Monday 14 April 2014

Responding to the Ousting of Mozilla’s CEO

By Jim Daly.
This is the kind of news story that will make you shake your head at where we are as a culture.
The co-founder of Firefox maker Mozilla, Brendan Eich, is a “thoughtful, nerdy, humble guy” (according to a homosexual San Francisco-based journalist) – the type of man you would want to run a technology company. He created the JavaScript programming language and uses his smarts and influence to advance the principles of individual freedom and an open Internet.
However, to his peril, Eich also supports traditional marriage. In 2008, he donated $1,000 to California’s Proposition 8, which defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
His relatively small donation was enough to mobilize staffers in his own company to publicly condemn Eich being named as the CEO of Mozilla Corporation. They took to social media to voice their displeasure. Others joined them, such as online dating site OkCupid.
The pressure led Brendan Eich to resign yesterday.
Eich’s departure led actor and gay-rights activist George Takei to post on his immensely popular Facebook page that Mozilla staffers “can now work in a hate-free zone.”
That’s quite the powerful accusation – that merely holding the view that marriage should be defined as a union between a man and a woman can create an environment of “hate.”
Indeed, that word – hate – gets thrown around a lot when it comes to those of us who hold to a view of natural marriage.
Nevermind that Eich never discussed his support of one-man, one-woman marriage while in his professional role. On the contrary, Eich has said he’s always “kept my personal beliefs out of it [Mozilla].”
Mr. Eich even sponsors a project that helps minorities, including those who are LGBTQ, get training and support.
Maybe that’s why Mozilla Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker is quoted as saying she “never saw any kind of behavior or attitude from him that was not in line with Mozilla’s values of inclusiveness.”
And yet, Eich is accused of hatred and gets ousted from the company he helped start simply because he supports natural marriage.
It’s enough to make a reasonable person’s head spin.
Even influential author and blogger Andrew Sullivan, who is openly gay, is recoiling at how Eich has been treated. In a blog post, Sullivan writes, “The whole episode disgusts me – as it should disgust anyone interested in a tolerant and diverse society.”
Sullivan also quotes a reader who disagrees with Eich over gay marriage, but who gets the bigger issues at hand: “There’s no freedom of speech if you can’t be employed while holding your opinion.”
Yet this is where we are.
Sullivan and others coming to Eich's defense are right. It's wrong and ridiculous. It's reverse discrimination. It's social bullying, pure and simple. I'm reminded of the title of that off-beat comedy from another era:
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."
Indeed it is.
Let me ask this:
Is it not reasonable for those who support same-sex marriage to extend to us the same level of tolerance they expect from us?
I certainly think it is.
https://community.focusonthefamily.com

Drink - The Enright Files

We live in a culture that's awash in drink - enjoying, romanticizing and marketing the pleasures of alcohol. But countless millions of people have lost their families, their health and their dignity to alcohol. Michael Enright talks to two authors who have written about the bottle and the damage done: Ann Dowsett Johnston, author ofDrink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol, and Olivia Laing, author of The Trip to Echo Spring: Why Writers Drink.
Detail from the book http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2014/04/07/the-enright-files---drink/

Monday 31 March 2014

Ask, Seek, Knock

Jesus’ Relationships                 Matthew 7:1-20

Sermon notes for Sunday, March 30, 2014

1 Relationships…
To our brother or sister, in whose eye we may discern a splinter, and whom we have a responsibility to help, not judge.
Matthew 7:1-5
2 Relationships…
To a group of offensive people who are offended by Jesus.
Matthew 7:6
3 Relationships…
To our heavenly Father who gives good things to those who ask him.
Matthew 7:7-11
4 Relationships…
To everyone in general—the Golden Rule should guide our attitude and behaviour.
Matthew 7:12
5 Relationships…
To those on the journey with us in following Jesus.
Matthew 7:13-14
6 Relationships…
To false prophets whom we are to recognize and of whom we are to be aware.
Matthew 7:15-20
7 Relationships…
To Jesus our Lord whose teaching we are committed to heed and obey.
Matthew 7:21-27

Memory Verse: Week Six
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened..  Matthew 7:7-8
Living in 3D
  1. Discover His Will
  2. Declare Your Faith
  3. Desire His Activity
This Week:
  1. Read and reflect.
  2. Think about your strained relationships with others. Where do you need to behave differently?
Think about your relationship with Jesus. Where do you need to seek him more diligently?

