Run!
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Thursday, 02 July 09 - 01:17 AM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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Something a little different.
On the first Sunday following the tragedy of September 11th, 2001, Carter Conlon delivered this soul-stirring message at Times Square Church in Manhattan. The sermon was titled, Run For Your Life. This video clip is just 4 minutes of that sermon, where he urges people to serious living as Christians.
The original website is http://braveheartedgospel.com/Run.html.
Best wishes for the Journey, Gavin.
Discipling Young People
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Friday, 19 June 09 - 06:35 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Resources |
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If you are interested in discipling young people, this video gives an interesting overview of their world-view and provides a link to another website where you can get more resources.
All the best for the Journey, Gavin
New Church Organisation and City Seminary
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Tuesday, 02 June 09 - 10:31 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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But most importantly, we want to provide the time and the focus to implement what we are calling a City Seminary, a seminary focused on discipleship for lay people, based in the city where they live, to equip our members fulffill our mission together. We are rather excited about the possibilities. It is still early stages, but if you would like to look at the initial presentation we made to our board, you can watch it below.
All the best for the Journey, Gavin.
Free Audio Download: Eugene Peterson
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Tuesday, 02 June 09 - 09:49 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Resources |
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Since coming to Dublin, things have been rather hectic, hence the lack of posts. Now I am heading off for 2 months of discipleship studies at Andrews University. Will try to post, but will see how busy it gets. Hopefully will do better at posting in the Autumn!
All the best for the journey, Gavin.
Reflecting Jesus and The Gospel Commission
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Monday, 20 April 09 - 10:00 AM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Quotes |
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The gospel is to be presented, not as a lifeless theory, but as a living force to change the life. God desires that the receivers of His grace shall be witnesses to its power. Those whose course has been most offensive to Him He freely accepts; when they repent, He imparts to them His divine Spirit, places them in the highest positions of trust, and sends them forth into the camp of the disloyal to proclaim His boundless mercy. He would have His servants bear testimony to the fact that through His grace men may possess Christlikeness of character, and may rejoice in the assurance of His great love. He would have us bear testimony to the fact that He cannot be satisfied until the human race are reclaimed and reinstated in their holy privileges as His sons and daughters.
In Christ is the tenderness of the shepherd, the affection of the parent, and the matchless grace of the compassionate Saviour. His blessings He presents in the most alluring terms. He is not content merely to announce these blessings; He presents them in the most attractive way, to excite a desire to possess them. So His servants are to present the riches of the glory of the unspeakable Gift. The wonderful love of Christ will melt and subdue hearts, when the mere reiteration of doctrines would accomplish nothing....
Tell the people of Him who is "the Chiefest among ten thousand," and the One "altogether lovely." The Song of Solomon 5:10, 16. Words alone cannot tell it. Let it be reflected in the character and manifested in the life. Christ is sitting for His portrait in every disciple. Every one God has predestinated to be "conformed to the image of His Son." Rom. 8:29. In every one Christ's long-suffering love, His holiness, meekness, mercy, and truth are to be manifested to the world....
The Saviour longs to manifest His grace and stamp His character on the whole world. It is His purchased possession, and He desires to make men free, and pure, and holy. (Go Teach All Nations, Desire of Ages, 826-827, Ellen White.)
All the best for the Journey, Gavin
What is spiritual direction?
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Friday, 27 March 09 - 09:52 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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Christianity Today has again included an interesting piece by Richard Foster on the basic elements of spiritual direction.
You can check this out on their site:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/january/27.30.html
All the best for the journey, Gavin.
Richard Foster's Vision for Spiritual Formation in the Next 30 Years
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Thursday, 19 March 09 - 01:02 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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Christianity Today recently published an article by Richard Foster on the 30th anniversary of the publication of his book, Celebration of Discipline. In the article he looks ahead to the priorities for spiritual formation in the next 30 years. Fascinating reading.
All the best for the Journey, Gavin.
Our world today cries out for a theology of spiritual growth that has been proven to work in the midst of the harsh realities of daily life. Sadly, many have simply given up on the possibility of growth in character formation.
Vast numbers of well-intended folk have exhausted themselves in church work and discovered that this did not substantively change their lives. They found that they were just as impatient and egocentric and fearful as when they began lifting the heavy load of church work. Maybe more so.
Others have immersed themselves in multiple social-service projects. But while the glow of helping others lingered for a time, they soon realized that all their herculean efforts left little lasting imprint on the inner life. Indeed, it often made them much worse inwardly: frustrated and angry and bitter.
Still others have a practical theology that will not allow for spiritual growth. Indeed, they just might see it as a bad thing. Having been saved by grace, these people have become paralyzed by it. To attempt any progress in the spiritual life smacks of "works righteousness" to them. Their liturgies tell them they sin in word, thought, and deed daily, so they conclude that this is their fate until they die. Heaven is their only release from this world of sin and rebellion. Hence, these well-meaning folk will sit in their pews year after year without realizing any movement forward in their life with God.
"Indescribable"
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Friday, 13 March 09 - 09:03 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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From what I have read, it is possible to put one million earths in the sun. But there is a star called VV Cephei that is about 1000 million miles in diameter. This means that it is 1220 times the size of the sun, and has been estimated to be up to 575,000 times brighter than the sun.
Now imagine that the thickness of this page that you are reading is the distance from earth to the sun -- 93 million miles. Using this scale, the distance to the nearest star which is 4½ light years away would be a 71-foot high stack of paper. Again, using the same scale, the diameter of our own galaxy being 100,000 light years would be require a stack of paper 310-miles high.
And to the edge of the universe? Our stack of paper, each sheet’s thickness being the distance from the earth to the sun, would need to be 31 million miles high.
And what is contained within these spaces? Gerald Colvin brought a few interesting facts together to try and explain. The Milky Way is our home galaxy. A nearby galaxy, the Magellanic Clouds, is at just 170,000 light years away and has 15 billion stars. Around 2.2 million light years away from us is the Andromeda galaxy, twice our size, with 250 billion stars. Further away still is galaxy M87 with 750-1000 billion stars. We have mentioned just four galaxies, but Colvin says that if Adam had begun counting galaxies at 100 a minute and was still alive today, he wouldn’t be finished counting.
All the best for the Journey, Gavin
Indescribable - Louis Giglio
Free Audio Download on Spiritual Disciplines
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Tuesday, 03 March 09 - 11:55 AM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Resources |
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From the www.chrisitianaudio.com website:
Free Audiobook of the Month -
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney
It's not uncommon for an accomplished musician to be able to sit down in front of a new piece of music and play it through without a hitch. To make it seem easy, as if it required no effort. Yet the "freedom" to play with such skill comes only after years of disciplined practice. In the same way, the freedom to grow in godliness - to naturally express Christ's character through your own personality - is in large part dependent on a deliberate cultivation of the spiritual disciplines.
Add the download format of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life to your cart and then enter the coupon code MAR2009 when prompted during checkout.
Best wishes for the Journey, Gavin.
Moving...!
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Thursday, 26 February 09 - 08:52 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Site News |
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Abandoned to God
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Thursday, 01 January 09 - 04:32 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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Chambers is perhaps most known for his best selling devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, put together by his wife after his death. His life story should be an inspirational "read".
All the best for the Journey, Gavin.
Happy New 2009!
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Thursday, 01 January 09 - 09:52 AM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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2009 will see a couple of interesting events related to spiritual formation. In February, Dallas Willard's latest book will be published called Knowing Christ: A Guide For Today's Disciples. Richard Foster will also be shortly publishing a history of spiritual formation.
June 21-24 is The Jesus Way: Rediscovering the Lost Content of Discipleship, an international conference on spiritual formation in Dallas, Texas, whose speakers include Mindy Caliguire, Richard Foster, Robert Gelinas, Emilie Griffin, Joshua Choonmin Kang, John Ortberg, Eugene Peterson, Juanita Rasmus, James Bryan Smith, Chris Webb, and Dallas Willard.
I hope this will be a wonderful year for your Journey with Christ, Gavin.
Can you tell the difference?
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Friday, 19 December 08 - 08:34 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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Have you ever wondered if other people have ruined God's perfect will for your life? If you have ever been tempted by this thought, Oswald Chambers makes a fascinating observation about the relationship between God's perfect will and his permissive will:
Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . ." (Romans 8:28 )— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. (My Utmost of His Highest, December 16.)
So as Chambers observes, the bad stuff in life is not God's will for you falling apart, but the crucible in which his greatest desires for you are revealed--the reflection of the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).
