On our dollar bill the statement is clearly made 'In God we trust'. There is a lot of debate about this from the secularists and there is an ongoing call for it to be removed.
Maybe the secularists have a point. After listening to both President Obama's State of the Union address and Governor Bobby Jindal's response perhaps we should change the dollar bill's statement to 'In ourselves we trust'.
President Obama continues to pose as America's new Messiah, the one who is going to rescue America from itself and make it what it really should be the greatest nation in the world. He is the great redeemer from the old politics, the one who believes that the new era rests on him the great uniter, the great example, the great radical. More and more government involvement in everything is what is needed to save America from itself.
Poor Bobby Jindal, the apparent new upcoming leader of the Republicans. His response from the Governor's mansion in Baton Rouge, LA was embarassingly bad. His mantra 'America can do anything' became nauseating after the third or fourth time. Decrying the President's belief that wider government will save America Gov. Jindal's rhetoric placed confidence in the American people as America's hope. His message 'In ourselves we trust' came over loud and clear.
What a tragic state of affairs this once great nation is now in! Paying lip-service to trust in God on our currency can no longer disguise the truth that we are trusting in ourselves whether at the level of government or society at large. Unless we awaken from the blindness of self-deception and face the fact that without God we can do nothing this nation is heading for much worse than the present economic judgment it is suffering.
Let us stop trusting in ourselves and turn to the living God through repentance from our covetousness and greed, arrogance and pride and let us humbly trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and seek God for His mercy in our day of trouble......
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Thank you John.....
Take time to listen to John Piper's preaching on the two posts below.
What a gift to the church he is, his holy boldness in these challenging times is a great encouragement to those of us who preach the word of God. Pray for all those whom you know who preach the everlasting gospel of Christ, that they will be pure, holy and faithful men.......
What a gift to the church he is, his holy boldness in these challenging times is a great encouragement to those of us who preach the word of God. Pray for all those whom you know who preach the everlasting gospel of Christ, that they will be pure, holy and faithful men.......
Churches arise and put your armor on !!
Life in the city can often be viewed as something to be avoided if at all possible. The idea that life in the country is better and that it is more conducive to walking with God is often how many Christians think.
I believe that such a perspective needs to be challenged in our increasingly urbanised culture. All across the world it is evident that God is moving more and more people into cities. We are seeing that to live and move and have our being in God is to live and move and have being in an urban context.
Since the mid 19th Century many have viewed cities as centers of chaos and places of evil and danger to be avoided. The outworking of this has been the retreat of the church from the city and the loss of the gospel in the city. Christians have become afraid of the city and often do not know how to relate to it even as it moves closer and closer towards them in suburbia.
Cities have existed since the earliest of times and through the ebb and flow of history they have grown and developed in their nature and make-up. Now in the early years of the 21st Century we are seeing the urbanisation of the world even to the point where cities are possessing more power than nations.
The Christian church must respond. The city presents many and varied opportunities for gospel mission. Government, education, commercial, medical and media centers pervade the city and regions are influenced by cities as the apostle Paul clearly understood.
We need to respond positively and bring the city of God to the cities of our world. Churches arise and put your armor on. Pray for the peace of your city and the influence of the gospel to spread throughout it, bringing hope, righteousness and justice to its people.....!!!
I believe that such a perspective needs to be challenged in our increasingly urbanised culture. All across the world it is evident that God is moving more and more people into cities. We are seeing that to live and move and have our being in God is to live and move and have being in an urban context.
Since the mid 19th Century many have viewed cities as centers of chaos and places of evil and danger to be avoided. The outworking of this has been the retreat of the church from the city and the loss of the gospel in the city. Christians have become afraid of the city and often do not know how to relate to it even as it moves closer and closer towards them in suburbia.
Cities have existed since the earliest of times and through the ebb and flow of history they have grown and developed in their nature and make-up. Now in the early years of the 21st Century we are seeing the urbanisation of the world even to the point where cities are possessing more power than nations.
The Christian church must respond. The city presents many and varied opportunities for gospel mission. Government, education, commercial, medical and media centers pervade the city and regions are influenced by cities as the apostle Paul clearly understood.
We need to respond positively and bring the city of God to the cities of our world. Churches arise and put your armor on. Pray for the peace of your city and the influence of the gospel to spread throughout it, bringing hope, righteousness and justice to its people.....!!!
PCRT Conference in Sacramento
I am delighted once again to be anticipating the return of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology to our church in Sacramento. This is the third year we have had the privilege to host this Conference. It has been and continues to be a source of great encouragement to our people and to the wider Christian community.
This year the topic is Justification by Faith Alone, it should be a real encouragement to our hearts. I am particularly looking forward to the Pre-Conference with Steve Lawson, who is responsible to bring addresses on John Calvin.
This year the topic is Justification by Faith Alone, it should be a real encouragement to our hearts. I am particularly looking forward to the Pre-Conference with Steve Lawson, who is responsible to bring addresses on John Calvin.
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