Trinity Church Blog

Mission Possible

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Just three days from now, Howard Rodgers, Nathan Pitchford and I will be heading back to Labone, Sudan to continue our partnership with the EFC of Sudan in that region. This trip will consist of four goals:

1. Conduct 'phase two' of training Sudanese church leaders which we began in March 2009. This trip's training will include continuing a series of 'basic theology' lessons we began last time, training in the use of ESV Study Bibles which we are bringing for the pastors and a focus on their own modeling of sanctification as shepherds of God's flock.

2. Conduct 'phase one' of CHE (community health evangelism), presenting a vision and initial training seminar to village leaders in anticipation of their desire to be trained on an on-going basis toward their own implementation of community health initiatives led by the local church as a bridge toward building gospel-oriented relationships.

3. Working with a team of three men from a church in California as they explore their desire to potentially partner with us in our mission to the church in Labone, Sudan. They will be assessing whether or not they will commit to join us in a long-term missions partnership to the Sudanese church.

4. Encourage our missionary friends, David and Helen McCormack, and get a sense of their ministry context in Kandern, Germany where they teach missionary children at Black Forest Academy. We are thankful for the opportunity we will have to spend a few days with them on our return trip from Sudan.

Please be in prayer for God to work in and through us every step of the way. May the growing Kingdom of Christ be built up and furthered through this trip to the glory of God.

P.S. As you can imagine, I won't be posting on the blog while I'm away.

God's Elusive Will?

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:33:00 +0000

Among other things, this Sunday's message on Proverbs 8 will find us exploring the question of how we can discover God's will. Are we supposed to pray for constant direction in decision-making? How much weight should we give 'impressions' we feel from the Lord? Questions like these have produced a lot of anxiety for Christians over the years - including yours truly.

To give you an indication of where we'll be going, consider the following quote from Kevin DeYoung:

God is not a Magic 8-Ball we shake up and peer into whenever we have a decision to make. He is a good God who gives us brains, shows us the way of obedience, and invites us to take risks for Him.

- Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something, p. 26

Husbands and Wives

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:32:00 +0000

Since we've been talking about 'wise marriage' according to Proverbs, it seems apropos to post a quote written by Ray Ortlund Jr. from his blog at The Gospel Coalition which Greg Demme recently put me on to. It succinctly summarizes Ephesians 5:33 [...let each one of you love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband] better than I've ever heard.

God made Adam first and put him in the Garden with a job to do, a mission to fulfill. In the heart of every fallen man is the self-doubt that wonders, "Am I man enough to climb this mountain God has called me to? Can I fulfill my destiny?" A wise wife will understand that question at the center of her husband's heart. And she will spend her life answering it, communicating to him in various ways, "Honey, I believe in your call. I know you can do this, by God's power. Go for it." In this way, she will breathe life into her man.

God made Eve from Adam, for Adam, to help him follow the call. In the heart of every fallen woman is the self-doubt that wonders, "Do I please you? Am I what you wanted?" A wise husband will understand that question at the center of his wife's heart. And he will spend his life answering it, communicating to her in various ways, "Darling, you are the one I need. I cherish you. Let me hold you close." In this way, he will breathe life into his wife.

What's a wife to do?

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:30:00 +0000

The last two Sundays we've focused, in Proverbs 5-7, on the unique challenges and responsibilities we men face as leaders in biblical marriage. Our task is weighty, profound and difficult, yet crucial to showing Christ to our wives and the world.

As a result of these recent messages, I could well imagine a married woman asking, "What am I supposed to do in light of what God calls my husband to in our marriage?" I could equally imagine a woman who listened the last two weeks concluding, "That's great for heroicly sanctified men, but my husband doesn't AT ALL match up to the picture of biblical love you painted. What am I supposed to do?"

Three answers come to mind:

1. Pray. As Proverbs 5, 6 & 7 make clear, the biblical burden on men in marriage is monumental and simply impossible without God's help. Ladies, we need your intercession so much because we need God's grace. He can soften and reshape even the most hardened, male heart.

