A Pleasant Surprize Involving DAC

A few years ago when Ravi was speaking in Scarlem I was loitering near the book table and noticed a table full of free sermons on tape from Sola Scriptura. I grabbed few, because hey, free tapes. Needless to say, many of the tapes were either lost or ruined because tapes just suck to take care of especially when they don't come with a case. WELL, yesterday I was looking for something to listen to while I made an omelet. I noticed a pile of tapes and cds sitting on the bottom step leading up to our attic. I went over and took a moment to peruse the contents of the pile. In the midst of some very random stuff I found a caseless tape named The Mission of The Church: D.A. Carson. It played like a charm! What a find. What a sermon. Here are some things he said about the Great Commission.

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Do you remember when Jesus said of John the Baptist in Matt 11:11, "Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist." John, therefore is made greater than Isaiah, David, Solomon, and Abraham. Greater on the axis of ability to point to Christ. The second half of verse 11 then says, "yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Does this then not make us greater than John, Isaiah, David, Abraham, and Solomon on the same axis? The freshest and most immature Christian, as long as they ARE a Christian, has a far greater ability to point others to Christ than even JB.

The Great Commission was not something tacked on to the end of the Gospel of Matthew but rather is what the entire Bible is about: making known a God of whom the world does not know. I highly recommend reading Isaiah 45 and/or Psalm 96.

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So we are greater than John the Baptist. The Great Commission gives no geographical limit. All authority is given to Jesus. Link this to the doctrine of election (as seen in Acts 18:9-10). WE ARE GOING TO BE USED TO CHANGE THE WORLD BY WINNING THE SOULS THAT BELONG TO GOD.

Lets get out there man! They're all waiting for us.


Serve your king.

Some Interesting Po-mo lit

So this book was recommeded to me by Lydia on the Fishy Reading> site. I just read something very interesting in it. I think I like it (not just because he mentions Hemingway).

Donald Miller says,

The magical proposition of the gospel, once free from the clasps of fairy tale, was very adult to me, very gritty like something from Hemingway or Steinbeck, like something with copious amounts of sex and blood. Christian spirituality was not a children's story. It wasn't cute or neat. It was mystical and odd and clean, and it was reaching into dirty. There was wonder in it and enchantment.

Earlier in the chapter in which this portion is found, he speaks of how everyone wants to be "fancy and new." Almost everything that we encounter in life offers this or so it seems. Juliets promise to Romeo to make him new didn't really work out, he says. He then gives the example of an infomercial that claimed that a particular product worked 'just like magic.' The problem with magic, he says, is that it is always an illusion (ie. blaine, copperfield).

He compared this with God's propostion in the Bible to supernaturally make us new. When the Bible is taught as a children's fable with a 'moral of the story' at the end, it proves to be merely an illusion and does not have the power to make anyone new and is no different from the knives in the infomercial that never get dull. He says (from one of his experiences) that, "they talked about Noah and the ark because the story had animals...[but] failed to mention that that was when God massacred all of humanity."

If you got nothing from these quotes, I'll try to tell you what I learned from this. The Bible has supernatural power to get at the deepest and darkest places in the human heart. Why else would it be described as a 'two-eged sword?' The Bible is not gentle. Its words must attack the worst and most deadly things in our lives and over-power them.

Was this confusing to read? It was hard to explain. The guy never really just clearly states something. I guess I need to train my po-mo skills.

Say hi to Mauberley

So, I have this great new pet but I am now questioning my motives. I was at wal-mart with Julia (my sister) and Laura (our friend) shopping for some summer gear. Basically all that was said was, "we should all get fish and see whose lives the longest." So from the start my fish's life has been very closely associated with death. It hasn't even been so long since I was quite involved in the tragic and accidental but timely death of our dog Honey. I was wondering if I was even ready to move on in such a jaunty fashion. I am really starting to love this little guy though. Maybe it is his stellar name which comes from one of my favourite poems by the great modernist Ezra Pound. He is a Crowntail Male Betta and has tons of flair. I hope he likes Radiohead.

Also, I just borrowed (took) some issues of Relevant from my friend Lydia's apartment. As soon as I read them I'll leave a little reviewage. I'm sure it'll be one of those things that has some good and also some stuff that could be chucked. We'll see. The latest issue features ex-Caedmon's member Derek Webb (an artist worth checking out).

Help from Johnny Pipes

I'm half done JP's new book entitled God is the Gospel. It has helped me realize what the deal is with the goings on in all those Muslim countries (and many other things). Namely, obscenely blatant (to anyone outside the culture) censorship of Biblical truth, irrationality, political persecution that prohibits conversion, and all kinds of other stuff. JP, partially quoting 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, says, "Satan does not want us to see [the] light. Seeing 'the light of the gospel of the glory of CHRIST' is what liberates people from [Satan's] power." He is currently using over one thousand years of history, nationalism, and the government to hide the light from millions.

What a travesty of historical and literary scholarship it is to claim that Jesus did not live and die and furthermore that the most documented piece of ancient literature has been changed.

Reading John's book has helped me hate the 'father of lies' more and love my Muslim brothers-in-humanity all the more. It is pointing me to the most beautiful thing that we could ever hope for. The perfect and glorious triune God.

Love and pray without ceasing.

Go Here...

...for some great sentences from Martin Luther! The Twin Towers will love these. And so will anyone else.

A puritan quote to ease back in

From The Life and Diary of David Brainerd (pg. 71)

I felt weaned from the world
and from my own reputation amongst men,
willing to be despised and to be a gazing stock
for the world to behold.


Would I be happy with this?

Would I be truly satisfied?

Why does something deep down in me crave the approval of men?

Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world!


ps. I added another pic below

One (or two) more for now

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A few more of my North Africa favs

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A Few Favs

The day I got lost.

Glad to be back in the BEST country in the World

Here are a couple things that I will miss about the Arab world. The beaches were also not bad but I have never loved Canada so much. Now that I'm back, I appreciate not risking my life in taxis, not bleaching veggies, drinking tap water, and getting what I ask the waiter for. I can't wait to go back though. Insha Allah.

If you read this blog while I was gone and prayed even once, I thank you. That is our most strategic and powerful ministry. Never cease! It has taken me awhile to sorta get back into things. That's my excuse for not posting when I said I would (14th or 15th). I've learned so many things about love, service, the gospel, among other things. I can't wait to share a few of them as well as a few photos here and there.

Here is one of the ways we coped...