IDOP Everyday

Yesterday was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. We prayed yesterday (and will hopefully continue to do so!), but the reality of that persecution is faced today by so many around the world. Here's a brief video put out by Gospel for Asia that will give you a taste of what our persecuted family faces.



Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (Hebrews 13:3)

"I Am Happy That You Failed"

From Voice of the Martyrs (sent to me by Chuck Barmore): 

Zhang Rongliang, one of the most prominent house church leaders in China, was sentenced in 2006 to seven and a half years in prison for using an illegal passport. But even as Christians pressured communist leaders to release Rongliang, he was building a ministry inside the prison.

"I am happy that you and others tried to arrange for my release, but in one way, I am happy that you failed,"

Rongliang told a VOM contact.

 "You almost made a big mistake. If you had been successful, there would be no church in that prison today." 

After his release on Aug. 31, Rongliang was immediately admitted to a hospital for 15 days. Doctors treated Rongliang's high blood pressure and diabetes.

Though imprisoned, the utter freedom of his freedom betrays our slavery and shames us. Lord, grant us such freedom in Christ that we will be happy for "failures" (or unanswered prayers) that serve Providential plans for Freedom.

Genesis 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Technology: Master or Servant?

Mouthwash Recommended

 
Walter Hooper is a trustee of the C.S. Lewis estate. He served as Lewis' personal secretary for a short time and knew Lewis quite well. He wrote the introduction to Present Concerns: A Compelling Collection of Timely, Journalistic Essays. The essays were written by Lewis and later compiled by Hooper. In the introduction, Hooper recounts the following exchange he had with Lewis:

"Who is Elizabeth Taylor?" asked C.S. Lewis. ...

"If you read the newspapers," I said to Lewis, "you would know who she is."

"Ah-h-h-h!" said Lewis playfully, "but that is how I keep myself 'unspotted from the world'."

He recommended that if I absolutely "must" read newspapers I have a frequent "mouthwash" with The Lord of the Rings or some other great book.

I read this quote on vacation awhile back and found one more reason to love C.S. Lewis! Funny how timely and relevant Lewis was and still is for not having read newspapers! If this was his opinion roughly a half a century ago in England, what would he say to us today in America?!

So much of what passes for "news" is not "newsworthy." When "news" becomes more a business than a service, it's bound to shoot itself in the foot. When the compulsion to gain a greater market share trumps the responsibility to inform the populace of real and newsworthy news, "(cheap) entertainment value" might rise, but news as a good and public service dies.

As you walk through this holiday season, you might have a little extra time on your hands here and there. Shut off the TV, close your internet browser, and sink your teeth into a good book -- like this or this (present Book of the Month) or this or this or this or this (or this, if with your kids) or this or this or this. It's a great way to wash the world off your teeth.

Axe Your Boasts

The Lord is most graciously helping me to see how absolutely nothing I am without Him, and helping me to keep little in my own eyes. ... The axe cannot boast of the trees it has cut down. It could do nothing but for the woodsman. He made it, he sharpened it, and he used it. The moment he throws it aside; it becomes only old iron.

(Samuel Brengle, as quoted in Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders, 63)

Wayne Ho's CaringBridge Site

For those of you who heard Wayne Ho's testimony last Sunday, you heard him refer to the powerful testimony that Alice's writing provided throughout this journey with multiple myeloma. It's all still there for you to read on his CaringBridge site.

And for those of you who didn't have the chance to hear Wayne's testimony, you can go find it on Bethel's "Sermons" page (October 9, 2011).

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

The Gospel According to Deuteronomy

Listen to these sweet, gospel prelude notes sounded back in Deuteronomy 6:21-23: 

...'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ... And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in....

The Apostle Peter's reprises (and ratchets up!) that same gospel song:

Brought out from...

1 Peter 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

That he might bring us in...

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God

That he might bring us in forever...

1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Look back. Do you remember the slavery? You've been brought out! Give thanks for the freedom!


Look around. It's so easy to grumble about where we are and where we are not, but wish we could be (like maybe somewhere warm and sunny?!). But if you are in Christ, just think about where you are! You're out! And you're in! Think about where you could be had God not mercifully brought you out and brought you in! Do you see where you are?! You've been brought in! You've been reconciled to God! He is your Father. You can approach him with confidence! You are at peace with him because of Jesus. What better place is there than that?!



Look forward. Do you see where you're headed? The path to the Promised Land certainly does lead through the wilderness that is this world, but very soon you will be IN. You will soon enjoy eternally the imperishable, undefiled, unfading inheritance as sons and daughters of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, your Father.


Brought out...to be brought in. That is the sweet gospel soundtrack of our lives. Listen and look, and sing along, all the way IN!

Finishing Well to the Glory of God

A good word for the Church, for our church.


Serving Seniors from HeadHeartHand Media on Vimeo.

And a few other recommendations from Justin Taylor:

• A message by John Piper entitled, "Getting Old for the Glory of God"
• A book by John Dunlop, MD, entitled, Finishing Well to the Glory of God

The Mission is Far From Complete

I mentioned this past Sunday that I would post this video. "The job is not done." What is your part in the completion of the Great Commission? What is getting in the way of you doing that part? What is Bethel's part in the completion of the Great Commission? What is getting in the way of us doing our part?

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Tears of the Saints from AsiaLink HistoryMaker on Vimeo.

HT: JT

Reminder: Your Refuge and Your Rock

The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. (Deuteronomy 33:27a)

If you are in Christ, you have a Home with an omnipotently strong Foundation. You have a Refuge and a Rock.

Your Home is an eternally unchanging, always reliable, never-leaving-nor-forsaking Person. You have this Home because He delivered you from the "house of slavery," the "domain of darkness," and drew you into Himself, transferring you to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

He did that deliverance with a mighty arm. Those everlasting arms that did the rescuing are still underneath you. Your feet are set not on the shifting sand of vocational or investment or social or relational or educational or physical-appearance success. They are set on the everlastingly rock-solid and omnipotently strong arms of your Deliverer who is committed to carrying you all the way Home.

Moses reminded me this morning. Thought I'd pass it along.