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Seek First the Kingdom

Jesus Ambition                    Matthew 6:19-34


Message by Rev. Dr. Myles Krueger
The Treasurers of Heaven
Are our Treasures important in Eternal Life? 
Seek First the Kingdom
a)      Matthew 6:1-18  Jesus speaks of our "Public Life": 
                Giving, Praying, Fasting
a)      Matthew 6:19-24 Jesus speaks of our "Private Life" 
Jesus teaches us about “alternatives” from which to choose:
        a)    two treasures
        b)    two bodily conditions
        c)    two masters
        d)    two pre-occupations

What is Our Value System?
Our attitude toward buying, giving and use of our investments.
Response of Believers:
a)      Tax Return evaluations?
b)      "Do we give substantially? 
c)       "Prosperity Preachers": a by-gone era?
Jesus does not rebuke having high incomes and wealth: 
Summation:
a)      Jesus' warning: see Matthew 19:24 "eye of the needle”
b)      Paul's Teaching: 1 Timothy 6:10
c)       "Saving for a rainy day", "Life Insurance" are not forbidden!
The Sermon on the 'Mount' has a focus
a)      Jesus is concerned with our "Heart's Motivation" and then watches us
b)      Heaven: will Jesus be concerned with what we accomplish materially?
c)       How does Jesus look upon you with His heart?
Memory Verse: Week Five
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33
This Week:

  1. Read and reflect.
  2. Think about your heart motivation when it comes to trusting God with your resources.
  3. How do you view treasures?

Jesus' Self-portrait

From Henri Nouwen


Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for uprightness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness” (Matthew 5:3-10). These words offer us a self-portrait of Jesus. Jesus is the Blessed One. And the face of the Blessed One shows poverty, gentleness, grief, hunger, and thirst for uprightness, mercy, purity of heart, a desire to make peace, and the signs of persecution. The whole message of the Gospel is this: Become like Jesus. We have his self-portrait. When we keep that in front of our eyes, we will soon learn what it means to follow Jesus and become like him.

When You Pray

Jesus Piety                                 Matthew 6:1-18

 Jesus is committed to, and earnest about spiritual disciplines.
Authentic piety is not external only, but reflects the secret things of the heart.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 6:1

When you give to the needy…
Self-consciousness deteriorates into self-righteousness.
Is the benefit for the giver or the person receiving the gift?
Seeing the need relieved satisfies the love that prompted the gift.

When you pray…
Behind piety can lurk pride.
We are to love prayer for the opportunity it affords us to enter into the presence of the one we love.
“There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God.”
 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew6:14-15

When you fast…
Fasting exemplifies self-denial and self-discipline.
Penitence
Seeking direction or blessing
Self-control
Refocus on justice and charity
 “And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:4, 6, 18

Pharisaic piety is ostentatious, motivated by vanity and rewarded by people.
Christian piety is secret, motivated by humility and rewarded by God.
Become so conscious of God that we cease to be self-conscious.

Memory Verse: Week Three

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 5:18
This Week:

  1. Read and reflect.
  2. Think about your giving, praying, or fasting, and ask the Holy Spirit for a change in your ‘performance’.
  3. Be quietly righteous.

Saturday 15 March 2014

Jesus, the Blessed one

Jesus is the Blessed One. The word benediction, which is the Latin form for the word blessing, means “to say (dicere) good things (bene).” Jesus is the Blessed One because God has spoken good things of him. Most clearly we see God’s blessing after Jesus has been baptised in the river Jordan, when “suddenly there was a voice from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rest on him’” (Matthew 3:16-17). With this blessing Jesus starts his public ministry. And all of that ministry makes known to us that this blessing is not only for Jesus but also for all who follow him.

Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith. ©1997 by Henri J. M. Nouwen.

Monday 10 March 2014

But I Say to You

Jesus Righteousness: Matthew 5:17-48

March 9, 2014
What is Jesus’ attitude toward the Law?
Does he question its authority, or only its interpretation?
What are we required to obey—if anything?

 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17

The scribes and Pharisees sought to restrict the commands of the law, and extend their permissions, to suit their convenience.
Jesus explains the true meaning of the moral law with all its uncomfortable implications.

