Memory Work

Philippians 2:1-4

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His LOVE, if any FELLOWSHIP with the Spirit, if any TENDERNESS and COMPASSION then make my joy complete by being LIKE-MINDED, having the same LOVE being one in SPIRIT and PURPOSE. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in HUMILITY consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

Let's Go Down to the River to Pray....

Down in the river
by John Fischer

[Warning: Reading today's Catch may be hazardous to your fear.]

Yesterday's Catch presented two different worldviews. In case you missed it, here they are.

Worldview #1: The world is our enemy. Satan is hiding out for us behind every bush. Secular humanists are conspiring to influence our children and take over our country, and everything we believe in and hold dear is being threatened by the culture around us.

Worldview #2: This is our Father's world. Every bush is ablaze with the glory of God. The Holy Spirit is behind the past and current events of history, and no force on earth, heaven or under the earth can do anything outside of the will and knowledge of God Almighty who lives in us.

To be sure, the Bible does warn us of Satan's wiles, but not for the purpose of keeping us in fear. The actual passage is 1 Peter 5:8, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Peter's admonition to us in this regard is to resist him and stand firm (vs.9), and we do this by being self-controlled and alert (vs.8). And the admonition immediately prior to this warning is 1 Peter 5:6-7, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety [that would be fear] on him because he cares for you."

No looking behind any bushes here. And no putting us in positions of power, either. "Humble yourselves…"

Worldview #1 has served the Christian community for far too long. And yes, "served" is the right word. It has funded Christian ministries, mobilized boycotts and marches, even put people in the White House. It is a worldview that has turned Christians into a social force to be reckoned with. But for what purpose? We're here for the gospel. Remember? The gospel? What's the gospel? No one in the world would know because we haven't told them. We've been too busy trying to gain power.

Mark my word, now that Obama is in the White House, WV#1 is enjoying new life as American Christians terrorize their fellow-believers spreading hate and fear daily around the Internet. I can't believe the stuff I'm receiving. It's as if Christian leaders think they can't control people, motivate them, or mobilize them without keeping them sufficiently afraid.

It's time to stop it. NO MORE FEAR. It's time for a different worldview. (Check out WV#2 above for starters.) It's time to do what we should have been doing all along: spread the good news of God's love.

And as I finish writing this, believe it or not, Alison Krause is doing just that over the speakers in this Starbucks where I write, which would mean it is most likely playing in Starbucks all over the world. Thank you, Alison.

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord show me the way

O sinners, let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
O sinners, let's go down
Down in the river to pray

I'm on my way. Meet you there, everybody. Drop your fear, throw down your placard, and come on down…

Kill Your TV

and you can play fun games like this...
Rhett said "HAW" should not have been allowed, but when you tell oxen to go right you say "Gee" and for left you say "Haw"...I think...anyway I got a triple word!! But Steve won this game 235 to 208. Not bad. I think this will keep us from getting "old timers" ...if I remember right!!

Philipians 2: 1-18 Memorization

ESV Christ's Example of Humility...
2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [1] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, [2] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.