also don't like doing) than to buy flowers when I am not feeling loved myself?
Do I know my wife's needs? Could I name them? If someone asked me what she needs me to do for her to feel love, would I be able to tell them? Would I be able to say that I regularly do those things?
What are other ways that I should be "dying to myself"?
Changing the subject....
Prayer Requests:
That God would prepare Todd's body for his transplant TODAY.
That God would strengthen Jen, as she is taking care of most of the things at home, while visiting Todd in the hospital.
Pray for a boring and uneventful day.
Pray for the donor cells to completely take over Todd's body.
See Todd's Blog, specifically "T-1: Thankful!".
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The Talk of Men: 13 Jan 2011
13 Jan 2011
Reading: 1 Corinthians 16:5-18
Again, I direct you back to the audio sermon files at http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/sermons starting 12 Aug 2007, in the 3-week sermon series "The Role of Men".
Based on this challenge that we have before, this fact that sometimes no matter how much we work at something it may still produce thorns and thistles, how do we proceed?
Paul says here in Corinthians verses 13 and 14 that we need to act like Men.
In the NIV it says:
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
In the ESV it says:
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.
I have heard people say to "act like a man in the past", but here Paul is using it to "Act like a man" as some of his final advice to the people of Corinth. Maybe this seems like a simple thing, but imagine if the situation were different. Imagine that you were visiting your spiritual role model or mentor, and as the last thing he said to you before he had to leave (where you would not see him again for quite some time). As his last words, we tells you to act like a man. I would be kept awake at night trying to make sure that I knew what "acting like a man" really was. Wouldn't you?
I you are a clear version-to-version comparator (is that a word?) like me, you would probably compare the words in these two versions and say that, according to the greek translation, to "act like a man" means to "be courageous". The word courageous makes me think of scenes from Braveheart, Gladiator, or Saving Private Ryan, and rightfully so. However, then Paul intrigues us more by following up the comment about being a man with "Let all that you do be in love."
I guess Paul is trying to convey a new kind of manliness: Courageous Love. If you are following along with the sermon series, Matt Chandler talks about loving your wife, regardless of their response. This kind of love would take courage.
Paul later talks about the household of Stephanas, and that such men who have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord's people.
My thoughts and questions:
Some people are not easy to love. Some take quite a bit of courage. Can you think of some people (specifically) that would require such courage?
Some would say that God teaches us the Gospel through our marriage, through our family, through our kids, and through our friends. By loving, regardless of their response, we learn a sliver of what it is like in how God loves us, regardless of our response.
What does loving others, regardless of their response, look like? What form would that love take? Obviously, this would look different with different people. By loving others, regardless of their response, we become initiators of God's love.
Regarding the house of Stephanas, who are the Lord's people?
_______________________________________
(If you would like to be taken off this distribution, just reply back and let me know.
If you think that someone else would like to be included on this email, please send me their email and I will add them to the distribution list.)
Rob
Reading: 1 Corinthians 16:5-18
Again, I direct you back to the audio sermon files at http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/sermons starting 12 Aug 2007, in the 3-week sermon series "The Role of Men".
Based on this challenge that we have before, this fact that sometimes no matter how much we work at something it may still produce thorns and thistles, how do we proceed?
Paul says here in Corinthians verses 13 and 14 that we need to act like Men.
In the NIV it says:
13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
In the ESV it says:
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.
I have heard people say to "act like a man in the past", but here Paul is using it to "Act like a man" as some of his final advice to the people of Corinth. Maybe this seems like a simple thing, but imagine if the situation were different. Imagine that you were visiting your spiritual role model or mentor, and as the last thing he said to you before he had to leave (where you would not see him again for quite some time). As his last words, we tells you to act like a man. I would be kept awake at night trying to make sure that I knew what "acting like a man" really was. Wouldn't you?
I you are a clear version-to-version comparator (is that a word?) like me, you would probably compare the words in these two versions and say that, according to the greek translation, to "act like a man" means to "be courageous". The word courageous makes me think of scenes from Braveheart, Gladiator, or Saving Private Ryan, and rightfully so. However, then Paul intrigues us more by following up the comment about being a man with "Let all that you do be in love."
I guess Paul is trying to convey a new kind of manliness: Courageous Love. If you are following along with the sermon series, Matt Chandler talks about loving your wife, regardless of their response. This kind of love would take courage.
Paul later talks about the household of Stephanas, and that such men who have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord's people.
My thoughts and questions:
Some people are not easy to love. Some take quite a bit of courage. Can you think of some people (specifically) that would require such courage?
Some would say that God teaches us the Gospel through our marriage, through our family, through our kids, and through our friends. By loving, regardless of their response, we learn a sliver of what it is like in how God loves us, regardless of our response.
What does loving others, regardless of their response, look like? What form would that love take? Obviously, this would look different with different people. By loving others, regardless of their response, we become initiators of God's love.
Regarding the house of Stephanas, who are the Lord's people?
_______________________________________
(If you would like to be taken off this distribution, just reply back and let me know.
If you think that someone else would like to be included on this email, please send me their email and I will add them to the distribution list.)
Rob
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