All the best for the Journey, Gavin
A Broken Heart
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Friday, 12 December 08 - 07:53 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Quotes |
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For, as to have a broken heart, is to have an excellent thing, so to keep this broken heart tender, is also very advantageous.
- John Bunyan -
Proud vs Broken
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Friday, 12 December 08 - 07:20 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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In Nancy Leigh DeMoss' book, Brokenness, she tells the story of a missionary in Africa:
Years ago a missionary served in a reigon in Africa that had known seasons of true revival. He reported that whenever he would mention the name of any Christian, the national believers would ask him, "Is he a broken Christian?" They did not ask, "Is he a committed Christian?" or "Is he a knowledgeable Christian?" or "Is he a hardworking Christian?" They wanted to know, "Is he a broken Christian?"
DeMoss goes on to share some of her observations on what a broken Christian is like, as compared to a proud Christian. Below are 5 characteristics out of a total list of 35 that she gives. I thought the list alone was worth the price of the book, for her observations provide a important probe into the areas of our hearts which we are often afraid to confront. Here are the first 5 observations concerning our attitudes towards others. Which type are you?
Best wishes for the Journey, Gavin.
| 1. Proud people focus on the failures of others and can readily point out those faults. | 1. Broken people are more conscious of their own spiritual need than of anyone else’s. |
| 2. Proud people have a critical, faultfinding spirit. They look at everyone else's faults with a microscope but view their own with a telescope. | 2. Broken people are compassionate--they have the kind of love that overlooks a multitude of sins; they can forgive much because they know how much they have been forgiven. |
| 3. Proud people are especially prone to criticize those in positions of authority--their pastor, their boss, their husband, their parents--and they talk to others about the faults they see. | 3. Broken people reverence, encourage, and lift up those that God has placed in positions of authority, and they talk to God in intercession rather than gossiping about the faults they see in others. |
| 4. Proud people are self-righteous. They think highly of themselves and look down on others. | 4. Broken people think the best of others, they esteem others as better than themselves. |
| 5. Proud people have an independent, self-sufficient spirit. | 5. Broken people have a dependent spirit, they recognise their need for God and others. |
Video: Dallas Willard on building new believers
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Friday, 05 December 08 - 07:10 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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Best wishes for the Journey, Gavin.
"The Bible, but not as you know it"
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Friday, 28 November 08 - 08:19 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Discipleship |
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The Bible, but not as you know it
By Stephen Tomkins
Most people think of the Bible as a densely printed book with no pictures, but a version of the scripture that resembles a glossy coffee table magazine aims to change that. It's part of a wave of radical presentations of the Bible, including a manga version and a Lego gospel. But how do Christians feel about these attempts to spread the word?
It's the kind of magazine you might find in a doctor's waiting room next to Cosmopolitan or Reader's Digest. On the front is a pale face heavy with mascara. A flick through throws up striking images: urban flooding, a Nigerian abattoir, a girl eating noodles, a pooch in a limo.
It's only when and if you get round to reading the text that the incongruity strikes you: "Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven." What kind of problem page is this?
To read the rest of the article, click here
To go straight to the webpage of the new Bible, click here.
Best wishes for the Journey, Gavin.
Pride
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Friday, 21 November 08 - 05:48 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Quotes |
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Pride is the greatest of all evils that beset us,
and of all our enemies
it is that which dies
the slowest and hardest.
- J N Darby -
Book: Hind's Feet on High Places
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Friday, 21 November 08 - 05:21 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Resources |
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Hind’s Feet is an allegory similar to Pilgrim's Progress, except in this book, a girl called Much Afraid is going to the High Places where the Shepherd lives. Along the way, she has to persevere under through the frequent attacks of her relatives, including Pride, Craven Fear, along with Bitterness, Resentment and others, and only can make progress as she holds the hands of her two companions the Shepherd gave her for the journey, Sorrow and Suffering. At the heart of this book is critical teaching on the role of suffering, and its relationship to sacrifice and the surrendering of one’s will completely to God.
There is also a sequel to the book called Mountains of Spices.
Purchasing information for both books and the CD from Amazon can be found here.
Best wishes for the Journey, Gavin.
Creating Out of Nothing
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Friday, 14 November 08 - 07:53 PM (GMT) By Gavin Anthony in Quotes |
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God creates out of nothing.
Therefore, until a man is nothing,
God can make nothing out of him.
- Martin Luther -
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