 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20
 “You have heard that it was said...” Matthew 5:21
Anger
Lust
Divorce
Oaths
Retaliation
Enemies
But I say to you…

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:29-30

Memory Verse: Week Three
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.   Matthew 5:18
Intentional Bible Reading
  1. Pronounce It
  2. Picture It
  3. Probe It
  4. Paraphrase It
  5. Personalize It 
This Week:
  1. Read and reflect.
  2. Pick one issue and ask the Holy Spirit for a change in your righteousness.
  3. Be an example of perfection.

Reflecting Jesus by looking into The Sermon on the Mount

You will recognize them by how they live. Matthew 7:20

Blessed Are You

Jesus Character & Influence: Matthew 5:1-16

March 2, 2014

Who are the people of the beatitudes?
What qualities are they to have?
What are the blessings promised?
The beatitudes are eight fundamental emotional attributes that are a formula for personal and societal health.

Ø  The Poor in Spirit
Ø  Those Who Mourn
Ø  The Meek
Ø  Those Who Hunger & Thirst for Righteousness
Ø  The Merciful
Ø  The Pure in Heart
Ø  The Peacemakers
Ø  The Persecuted

Salt of the Earth & Light of the World
Our influence depends upon our character.
We bring blessing on ourselves.
We bring salvation to others.
We bring glory to God.
As followers of Jesus, by how we live we are commissioned to stop the spread of evil and promote the spread of truth.
Memory Verse: Week Two
Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.   Matthew 5:16
Intentional Bible Reading
  1. Pronounce It
  2. Picture It
  3. Probe It
  4. Paraphrase It
  5. Personalize It
This Week:
  1. Read and reflect.
  2. Pick one thing and ask the Holy Spirit for a change in your character.
  3. Be an influence for righteousness.

Reflecting Jesus by looking into The Sermon on the Mount

You will recognize them by how they live. Matthew 7:20

Thursday 6 March 2014

Reflecting Jesus series: Overview Insert from February 23

Reflecting Jesus:
          You will recognize them by how they live. Matthew 7:20

Matthew 5-7: The Sermon on the Mount
“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 4:17) “He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.” (Matthew 4:23)  The Sermon on the Mount is to be seen in this context.  It portrays repentance and right living.  That is, it describes what human life and human community look like when they come under the gracious rule of God.  The followers of Jesus are to be different—different  from both the nominal church and the secular world, different from both the religious and the irreligious.                                           – John  Stott

Jesus’ Self- Portrait
Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for uprightness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness” (Matthew 5:3-10). These words offer us a self-portrait of Jesus. Jesus is the Blessed One (because God has spoken good things of him). And the face of the Blessed One shows poverty, gentleness, grief, hunger, and thirst for uprightness, mercy, purity of heart, a desire to make peace, and the signs of persecution. The whole message of the Gospel is this: Become like Jesus. We have his self-portrait. When we keep that in front of our eyes, we will soon learn what it means to follow Jesus and become like him.                                                                                                                  – Henri Nouwen

1.       Messiah Self-portrait             Jesus’ Manifesto
2.       Blessed Are You                        Jesus’ Character & Influence
3.       But I Say to You                        Jesus’ Righteousness
4.       When You Pray                         Jesus’ Piety
5.       Seek First the Kingdom          Jesus’ Ambition
6.       Ask—Seek—Knock                  Jesus’ Relationships
7.       One Who Has Authority        Jesus’ Commitment
8.       You Will Recognize Them      Jesus’ Reflection
REINFORCEMENTS TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE:
HEAR: I’ll listen to all 8 messages in the Sermon on the Mount series.
READ: I’ll read Matthew chapters 5 through 7 every week.
ü  Sunday                 5:1-16
ü  Monday               5:17-32
ü  Tuesday               5:33-48
ü  Wednesday        6:1-18
ü  Thursday             6:19-34
ü  Friday                    7:1-20
ü  Saturday              7:21-29
HOST:* I’ll invite a few friends to form a group with me.
DISCUSS: I’ll meet weekly with a small group (home, work, or campus).
REMEMBER: I’ll carry the weekly memory verse with me.

DO: I’ll practice the action steps Pastor Vernon gives us.

Sermon on the Mount Reflections 1of12

Periodically throughout our study of Matthew 5-7, I will post some reflections from Henri Nouwen. Her is the first.

