"Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes."

The last sentence of the Apostles’ Creed in verse

“I believe in the Holy Ghost…”
The great Spirit of God, the Helper, the Dove,
would descend when the Christ sent Him and ascended above,
to do greater works through His strong power and might,
and cause the glory of Jesus to be clear in our sight.

“…the holy catholic church…”
Diverse peoples as one- gospel unity-
was how the Triune God planned the purposed mystery
of the Church so the wisdom and glory of He
would be made known to all powers and authorities.

“…the forgiveness of sins…”
Forgiven, found favored and counted as free,
the full payment for debts owed was cancelled for me.
Not cheaply but at cost to God’s own precious Son,
the full payment for sin in His suffering was done.

“…the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting…”
Even when my flesh is sown, spent and sore,
from this husk He will raise me to so much more.
The resurrection hope, eternity of breath;
the empty tomb crushes, reverses death

“…Amen.”
Let it be, even so, let is be as we say
for our loud “Amens” in the way that we pray
through the mediating work of our faithful High Priest,
for whose sake the Almighty will hear the littlest and least.

Deliverance from this life versus. consummation of the kingdom

This distinction came to me in the shower this morning. One sees the resurrection as the prototype for an individual, escapist, ‘Platonistic’, spiritual, relatively insignificant, ahistorical, heavenly event, whereas one sees the resurrection as an inauguration of a corporate, missional, ‘Actual’, massively significant (for human affairs), historical, earthly event - the beginnings of God’s kingdom here on earth.

I remember N T Wright wrote somewhere: “heaven is great but it isn’t the end of the world.”

The power to change us

Where once we had:

“Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. 4 He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.” (Psalm 36:1-4)

“For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” (Psalm 10:3-4)

“For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1 Jn 2:15)

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:14)

“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.” (Jas 3:14-16)

In our helplessness, we cried out,

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24)

But in God’s mercy,

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom 1:16)

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,” (Tit 2:11-12)

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer qqlive for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Cor 5:14-15)

“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Rom 14:7-8)

If Eph 1:3 is true

If Eph 1:3 is true, and I really have been “blessed in Him with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him” then…

• I have a generous God who richly gives me gift upon gift in blessing
• I have a wonderfully loving God who wants, desires and plans good things, no, only the best for me
• I have a unselfish, unreserved God who has given me every spiritual blessing with holding anything back because He is so kind
• I have a holy God who favors me and includes me in His possessions in the heavenly places
• I have a precious treasure “in Him”, that is, Jesus Christ is the fountain from which all blessings flow
• I have a common destiny with others who share in this glorious election of God and am never alone
• I have a primary identity as one who has been chosen by Him
• I have a historical root that stretches before time itself, before the foundation of the world, there was a plan for me regardless of the confusion and lostness I feel right now
• I have an unchanging purpose - being holy and blameless is the endpoint of my life
• I have a final resting place, being before Him and counted as blameless, vindicated and free

Prayer for sign of affirmation

Heavenly Father, you are the God who knows exactly what Your children need. In Your wisdom and foreknowledge, no secrets are kept from You, and every mystery is plain before You. You are the immortal, invisible God and You alone are without need or sustenance, for in Yourself You find full satisfaction.

But Lord, I am not as You are. You are the Holy God and I am just a man. And I come before You conscious of my smallness and lowly estate, and plead with You for mercy, for You are a great King. I confess my sin and weakness before You this day, because not only am I small and frail before You, and I am desperately guilty and wicked of rebellion and betrayal of You. I have envied the wicked instead of seeking Your kingdom with all my heart. I have been bitter against Your gracious providence and spurned Your good gifts and generosity. I have lusted after earthly beauty and material possessions instead of not allowing sin to reign in my mortal body. I have willfully disobeyed You and been a hypocrite before God and man. I have also, today, doubted Your goodness and faithfulness to me and Your people. I have seen also today, how unwilling I am to serve and put the interests of others ahead of myself. Who will deliver me from this body of flesh?

But praise God for His gift in His precious Son, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world by bearing our sins in His body on the tree, for God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God. For through Him we have received redemption, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to His glorious grace.
So Lord, I come to You pleading on the basis of the Savior’s work, speak a word of affirmation and encouragement to me. Let me hear You speaking words of grace, of favor, to know that You have not abandoned me or left me alone. I need to know that even when my senses cannot see the work of God, I can trust Your gracious promises to be true. As Mrs Chan shared, I want to believe that You have already begun blessing me in these trials, but I need to hear it from You, O Father. I need to hear that You are pleased with me by faith, that You are delighting in me as a son, that You see my efforts and they are pleasing to You. O Lord, I pray that You would speak, for my sake and for the glory of Your name. You alone know all I require.

In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Ephesians 1-3 in verse

Thou bidst me to come and seek of Thine hand
The good gifts Thou givest to woman and man
For all who dare knocking, and seeking, and asking
Thou promised to give, by thy Word everlasting.

In this world full of struggle, of hardship and strife,
We groan knowing we were not meant for this life
With the haunting of Eden whispering through creation
We know that this world bears Thine condemnation.

But the work of Thy matchless, incomparable Son
On the Cross of His anguish, was completed and done
He has broken the shackles of sin, death and Hell
And in His broken body made creation’s Fall well.

To all who call on His all-rescuing name
Regardless of standing, or race, all the same
He stands as the one holy Savior of men
He stooped as the lowliest sinner’s own friend.

Now the promise that God, who makes promises true
Has purposed in Jesus to make all things new
Through His people, the church, His elect before time
He hath planned our mission in His purpose divine.

That the church should blameless and holy before Christ
Washed clean in His blood as a young virgin bride
He hath worked out all things so that in through the church
He would show His great wisdom beyond all mortal search.

Our call to be the full body of Jesus
Is the mission that we pray will take hold and seize us
Thus equipped with every spiritual blessing in heav’n
We know that the church made in Jesus is one whole new man.

For if by grace we were saved then no boast can we offer
For Christ’s expense in His gift would make sinners prosper
Thus by faith we will trust in His true gospel word
The word that will save us if we believed when we heard.

So I ask of the Giver, of the good gifts He owns
As I come asking boldly before His gracious throne
Give me a heart to love, unrestrained and free
Make me less like me Lord, and more like Thee.

Discussion yesterday on community

Flowing from our long 3(?) hour chat at Starbs, these are some of the high points:

• community is a struggle and a challenge in any state of affairs
• in a church setting, it may be uniquely harder for 2nd generation Christians to arrive at a point of acceptance and love because of the web of expectations that are carried with family pressures and familiaritiy
• judgmentalism and criticality are poisons that kills community and acceptance and the message of grace in the gospel
• good intentions are sometimes irrelevant when you’re on the receiving end of criticism
• all human beings by nature resist criticism, and typically justify themselves by explaining away the criticism of an insensitive critic
• sin causes us to resist criticism and correction instead of seeking it as grace
• diagnostic questions to ask: are you closed to correction and criticism? Is there anyone who’s allowed to correct you and tell you that you’re wrong? Do you create hoops for people to jump through in order to correct you? Do you ever take criticism of others to heart instead of just seeing it as advice?
• at the root of successful community is the need for humble hearts
• generational conflict is normal because of the power relations and cultural modes that come with the interaction
• popular perception is that only those who know me well enough can tell me if I’m wrong. Typically however, these people don’t exist
• those who seek criticism and welcome it should be able to give it graciously
• community is hindered by guilt (knowing what I should do and failing to do it), and shame (smokescreen thrown up to divert from my errors) which comes with obligation and expectation in relationships
• the transition from church (the theological ideal) to community (the experiential reality) is sometimes hindered by the expectations that come with the theological ideal
• the only way to begin building community is by taking the first step and putting yourself out there. No one wants to do this.
• there are different ways that we hide from being known, including playing the roles that others have circumscribed for us
• segmentation of life as we translates ourselves from group to group is another enemy of community