InFocus

I don’t normally do movie reviews on InFocus, but I just watched a movie that I want to tell you about. If you’re not surprised that this major production was organised by Sony Pictures and a Baptist church, you probably won’t be surprised that it is well produced and well written. Of course it’s not a full-scale Hollywood production either, but then that’s old-hat anyway. Whatever the case, this movie definitely has heart.

To give you an idea of the plot, think small town America and high school Gridiron football. I know. “Been there. Seen that. Got the t-shirt.” But somehow this movie manages to pull something wonderful and God-glorifying out of the well-worn storyline. In one already-famous scene, a key leader on the team finds himself blindfolded and being pushed to understand that his God-given potential far outweighs his apathetic expectations. Even though this scene was described to me several times before I watched the movie, I was deeply impacted and spiritually rebuked as the scene climaxed in the end-zone.

I’m not the type of person who is moved to tears often, but I’ll admit that this movie brought me to tears repeatedly and found me openly weeping at the end. It also got more solid laughs out of me than a decent comedy could. One more amazing thing about this movie. You can hire it at most of the major video shops. Here. In Australia. I encourage you to get it and watch it. It has done an amazing job of making God look good.

We’re all comfortable with spiritual disciplines like prayer, fellowship, and Scripture reading, but rest?

This afternoon I faced a decision. Usually this only happens in hypothetical situations, but today it was real life. You see, I’m at a stage in my life where I am once again very busy. I have the care of managing two businesses and overseeing dozens of employees. Add a regular preaching schedule and ministry opportunities on top of that, and you have a fairly busy lifestyle. And there’s one more thing you need to understand. Wednesday is my day off. Like most people, I spend a lot of my day off catching up on little odds and ends, doing those things that just don’t get done during the week. But by late afternoon, I generally try to jump in the car and run down to the sea for some chips, coffee, and a few hours of rest.

Well, today, at four o’clock, I had just one more thing left on my “today” to do list: “Sermon prep.” A pretty spiritual thing to do, eh? After all, I have some preaching engagements coming up and this is a sacred calling. So that was my decision. Do I rest or do I do sermon prep. Doing both was not an option because I have a full evening scheduled.

…the chips were good. I found a shop that sells coffee for $3.50 on the Esplanade. Most of the other shops sell it for $4.00 down there. The weather was lovely and the ocean was beautiful.

Have you ever found yourself resenting God for His holiness?

The Apprising Ministries website is now officially offline. Rick Warren’s apologist, Abanes (pronounced Uh-bah-nez) threatened legal action against IPower (Apprising Ministries’ server) and the site was taken down.

It’s important to realise that this is not a legal precedent. Apprising Ministries agreed to the IPower conditions which basically give IPower the freedom to remove any website which causes them controversy or trouble. It is however a bad precendent and a case of bullying. As far as I understand the situation, there was nothing on the Apprising Ministries site which has been demonstrated to be legally libelous or defamatory. Apprising Ministries was not contacted directly by Abanes. It was all handled behind the scenes.

I encourage you to click through and read some of the details for two reasons: 1) to get a better idea of what has happened and why it’s important and 2) to support the protest by giving this story hits.

AFBC 2008: Pentecost Power

The evening started off with the Mayo family doing an item. They sang “This is The Day the Lord Hath Made” which was quite beautifully done. We then sang through several songs before the Kwok brothers did their special (Ben Kwok the Pastor of Rouse Hill Church, Mike Kwok one of the elders at Fellowship Baptist Church, and Jeremy Kwok a deacon at Fellowship Baptist). Just before Rev. Webb came up to preach we sang one song I wish to make mention of. It is a puritan prayer that was organized into a song called “O Great God” the lyrics were truly remarkable.

This evening the message was called “Pentecost Power” The text was Acts 2:36-47. The message was on on revival and viewed this passage on Acts as a ‘blueprint for spiritual revival.’ Through this passage there were five observations:

1. The soveriegnty of God.
Gods soveriegnty was displayed through His choosing of a day, time, and place which had a maximum effect on the people.

