Fathers Club

I preached last weekend during Fathers' Day. It created quite a buzz in facebook and twitter. I think it is simply that there's something about the subject of fathers that is dear to our hearts. Check out my sermon summary if you interested in my newly created blog "DUMC Fathers Club".

Interestingly, I received about 100 forms from fathers and even single young adult men who are interested in this club. This has been on my mind for a couple of years and I believe it is the right time now to create a local movement in DUMC for fathering. I believe it will have a systemic effect on marriages, parenting, family life and church as a whole.

There are many resources out there and pray that we will be discerning which to use that will really move us fathers up a notch.

Happy Fathers' Day!

A song as I journal

Today's reading is a reminder of our fundamental doctrine of faith and it got me into singing a song :)


1 Cor 15:1-7
 ¹Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ²By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
 ³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. ⁶After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.


Apostle Paul said this is of first importance .. meaning, high on the list! Three simple words that encapsulate the Christian faith: DIED - BURIED - RAISED.


And as I meditated on this passage, I started singing this old song:

Living He Loved me

Dying He saved me

Buried He carried

My sins far away

Rising He justified

Freely forever

One day He’s coming back

O glorious Day

Casting Crown did a wonderful modern version of this song with this part in the chorus.

Here's the song in YouTube.

Here's a jazz version - Coooooool ...... YouTube

May we reminded how precious we are to Him!

Why not rather be wronged or cheated?

This is a tough one. This is an interesting position Apostle Paul had taken. He argued that there's much at stake here. Even our rights can and should be sacrificed for the greater good of the Name of Christ. Remember, this is said in the context of much disunity in the Church and other compromises mentioned in Paul's letter. The Corinthians have become very carnal and were going back to their old ways. They forgot their position in Christ, as Christians. There were lawsuits taken against each other. Paul sarcastically said that even the least in the church ought to be able to judge the case, than bringing it to pagans.

Paul took such a strong position that he went on to say "Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?"

This is radical and if we understand this in the context of the previous post I had on being a willing slave, how then do we die to our rights? If we have died to ourself and live for Christ, dead men have no rights! Isn't that's what missionaries do, dying to their rights for a comfortable life and moving to foreign culture for the sake for the Gospel? Isn't that's what many in our churches who give up what is their right to a comfortable private life, give it up instead to serve others regularly, within or without the church?

I think Paul's hitting the nail on the head, by basically saying that the heart of the problem is the problem of the human heart. We are inherently SELF-CENTRED!

1 Corinthians 6:1-8

¹If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? ²Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? ³Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! ⁴Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! ⁵I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? ⁶But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers!

 ⁷The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? ⁸Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.

Adjusting the Sails

This came from the Maxwell Leadership Bible. I was drawn to the reminder of what it takes to be a great leader.

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR ATTITUDES

Our destinies in life will never be determined by our complaining spirits or high expectations.

Life is full of surprises, and the adjustment of our attitudes is a lifelong project.

              The pessimist complains about the wind.

              The optimist expects it to change.

              The leader adjusts the sails.

We choose what attitudes we have right now. And it’s a continuing choice. I am amazed at the large number of adults who fail to take responsibility for their attitudes. If they’re grumpy and someone who asks why, they’ll say, “I got up on the wrong side of the bed.” When failure begins to plague their lives, they’ll say, “I was born on the wrong side of the tracks.” When life begins to flatten out and others in the family are still climbing, they’ll say, “Well, I was in the wrong birth order in my family.” When their marriages fail, they believe they married the wrong person. When someone else gets a promotion they wanted, it’s because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Do you notice something? They are blaming everyone else for their problems.

The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up.-Developing the Leader Within You

CHOOSE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW YOU VIEW YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.