War

A tension is growing between the Philippines and China, first about Spratlys and now the Scarborough Shoal.

source

It's not "trending" right now but I know that wars are real and it can happen anytime. 


So more than reading news about this island or shoal tug-of-war, I am reading a lot of stuff and topical posts about what the Bible has to say about wars.  


I would rather be unprepared practically for an attack and find myself scrambling for shelter amidst the bombs than be unprepared spiritually and find myself scattered inwardly and feel that the passion for the Gospel is eons away. 


I am not yet done reading and praying for it but I am going to post here snippets of what struck me from John Piper's post, "If Christ Predicted War, May Christians Pray for Peace?"




1. "We should pray that God's will be done on earth the way it's done in heaven by the perfectly holy angels (Matthew 6:10), not the way it's done on earth through the agency of sinful men."




2. "In fact, Paul teaches us to pray for peace among nations for the sake of the gospel. (1 Tim 2:1-4)"




3. "It is not our business to decide the sovereign purpose of God in ordaining that some wars happen."




4. "Our business is to pray that justice, peace, and the proclamation of the gospel prevail."




5. "Our business is to pray that the Christian church not be complicit in national affairs as if nation and church were one. Ours is to pray that the church be seen as aliens in the cause of Christ-exalting love and justice with no supreme allegiances to any nation."




6. "In such cases our prayers would be for the minimizing of misery and the speedy triumph of justice and the restraint of animosities and cruelties." 


(Notice the words MINIMIZING, SPEEDY and RESTRAINT. It's like we are not asking God to not make any wars happen..but we pray for mercy that it will be minimized, restrained and justice to be speedy.)


7. "So let us pray for the love and wisdom and courage and power and fruitfulness of the church of Jesus Christ around the world."


8. "Let us plead that she (the Church) would be distinct from all the nations and all the national and ethnic manifestations of pride. Let us plead that she would be a peace-making presence of salt and light everywhere. And that she would be unafraid to call every nation into question for the sake of justice and humility."




9. "And that Jesus Christ would be magnified as no national deity, but as Lord of lords and King of kings. And let us pray that all lords and all kings see this and humble themselves and make way for the Lord of glory."






Disclaimer: The whole point of this post may be altered here since these are just all excerpts. You can read the entire post here. 

What is the best thing that I have?

Listening to podcast: http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/no-condemnation-in-christ-jesus-part-1

Gems I got from this podcast:

1. When God's wrath fell on Jesus at the cross how did it condemn the sin of the world including mine?

IN Jesus....in God's eyes I was there IN Jesus.

2. I've got a Father in heaven whose approval of me is 10,000 times better.

3. So now I am free to die

                        free to serve

                        free to humble myself towards people

Hey, I have the best thing!

 Romans 8:1

4. I am free to lose my face, my prosperity, my job, my health, my pride, my position as long as I remember and live the covenant I have with God:

Romans 8:1

5. Through Jesus, the infinitely holy, flaming, powerful God is not my Judge...but my Father.

Door to Door

I was asking for directions to Meycauyan, Bulacan when a teammate asked me if I am going there because of church thing. Another teammate overheard us and curiously asked if I preach the gospel by doing door-to-door or if I preach on a public bus.  

http://godeverywhere.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/young-girl-holding-bible.jpg

Had we not been interrupted I would be excited to tell them that that's not how it works anymore.  The goal is still to tell people about who Jesus is and how much the Lord has done for you and me.  No mistake about it.  That will always be the core value of the church. 

But how we do things DOES change.  No one wants a preachy person. No one enjoys being told what to do especially if there are no affections involved. And the Gospel isn't a salestalk.  

We instead build relationships. Discipleship is relationship. Because after all, our lives will be the only Bible for many. 

Jesus in fact let us in on one tip: people will only know that we are His disciples if we love one another. John 13:35

So what did my teammates ask me? 

1. Do I get on a public bus to preach?

- I get on a public blogsite regularly to share day-to-day grace of God that I personally experience.  It's simply hard to contain it.

2. Do I do door-to-door and INTRODUCE who my Lord is?

- I do door-to-door on the issues in my own life and REMIND MYSELF who my Lord is. For example:

1. Will I feel offended if a family member won't give up the PC for me?

2. Should I hold back my savings from my own father who needs money for other kids he's taking care of?

3. Should I omit the smiley face in my text message to Jen as I tell her what upset mom this afternoon to  show her I am irritated at her?

Build relationships. The actions we take tell a lot about who the Lord is in our lives.  And of all the lords out there, there is only one true Lord who tells His people to love, love, love. 

His Name is Jesus.  ♥ ♥ ♥