China Authorizes Attacks on House Churches. The Chinese government has reportedly issued a secret directive to crack down on at least several major house churches in Beijing, a U.S.-based group reported Tuesday. According to a religious freedom group, sources inside the country stated that the Chinese public security bureau has ordered the Beijing Huajie Plaza to terminate its rental contract with the Beijing Shouwang house church. The Shouwang house church is one of the largest house churches in the area with more than 1,000 members. For a few years now, it has rented two floors for worship service and Sunday school at the Huajie Plaza. Most of the members are intellects from nearby universities. Pray for our nation to stand by religious freedom for Christians in our foreign policy.
1 Sing to God a brand-new song. He's made a world of wonders!
He rolled up his sleeves,
He set things right.
2 God made history with salvation,
He showed the world what he could do.
3 He remembered to love us, a bonus
To his dear family, Israel�indefatigable love.
The whole earth comes to attention.
Look�God's work of salvation!
4 Shout your praises to God, everybody!
Let loose and sing! Strike up the band!
5 Round up an orchestra to play for God,
Add on a hundred-voice choir.
6 Feature trumpets and big trombones,
Fill the air with praises to King God.
7 Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,
With everything living on earth joining in.
8 Let ocean breakers call out, "Encore!"
And mountains harmonize the finale�
9 A tribute to God when he comes,
When he comes to set the earth right.
He'll straighten out the whole world,
He'll put the world right, and everyone in it. (The Message)
I especially like the part about the "big trombones." Of course, there was no such thing when this was written, so who knows what instrument that was talking about? KJV renders "sackbut," which was the predecessor of the modern trombone, but there weren't any of those in OT times, either.
"God had manifested his salvation in a singular and incredible manner. For having spoken of marvelous things, he represents this as the sum of all, that God had procured salvation with his own right hand; that is, not by human means, or in an ordinary way, but delivering his Church in an unprecedented manner."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calving on the Psalms)
"The Rich Person's True Hope"
1 Timothy 6:17-19
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. (ESV)
Paul here gives instructions to people in the community of faith who happen to be wealthy. He has never condemned wealth, merely the love of money and the lust for wealth and gaining it through dishonest means. I like that Paul includes the words "to enjoy" at the end of one of the sentences. God has blessed us with resources and it is ok to have fun with them! It's ok to enjoy the things that God has given us!
The wealthy are not to be "haughty." They should never consider themselves to be better than anyone simply because they have wealth. The wealthy, just like everyone else, have nothing that did not come from God. They are also admonished to remember that wealth is uncertain and they should not place their trust in it. "Those who trust in wealth, not the wealth-giver, will be disappointed in this world and the world to come."
The wealthy can show their trust in God through "good works of generosity." We can enjoy what God has given us, but we are also to share it.
"The Sin of Self-Sufficiency"
Psalm 62:7
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God. (ESV)
I have always loved this verse. It's on God, not me.
One of the main characteristics of our sinful nature seems to be an attitude of independence toward God. Even when we acknowledge our dependence on him, we tend to act otherwise. And it's probably safe to say that one of the reasons he allows us to fall into temptation is to "teach us experientially that we really are dependent on Him to enable us to grow in holiness."
One of our best resources for learning dependence is prayer. Prayer forces us to acknowledge our dependence on God via the Holy Spirit. "Whatever else we may say about prayer, it is a recognition of our own helplessness and absolute dependence on God."
This admission of helplessness is "repugnant to our sinful spirit of self-sufficiency." But we are supposed to be like Jesus, who said of himself, "By myself I can do nothing" (John 5:30, NIV). If Jesus was completely dependent on the Father, how much more are we? Our dependence on God should not be reluctant, but enthusiastic! I can't handle it by myself! I know this from experience.
Dependence is not a discipline. It is the thing that gives life and vitality to all of the disciplines.
God, I lift up my friend Susie to you. Please heal her foot so she can walk and to the things she needs to do and not have to hire extra help to take care of her mother.
Grace and peace, friends!