We had an excellent Combined Service last night with people from most churches in Narrabri meeting to worship Jesus together.
You can listen to the message from the evening here or download the mp3 here
Today’s Sermon
I Like This Guy
Presidential runner Ted Cruz follows the science:
Porcupine unearths 1,400-year-old oil lamp in central Israel
From the ABC:
Porcupine unearths 1,400-year-old oil lamp in central Israel
Updated
A porcupine has unearthed a 1,400-year-old ceramic lamp after digging his burrow at an Israeli site rich with ancient treasures, according to the Israeli antiquities authority.
Archaeological “police” noticed a pile of dirt next to the entrance of a burrow while looking for thieves during a routine visit to the late Roman and Byzantine site of Horbat Siv in central Israel.
There they found the lamp.
“Porcupines are excellent archaeologists who know how to dig,” Ira Horovitz, an antiquities official, said on the authority’s website.
“With the country having numerous archaeological sites, porcupines show up and build their shelters among underground remains.
“They push the soil expertly toward the surface, along with all sorts of objects.”
Despite the lucky find, the authority issued a humorous warning to Israel’s porcupines, telling them to “refrain from digging in archaeological sites without permission, which is a crime”.
Reflection on Philippians 2:5-11
Scripture
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Observation
Christ is the Son of God. He is divine, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.. Yet He did not cling to that position. Instead He let go and humbled Himself, becoming human.
In total obedience to God, He humbled Himself to the place of suffering, the cross.
Then God lifted Him up, raised Him from the grave and up to heaven, giving Him the name above all names so that every tongue will confess He is Lord and every knee bow to Him to the glory of God the Father.
Application
The way up is down!
With God our status or position is not to be held on to tightly.
Satan sought equality with God and failed.
Jesus let go of His equality with God and was lifted up.
Here is a mystery that is also a key to life in God’s kingdom. We win by losing, we gain by serving, we are at our highest when we are most humble.
Whatever source of pride we have we must let go of it and allow God to take it and redeem it.
My attitude must be like Christ, who set aside all heavenly thrones to become the servant of all, dying for our salvation, in order to be exalted above all creation.
Prayer
Father I see that I need to set aside all pride and selfish ambition. Help me to have the heart of a servant so that you will be glorified in me. Amen.
Reflection on Isaiah 50:4-9
O Father
Teacher of my heart
Giver of wisdom
I give myself to you
—
Ancient of Days
I go to the cross
Knowing this is the eternal plan
—
I set my face
Hard as flint
Walking to the cross
Suffering ahead
Vindication follows
—
Salvation for fallen men
Won on my body
Purchased in blood
Lovingly shed
Reflection on Mark 11:1-11
Scripture
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Observation
Jesus sends two of His disciples ahead to collect a colt that is there. If anyone asks, they are to say, “The Lord needs it.”
They go and find the colt. When questioned, they repeat what Jesus had told them. They return with the colt to Jesus who rides it into the city.
As they enter the city, people throw their cloaks and branches on the road ahead of Him, and the crowds call out, “Hosanna in the highest!”
Jesus then goes to the Temple and looks at everything before returning to Bethany.
Application
Many people claim Jesus for all kinds of selfish reasons. The crowds see Jesus as a political liberator. Many are not interested in a Saviour- they just want political independence for the Romans.
Many still claim Jesus for self-centred motives. They might be in church for social reaosns or because the music appeals to them.
These are the same people who quickly turned and called for Jesus’ crucifixion a few days later.
It’s fine and understandable to start with Jesus for the wrong reasons. True disciples move on and recognise that it’s not about me, it’s all about Jesus.
Prayer
Lord show me how to follow you for your glory not my own selfish motives. Amen.
Book Review: “Leading Small Groups In The Way of Jesus” by M. Scott Boren
I’ve read dozens of books on small group leadership, group dynamics, cell church principles and so on, but none are quite like this book by Scott Boren.
There are many books that explain cell minsitry from a pragmatic view point and many that talk about groups as a powerful evangelistic strategy, and there are some that show how small groups have always been at the heart of healthy church movements through the ages.