2. Get help. Sometimes a Christian woman finds herself in a marriage with a husband who is connected to the church but is unwilling to admit his need to grow toward her in love and service. He may be locked in a pattern of sin and pride which he denies - or is blind to. Though a woman in such a marriage cannot change her husband, she does have biblical recourse to go to the elders of the church who are responsible for her husband's discipleship and growth. No Christian woman married to a recalcitrantly sinful, church-going man need ever stay in fear, hiding or despair. Ladies, as elders we want your husband's sanctification as much as you do. If your man is caught in a pattern of sin and is unwilling to get help, please come to us. By God's grace, we will seek to help him.

3. Focus on Jesus. All of you ladies probably wish that your husbands were sinlessly stellar in their Christlike love for you. Who wouldn't? Despite the fact that we elders want your husband to grow in his loving leadership in your marriage, his occasional sin is actually a blessing because it reminds you that only Jesus is the perfect Husband your heart was made for. If your husband was perfect, you would sinfully idolize him and turn away from God. Therefore, rather than growing bitter or discouraged about your husband's sins, let them prove an opportunity to remind you that only Jesus fully satisfies. Some of your husband's biggest flaws can present an opportunity for your own Christ-centered worship.

Christ for Kids

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:57:00 +0000

Two wonderful resources specially designed for helping kids grasp the message of the Cross have landed on the booktable (located in the library) at church:

Mighty Acts of God, a redemptive-historical Bible story book

edited by Starr Meade

The Prince's Poison Cup by RC Sproul is a compelling allegory of the Atonement. We've sold out of the books already, but have four copies

of RC reading his allegory left - for only $5.00 apiece. My boys love it and get it! To learn more, watch the following trailer:

Memorizing the Message

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:52:00 +0000

I mentioned last Sunday how the wisdom of Proverbs was custom-made to be memorized more than any other type of biblical literature. Therefore, over the course of the coming months we're going to be incrimentally memorizing Proverbs 3:1-18 together as a congregation. Why that text? Because, if chapters 1-9 lay the theological foundation for the book, chapter 3 - especially the early sections of the chapter - communicate the heart of biblical wisdom, particularly verses 5-8.

For the next month or so we're going to be concentrating on verses 1-2:

My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,
for length of days and years of life and peace
they will add to you.

You'll see those verses again on Sunday, but don't wait until Sunday to review them. You may want to make it a daily practice in your quiet time and/or begin reviewing them at breakfast or supper time with your family.

Most importantly, don't just memorize this text - think about it, pray through it, impress it upon your wife and children and ask God to help you love its truth. Memorization is only meaningful when it moves from our minds to our hearts and lives.

A Gospel Tonic for Discouraged Parents

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:10:00 +0000

We've all been there - nearly ready to throw in the parenting towel due to a vicious combination of our childrens' collective sins and our sinful response to them. We brought our children into the world as we bathed them in prayer and armed ourselves with the biblical tools and confidence to be super-parents. But in the years since, chronic sin in the house has dashed our dreams and left us with a deep sense of failure and guilt. Can anyone relate?

It's a good thing that parenting, according to the Bible, has never been about 'success.' In his book Think Orange, Reggie Joiner encouarges us away from the Christian 'parenting success syndrome' by reminding us of some important facts, including that ever since the Fall, the human race has been one, big dysfunctional family. Joiner writes,

Where do we find truly 'successful' families in the Bible?

Noah had a drinking problem.

Abraham offered his wife to another man.

Rebekah schemed with her son to deceive her husband.

Jacob's sons sold their brother into slavery.

David had an affair and his son started a rebellion.

Eli lost total control of how his boys acted in church.

Joiner challenges us as Christian parents to stop obsessing about the successful obedience of our children (and our parenting skills). Instead, he writes,

What would happen if parents began to see the family in the same way believers should view the church, as a human part of God's design to demonstrate who He is to the world? Don't miss the significance of that vantage point. Our humanness does not prevent God from using us; it is our humanness [read: sinfulness] that actually becomes the platform from which He demonstrates His power, goodness and love to His people. It is an amazing thought when you realize that both the church and the home are comprised of broken, imperfect people through whom God has chosen to tell His story.

What if it's not God's plan for parents or leaders to restore the church and the home to a sublime, utopian state? What if, instead, it's God's plan to do an amazing work within the church and the home in order to put His grace on display? (p. 47)

He then goes on to strategically apply this gospel-centered perspective on parenting to our ministry in the church:

If you're a church leader, your purpose is not to equip parents to have exceptional parenting skills. If you set unrealistic expectations, you may create an atmosphere in which parents become discouraged and children get disillusioned....It is critical to guard our mindset and stay focused on the primary role of the family...God is at work telling a story of restoration and redemption through our families (p. 48).

Raising kids isn't about them or about us, it's about displaying the glory of the gospel.

Are You Spiritual Or Earthly?

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:47:00 +0000

A spiritual man is spiritual in earthly things. One of a spiritual mind is more heavenly and spiritual when he is about his calling, though it be the lowest, like cutting hedges, digging ditches, pulling ropes or lines, or using his axe or hammer. He is more spiritual at these than is an earthly man when he is praying or hearing [a sermon] or receiving the sacraments. Certainly, it is so, and it will be found to be so at the great day of judgment, when all the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed.

- Jeremiah Burroughs, A Treatise on Earthly-Mindedness, pp. 16-17.

The Indispensibility of Expository Preaching

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:25:00 +0000

Recently I came across an apt quote by John MacArthur which reminds us of how important faithful, expository preaching is for the health and life of the church:

Expository preaching - expressing exactly the will of the glorious Sovereign - allows God to speak, not man.
Expository preaching - retaining the thoughts of the Spirit - brings the preacher into direct and continual contact with the mind of the Holy Spirit who authored Scripture.
Expository preaching frees the preacher to proclaim all the revelation of God, producing a ministry of wholeness and integrity.
Expository preaching promotes biblical literacy, yielding rich knowledge of redemptive truths.
Expository preaching carries ultimate divine authority, rendering the very voice of God.
Expository preaching transforms the preacher, leading to transformed congregations.

- John MacArthur Jr., Rediscovering Expository Preaching, p. xv.

Consider also these words on preaching from John Piper:

People are starving for the greatness of God. But most of them would not give this diagnosis of their troubled lives. The majesty of God is an unknown cure. There are far more popular prescriptions on the market, but the benefit of any other remedy is brief and shallow. Preaching that does not have the aroma of God's greatness may entertain for a season, but it will not touch the hidden cry of the soul: "Show me Thy glory!"

- John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, p. 9.

On The Ground In Haiti

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:51:00 +0000

Since I posted about TouchGlobal (the crisis ministry of the EFCA) and their role in partnership with other ministries in Haiti, some have wondered what is happening and how to strategically pray for them. The following information from TouchGlobal provides such an update:

EFCA TouchGlobal Crisis Response is working overtime responding to the crisis in Haiti. The assessment team is networking with many other humanitarian organizations, the US military and others to mobilize and maximize help quickly. Our teams work each day from early in the morning until late at night securing needed resources and relief supplies and setting up locally-led distribution networks. In recent days, the team secured food for 6,000 people to be distributed in three communities. Other daily activities include:

Assessing needs in numerous locations across the area
Resourcing medical supplies for teams of doctors
Working with Vision of Hope Ministries to support medical/humanitarian needs at a hospital for displaced people in Cape Haitian
Working on logistics for long term staff and team presence

Here's what we can be praying for them:

For the TouchGlobal first responder team which is physically exhausted. Pray for wisdom as they discern how best to focus their gifts as they serve an overwhelmingly needy people.
For financial giving to meet the urgent needs they face.
For EFCA construction and medical volunteers who will be needed soon on the ground.
For French-speaking ReachGlobal staff who may be open to helping coordinate teams.

You can donate to specifically Christian-oriented relief teams in concert with missions to Haiti here.

A Pastor And His Books

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:38:00 +0000

Recently a friend sent me a video of Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, giving a tour of his personal library. It's a good depiction of how valuable a space to study, think, write and pray is to a biblically-oriented pastor. I'm so grateful for a church family that helped create such a space for me. Enjoy the tour, and find out why even pastors like me who don't drink coffee should buy coffee beans. You can watch it here.

Defining Church Success

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:55:00 +0000

This week I received a card from a friend who in recent years has been blessed through much of our ministry at Trinity. Part of the card defines a 'successful' church this way:

*Loves one another
*Serves one another
*Bears one another's burdens
*Shares freely God's salvation plan
*Hungers and thirsts after righteousness
*Let's their light shine so God is glorified

Not a bad list - and one, I think, which well sums up Trinity.

Here's my question for you: Knowing what the Bible says about the church, what would you add to that list to describe biblical success for a local church? Post your answers. I'd love to learn from them.

Why Partnership is Crucial in Most Mission

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:45:00 +0000

Life on the mission field today requires a nuanced sensitivity - especially in countries where pockets of the true church already exist. Kingdom expansion in such countries, for the most part, don't need pioneer church planters and they certainly don't need patronizing imperialism. They need humble, culturally-sensitive partnership.

As we continue to build our partnership with the Evangelical Free Church of Sudan, we need to think long and well about our attitude as we teach, disciple and resource our African brothers and sisters to reach their own people. One of the best recent articles written to help equip us to think carefully about cross-cultural partnership - and the particular damage which we American Christians are adept at exporting - is called "How [Not] To Be An American Missionary in Scotland." If you're eager to help grow the church globally in a decidedly healthy way, I'd encourage you to read Robertson's article. You can find it here.

How to Help Haiti

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:52:00 +0000

We've all been praying for the Haitian people this week in the wake of the earthquake which killed so many and further devastated their already devastated nation. Here in North Carolina one feels it acutely, being geographically approximate to the Caribbean. Many churches here are mobilizing teams to go and help.

What can we North Dakotan believers do? We can give to TouchGlobal, the EFCA crisis ministry, which is positioned to go and serve in the name of Christ on our behalf. To read about what TouchGlobal is doing in Haiti and for a way to give go here.

The Bible's Main Theme

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:09:00 +0000

What is the main theme of the Bible? Not the sovereignty or holiness of God, as important as those are, for without the main theme of the Bible, God's sovereignty and holiness, which are important subthemes, would obliterate us. The main theme of the Bible is the unmerited favor of God in Christ toward chosen but wicked people like us.

I was reminded of that this morning as I read Joshua 7, the story of Israel's defeat at Ai following their victory at Jericho. As you will remember, when Israel sacked Jericho God commanded them to keep none of the spoils of the battle for themselves - the precious metals were to be devoted to the Tabernacle and all the rest was to be devoted to destruction. Then, against the Lord's command, a man named Achan took and hid a valuable robe, 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold. In order to expose his crime, Joshua made each tribe pass before him until Judah was chosen. Then he made all the clans of Judah pass before him until the Zerahites were chosen. When all the Zerahites passed before Joshua, Zabdi (the head of one family) was chosen. When Zabdi's family passed by him, Achan was chosen.

If you know the story, you know that Achan was stoned to death and burned for his sin, for in keeping the contraband which was devoted to destruction, by extension all Israel had become devoted to destruction (7:12). Achan's sin was more serious than we at first realize, putting the entire nation and the future of God's glorification through them in jeopardy.

In light of the seriousness of their sin, what's amazing about this story isn't that Achan, along with his whole family, was executed (7:24-26). Far more amazing is that the entire clan of the Zerahites or the entire tribe of Judah were not executed. Think about it: since day one Judah had been a liability instead of an asset. Back in Genesis 37 it was Judah who influenced his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery bringing years of sorrow upon their father. A chapter later Judah leaves his family and takes up residence with a family of nearby pagans, marries a Canaanite and later is guilty of refusing to provide for his widowed daughter-in-law, sleeping with a prostitute who turns out to be his daughter-in-law and self-righteously attempting to execute her when her prostitution is exposed.

