Wisdom for Living – the Book of Proverbs

Posted by on June 22, 2011 Comments Off

As mentioned last Sunday, we’ve just begun a new series on the Book of Proverbs called “Wisdom for Living”. Here is the series:

  • Jun 19  Trust (Proverbs 3:5-6)
  • June 26 Words (Proverbs 10:11-21)
  • Jul 3  Friends (Proverbs 27:6-17)
  • Jul 10  Money (Proverbs 30:7-9)

It’d be good if you could read ahead. The Book of Proverbs is a great read – it teaches us Biblical wisdom, which shows us how to live well in God’s world. As you read Proverbs (consider using the Proverbs Bible reading plan here), remember the following:

The appeal of Proverbs lies in its practical concerns and its apparently direct applicability to our lives… Two inseparable but distinct characteristics of wisdom are to be seen: it is both the gift of God and a responsible task for us.

From Graeme Goldsworthy’s Gospel and Wisdom (p.409)

That is: Proverbs is God’s revelation of how to live well in His world, but that revelation is only half the picture of wisdom. Wisdom is not just knowledge, but putting that knowledge into action. Therefore, we must not just read Proverbs, but be disciplined in our efforts to apply it.

But as we read Proverbs, it is sometimes easy to think, these ‘truths’ don’t always happen in real life. For instance, I’ve seen parents do Proverbs 22:6 – training up a child in the way he or she should go, but when they are old, they haven’t kept to the godly path, but instead they have departed from (rejected) the faith. What does this mean for our reading of Proverbs? How do we harmonise the teaching of Proverbs with our experiences? I’ve found the following helpful from ’Grasping God’s Word’ by J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays (p281-282).

Perhaps the most critical thing to remember when interpreting and applying the book of Proverbs is that the individual proverbs reflect general nuggets of wisdom and not universal truths. To interpret the proverbs as absolute promises from God is to misunderstand the intent of the author. Proverbs gives guidance for life, addressing situations that are normally true.

For example, consider Proverbs 10:4 - Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

This proverb is generally true. If you work hard, you will most likely prosper… [But] in our current world of e-commerce and stock trading, millionaires can be made overnight, and while hard work often plays a role, it is not always the major ingredient.

OK, with that in mind, I’ll leave it there for now. So happy reading, and may God bless you with His wisdom for living well in His world!

William and Kate’s Prayer

Posted by on May 13, 2011 1 comment

I was pleasantly surprised to read this brief online news article and the prayer contained:

PRINCE William and Catherine Middleton composed a prayer for their wedding.
It was read by the Right Reverend Richard Charters, Lord Bishop of London, during his sermon Friday:
“God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.
“In the business of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.
“Strengthened by our union, help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Whatever you think of the royals and the royal wedding (and this is pretty much the first thing I’ve read about it – we were jetlagged when it happened and missed it entirely!), and whatever these young royals think of God and Jesus and prayer, I think it’s a positive thing that they prayed to ‘God our Father’ and asked for good things.

If nothing else, it’s a reminder to me to say Amen (‘may it be so’) to their prayer and indeed, to compose my own prayers for them, and all in authority in our land, our Commonwealth, and our world.

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

What do you think?!

What should I pray for myself?

Posted by on May 6, 2011 Comments Off

Just before we went on holidays as well as while we were away, Jakey’s sleep went pear-shaped. We’ve been incredibly blessed in that he’s been a good sleeper since birth and started sleeping through the night very early on. But then in March he got sick and then in April he experienced jet-lag in North America, and he started waking up 3-4 times each night for a feed. As you can imagine, my weary, groggy prayers through the nights have been, ‘God, PLEASE help Jakey sleep!’ and by that of course I mean ‘help him sleep through the night again so I can sleep!’.

And of course it’s fine to pray like this. Apparently such prayer is traditionally known as ‘Simple Prayer’ and it’s the gut-level type of praying that just blurts out before you even think about it. But as I stopped to think about my prayer and the fact that night after night, God didn’t appear to be answering it in the affirmative, I realised that the motive underlying that prayer was basically my own comfort and convenience. Sure, I want Jakey to sleep well for his sake too, but really I’m suffering more than he is so it’s pretty much a self-centred prayer request! And God doesn’t exist or answer my prayers simply for my own comfort and convenience.

Romans 8:28 tells us that God works everything for the good of those who love Him, and Philippians 1:6 tells us that God is bringing His children on to completion (perfection, maturity) in Christ. So while it’s not necessarily wrong to pray for things that make me comfortable (or happy, or physically and financially stable and secure) it may be a bit wrong-headed. Such motivations put me at the centre of my prayers rather than God’s glory or my Christlike good – and God obviously doesn’t measure what’s good for me in the same blinkered way that I do! I need to pray for things that are good for me from God’s point of view – that is, for whatever will help me to become more like Jesus.

So if that means I learn selflessness, endurance, compassion, and patience through Jakey not sleeping well (and even if it means I’m not clear-headed enough to write all the blog posts I’d like to), and if this is the good God would like to work in me, I want to learn to submit to that. So I try to modify my weary, groggy, overnight prayers – ‘God, please help Jakey sleep so I can too, but ultimately, please make me and him more like Jesus through this time’.

Upcoming training events!

Posted by on May 5, 2011 Comments Off

Here are the events that Keiyeng advertised at the end of the service at church on Sunday. They’re aimed at growing Christians (which is you!) but also for growing Christians to help others coming behind them to grow.

PLEASE have a good think about which of these training days you could come to and grab another 5:17er and bring them along! We want them to serve YOU well so that YOU can serve Jesus and others well.

Genesis: the beginnings

Posted by on May 4, 2011 Comments Off

Our current sermon series at 5:17 is Genesis: the beginnings. Below are the details for the series. Reading up on the passages beforehand would be of great benefit to you. We’re also studying the same passages in our Community Groups – to get the most out of the passages, and to make sure that we are applying what we learn well.

May.1  When the world began (Gen 1:1-2:3)
May.8  Humanity at its best (Gen 2:4-25)
May.15   Humanity at its worst (Gen 3:1-24)
May.22   The spread of evil (Gen 4:1-5:32)
May.29  A clean slate (Gen 6:1-9:28)
Jun.5    Humanity: our way (Gen 10:1-11:9)
Jun.12  Humanity: God’s way (Gen 11:10-12:9)

5:17 Church: Special Event ‘date claimers’ for 2011

Posted by on March 5, 2011 Comments Off

There’s lots of great things happening this year, and so you don’t miss out, please put the following in your diary well in advance. There will be more information given at church, via email and on this blog.

March
Sunday 27 The Chinese Christian Church Brisbane (CCCB) AGM – (all members of CCCB are expected to be there)

April
Sunday 3 Visiting preacher – Sam McGeown from the Church Missionary Society
Sunday 10 Visiting preacher – Glenn Hohnberg from the City Bible Forum
Tuesday 19 Can you trust the Gospels? (public lecture at Crossway College)

May
Saturday 14 Queensland Theological College (QTC) Breakfast by the River – this is for you if you’re interested in getting a general idea of what theological study is all about. It also includes a free breakfast!

July

Saturday 23 GROW Women’s Bible teaching conference

August
Friday to Sunday 12-14 Brisbane Leadership Training Plus
Thursday 25 John Piper in Brisbane (a QTC event)

September
Saturday 17 Men’s Training Event (MTE) Bible teaching conference
Sunday 25 Sydney Missionary & Bible College (SMBC) Mission at 5:17 begins

October
Sunday 2 SMBC Mission at 5:17 ends
Wednesday 5 TWIST music conference with Bob Kauflin

What does it look like to receive the New Testament for the first time?

Posted by on March 4, 2011 1 comment

I just came across this and immediately thought about our CG study last night – the preciousness of God’s Word, and how we should delight in it. Also, this is the sort of thing that Erin’s family did in PNG – praise God for their ministry!

HT: Justin Taylor

a note on sexual abuse

Posted by on February 25, 2011 Comments Off

It’s not our habit to watch Oprah, but today Steve and I caught 30 minutes of her 2-part series on male sexual abuse – where over 2 days she gathered 200 men in her audience who had all experienced childhood sexual abuse. It was hard to listen to their stories but so important – and that was the point of these 2 shows.

There are many things that could be said in response, but a short note (and we write this both personally and as representatives of 5:17 church) – we want to say categorically that sexual abuse of any kind, especially that perpetrated on children, and perpetrated by people in religious authority, is a heinous and horrible evil. It is wrong and scarring on every level, and its perpetrators should be brought to justice. We grieve that such abuse occurs, we pray for its victims, we encourage them to find people of safety to talk to and seek help from, and we trust in the power of the Lord Jesus for the healing and hope that is so very much needed.

We’d also like to point you towards this book, just released by ReLit – Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault. You may like to read all the reviews listed at the bottom of the Amazon page I linked to; I’m including two below.

“I thought I had gotten over the abuses in my past—I had forgiven my abusers, stopped feeling like a victim, and felt like I was a stronger person. After reading Rid of My Disgrace, I realized there were still underlying issues I hadn’t dealt with that were preventing me from getting close to other people and, worst of all, preventing me from having a deeper relationship with God. Each chapter not only discussed each emotion that had been secretly weighing on me, but also showed me that those emotions don’t have to rule me. Jesus’ death and resurrection apply not only to my sins, but also to the burden of someone else’s sin against me. My identity is no longer as ‘damaged goods.’ It is ‘child of God’ and with that comes God’s unending love. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has experienced not only some form of sexual abuse, but other abuses as well.”
—Adult female victim


“Rid of My Disgrace reminds victims of sexual assault that they are not alone and it is not the end of the story. From King David’s daughter Tamar to the courageous survivors telling their stories today, the Holcombs take sexual assault out of the shadows of shame and isolation and into the light of the gospel. With a solid grasp on both the effects of sexual assault and of redemptive history, the Holcombs thoroughly identify sexual assault and its aftermath while calling the reader to let even such a painful, hideous act be a part of their story of redemption through Christ’s sufficient work on the cross.”
—Monica Taffinder, co-founder and counselor, Grace Clinic Christian Counseling

How you can serve the church on Sunday afternoon

Posted by on February 25, 2011 Comments Off

A little while ago, Eleasa emailed around the following post on how we can all be ‘ministers’ at our churches on Sundays. I think it’s really helpful (it’s based from the book “The Trellis & the Vine”).

Hope it helps.

How Members Can Serve the Church on Sunday Morning
By Michael McKinley | 10.28.2010

At the Trellis and Vine Workshop in DC today, Colin Marshall shared ways that ordinary church members can serve the church on Sunday mornings.

Before the Service
Read the passage in advance
Pray for the gathering
Greet newcomers (act like you are the host)
Think strategically about who you should sit with
Arrive Early

During the Service
 Sing with gusto (even if you can’t sing)
Help with logistics (if there’s a problem, help fix it)
Don’t be distracted
Listen carefully
Be aware of your facial expressions (you may affect others and discourage preachers)

After the Service
Connect newcomers with others
Get newcomers information
Start a conversation about the sermon
Ask someone how they became a Christian
Stay late

Courtesy of 9Marks Blog

If you’re ever unsure about what to do at church, the above are some pretty good places to start.

Why does God allow evil and suffering in the world?

Posted by on February 23, 2011 Comments Off

Here’s some helpful thoughts from D.A. Carson: