GCV Blog

The following article comes from Jon Bloom of Desiring God (http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/when-the-perfect-comes) As I both look back into last year and forward into this one, I found these words encouraging and full of hope.

Healthy churches are growing churches. The desire for a church to grow is a normal, noble intention. For instance, Jesus said He would build His church (Matt. 16:18), the apostles preached and prayed hard as the church began, and Paul instructed the Thessalonians to pray that the word of the Lord would spread rapidly (2 Thess. 3:1). Regrettably, we do not always define “growth” the way God does, nor do we instinctively stay true to how He intends to grow His church.

Of all our American national holidays, none has been as devalued in my Christian experience as tomorrow’s.

Because the heater in the Little Theater still is not repaired, we are moving our Sunday morning worship service to the Young Life building (1948 18th Avenue, Kingsburg, CA 93631). Parking at the entrance of the building is limited, so please reserve those places for our members who would be best served by a shorter walk. The nurseries and Seeds will stay in their normal rooms. ABF and Sunday schools will also remain in their normal rooms. Sorry for the inconvenience but looking forward to worshipping together regardless!

Dane Ortland is one of those men well-skilled at applying the Gospel to all of life, of doing what Mike Bullmore calls “living in the good of the Gospel.” Ortland’s writing consistently and effectively draws my heart to the Gospel for life, so I wanted to share some wise, Gospel words from him regarding resentment. You can check out his blog at http://dogmadoxa.blogspot.ca for ongoing Gospel-soaked writing. This is half of a post he wrote September 27 of this year, called “The Psychology of Resentment.” Are you resentful?

This is part 2 of last week’s pastoral word on resentment. Dane Ortland turns us from understanding how resentment works to how we defeat it. This same Gospel approach can be applied to all of our sinful temptations, so let’s revel and grow in our ability to live in the good of the Gospel. “How then do we conquer bitterness? By soaking in two realities.

In light of a certain prominent celebration at the end of October, I thought it would be fitting to hear from the man often credited for beginning the Protestant Reformation. Oh, you thought I meant a different, more ghoulish celebration? October 31st marked the 495th anniversary of Martin Luther pounding his 95 Theses onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. Though this act is often considered the beginning of the Reformation, God had been preparing and moving towards the Reformation for several hundred years before Luther. However, Luther and his bold teaching most clearly, dramatically, and notably influenced the reformation of the Roman Catholic Church.

The good folks at Church Works Media have helped us yet again with another Gospel Mediation. This one is geared specifically for voters and this week. Election Day is upon us. I hope you will vote. (I already did, taking my wife on a coffee-and-ballots date last week.) It’s proper for Christian citizens to exercise the rights of citizenship (as Paul in did in Acts 16:37-39; 21:39; 22:25-29; and 25:10-11). So vote! And vote in a Christian manner. What should you be thinking when you pull the curtain on your booth?

What is our only hope in life and death? That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ. So opens the first question and answer of a new catechism developed in large part by Tim Keller. If you’re familiar with the Hiedelberg Catechism, this answer will sound familiar to you. In fact, this modern catechism called New City Catechism borrows most heavily from the Heidelberg, as well as from the Westminster Shorter, the Westminster Larger, and Calvin’s Geneva Catechism.

What is our only hope in life and death? That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ. So opens the first question and answer of a new catechism developed in large part by Tim Keller. If you’re familiar with the Hiedelberg Catechism, this answer will sound familiar to you. In fact, this modern catechism called New City Catechism borrows most heavily from the Heidelberg, as well as from the Westminster Shorter, the Westminster Larger, and Calvin’s Geneva Catechism.