Now fast forward to Joshua 7 where the tribe of Judah has just been singled out for bringing God's wrath upon the entire nation. In light of this tribe's track record, one couldn't fault God for destroying them outright. After all, for hundreds of years, history had proven that Judah was no good. They deserved no mercy. Right?

Right. That's where God's amazing grace comes in. Grace defines Jacob's prophecy about Judah in Genesis 49:8-10, "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."

Grace defines God's choosing of Judah's line through which Israel's Redeemer would be born. So, Luke 3 records, "Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat...the son of Judah...."

And grace defines the eternal glory in our salvation which will forever be fixed to Judah's name according to Revelation 5:5, "And one of the elders said to me, 'Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."

All of us are Achan. All of us are Judah. Only one thing sets them apart - God's grace. Our sin deserves the condemnation Achan received and worse. God's mercy in Christ gives us what Judah received: forgiveness, life and glory in spite of it. Even the lowest points in salvation-history bring us face to face with the Bible's main theme which is our hope: God's amazing grace.

The Frighteningly Costly Nature of Saving Grace

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 21:18:00 +0000

"Some years ago I met a woman who began coming to Redeemer, the church where I am a minister. She said that she had gone to church growing up and she had always heard that God accepts us only if we are sufficiently good and ethical. She had never heard the message she was now hearing, that we can be accepted by God by sheer grace through the work of Christ regardless of anything we do or have done. She said, 'That's a scary idea! Oh, it's a good scary, but still scary.'

I was intrigued. I asked her what was so scary about unmerited free grace? She replied something like this: 'If I was saved by my good works - then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be like a taxpayer with rights. I would have done my duty and now I would deserve a certain quality of life. But if it is really true that I am a sinner saved by sheer grace - at God's infinite cost - then there's nothing He cannot ask of me.'

She could see immediately that the wonderful-beyond-belief teaching of salvation by sheer grace had two edges to it. On the one hand it cut away slavish fear. God loves us freely, despite our flaws and failures. Yet, she also knew that if Jesus really had done this for her - she was not her own. She was bought with a price."

- Tim Keller, The Prodigal God, pp. 120-121

On The Road Again

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:45:00 +0000

As of Thursday I'll be back on the road to North Carolina for two more classes at Reformed Theological Seminary (my fourth and fifth out of eight). Therefore, I'll not be around Trinity for a couple of weeks. Let me encourage you in a few ways during the time I'll be gone:

1. Get involved in Sunday School. This Sunday we resume our classes at 9 am with our regular classes continuing for kids and four new classes for adults. These will include two classes designed uniquely for men and women. I would encourage you all to get involved and grow deeper in the grace of the gospel. If you'd like to know more about Sunday School, contact the church office at 839-5127.

2. Pray for our preachers. While I'm away Nathan Pitchford and Greg Demme will be preaching during our Sunday services. Please pray for them and come expecting to encounter God's grace in His Word.

3. Pray for me. My purpose in pursuing more education is to become a better, more gospel-loving, grace-prizing pastor. Please pray that I would learn much and grow deeply through my classes and interactions with fellow pastors and my professors.

4. If you need to contact me while I'm away, please do so through my alternate email: andyp@srt.com.

See you in a couple of weeks.

New Year Prayers

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Many Christians set aside time on New Year's Eve to intercede for God's grace and blessing for the coming year. Whatever your plans for tonight, I hope you're planning to 'pray in' the new year in some form.

The people and future events for which we could pray tonight are limitless, yet, if you're a part of Trinity Church, let me suggest you take some time to pray particular blessings for our small groups and those in them. Here's my recommendation:

1. If you're a small group leader, take some time to pray for the members of your small groups. As a member of a small group, I take great comfort in knowing that my leader is regularly interceding for me. Pray for our marriages, that they would mirror Christ's love for the church. Pray for our children, that they would increasingly find their hope and delight in the gospel. Pray for our relationships, that intimacy, trust, accountability and radical expressions of love would multiply. Pray for our outreach, that our connections with unbelievers would result in sensitively bold gospel proclamation as we love the lost into the Kingdom of God.