Expecting a Surprise


Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.
Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith. ©1997 by Henri J. M. Nouwen.

Wednesday 12 February 2014

Love Talk Starters for Valentines

Love Talk Starters for Valentines
Spark a Great Conversation with your Valentine
Copyright Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott

Love Talk Starters for Valentines
www.LesAndLeslie.com

Maybe you’re all dressed up and sitting across from your sweetie at a fancy restaurant. Or maybe you’ve opted for the stay-at-home romantic dinner you’ve made together. Whatever your Valentine scenario, we’ve produced this little resource to help you have a great conversation.

Questions to Explore Together

What follows are a variety of simple conversation starters – so don’t treat this as an assignment to get through. Simply pluck out a few questions that intrigue you most. And begin your love talk.

• What’s the first Valentine’s Day you can remember as a child? What was it like and how did you feel?
• If Hollywood made a movie about our relationship, what would they call it and who would play each of us?
• When you think about us, what makes you smile the most and why?
• What’s the most romantic movie or book you’re ever read and why?
• If you were to finish this sentence, what would you say: I feel most in love with you when…
• When we met for the very first time, what were your immediate impressions?
• What would you like to dream about in your sleep tonight?
• What can I do for you, in practical terms,that would make you feel cared for this week?
• If we had to spend $10,000 tonight on anything that wasn’t practical or predictable, what would it be?
• Where do you think we’ll be and what do you think we’ll be doing on Valentine’s Day ten years from now?

Sharing a romantic evening with your Valentine has far more to do with a conversation that joins your hearts together than with a box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers. And we hope these questions are helpful to you in doing just that.

Valentine’s Day Fun Facts to Talk About

The following facts can spark more conversation. Who doesn’t like to be in the know on stuff like this, right? And if you’re clever you can turn these facts into questions to test your Valentine smarts. For example, with the first fact you can ask your sweetheart who purchases more valentines, men or women? And if you’re in a true game show mood, get your partner to wager a few kisses on their answer.

• Women purchase 85% of all valentines.
• Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine’s Day candy box in the late 1800s.
• About 8 billion candy hearts will be produced this year; that’s enough candy to stretch from Rome, Italy to Valentine, Arizona 20 times and back again.
• Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine’s Day each year.
• In Medieval times, girls ate unusual foods on St. Valentine’s Day to make them dream of their future husband.
• Nearly 150 million cards are exchanged each Valentine’s Day.
• In order of popularity, Valentine’s Day cards are given to teachers, children, mothers, wives, and pets.
• Valentine, Nebraska (yes, it really exists) has a special “Cupid’s Mailbox” that forward your cards with a special Valentine’s stamp.
• The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine’s Day.
• Waffle House, Chick-fil-A, and Pizza Hut often take reservations on Valentine’s Day. In fact, some Pizza Huts sell “proposal packages” for $10K that include a videographer, limo service and a fireworks show. Oh, and a pizza.

Just for Laughs

Sometimes a little laughter is just the ticket for sparking more romance. So with that in mind, you may want to share some of these goofy (read “cheesy”) jokes with each other. Cringing is permissible.

A woman was taking a nap on Valentine’s Day afternoon. After she awoke, she told her husband, “I just dreamed that you gave me a gorgeous and expensive diamond necklace for Valentine’s Day! What do you think it means?”
“You’ll know tonight,” he said.
That evening, her husband came home with a small package for her. Thrilled, she opened it and found a book titled “The Meaning of Dreams.”

Two antennae met on a roof, fell in love, and got married. Their wedding ceremony wasn’t fancy. The reception, however, was excellent.

Q: What is a vampire’s sweetheart called?
A: His ghoul-friend.

Q: Why did the banana go out with the prune?
A: Because it couldn’t get a date.

“If someone says ‘I love you’ and you don’t feel the same way, just say ‘I love YouTube’ really fast.” – Will Ferrell

Knock, Knock!
Who’s there?
Olive.
Olive who?
Olive you!

Cupid is Stupid

We hope your Valentine’s Day is everything you imagined, but if you’re like most couples, you’ll probably find a bit of a gap between your expectations for romance and your romantic reality. That’s okay. Just don’t let Cupid get in the way of your love life. How? By living in the moment rather than in a fantasy world that creates irrational expectations. That’s how.

With every good wish and prayer,


Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott