Sunday’s Point to Ponder

This week at Midrand Chapel we tackled Malachi 2:10 – 17 and dived into two more of God’s indictments against His people, Israel: They were unfaithful to the Mosaic Law (10 – 12) and they were unfaithful to the Marriage Covenant (13 – 17). It was one of the best sermons I’ve listened to in months. Very convicting!

It’s most difficult to pick one element that struck me more than any other but if I were pushed I would say the use of the word covenant in verse 10 and verse 14 really stood out for me. Verse 10 is talking of the Mosaic Covenant, the Law, that tutor which lays our sin bare before us.

The Covenants between God and man are accompanied by terms agreed upon (Genesis 26:29; 31:50,52), oaths observed by God (Genesis 26:31; 31:48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53), curses in the event of non conformity (Deuteronomy, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) and ratification by some solemn external act (Genesis 15:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18).

Verse 14 is talking of marriage, in a Covenant sense, one which Israel had scant regard for and as a culture we’re equally in contempt of. Considering that God sees this union between a man and a woman as a high institution I’m convicted how often I don’t defend it as I should. As it’s an act between two people and God His Word is the only standard which ought to govern the terms and conditions, the oaths to be observed, the repercussions for non conformity and ratification by an external acts. Easy to say, not so easy to remain faithful to given it’s low regard in our culture, country and sometimes even extended faith community. The world undermines God and His institutions at ever chance it gets and marriage practically is under attack in our present day and age. Our response to the siege that has befallen will uncover the spiritual condition of our hearts. Will we “deal treacherously” in these matters (Malachi 2:10, 11, 14, 15, 16) or will we stand firm on that foundation which is eternal?

¹⁰ “Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers? ¹¹ “Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the LORD which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god. ¹² “As for the man who does this, may the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who presents an offering to the LORD of hosts. ¹³ “This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. ¹⁴ “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ¹⁵ “But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. ¹⁶ “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

Want to hear the verse in context? Malachi 1 – 4 What is this about?

Sunday’s Point to Ponder

This week at Midrand Chapel we turned our attention to the book of Malachi; God’s final Words to Israel before 400 years of silence.

Chris covered Chapters 1:1 – 5, God’s Accusation, The Peoples Objection and God’s Evidence. God’s faithfulness despite Israel’s scorn. The key verse 2b – 3a, “…I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau…” stands as a testimony to God’s bountiful grace lavished on a people who had done nothing to deserve it but were still recipients of it because of His sovereign election.

The quotable quote for me was, “God’s love for us is unconditional been rooted in His sovereign choice of us; it therefore does not depend on our worthiness and should not be doubted because of our circumstances.”

Chris Woolley has been an elder employed at Midrand Chapel since 2005. He is married with six children, three of whom have been adopted. Chris studied mechanical Engineering at WITS University during which time he became a Christian and developed a desire be involved in missions and church planting. After initially working as a Maintenance Engineer he resigned to further his theological studies. He is a graduate of the Baptist Theological College in Randburg (DipTh) and the Masters Seminary in California (MDiv).

Mzanzi Gees

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It was inevitable, at some stage I had to post about the SWC2010. Yesterday the Mexican or North Korean team drove past me on the highway. It’s here!

Related post: Soccer City: Proudly South African and Come and watch the games with me.

Why blog: Interaction (Part 2)

<— Click here for Part 1

Click here for Part 3 —>

The blogosphere is just another communication channel for bloggers. That sounds obvious doesn’t it but let me explain why I think it’s a relevant observation. Introverts tend to propagate introverted blogs; they battle to form alliances, attract readership and build a community. Extroverts tend proliferate extroverted blogs; they just connect easily, their readership flourishes and they end up belonging. *

Normative Christianity is characterised by social and communal behaviour. We call it Christian fellowship, brotherly love and practising the one another’s. ** Right from the start Christians were identifiably as connected to one another. Consider Acts 2:41 – 47,

⁴¹ So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. ⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³ Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵ and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. ⁴⁶ Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Want to hear the verse in context? Acts 2 What is this about?

I guess my point is that many Christian bloggers see the blogosphere as a wider platform for interaction. This is good. They do this for a number of differing reasons: Some seek fellowship (Blogroll Guy), some seek diversity (Comment-all-over-the-place Guy), some seek uniformity (Denomination-Upfront Guy) and some just seek a platform (although Bullhorn Guy might not be a form of interaction as it’s not two way communication).

The platform can be a useful tool to facilitate interaction and I believe this is a natural progression from the blogger who writes out of a motivation of Introspection (see http://markpenrith.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/why-blog-introspection-part-1/).

* Does anyone know if there’s any research to support this?

** Do I need to point out that fellowship stands with worship, teaching and evangelism as pillars of the New Testament Church?

South Christian African Bloggers who I believe really get this right:

Angus Kelly and I spend a lot more time disagreeing on things than agreeing (oh Lord bring more Calvinistic, Pre-trib, Pre-Rapture, Dispensationalist, Fundementalists across my path ;) ) but I appreciate his openess to debate. John van de Laar from Sacredise is top of this category too.

For some great examples of interaction check out http://gruntleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/profile-for-my-churchs-website.html?showComment=1273571802959#c8415165032976866184 and http://sacredise.blogspot.com/2010/03/consistency.html?showComment=1267764591216#c8180813531555402382

Sharkbait was the fish I wrote to when I decided I wanted to blog. He steered me through setting up. He’s Anglican and worships with my family down in the Eastern Cape. He has a surprisingly large following of woman (I follow his comments RSS and am frequently struck by how popular he is).

Others I believe are in this category are: Dion’s random ramblings, Khanya, Ryan Peter Blogs and stuff and .

<— Click here for Part 1

Click here for Part 3 —>

The Sovereignty of God

The work of the creator, owner, architect, sustainer and king is truely awesome to behold. This is my first try of image manipulation with GIMP. What do you think? Click image to link to source.

This week, at Midrand Chapel, we looked at the Sovereignty of God, and boy, was it a sermon or what! Chris preached that as we stood back and viewed God for who He really is part of us might want to shake our fists at Him but an appropriate reaction, a right response, would be to bow down and worship Him, and indeed by God’s grace (or at His judgment) we all will.

There were 5 pity statements Chris made in the introduction of his sermon that I thought I’d write down and share,

God is the creator. Everything that exists outside of Him is His creation!

God is the owner. Everything that exists outside of Him is owned by Him!

God is the architect. Everything that exists outside of Him is designed by Him!

God is the sustainer. Everything that exists outside of Him draws life from Him!

God is the king. Everything that exists outside of Him is ruled by Him!

For more context consider these wise words from The Book,

¹⁰ In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breath of all mankind?

¹³ …”With Him are wisdom and might;
To Him belong counsel and understanding.

¹⁴ “Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt;
He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.

¹⁵ “Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up;
And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.

¹⁶ “With Him are strength and sound wisdom,
The misled and the misleader belong to Him.

¹⁷ “He makes counselors walk barefoot
And makes fools of judges.

¹⁸ “He loosens the bond of kings
And binds their loins with a girdle.

¹⁹ “He makes priests walk barefoot
And overthrows the secure ones.

²⁰ “He deprives the trusted ones of speech
And takes away the discernment of the elders.

²¹ “He pours contempt on nobles
And loosens the belt of the strong.

²² “He reveals mysteries from the darkness
And brings the deep darkness into light.

²³ “He makes the nations great, then destroys them;
He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.

²⁴ “He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people
And makes them wander in a pathless waste.

²⁵ “They grope in darkness with no light,
And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.

Want to hear the verse in context? Job 8 – 14 What is this about?

Chris Woolley has been an elder employed at Midrand Chapel since 2005. He is married with six children, three of whom have been adopted. Chris studied mechanical Engineering at WITS University during which time he became a Christian and developed a desire be involved in missions and church planting. After initially working as a Maintenance Engineer he resigned to further his theological studies. He is a graduate of the Baptist Theological College in Randburg (DipTh) and the Masters Seminary in California (MDiv).

Spirit and Truth

Last Sunday’s sermon, based on Psalm 119, was that our response to the Word of God should be exultation and praise. You can listen to it by clicking here or using the control below:

Download: odilyhtq0b

(Inline audio player not working? Download the file here.)

¹⁶⁹ Tav. Let my cry come before You, O LORD;
Give me understanding according to Your word.
¹⁷⁰ Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
¹⁷¹ Let my lips utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
¹⁷² Let my tongue sing of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
¹⁷³ Let Your hand be ready to help me,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
¹⁷⁴ I long for Your salvation,
O LORD, And Your law is my delight.
¹⁷⁵ Let my soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
¹⁷⁶ I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.

Want to hear the verse in context? Psalms 107 – 121 What is this about?

If you’ve never listened to them before or haven’t heard of them there’re two preachers I’d like to introduce you to who’ve preached on this topic, John Piper and John MacArthur. If you’re into great exegesis and very cerebral type sermons then John MacArthur is for you. You can download his sermons from http://www.gty.org.

John Piper is actually a bit different from me Theologically but he has a great delivery style and is very acurate on what matters, The Gospel! You can download his sermons from http://www.desiringgod.org.

Try these sermons for a start:

John Macarthur
The Kind of Worship God Desires, Part 1 (Selected Scriptures)
The Kind of Worship God Desires, Part 2 (Selected Scriptures)
The Kind of Worship God Desires, Part 3 (Selected Scriptures)
The Kind of Worship God Desires, Part 4 (Selected Scriptures)
The Kind of Worship God Desires, Part 5 (Selected Scriptures)

John Piper
All of Life as Worship (Romans 12:1 – 2)

John Fullerton MacArthur, Jr. (born June 19, 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a United States evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You. MacArthur is a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and has served as the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969, and as the President of The Master’s College (and the related The Master’s Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.

Theologically, MacArthur is a conservative Baptist, a strong proponent of expository preaching, a dispensationalist and a self-described Calvinist. He has been acknowledged by Christianity Today as one of the most influential preachers of his time, and is a frequent guest on Larry King Live as representative of an evangelical Christian perspective.

MacArthur has authored or edited more than 150 books, most notably the MacArthur Study Bible, which has sold more than 1 million copies and received a Gold Medallion Book Award. Other best-selling books include his MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series (more than 1 million copies), Twelve Ordinary Men, (more than 500,000 copies), and the children’s book A Faith to Grow On, which garnered an ECPA Christian Book Award.

John Piper is the Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and studied at Wheaton College, where he first sensed God’s call to enter the ministry. He went on to earn degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary (B.D.) and the University of Munich (D.theol.). For six years he taught Biblical Studies at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in 1980 accepted the call to serve as pastor at Bethlehem. John is the author of more than 30 books and more than 25 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and an increasing number of grandchildren.