This is the first book that I’ve read that shows how our group leadership practices must reflect the character of Christ so that the groups and the people in them learn to grow in the ways of Jesus.
Boren describes eight “Pracitces” that together lead us in the way of Jesus:
- Hear the rhythms of the Jesus Way
- Gather in the Presence
- Lead collaboratively
- Be yourself
- Hang out
- Make a difference
- Fight well
- Point the way to the Cross.
Each chapter left me saying “Wow!” as I picked up new aspects to the ministry of cell leadership, and pastoral ministry for that matter.
This book is descriptive rather than prescriptive. In other words, the author does not give directions for leading a group. Rather he describes how each practice can be experienced and encouraged in the group. There is no 4-step plan for dealing with the over-talkative member, but there are principles for dealing with conflict in a godly, loving and healing way.
This is a book I will be returning to often, maybe picking up insights from a chapter at a time.
However, it is not a book that I can recommend to my cell leaders, or at least not to all of them. The book is written in a style that people who have had only a High School level of education would struggle with. People who do not read for enjoyment will struggle with this book. That’s not a criticism but an observation about the style, the concepts and the use of language.
It’s a great book even though it’s not for everyone. The content is too important to not share, though. My cell leaders will be learning about this in our meetings and training.
Today’s Sermon
McDonalds Burgers Don’t Go Mouldy- Do They?
I just saw on Facebook another round of the “McDonalds food doesn’t rot- if bugs don’t eat it, people certainly shouldn’t” myth. Rather than going “Chortle! Chortle! Stupid fast food” like a lot of people do, I actually took three minutes out of my life to do a bit of research. Maybe more people should, you know, use their brains instead of accepting every Facebook meme as gospel truth.
It turns out that many people have done all sorts of experiments aimed at finding out if it is true, and it it is why.
Here is one such experiment. Spoiler alert- it’s all aobut moisture content and how fast they dry out.
The Burger Lab: Revisiting the Myth of The 12-Year Old McDonald’s Burger That Just Won’t Rot (Testing Results!)
Nov 5, 2010 9:00AM
More tests, more results! Follow The Food Lab on Facebook or Twitter.
[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
A few weeks back, I started an experiment designed to prove or disprove whether or not the magic, non-decomposing McDonald’s hamburgers that have been making their way around the internet are indeed worthy of disgust or even interest.
By way of introduction, allow myself to quote myself. This is from myprevious article:
Back in 2008, Karen Hanrahan, of the blogBest of Mother Earthposted apicture of a hamburgerthat she uses as a prop for a class she teaches on how to help parents keep their children away from junk food… The hamburger she’s been using as a prop is the same plain McDonald’s hamburger she’s been using for what’s now going on 14 years. It looks pretty much identical to how it did the day she bought it, and she’s not had to use any means of preservation. The burger travels with her, and sits at room temperature.
Now Karen is neither the first nor last to document this very same phenomenon. Artist Sally Davies photographs her 137 day-old hamburger every day for herHappy Meal Art Project. Nonna Joann has chosen tostore her happy meal for a yearon her blog rather than feed it to her kids. Dozens of other examples exist, and most of them come to the same conclusion: McDonald’s hamburgers don’t rot.
The problem with coming to that conclusion, of course, is that if you are a believer in science (and I certainly hope you are!), in order to make a conclusion, you must first start with a few observable premises as a starting point with which you form a theorem, followed by a reasonably rigorous experiment with controls built in place to verify the validity of that theorem.
Thus far, I haven’t located a single source that treats this McDonald’s hamburger phenomenon in this fashion. Instead, most rely on speculation, specious reasoning, and downright obtuseness to arrive at the conclusion that a McDonald’s burger “is a chemical food[, with] absolutely no nutrition.”
As I said before, that kind of conclusion is both sensationalistic and specious, and has no place in any of the respectable academic circles which A Hamburger Today would like to consider itself an upstanding member of.
Full article here