2. The spiritual preperation of the people.
A key statement he made was that Pentecost power must be preceded by Pentecost prayer. It’s prayer that releases the power.

3. The suddeness of the event.
The event occurred quickly. He also mentions the occurance of tongues and quickly clarifies the misconceptions many Charismatics and Pentecostals hold onto. He points out verses 6, 8, and 11 make mention of the fact that they all were speaking in known languages.

4. The striking power of the Apostolic preaching.
He points out that Christ is the central focus of the message and that our preaching today also needs to be Christ focused.

5. The superabundant blessings that followed.
The adding of people to the church, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit were some of the blessings.

The concluding thought of the message was that Pentecost is not just a day or an event, but a beginning of the work of God.

AFBC 2008: What’s right with the Church?

The evening started out with some singing and then moved onto a special by the Faith Baptist choir. They sung “Who Can Satisfy My Soul” which was very well done. After Alan Webb, the guest speaker, was introduced another special item was performed by Sarah from the Bob Jones University team. She sang “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”. After this Rev. Alan Webb preached his sermon entitled “What’s Right With the Church?” He had 4 points:

1. The church is the biggest institution in the world.
He states that there are over 2 billion adherents and that over 80, 000 people profess faith in Christ a day. He mentions the work in China and that over 63 million people profess faith in Christ. Moreover Korea which for most of history had no believers now has over 30% of its population claim Christ.

2. The church is the smallest institution in the world.
In reference to the local church he mentions how the body of Christ works together and how if one is effected all are effected.

3. The church is the most radical institution in the world.
The church is radical because it forces change in people’s lives.

4. The church is the most triumphant institution in the world.

He concluded the message with the thought that we are taken out of death and darkness into life and light, and not only are we taken out of and into, but unto. We are taken unto eternal life.

This week, Wednesday to Friday, is the annual Australian Fellowship of Bible-Believing Churches Bible Conference in Sydney. I felt that it would be good for us to be aware of what’s going on there this week so I’m excited that Alen Basic has agreed to live blog the conference for us!

Young men tend to want to change the world. Eventually they come to realise that if they can just change themselves, they’ve accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime. I have to admit that InFocus was born more out of a desire to change the world than to change myself, but the older I get, the more I realise that God meant InFocus to change me.

I understand that not everyone sees eye to eye with me in what I write. I also understand that most people don’t care what I write. And frankly, that doesn’t bother me too much. InFocus has been an opportunity for me to grow and challenge my own thinking on so many things. It’s been a catalyst for serious study. It’s a discipline that has benefited me greatly.

Every now and then I hear a testimony of how God has used something I’ve written in the life of someone else. I’m glad when that happens. One thing I’ve realised is that it’s not what we say and do that influences others the most. It’s who we are that influences other people in the greatest way. Becoming what God intends us to become is a long, hard journey, but it is a journey that God has promised to take us on and He will not leave us half-way to the destination.

So thanks to those of you who check in here along your journey to see what is coming out of the lives of our writers on their journey. The purpose of InFocus is still to develop readers, thinkers, and theologians among Australia’s younger fundamentalists. We’ve got some great changes in the works over at GMT and some of those changes will carry over here to InFocus so stay tuned and may God bless you and keep you.

I asked Farid Wardan, head admin at givemetruth.net, to put together some thoughts about InFocus as part of our third anniversary celebration. His thoughts are below:

I remember our conversation as clear as day. Jason and I were sitting in the car outside SBBC, we’d only known each other for a few weeks at that point but the lengthy discussions we had on a regular basis had clearly revealed our like-mindedness on many issues, and our similar visions for the future of our movement in Australia.

GMT was in its infancy and Jason expressed a desire to have an online, Australian resource for articles by and for fundamentalists. We spent a good portion of that day (and many more thereafter!) working through the requirements of getting something like that happening, and shortly after the “Fundamentalist Resource Centre” was born.

From day one Jason has proved a capable editor and writer, and last year saw the transition to the current name and format in use for the site. Yesterday marked the third anniversary of InFocus and looking back at what InFocus has come through and achieved, I’m thankful for the encouragement and helpful resource that it’s been to me. I’m thankful for Jason’s perseverance and diligence in making it what it is. Above all I’m thankful for God’s grace which empowers us to serve him.

