Do you really want to be beautiful, sister?

I got to wondering the other day about all the women in the Bible who are noted for their beauty. (This thought was triggered by a statement Tim made while preaching about Ruth, that the text never tells us anything about her looks and that she might have been quite frumpy.)

My wondering was along the lines of this: is it really a good thing to be a “looker?”  A quick think through my Bible revealed that other than the daughters of Job, and the bride of Song of Solomon, good looks can get you into more trouble than triumph.

Consider these beautiful women. In each case, their beauty is in some way linked to the unfortunate things that happened to them.

Sarah – sent off by her husband to a foreigner’s harem (twice!)

Rebekah – sent off to another harem then lived in a dysfunctional family

Rachel – spent many years barren

Philisitine woman of Timnah married to Samson – 30 men were killed in her town and fields burned outside of it and then she was murdered by her own people

Abigail – her husband dropped dead

Bathsheba – she was lured into adultery, became pregnant, got her husband murdered and lost her illegitmate child

Tamar the daughter of David – raped by her half-brother

Abishag the Shunamite – was chosen to lie in bed with an old and dying King David to keep him warm

Esther – trotted off to a harem and then made queen to something of a crazed despot

All that to say, the Bible does not suggest that beautiful women get an easier life. If being esteemed as gorgeous or desirable or pretty is what you are seeking, you may want to give that goal a second look!

Caveats:

1. Obviously, being ugly or unkempt is not a virtue.

2. Including Abigail in my list is likely the most tenuous.

3. I am not trying to say that being pretty is a sin. I just found it interesting to think through that list of names and see that being attractive in the eyes of the world may lead to more problems than it solves.

4. None of us are truly beautiful when it comes right down to it. Sin is ugly and before the only eyes that matter we are dead and lost. Jesus died for sinners though, and that makes all of us who have repented and believed on Him attractive (male and female) to the Lord. And that is what really matters.

Some ideas on how to prepare to listen to a sermon

Joshua preached last night on Pursuing God through Listening to His Word Preached. I thought his list of ways to prepare for listening was worth repeating here:

·      Read the text that will be preached prior to Sunday.

·      Pray through the text and pray for the preacher of the text.

·      Be inquisitive. Ask questions of the text that you hope will get answered in the preaching.

·      Read all of your Bible as much as you can. Good preaching will almost always be full of Biblical allusions that only get caught and understood as our understanding of the sweep of Scripture continues to grow.

·      Come ready to listen in a way that will enable you to talk about what you heard; then start talking to others afterwards about what encouraged you, etc. Or, learn to explain some part of the sermon to your kids, or somebody else’s kids.

Where have you been Blogger-boy?

Every once in a while I remember I have a blog, then consider burying it in its blog-grave, then think of one more thing I would like “say” before I do!

We had our annual business meeting at Grace Fellowship Church last night and that gave cause to reflect on the last year of our church’s life.

One year ago, I read our folks John 12:24 and suggested this would be the basis to the next year or so as we planned to send off a part of us to plant another church.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

I asked our folks to ponder, “How does it feel to die?”  That was a real question, since we sent out 26 members (plus their kids and some “attenders”) over the last 12 months.  For a church of our size that is a pretty huge hit – basically one third of our membership.  We also went through some other pruning and trials that made this past year one of the most difficult we have yet to experience.

But then I looked through that list of 26 names again and do you know what I saw? Sent out from our little church in one year were 3 pastors, 2 deacons, 2 lead worshipers, 2 missionaries, 1 pastoral assistant and 16 solid members spread out to churches like Grace Fellowship Church East, New City Baptist, Harvest Durham, and a couple of others. What a blessing!

On top of this was the added surprise that the Lord added to our membership 24 new people – just two shy of the number who were sent out. We had hoped to grow again, but did not expect it to come so soon.

So now Grace Fellowship Church is a new church. There is a new core, a new vibe and the same old Gospel.  Toronto continues to grow with people from all over the world and a bunch of our church were here on Saturday to take that glorious Gospel to whomever happened to be waiting at a nearby bus stop.

I love His church.

Some other great words on Father's Day from another friend, Greg Lucas.

I often find myself thinking about what a truly exceptional Christian life looks like and then trying my futile best to match up to it. Is it reaching hundreds or thousands with the gospel? Is it pastoring a mega church? Is it compiling a library of solid theology or writing volumes of books? Perhaps it has something to do with how many followers you have on your blog or Twitter account?

Then I look at the life of my grandfather. He had an 8th grade education, owned two books, drove a truck for 30 years, was married to the same woman for 56 years, raised three children and then three grandchildren, and pastored a church of less than 70 people. He lived humbly, loved hard, laughed often, cared deeply and died well.

He also owned a watch with an 18 wheeler on it and a safety certificate for never having an accident on the road. Pretty good accomplishments for an exceptional life if you ask me.

Great words on Father's Day from my friend John Knight

"I’ve always respected my father – it is hard not to, especially when everyone in our little town seemed to know him, like him and respect him.
But the arrival of my Paul put everything into a different kind of clarity for me on who this man is.
Only days after Paul was born, while he was still hooked up to machines, dad held him and simply said to him, “if the only reason I was put on this earth was to be your grandpa, that’s good enough for me.”
Tears still come to my eyes, nearly 16 years later, at the memory. My father was for me. My father was for my boy. Nothing could change that. Nothing could stop that. He didn’t require Paul to love him back. He has NEVER required Paul to love him back. He didn’t require me to do anything for him. Paul simply was his own, and that’s all dad needed to know.
This is love. This is God’s gift in fulfilling the commandment: By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers (1 John 3:16)."

Read the whole post here.

Greg Lucas talks about the love of God in trials

One of the joys in working with The Elisha Foundation is getting to make some remarkable friends. Last year we had the joy of meeting Greg and Kim Lucas and hearing their story of God's grace first hand.  You can catch a part of it here:


Wrestling With An Angel from Brian Patton on Vimeo.

You can buy Greg's remarkable book here. I keep giving copies away!

The Faith of a Parent Goes a Long Way

Moses learned a lot about faith from his mom and dad.

This is how we pass on the faith to our children: by our words, but more pointedly by our actions. Children are either hardened by the hypocrisy of their parents, or like Moses they are inspired by the consistency between word and deed. If we are unforgiving with our children and show an unwillingness to admit our sins, then we communicate a lack of grace to them. If we spend all our money on ourselves, begrudging the church or those in need, or if we speak harshly of people, seeming to rejoice in their failures and follies, then we communicate a religion other than that of Christianity.  But when we are quick to repent and ready to forgive, when we trust the Lord for our own provision and give freely to others, and when we speak graciously of other sinners… we show our children our belief in a God who is merciful and kind and mighty to save.

- Rick Phillips, Hebrews (498).

God is More Interesting than Stealth Helicopters

I often find myself eager to log in to Google News or some other source to see what is going on. I installed Leechblock on my work computer some time ago and was surprised to see just how much I like to “check on things.”

While this fairly constant urge may be the sign of some pretty significant heart idolatries, I think part of what generates this action is the urge to find something interesting to think about. When you think about it, most of us lead pretty boring lives. We sleep, we wake, we work, we do stuff around the house, we sleep. “News” holds out the promise of something, well… new! And new means interesting.

To look for something interesting in this life can be good at one level – we were made to subdue and enjoy the creation. Yet, something is wrong when my hunt for the  “interesting” curbs my pursuit of God. God is the most interesting subject in the Universe! If I am more excited to log on to an internet news source than I am to read my Bible and pray, this is evidence I have gotten things backward.

It is true that God is unchanging. But He is unchanging in unsearchable wisdom and unfathomable depths of love. Who God is remains the immeasurable mystery that will take up an endless eternity. Our love and enjoyment of Him will increase daily in the new heavens and the new earth. Why then do I allow myself to be sidetracked and distracted by what kind of helicopter Navy SEALS used to crash land in Osama bin Laden’s compound?

God is the most interesting subject in the Universe.

That thought has helped clarify to me what I should be thinking about and chasing after.

Telling a Teller About Jesus

I had the joy of talking to my bank teller about Jesus yesterday. She is from India, a very pleasant and kind woman, and we got to chatting about Easter. I told her that Good Friday commemorates the death of Jesus for sinners and that Easter commemorates the third day after his death when God raised Him from the dead. She looked shocked. Having lived in Canada for over twenty years she had no idea that was what Easter was all about.

I was shocked, too. It is so easy for me to forget how little people know of the Gospel. And how distorted the world’s perception of true Christianity can be (she later innocently assumed that “Canadian” equaled “Christian”).

I say all of this just to remind you, if you are a Christian, to be careful to not assume too much when talking to others about Jesus. It is a post-Christian world we live in and the most basic tenets of Christianity that my generation grew up understanding (even if rejecting) are unknown by most today.

Good Friday Service Tonight! (7PM - Winter Garden Theatre)

This is going to be a beautiful, amazing time of worshiping together and remembering the dying love of Jesus on our behalf. A couple of helpful hints for the night:

1. Arrive early – around 6:30 – if you can. The doors open at 6:30, and by all indications from the other participating churches, we could have a pretty full house. The intriguing thing is that we are going to need tickets to get into the event. They are free, and can be picked up at the box office – but to get in, get your tickets and then take the escalator or elevators up to the theatre could easily eat up 15 minutes. 
2. Only take as many tickets as you need. If you are meeting people, let them get their own; the area around the ticket box office is too small and easily will get congested, from what we can tell. Take your tickets and then head up to the theatre up the escalators, and grab some seats for your friends.
3. The service begins with a theatrical meditation on the Cross by a professional actor, Ins Choi. It begins the service – you do not want to miss it! So don’t straggle or you will regret it!!
4. There is a suggested donation of $20 per person to defray the costs of hosting this event. Please come with checks made out to Grace Toronto Church, or if you have cash, please grab an envelope from an usher as you enter the theatre. The envelopes have room to put your info on them for tax receipt purposes.
5. There will be refreshments, for sale, after the service. The theatre is manning these concessions for us.