Lord Mountbatten on Fear

Fellow Labourers-

Fear is real, but perfect love do cast out fear.  Ha! Ha! I don't love - that's why I am afraid of it/him. True or False? Take a note of the article below.

Robert A. Stewart J.P.
Pastor

Lord Mountbatten

9.7.03 by Howard E. Butt, Jr.

Transcript: Lord Mountbatten was a decorated British Naval commander. He was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria, and an Allied commander in the South Pacific in World War II.

As a little boy, however, the future naval hero was afraid to go to bed in the dark. "It isn’t the dark," he once confided to his father. "Wolves are up there."

"There are no wolves in this house," his father reassured him.

But the boy was inconsolable. "Perhaps not," he said to his father, "but I think there are."

Even as adults, we can conjure up imaginary fears that restrict our ability to act. Or we can place our trust in the One who guides our path—in the high calling of our daily work.

"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Luke 12:4-7)

Questions for Small Groups, Personal Reflection, and Online Discussion

• What did you fear as a child? Did you eventually overcome this fear? If so, how?
• What are some of your current fears--at home, at work, at church, in your community? Take a moment to pray about your fears.
• Read Luke 12:4-7 (above). What does this passage teach us about healthy and unhealthy fear?

Lands of Unlikeness

Fellow Labourers-

Are you in a land that you purposefully chose, or one that makes you wonder? This article reminds me that I didn't chose God, He chose me. He was always seeking for me. As I ponder the 'Lands of unlikeness" a phrase spring to minds- "It is not colour that that informs our ideas but ideas that colour our world."

Wherever we find ourselves today should be viewed as a path to our destiny. I don't know how relevant this is to today's thought, but since it comes to mind let me share it. Mike Murdock in his book 'The Uncommon Leader' says the following: "Access creates demands; Demands create expectations; Expectations create distractions; Distractions creates failure."

Since the topic of marriage and divorce is in vogue at this time permit me to say that marriage does bring us into "Lands of unlikeness.' In these unlikely places the will to do is what will result in our survival. The success or failure of a marriage depends a lot on what we are willing to do. We must control the will. Ravi Zacharias succinctly note the following, "If you are to learn to control the will, you must harness it early in any battle. Lines must be drawn not at the level of acting but at the level of thinking. Lines must be drawn not at the level of doing, but at the level of desiring. Lines must be drawn not at the level of contact but at the level of sight. Lines must be drawn knowing that marriage is not a condition of being but a condition of becoming. The two become one, but the becoming is both a moment and a process." So the question now becomes are we willing to take up the cross of Christ? Within marriage there is a cross, and if the will is to be resesurrected, it must first go to the cross.

Pax Vobiscum

Robert A. Stewart J.P.
Pastor

The Will to Power of Weakness

Fellow Labourers-

As I read this article the words "The will to do" jumps out at me. Some one aptly opined "If the will is to be resurrected, it must go to the cross." As human beings whose existence seems to be more attuned to the physical world, we may be tempted to agree with Friedrich Nietzsche's thoughts: We are a people that seem to be trapped in our own selfish desires to be "the man".

Isn't it a reality that we want always to make ourselves to be understood instead of seeking to understand?Who among us at first assume that he is wrong? Listen to one of our opening salvos in a conversation," Mark you, don't get me wrong..." What are we intending to do when we begin our argument or our response with this remark?

You see brothers and sisters it is never easy to feel that we are losing control. A life that is surrendered to Christ is one that gives the steering wheel to Jesus. Each time I get on an aeroplane I feel very insignificant. I can't see the pilot, and I can't be sure of his state of mind. There is nothing I can do physically to affect the flight. So, then I learn to relax in the thought that the real Pilot is not only in the cockpit, but he is right beside me. With this thought my weakness (fear) subsides. So, let the weak say I am strong.

Pax Vobiscum

Robert A. Stewart J.P.
Pastor

Care for our workers

Fellow Labourers-

I read somewhere that in his younger days Michael Jordan's coach took him aside during a time out and said to him "There is no 'I' in team to which Michael retorted but "There is an 'I' in win. After a few seasons he learnt the meaning of his coach's statement. So, as we build our team of church workers I ask myself questions as well as question others. Below are three discussion questions I believe we need to treat with. What are your thoughts?

1. What are the pieces of our "care plan" for our church workers?
2. Would our workers say they feel comfortable "being real" with their leaders? If not, what can we do to correct this situation?
3. In what specific ways can we care for our workers outside the church walls?

Pax Vobiscum,

 

Robert A. Stewart J.P.

Pastor

Marriage in Real Life

Fellow Labourers-

I submit the article below for your consideration.

Pax Vobiscum,

Robert A. Stewart J.P.
Pastor

Marriage in Real Life
Shaking free from the bonds of expectation
by Bonnie McMaken
 
I recently started watching Friday Night Lights, a show about the inner workings of a small Texas town and its obsession with football. The show centers on the high school football coach, Eric Taylor and his wife, Tami, as they—sometimes unknowingly—disciple the inhabitants of this small town in football and in life.
 
I’m only on the first season, but I’m already struck by Eric and Tami’s marriage. In fact, it might be the healthiest portrayal of marriage I’ve seen on TV . . . ever. In a sitcom world of oblivious, lazy husbands and manipulative wives, it’s refreshing to see a marriage in which husband and wife are equally supportive and kind toward each other.
 
I also appreciate that this fictional couple isn’t romanticized, but they’re healthy. Eric and Tami grapple through issues together. They unpack these worries at the end of the day, giving each other advice and grace as they go. And even in the thick drama of a television show, their lives aren’t flashy. In fact, sometimes the occasional mundane doldrums of marriage are so realistic that I wonder if I’m watching a real couple.
 
Sometimes a real, working marriage seems boring to an outsider, or even to us. And so many weeks in my own marriage, I find myself saying, “Wow, this is harder than I expected.” The tedious ins-and-outs and the difficulties of life together can be grating unless we realize this truth: It’s not all about us.

This stark concept, so utterly simple, is one of the hardest for us to grasp as individuals and as a culture. For example, I just finished reading Eat, Pray, Love, in which the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, becomes unhappy in her marriage . . . and leaves her husband. Wait, I must have missed something. When has marriage only been about personal fulfillment?

Marriage is not about the way of happiness, it’s about the Way of the Cross. This really shakes things up for us. Living in the shadow of the Cross, especially in the context of marital love, involves a daily dying to self, a constant sense of living for the other person, even when they’re annoying, thoughtless, or distant.

And this union, which the media fails to capture well, is built on a lifetime of sacrifice for the sake of Christ, for the sake of each other. Sometimes the sacrifice even means loving through the mundane moments, when we’d rather be flitting around Italy, eating copious amounts of pasta, and finding spiritual enlightenment. But marriage certainly isn't joyless, even with its sacrifices. Beauty and laughter also fill the cracks of the day-to-day, where we catch glimpses of heaven.

Real marriage, a far cry from even the best fictional portrayals, is a crucible, a vessel that can stand high stress and ultimately alter its contents, husband and wife. Through its joys and trials we are sanctified in order that we may love more fully.

What have you found to be untrue of our culture's perception or the media's portrayal of marriage? How does a true understanding of marriage combat those false messages?