2. If you're a small group member, take some time to pray for your leader. Considering that shepherding and discipleship at Trinity happens primarily through small groups, please pray that your leader's love for those in your group would grow. Pray for his holiness as he models for you a godly life. Pray for his ability to facilitate biblically-focused, gospel-centered discussion in your meetings which draw all of you back again and again to the Cross. Pray for his desire to shepherd those in your group not only when you meet but during the week as well. Pray for an increase in your own desire to be shepherded and discipled by your leader as you invite his input into your spiritual maturity and growth in grace.

There are many people we could pray for on this New Year's Eve. Let's not forget about our small groups. As we pray, God will bless them, multiply them and use our relationships in them to make us all more like Jesus.

A Bible Reading Plan That Works

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:35:00 +0000

Over the years Trinity Church has annually promoted numerous kinds of Bible reading plans, often designed to assist us in reading through the Bible in a single year. These have ranged from Robert Murray M'Cheyne's plan (twice through the Psalms and New Testament and once through the rest), reading straight through the Bible, reading chronologically through the Bible, writing out the New Testament, etc. Each method we've promoted has had its advantages and we would still commend their use.

At the same time, plans like those named above frequently cause discouragement as our New Year's Bible reading resolutions give way to the unexpected X-factors of life which seem to encroach with a vengeance after a few weeks or months. I don't know about you, but I can't seem to find a command in the Bible giving special importance to reading all 66 books of the Bible in a year's time. Furthermore, as we've discussed in recent weeks, trying to speed through a book like Proverbs could be positively harmful since its poetry was designed to be read slowly and thoughtfully.

Therefore, let me suggest a new kind of reading plan for 2010, one that writer Margie Haack calls 'The Bible Reading Plan for Slackers and Shirkers' (I love that title!). Advantages to this plan include:

1. Removing the pressure to 'keep up' with getting through the entire Bible in a year.
2. Providing variety throughout the week by alternating genres.
3. Providing continuity by reading the same genre each day of the week.

In a nutshell, here's how it works:

Sundays: Poetry
Mondays: Penteteuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
Tuesdays: Old Testament history
Wednesdays: Old Testament history
Thursdays: Old Testament prophets
Fridays: New Testament history
Saturdays: New Testament epistles (letters)

The advantage of this plan is that it provides guidance as we read each day but does not put us on an internal guilt trip if we miss a day - we just pick up with the next reading on the day it happens to be. Also, this plan allows us to see the many interconnections between sections of Scripture. So, as Margie puts it, on the same day you may be reading about God's covenant with Abraham in Genesis and a few days later read Paul's commentary on the Abrahamic covenant in Romans.

Many Bible reading plans are good, but I find this one unusually helpful, for it combines two biblical values which seem to diverge in most plans: discipline and grace. Beginning this Sunday we'll have hard copies of the plan on our free resource table in the fellowship hall. If you would like to download an electronic version so you can begin today, you can find a link here.

Church is Cancelled

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:36:00 +0000

Due to the depth of snow in Minot from our Christmas blizzard, we feel it safest to cancel tomorrow morning's worship service. Tomorrow is still the Lord's Day, so I would encourage us all to spend some significant time reading our Bibles, praying, singing songs of praise and remembering the gospel of Christ's grace. Lord willing, we'll all be back together at church next week.

Be safe and stay warm!

Pray for the Congo

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:31:00 +0000

Last Sunday in my pastoral prayer I mentioned the recent civil unrest and threat to people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Ubangi region - the part of the country where most of the 900+ Evangelical Free Church of the Congo congregations are. Fighting this week in that region has been no better. The unrest provides a unique opportunity of service and outreach for our Christian Congolese friends, especially through the EFC hospital in Tandala. Unfortunately, the need is so great and the wounded are so many that the hospital is running out of supplies and its staff are in danger. Please pray with me that God would provide safety for His people in the midst of bloodshed and open doors of gospel opportunity through this great crisis. You can read more about it here.

An Unconverted Prayer God Accepts

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:37:00 +0000

As Deuteronomy 1:45 testifies, God does not listen to the prayers of the ungodly. Once the famed, Southern Presbyterian preacher John Girardeau was asked what hope an unconverted sinner, then, has to pray to God to save him. His answer is worth pondering.

"The explanation is that Jesus, the great High Priest, presents His blood in their behalf, sues pardon for them by His availing intercessions, and secures for them the grace of the Holy Spirit Who, coming in the first instance, not in answers to their prayers, but to the prayers of the great Mediator, awakens in them a sense of their spiritual wants, impels them to pray for divine help, and enables them while struggling in supplication to believe in the Person and trust in the merits of the Savior. The people of God, while in their unconverted and ungodly condition, are accepted not because of the efficacy of their prayers, but because Jesus has previously prayed for them. This is the encouragement which the unconverted sinner has in attempting to pray."

- Preachers With Power, Douglas Kelly, p. 158

How precious is Hebrews 7:25: "Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

Gift Ideas

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:55:00 +0000

Christmas is quickly approaching. If you're still looking for some gift ideas, we've stocked our church book table (located in the library) with some rich reading material guaranteed to help the people on your list better love and live out the gospel. Some new books include:

Fighting Self-Pity with Perseverance

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:18:00 +0000

The sin of self-pity is no respecter of persons. I've encountered it in my children when the family schedule didn't revolve around them. I've seen it in Africans who expect to live as well as we Americans. I've heard its echo in us Americans who've been programmed for comfort 24/7 when an uncomfortable situation unexpectedly arises. Most of all, I know self-pity up close and personal in the ugly recesses of my own, self-deifying heart - not least in the past week as I've been sick.

Perhaps today that's where you find yourself - mad at the world or just plain annoyed because today isn't going your way. Sometimes an an inspiring example of joyful perseverance in the face of suffering is what it takes to snap us out of the sinful reverie of our self-pity. Consider the following story:

Back in 1996 an aspiring, 19 year old, Chinese ballet dancer named Ma Li lost her right arm in an auto accident. Most would have assumed her career was through. Not so. Undeterred by her new 'deformity', Ma Li danced on - now looking to inspire those facing hardships to persevere through them. Then in 2005 she discovered a young man named Zhai Xiaowei who had lost his leg in a tractor accident at age four. She invited him to partner with her in a national dancing competition. They left their self-pity behind, persevered and stole the hearts of millions.

This week Proverbs focuses us on persevering in our faith in Christ to the end. Is your life testifying to His greatness and grace today, or are you letting the sin of self-pity slow you down? The next time you feel like pouting and licking your wounds for how hard your life is or how challenging the people around you are, think of Ma and Zhai, pray for forgiveness and keep going.

How Much Do WE Love God's Word?

andy@trinitychurchminot.org (Andy) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:23:00 +0000

As a litmus test for our hearts, consider the following story from the ministry of 19th century preacher Daniel Baker:

In his diary, Baker writes, "Having been sent an appointment to preach one sermon in a certain place on a week day, I rode up at the hour appointed, and was astonished to see so many horses hitched all around. As no house near at hand could accomodate the persons assembled, we went into the grove, and had such accomodations as we could get. I preached a long sermon, and every individual seemed to listen with an eagerness which I had rarely ever witnessed before. On singing the last hymn, I rose, and gave them some parting words. I then pronounced the blessing, but was not permitted to go; and consented to preach another sermon, after a short recess."

Baker goes on to relate that after he had preached the second sermon, the large, grateful crowd refused to leave and begged for another sermon. He then preached a third sermon and though the sun was by now setting, the eager people still declined to disperse. He writes, "Hearts were melting, and tears were in many eyes! They must still have some more words. I began to speak again when I saw a dark cloud rise and it begin to thunder. 'Friends,' I said, 'A storm is at hand; we had better retire.' As I left, one man, Captain Wright, coming to me, grasped my hand with much emotion and tears running down his cheeks and said, 'Stranger, for God's sake come back, or send someone to preach to us the gospel.'"

- Douglas Kelly, Preachers With Power, p. 16