As we plan and prepare for the future it’s our hope and prayer that this place be a blessing, and our desire to see InFocus expand to a broader audience and larger writing team! If you have any suggestions or would like to share how InFocus has been a blessing to you, then please direct your comments to Jason.

Well, today marks three years since our first post here at InFocus. It’s been a great experience in many ways and a difficult one in some ways, but I’m thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in this and look forward to what will come in the future.

I thought I’d give you some ranking stats for the last year just for fun. Our top five stories in the last twelve months were:

1. The Worst Job in the World - This is the first of a four part series Steven Mock put together for InFocus.
2. InFocus in Focus - A good post to read if you want to know what we are about.
3. Insecurity, Part Three: Understanding God’s Love for You - Part of a four part series.
4. With Regard to Essential Doctrines - Guest post by Spurgeon… bet he never thought he’d be blogging!
5. The Light That Shines Farthest - This is the summary post from when we live blogged the NBF last year. We’ll have to talk to Alen and see if we can do it again this year.

Over the next couple of days I’m planning to put up some reflections by myself and Farid Wardan. Thanks to those of you who have read, commented, or written over the last three years. I appreciate you!

A challenge by Paul Washer.

HT: Symphony of Scripture.

Music, being perhaps one of the most controversial issues in Christianity today, brings up a lot of questions. Many of them deserve to be answered personally and honestly.

Is bigger, louder, more majestic… better?
When I listen to sacred music throughout the week, am I using it for entertainment?
If I like it, does that mean I should listen to it?
If I like it, does that mean I shouldn’t listen to it?
If I don’t like it, does that mean I shouldn’t listen to it?
If I don’t like it, does that mean I should listen to it?
Does culture play a part in what I like to listen to? Am I conditioned?
Can I change my conditioning?
Do I really worship in the worship service?
Do I pray when the song is a prayer?

“It is important to realise that if you do not glorify God when you are involved in a conflict, you will inevitably glorify someone or something else. By your actions you will show either that you have a big God or that you have a big self and big problems. To put it another way, if you do not focus on God, you will inevitably focus on yourself and your will, or on other people and the threat of their wills.”

-Ken Sande, The Peace Maker

It’s kind of hard to express the things I felt as I read Jason Janz’ article yesterday morning announcing that he is moving on and passing the leadership of SI to Aaron Blumer. Though I don’t know Jason personally, I do feel a sense of comraderie with him because of the similarity of what he has done to what we are doing here at GMT and InFocus. The other thing I felt was a profound sense of gratefulness. There are three key reasons why I’m grateful for what Jason has done over the last three years.

First, I’m grateful that Jason had the courage to launch and build Sharper Iron when he knew it would be controversial and misunderstood. I’m thankful that Jason didn’t let the critics, the trolls, those with an agenda… he didn’t let them stop him or side track him. He pioneered a model for fundamentalist interaction on the web that is wise, courageous, edifying.

Second, I’m grateful that Jason opened up so many important topics for discussion within Fundamentalism. The day when open, honest Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll admit it’s not my title, but it sure is a good title. It’s actually Abraham Piper’s title and he wrote the article which you can read here. And I encourage you to do so, but if you can’t, I’ll give a very brief summary because this is something that I’m pretty passionate about.

I think Australian pastors need to blog. I understand that not every pastor can or should blog. I understand that there are certain weaknesses to the medium and certain dangers to be avoided. And I understand that the younger generation of pastors is more likely to blog than the older generation. Still, I think Australian pastors need to blog. Here are a few of my reasons and then I’ll give you six of Abraham’s reasons.

First, I believe Australian pastors need to blog because blogging creates a spirit of accountability and transparency that Fundamentalism tends to lack. The blogosphere is a level playing field of sorts where ideas naturally carry more weight than personalities.

Second, I believe Australian pastors need to blog because blogging would allow for dialogue within the Australian movement. We’re all in this together Read the rest of this entry »