POPULARITY
2 episodes with huaorani
2 episodes with huaorani
NOTE: The first minute of this sermon is missing. Pastor Clint begins by telling the story of Jim Elliot and four other missionaries who gave their lives so the Huaorani people would hear the gospel. In this sermon, Pastor Clint opens up Luke 6:24–36. Jesus warns the rich and comfortable that their earthly rewards are fleeting, while calling his followers to love their enemies, do good, and give generously without expecting anything in return. He teaches that true righteousness goes beyond loving those who love you—it reflects God's mercy. Just as God is kind to the ungrateful and evil, so his children are called to be merciful, embodying his character in a broken world.
Support Breaking Walls at https://www.patreon.com/thewallbreakers It's a cold, rainy Sunday evening on January 8th, 1956. We're heading south on Riverside Drive in Manhattan's Upper West Side. On the air is NBC's Monitor with a New World Today discussion about the differences in American life in the past twenty years. The United States is changing. Psychiatry is on the rise as the cold war rages onward. The internal Red Scare has subsided, but Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said this week that the U.S. won't stop testing nuclear weapons, despite pleas from Pope Pius XII on Christmas Day. While nuclear fears are understandable, the U.S. government thinks the USSR's presence in emerging nations means they can't be trusted to follow suit and stop their own testing. In Ecuador today, five evangelical American Christian missionaries were speared to death by members of the Huaorani people after attempting to introduce Christianity to them. Meanwhile, Algeria is in the midst of a war for Independence between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front. It began in November of 1954 and by now it's considered the world's only active war of note. It's a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare and the use of torture. Gunsmoke is far and away radio's highest-rated dramatic show. It airs on CBS Sunday evenings with a Saturday afternoon repeat broadcast. The combined rating of 6.5 means somewhere between six and seven million people are still tuning in from their homes. When factoring in car and transistor radios, nearly ten million people are listening. CBS remains the home for the top-rated prime-time shows. Our Miss Brooks is pulling a rating of 4.3, and both Edgar Bergen and Two For The Money are pulling a 3.9. Meanwhile, on daytime radio, CBS has the twelve highest-rated programs. So where am I heading? I'm a roving CBS producer. I've worked on both coasts, including with Norman MacDonell on Gunsmoke in Hollywood, but last year programming directors Guy Della Choppa and Howard Barnes sent me back home to New York. I'm heading to the City Center at 131 West 55th street. I'm to cover a preview of Shakespeare's King Lear starring Orson Welles. It features Viveca Lindfors and Geraldine Fitzgerald and begins at 8:30PM. I helped with Welles' Omnibus production of Lear on CBS-TV in October 1953. I had drinks with him last week. He kept raving about two things: Carl Perkins' new hit, “Blue Suede Shoes,” and friend Jack Johnstone's production of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Johnstone directed Welles' Almanac series from the west coast during World War II. I phoned Jack yesterday. He had this to say. Jack was sure to mention that this week's upcoming Dollar story would take place in New York. If all goes well, Orson might be interested in returning to network radio in some capacity. Welles is once again a father. His daughter Beatrice was born last November 13th. He's been looking for more stable projects and wants to get dinner after the performance. Lear doesn't officially open until Thursday the 12th. The City Center was built as The Mecca Temple and opened in 1923. It's part of a small section of galleries, apartments, and performing spaces, but development is possibly encroaching. Last April, The Mayor's Slum Clearance Committee, chaired by Robert Moses, was approved to designate the area just west in Lincoln Square for urban renewal. The residents, many of them Hispanic, have been protesting the decision, but Robert Moses usually gets his way.
“Der ist kein Narr, der hingibt, was er nicht behalten kann, um zu gewinnen, was er nicht verlieren kann.” Jim Elliot Jim Elliot war ein amerikanischer Missionar, der für seinen tiefen Glauben und seine Hingabe an die Missionsarbeit bekannt wurde. Er wurde am 8. Oktober 1927 in Portland, Oregon, geboren und starb am 8. Januar 1956 im Dschungel Ecuadors. Elliot ist vor allem durch seine Mission unter den Huaorani (auch bekannt als Auca), einem indigenen Volk im Amazonasgebiet von Ecuador, bekannt geworden. Frühes Leben und Ausbildung Jim Elliot wuchs in einer christlichen Familie auf und entwickelte schon früh eine Leidenschaft für den christlichen Glauben und die Mission. Er besuchte das Wheaton College in Illinois, wo er sich intensiv mit der Bibel und Missionstheologie beschäftigte. Während seiner Zeit am College fühlte er sich zunehmend berufen, das Evangelium unter unerreichten Völkern zu verbreiten. Mission in Ecuador Nach seinem Studium bereitete sich Elliot auf die Missionstätigkeit vor und entschloss sich, nach Ecuador zu gehen, um den Huaorani das Evangelium zu bringen, ein Stamm, der bis dahin keinen Kontakt zur westlichen Welt hatte und für seine Feindseligkeit gegenüber Außenstehenden bekannt war. Zusammen mit vier weiteren Missionaren—Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming und Roger Youderian—begann er 1955, Kontakt zu den Huaorani aufzunehmen. Die Missionare verwendeten ein Flugzeug, um Geschenke abzuwerfen und friedliche Nachrichten zu übermitteln. Schließlich landeten sie am 3. Januar 1956 in der Nähe eines Huaorani-Dorfes, um persönlichen Kontakt aufzunehmen. Martyrium und Vermächtnis Am 8. Januar 1956 wurden Jim Elliot und seine vier Kollegen von Mitgliedern des Huaorani-Stammes angegriffen und getötet. Ihr Tod erregte weltweit Aufsehen und führte zu einer großen Welle von Unterstützung und Missionsengagement, nicht nur in den USA, sondern weltweit. Trotz dieses tragischen Endes führte das Opfer der Missionare später dazu, dass einige der Huaorani, darunter sogar einige der Angreifer, Christen wurden. Jim Elliots Witwe, Elisabeth Elliot, kehrte später mit ihrer kleinen Tochter zu den Huaorani zurück und setzte die Missionsarbeit fort. Zitat und Einfluss Jim Elliots Leben und seine Überzeugungen sind durch sein berühmtes Zitat zusammengefasst: „Er ist kein Narr, der hingibt, was er nicht behalten kann, um zu gewinnen, was er nicht verlieren kann.“ Dieses Zitat reflektiert seine Bereitschaft, alles für den Glauben aufzugeben. Elliots Leben und sein Opfer haben viele Menschen inspiriert, ihr Leben der Mission zu widmen, und sein Vermächtnis lebt in den Geschichten und Lehren weiter, die aus seiner Arbeit und seinem Glauben hervorgegangen sind. Quelle: ChatGPT Fragen? Schreib an: bibelverse@christliche-gewohnheiten.de
Join us for a special live recording from the ONE building in downtown Greenville, SC, as we celebrated our 300th episode with a live audience! Drs. Milt Lowder, Drew Brannon, and Cory Shaffer reflect on their 7-year journey to 300 episodes and highlight three impactful leaders you might not know, but should: Allyson Felix, the most decorated track and field athlete in history, Jim Elliot, American Christian missionary who became a martyr while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador, and Harvey Gantt, the first African American student to enroll at Clemson University and former mayor of Charlotte, NC. They reference their stories to illustrate timeless leadership lessons relevant across all industries.
En este episodio conversamos con Nemonte Nenquimo defensora del territorio, activista indígena y miembro de la nación Huaorani de la región amazónica de Ecuador sobre cómo el capitalismo y la modernidad crearon una separación ficticia de los seres humanos y la naturaleza, así como de los diversos impactos que esto ha tenido durante los últimos 500 años en cuerpos y territorios en Abya Ayala. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ryan and Brady dive into a Voyager episode that wants to be about colonialism but ends up in that weird end of history imperialist vibe where so much of Voyager accidentally lives. In the process, we discuss the Huaorani indigenous people in Ecuador (we erroneously call them the Auca tribe in the podcast, which is not what the Huaorani call themselves), recollect the Star Trek movies, and laugh about the subplot regard Tom Paris's speeding ticket.
Nos fuimos de fin de semana con amigos al delta del Tigre, y ante el inmersivo paisaje, vuelve a mi la pregunta sobre el vínculo que establecemos con lo que llamanos "la naturaleza.". Tal concepto no existe en muchos grupos humanos, en especial los cazadores recolectores Huaorani, del Amazonas. Dicho pueblo no tiene una palabra para describir el contexto donde viven; es decir que no se sienten separados de la naturaleza. Es a partir de esto que me pregunto sobre nuestro amor y odio por la naturaleza. Por un lado, los discursos ambientalistas que proponen la "vuelta a lo natural"; por el otro el discurso eficientista demundo productivo que se empecina en tratar a lo natural como "Recursos". ¿En que quedamos? ¿Hay otras formas posibles de vincularnos con lo que nos rodea? Bibliografía mencionada: Hribal, Laura. (1996) Transformaciones Huaoranis. Ediciobes Abya-Ayala. Seguime en Instagram que medio que la pegué por ahí: https://instagram.com/biografiamutante Suscribite a mi canal de telegram donde comparto bibliografía y videos extra: https://t.me/biografiamutante Escuchá el podcast en Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3r1sGv3 Escuchalo en otras plataformas: https://anchor.fm/antropologiapop TWITCH: https://www.twitch.tv/biografiamutante Instagram: https://instagram.com/biografiamutante Twitter: https://twitter.com/soyunabiografia TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@biografiamutante MEDIUM: https://medium.com/@biografiamutante Facebook: http://bit.ly/FbFdeF Escucha mi MÚSICA
Arguably one of the most well-known missionaries from recent times, and Dr. Paul Akin's favorite, is Jim Elliot. It would be impossible to explain the impact that both Jim and Elisabeth Elliot's lives and ministry have made on the Church in such a short episode, but with us to talk about this very thing today is Dr. Danny Akin, president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of the questions addressed in this episode: -What sparked Elliot's passion for getting the gospel to the unreached? Specifically, what lead him to the Huaorani people of Ecuador? -Tell us what happened with the martyrdom. What went wrong? Was it avoidable? -Prior to their martyrdom, were they making progress with the tribe? Did any noteworthy thing happen? Books mentioned in this episode: -Through the Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot -Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot (Lives of Faith) by Elisabeth Elliot -The Journals of Jim Elliot by Jim and Elisabeth Elliot Follow Amazon the Himalayas on: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook For more information on the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu For information on Boyce College, go to BoyceCollege.com
The Faithful Witnesses – 20 Revelation 11:1-19 A few days ago, January 8, was the 67th anniversary of the death of Jim Elliot and four other young men in the Ecuadorian rainforest, by the Huaorani people. These people were unreached and dangerous. Most people groups who are unreached are so because they are difficult and dangerous to reach. Jim was only 28 years old, and he was speared to death trying to share Christ with these people, along with the
-Giving Up Everything to Gain Everything----He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose- - Jim Elliot--January 8, 1956, the date five missionaries were martyred in Ecuador-when all five-Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian-were attacked and speared by a group of Huaorani warriors.--Psalm 91-1-2 -He who dwells in at he shelter of the Most High-will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.- 2 I will say to the Lord, -My refuge and my fortress,-my God, in whom I trust.-
-Giving Up Everything to Gain Everything----He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose- - Jim Elliot--January 8, 1956, the date five missionaries were martyred in Ecuador-when all five-Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian-were attacked and speared by a group of Huaorani warriors.--Psalm 91-1-2 -He who dwells in at he shelter of the Most High-will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.- 2 I will say to the Lord, -My refuge and my fortress,-my God, in whom I trust.-
Adidas posted an ad full of topless women and ignited an internet debate over the sexualization of breasts. We debate whether the sexualization of breasts contributes to breastfeeding stigma and the value of normalizing more breast exposure in society. Also: Some women are creeps. Huaorani tribe and their tucking behavior. Nobody likes the edgelords. Follow Us! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/femalepoliticalstrategy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Female-Political-Strategy-103190725620868 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGd-ed1m_lIM8Ni1bTvuRQ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/femalepolitical Sources: Adidas Ad: https://twitter.com/adidas/status/1491411609180327942 Reaux's Twitter Poll: https://twitter.com/Reaux_FDS/status/1491915035152506882?s=20&t=RnfdnMahXqtbovvhrDuuVw STOP SEXUALIZING BREASTS! https://twitter.com/Reaux_FDS/status/1491887186496540672?s=20&t=RnfdnMahXqtbovvhrDuuVw Woman arrested for being topless in utah - https://nypost.com/2020/01/22/woman-charged-after-going-topless-in-front-of-stepkids-faces-court-setback/ https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/09/30/this-utah-woman-was/ Breastfeeding Stigma: https://breastfeedingusa.org/content/article/nursing-public-what-us-mothers-faced-colonial-times-until
Elisabeth Elliot (21/12/1926 - 15/06/2015) là một tác giả và diễn giả Cơ Đốc. Người chồng đầu tiên của bà, Jim Elliot, bị giết vào năm 1956 khi đang cố gắng truyền giáo cho bộ tộc Auca (nay được gọi là Huaorani) ở miền đông Ecuador. Bằng tình yêu và sự tha thứ, bà đã dành hai năm để làm giáo sĩ cho chính bộ tộc đã giết chồng mình. Năm 1969, Elisabeth kết hôn với Addison Leitch, một giáo sư thần học tại Chủng viện thần học Gordon-Conwell. Leitch qua đời năm 1973 vì bệnh ung thư. Năm 1977, bà kết hôn với Lars Gren, một tuyên úy bệnh viện. Elisabeth Elliot là một trong những ndiễn giả và nhà văn (với khoảng 25 tác phẩm) được yêu thích và nổi tiếng nhất trong giới Cơ Đốc. Bà luôn là nguồn khích lệ cho những người phụ nữ trong đời sống tin kính, trung tín và bước theo mục đích của Đức Chúa Trời trong công cuộc truyền giáo toàn cầu. Ở bài chia sẻ này, Elizabeth kể về câu chuyện tình đầy cảm động giữa bà và người chồng đầu tiên, Jim Elliot, từ đó chỉ ra quyết định quan trọng nhất mà một người cần đưa ra trong mối quan hệ nam nữ nói riêng, và trong đời sống nói chung. Anh chị em có thể nghe bài giảng audio của Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh tại địa chỉ sau: Spotify: https://sum.vn/HybEq Apple podcast: https://sum.vn/SccJB Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh là dự án dịch thuật/lồng tiếng sang tiếng Việt các bài giảng kinh điển của những diễn giả đã được thời gian khẳng định và cộng đồng Cơ đốc chung xác nhận. Đây là dự án phi lợi nhuận nhằm cung cấp nguồn tư liệu cho các tôi tớ cùng con dân Chúa tham khảo và sử dụng miễn phí. Để hiểu hơn về chúng tôi vui lòng truy cập website : https://giangluankinhthanh.net/ Đội ngũ Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh hoan nghênh mọi đề nghị cộng tác của quý con cái Chúa khắp nơi trong các lĩnh vực như dịch thuật, lồng tiếng, quảng bá, cầu thay, v.v. Nếu quý con cái Chúa sẵn lòng đóng góp công sức của mình vào bất cứ lĩnh vực nào, xin vui lòng điền thông tin cá nhân vào biểu mẫu sau: https://sum.vn/m4wqt Kênh Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh hoạt động vì các mục tiêu phi lợi nhuận, không phát quảng cáo. Vì vậy, chúng tôi mong tiếp tục nhận được sự dâng hiến và ủng hộ của quý con cái Chúa khắp nơi trong việc phát triển kênh. Quý vị có thể dâng hiến theo thông tin trong biểu mẫu sau: https://sum.vn/ZZ19m Xin chân thành cảm ơn! #Giangluankinhthanh #ElisabethElliot #Motchangtraitrekhiyeu
Elisabeth Elliot (21/12/1926 - 15/06/2015) là một tác giả và diễn giả Cơ Đốc. Người chồng đầu tiên của bà, Jim Elliot, bị giết vào năm 1956 khi đang cố gắng truyền giáo cho bộ tộc Auca (nay được gọi là Huaorani) ở miền đông Ecuador. Bằng tình yêu và sự tha thứ, bà đã dành hai năm để làm giáo sĩ cho chính bộ tộc đã giết chồng mình. Năm 1969, Elisabeth kết hôn với Addison Leitch, một giáo sư thần học tại Chủng viện thần học Gordon-Conwell. Leitch qua đời năm 1973 vì bệnh ung thư. Năm 1977, bà kết hôn với Lars Gren, một tuyên úy bệnh viện. Elisabeth Elliot là một trong những ndiễn giả và nhà văn (với khoảng 25 tác phẩm) được yêu thích và nổi tiếng nhất trong giới Cơ Đốc. Bà luôn là nguồn khích lệ cho những người phụ nữ trong đời sống tin kính, trung tín và bước theo mục đích của Đức Chúa Trời trong công cuộc truyền giáo toàn cầu. Ở bài chia sẻ này, Elizabeth kể về câu chuyện tình đầy cảm động giữa bà và người chồng đầu tiên, Jim Elliot, từ đó chỉ ra quyết định quan trọng nhất mà một người cần đưa ra trong mối quan hệ nam nữ nói riêng, và trong đời sống nói chung. Anh chị em có thể nghe bài giảng audio của Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh tại địa chỉ sau: Spotify: https://sum.vn/HybEq Apple podcast: https://sum.vn/SccJB Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh là dự án dịch thuật/lồng tiếng sang tiếng Việt các bài giảng kinh điển của những diễn giả đã được thời gian khẳng định và cộng đồng Cơ đốc chung xác nhận. Đây là dự án phi lợi nhuận nhằm cung cấp nguồn tư liệu cho các tôi tớ cùng con dân Chúa tham khảo và sử dụng miễn phí. Để hiểu hơn về chúng tôi vui lòng truy cập website : https://giangluankinhthanh.net/ Đội ngũ Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh hoan nghênh mọi đề nghị cộng tác của quý con cái Chúa khắp nơi trong các lĩnh vực như dịch thuật, lồng tiếng, quảng bá, cầu thay, v.v. Nếu quý con cái Chúa sẵn lòng đóng góp công sức của mình vào bất cứ lĩnh vực nào, xin vui lòng điền thông tin cá nhân vào biểu mẫu sau: https://sum.vn/m4wqt Kênh Giảng Luận Kinh Thánh hoạt động vì các mục tiêu phi lợi nhuận, không phát quảng cáo. Vì vậy, chúng tôi mong tiếp tục nhận được sự dâng hiến và ủng hộ của quý con cái Chúa khắp nơi trong việc phát triển kênh. Quý vị có thể dâng hiến theo thông tin trong biểu mẫu sau: https://sum.vn/ZZ19m Xin chân thành cảm ơn! #Giangluankinhthanh #ElisabethElliot #Motchangtraitrekhiyeu
Elisabeth Elliot (1926 – 2015) was married to Jim Elliot, who was killed in 1956 while attempting to make missionary contact with the Huaorani people in eastern Ecuador. Together with her young daughter, Valerie, she later spent two years as a missionary to the tribe members who killed her husband. Returning to the United States after many years in South America, she became widely known as the author of twenty five books (including Through Gates of Splendor, Let Me Be a Woman and Suffering is Never for Nothing) and as a Christian speaker.
As a young Christian, I remember reading the story of Jim Elliot, one of the five missionaries who lost their lives when they attempted to bring the gospel to the Huaorani people of Ecuador. When I was finished, I got down on my knees and asked God to make me a martyr too. My request was born of youthful impatience and a rash hunger for glory. Certainly, I didn’t understand the motivation of actual martyrs, most of whom stumbled into their unique calling. Stephen was the church’s first martyr. We use this term to speak of those who give their lives for their faith, but the word itself actually means witness. Stephen did not set out to become a martyr. He was merely responding to the charges brought against him (v. 1). Acts 7 records his speech before his accusers. Beginning with Abraham, Stephen narrated the history of the Jewish people highlighting their resistance to God’s purpose. He shows how God worked in the lives of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and then Moses. His history lesson culminated in the crucifixion of Jesus. “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” he said (v. 51). His accusers were “furious and gnashed their teeth” (v. 54). They said Stephen was speaking against the law (Acts 6:13). He charged them with ignoring it. Their anger turned murderous when Stephen described a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God (v. 56). In the crowd was “a young man named Saul” who would eventually become a follower of Jesus and go on to write much of the New Testament (v. 58). We know him today as the apostle Paul. >> We shouldn’t aspire to be a martyr. Rather, we need to set our sights on being a faithful witness. What does it mean for you to live for Jesus today? Maybe you can start by telling someone what He has done in your life.
In the 1980s a young anthropologist entered the Amazon rainforest to try to find and live amongst a previously uncontacted tribe, known locally as the Outcasts. Feared by neighbouring groups through stories of secretiveness and violence, they were mythologised as spirit people. Laura's only companion on her trip was her nine-year-old daughter Emilia. Venturing deep into the forest, Laura and Emilia found the group and lived on their fringes for months. But with the Huaorani initially hostile and refusing to engage, Emilia became increasingly ill. Laura faced a life-defining decision: leave the forest with her daughter or send her away and stay alone. As Laura tells her incredible story, an immersive binaural forest soundscape guides the way. Recorded in the Amazon by multi-award-winning sound designer Gareth Fry and mixed with Laura's taped forest recordings, we join Laura on a surprising journey deep under the forest canopy. In midsummer week, Radio 3 enters one of the most potent sources of the human imagination. 'Into the Forest' explores the enchantment, escape and magical danger of the forest in summer, with slow radio moments featuring the sounds of the forest, allowing time out from today's often frenetic world.
Hear now the word of the Lord from 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, ESV This is the word of the Lord that is given to us. As we start our study this morning, I want to read one more verse, it's a parable that Jesus spoke to us gave to us in Matthew 13:44, that I think gets a key principle in this passage. In Matthew 13:44 Jesus said, 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:44, ESV What our Lord tells us in that parable is to get it a contrast, a contrast between what is temporary and what is eternal. So, he gives us this example of a man who finds treasure that we're meant to understand is eternal, enduring, abiding treasure. So, what is this man willing to do? Well he's willing to leverage, to expend himself of everything that he possesses, to sell all of his possessions in order to lay hold of this enduring treasure that he finds in this field. Well the treasure that Jesus is talking about in Matthew 13:44 is himself. He's talking about giving up everything we have in this life in order to lay hold of Christ. When we're talking about gaining Christ, we're talking about admittance, entry, into his kingdom, his world. A world that is governed according to his principles. A world of love when we are with Jesus forever. When we are conformed to his image perfectly, we will love in the way that he has first loved us. What Paul is saying here in this passage as he's saying there is wisdom to trade on, to leverage, to expend what is temporary in this life. He's particularly talking about the spiritual gifts in order to gain what is permanent and perpetual and enduring. Jim Elliot, the missionary martyr to the Huaorani people, said it probably best he said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” There's no foolishness if we give what we cannot keep to gain what we cannot lose. There's a contrast between what is temporary and what is eternal. So, our big idea today is this; Spiritual gifts will pass away, but spiritual graces are permanent. So, three points this morning. 1. Spiritual Gifts Will Pass Away 2. Spiritual Gifts are Partial Not Perfect 3. Spiritual Graces are Permanent Spiritual Gifts Will Pass Away So, let's start in verse 8. Our first point is that spiritual gifts will pass away. Paul gives in verse 8 what I have learned is a military acronym B.L.U.F., the bottom-line up front. It's very helpful that's what he's doing here in verse 8. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:8, ESV He says love never ends. That's what's permanent, that's what's enduring. Then he talks and contrasts that against what is partial, what will pass away. So, right there we have the main idea that spiritual gifts will pass away, but spiritual graces are permanent. Now when Paul says that love never ends, the word for ends we most commonly translate this in the Bible as the idea of falling to fall. Leon Morris, a commentator on this passage, says we might capture the idea of what Paul is saying here by saying that love never collapses. You think of a bridge or a building collapsing, it's disastrous. Love will never be that way, love does not have a fleeting temporary purpose. Love is rather a grace with permanent, eternally, enduring purposes. It will never fail, it will never fall away, it will never collapse, it's permanent. In contrast Paul says that the gospel gifts must pass away. Now we talked a little bit last week that this word for pass away that Paul uses twice here, and then again at the end of verse 10. The word here for pass away is a word that's very important for Paul in the ways that he talks about the history of redemption, the way that God works in redemptive history to save his people. We saw this particularly last week when we looked at 2 Corinthians chapter three. In 2 Corinthians three Paul talked about the passing away or fading away glory of the Old Covenant ministry of Moses. He said it had a glory for a time, but then that glory had to pass away to give way to what is permanent. What word for permanent in 2 Corinthians 3:11 is the same word that Paul uses here in 1 Corinthians 13:13, abide, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;” The same word that Paul used to talk about the permanency of the enduring New Covenant ministries, Paul here talks about the permanency of the gospel graces, the spiritual graces of faith, hope and love. We have to ask then, why is Paul using this word pass away for New Covenant spiritual gifts? Why is he saying that these New Covenant spiritual gifts of prophecies and tongues and knowledge will pass away and cease if this is part of the enduring ministry of the New Covenant? Why are these things going to pass away at all? Well it's important to understand when Paul uses this word for pass away, it's not a contrast between what is bad versus what is good or what is false versus what is true. He isn't saying, you know back in the day when we were doing all of this Moses stuff, we just had no idea what was going on. We had no clue we were totally in the wrong, but now thank goodness Jesus has come to sweep all of that away so that we can be in what is now finally good and true. He doesn't put it that way. He says, you have to understand this is a spectrum and it's a spectrum of progressive revelation. It's a spectrum where what began as not bad, but not fully good, has now become more fully good in Christ in a way that will never go backwards. There is still more space to go in terms of moving forward. In the same way it wasn't that was false, it wasn't untrue, that Old Covenant Mosaic ministry but now we have a greater fullness of the truth and we'll never go backwards. While we still acknowledge that there is more yet to come when the perfect comes. Spiritual Gifts are Partial Not Perfect So, this is where Paul can say that spiritual gifts must pass away and it leads us into the second point that Paul is going to make in verses 9 through 12, that spiritual gifts are partial. In this way not bad versus good, not false verses true, but they are partial and spiritual gifts are not perfect. So, they're partial but they are not perfect. Again, in verses 9 through 10 Paul tells us his main point for this passage, he says in verses 9 , 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:9-10, ESV What Paul is saying here is that again, what we have is not bad, it's not false. On the contrary what we have is partial. It's good and it's true, but only in a limited sense in comparison to the perfect. So, when what we have now of the partial doesn't contain all the good there is to have, which we will have in the perfect. It doesn't contain all the truth that there is to know, which we will learn when the perfect comes. So, there's partial which we have now, which is good and true insofar as it goes, as we await the perfect. Now Paul illustrates this in two ways. He uses two illustrations in verses 11 and 12. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:11-12, ESV The first way that Paul illustrates this principle is to contrast the ways of a child as compared to the ways of an adult. Now it's important to see here Paul isn't criticizing children, he isn't saying what's wrong with these children, why don't they just get over their childlikeness. He isn't saying that at all. If you really think through the imagery that Paul is using, he's saying to understand that childish ways of thinking, childlike ways of reasoning, childlike ways of speaking, these are all entirely appropriate during childhood. In fact, children cannot develop to become adults unless they go through this developmental process in childhood. So not only is it appropriate for children to behave as though they were children, but it's necessary for them to grow to become adults. So, here's how Paul is talking about partial, here he's saying there's a development process and we have to actually go through it to get to the final end when Jesus brings the perfect. That's the first illustration. The second illustration is what we talked about last week and this is about sight. It's about a face-to-face glimpse of God's glory. What Paul is saying here is that right now we don't have the perfect, an absolute perfect view of God face to face. What we have now is partial because we see God in a very real and true and good sense, but we see him in a mirror indirectly. That word for dimly I talked about a little bit last week, it probably doesn't mean blurry. Sometimes people talk about this mirror has a blurry image, but Paul wasn't comparing his mirrors to ours today. He had never seen one of our mirrors and Corinth was actually famous for its mirror manufacturing. These were the top-of-the-line mirrors in the world and yet it was still indirect. When you look at something in a mirror, you're not looking at someone directly face to face. You're seeing a reflection of who they are, you see them indirectly. We talked about this a little bit last week. The point of this illustration, as we consider all the places where the phrase face to face is used in the Bible, we see that everywhere God has been giving a progressively better vision of his face. It's always progressively better, we'll never go backwards. What we have, what God is always giving us is better than what he has given us before. Even so, every time that vision is always only partial and every time that vision points away from itself to the vision of God's word until the perfect truly does come. So those are the two illustrations we'll talk a little bit more about that later in the sermon. After these two illustrations Paul comes back around to summarize the main point of this section. He says at the end of verse 12, 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV So again, the contrast is not between bad and good, false and true, it's between partial and perfect. So now that we've seen this, we really need to come back to this question about why would Paul talk about the passing away of these New Covenant spiritual gifts in the same way that he talked about the passing away of the Mosaic Covenant? The short answer is, as we've kind of started to see but let me just summarize it here, is that while New Covenant ministries through these spiritual gifts give us a progressively better vision of God, it's less partial than what we had in the past. It's more perfect, but it's nevertheless not completely perfect. It's still only giving us something that is in part. So, for Moses, when Paul talks about Moses' passing away glory in 2 Corinthians 3, he's thinking about everything that went along with that ministry. He's saying that ministry was true, and it was good, and it had a real glory to it. That's his point in 2 Corinthians 3. There was a glory, you think about the temple, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the festivals, especially the festival of Passover, of circumcision, the prophecies, and the promises. These were glorious ministries and God was using the glory of these Old Covenant ministries to give us a glimpse, an indirect picture, of Christ to come, to foreshadow the coming Messiah. Through the glory of the Old Covenant ministries God, by his Holy Spirit, was sufficiently using these and powerfully using these to instruct and build up God's people in faith in the promised Messiah. As they looked forward in faith to the coming Messiah, who was vaguely outlined by these glorious ministries, God was giving his Old Covenant people full remission of sins and eternal salvation. Now this is true for us as well, but we have a more perfect vision of Christ, the glory of God in the face of Christ. When the Old Testament shadows were done, the point of those pictures was to point to a person, and when that person Jesus Christ came, they could pass away. Now we have a similar situation with these spiritual gifts. These gifts reveal Christ to us as they prophetically teach us about who he is, as they give us knowledge and understanding of the person and work of what the second person of God in Jesus Christ has come to do for us. They give us knowledge by tongues as the gospel was originally preached to new groups of people. These were sufficient and powerful, by the work of the Holy Spirit, to instruct and build up God's people in faith. Through that faith in which these gifts are building God's church up, God was giving full remission of sins and eternal salvation. What Paul is saying though is that even these spiritual gifts must pass away, they gave us a better picture of Christ than the one God's people enjoyed in the past. This is progressively better, but they still give us this indirect picture only, it's partial, we don't have the perfect the face to face the full knowledge of Christ yet. So, the purpose of this picture is to point to the person and when that person comes the picture must pass away, just as the Old Covenant glories had to pass away. Just as Paul talked in Galatians 3:24 that the Old Covenant law was a tutor to the children of the underage people of God until they grew up to maturity. So, we must, like children, await our maturity when the spiritual gifts will pass away and we will embrace the perfect of Christ forever. So, all of that is helpful to locate us in salvation history, redemptive history. This is where we are but if this is true what practical implications does this carry? Paul has a point here, he's not just waxing eloquently about love, he really has a point that he's trying to drive home to us. His point is this that we need to cultivate not our gifts so much, those are partial, those have a purpose, but that purpose is temporary, it's fading away. We need to cultivate the graces which will endure and abide forever. So far as the gifts lead to the graces, that's excellent and we should use them for that. However, if you want to use a business idea, we need to capitalize our spiritual gifts. Investing these things, these temporary gifts that we have, in order to gain enduring permanent assets of spiritual graces. We need to sell everything we have in order to gain the love that we will enjoy forever in the kingdom of heaven, a world of love. Spiritual Graces are Permanent So, this brings us to our third and final point in verse 13, that spiritual graces are permanent. Paul says, 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13, ESV What Paul is saying here is that these spiritual graces abide and endure in a permanent way that is not matched by the spiritual gifts that will pass away. We've talked about that a lot, but some people understand that the final phrase in verse 13, “but the greatest of these is love” to mean that love is the only grace that abides, that endures. That's not at all what Paul says. He says that all three of these graces endure, “faith, hope, and love abide these three.” These three abide, it's very clear that each of these graces abide into eternity. Now certainly faith and hope play a different role today than they will in eternity to come. Right now, today we walk by faith and not by sight, is what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:7. That only means that our faith and our hope will be perfected when we come to embrace the sight of the perfect vision of God face to face. Faith and hope will remain important throughout all eternity, but in a different way. It will not be less faith and less hope, but more faith and more hope, deeper faith and richer hope as we embrace Christ by sight. What Paul does say in this final phrase, the greatest of these is love, is to emphasize that faith and hope are not as great as love. They are not the main thing, they are not what we really need to be setting our heart on, to cultivate. So what's the relationship between faith and hope on the one side and love on the other? Well faith means to trust, and hope is something like long-term faith and what Paul teaches us elsewhere is that faith and hope both help to produce love. So, for example in Galatians 5:6 Paul writes, 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. Galatians 5:6, ESV Faith produces love. Same thing with hope, in Romans 5:3-5 not only that Paul writes, 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us Romans 5:3-5, ESV Faith and hope together look forward to the acquisition of eternal, enduring, permanent love. Forever faith and hope are the roots deep down in the soil that grow up to produce the fruit of love. Or faith and hope are the foundation on which the structure of love is being built up in the church to ever increasing heights. Or faith and hope are the propulsion system that launches the rocket of love forward as it reaches ever closer to the perfection of God himself. Well that's how these graces relate to each other. Let's go back to how the gifts relate to the graces, which is Paul's point in this passage. The reason that these gifts can fall away, and we will suffer no loss is because the gifts are given to us to cultivate the graces. The gifts are the tools, the graces are the product. The gifts are the trellis, the graces are the vine that grows up on that trellis. The gifts are the means, the partial and temporary means, by which we come to possess the ends the first installment of the perfect and eternal ends of love in Jesus Christ and him crucified. So, here's Paul's implication when he closes this way, again he's got an edge. 1 Corinthians 13 has an edge that we miss when we read it in sappy ways at weddings alone. The implication here is that we should leverage our gifts as much as we can, to sell everything for the sake of gaining the treasure that will never fade, the enduring asset of love. Application So, how should we apply this at Harvest? 1. Let me encourage you, seek to be useful in the church. That is the reason that Paul is talking about the gifts. He started talking about these backs in 1 Corinthians 12 and now he continues to reflect on the nature of gifts in chapter 13 and he's going to talk about the exercise of those gifts in chapter 14. Paul's point throughout these three chapters is to tell us that we are given gifts for a very specific purpose, to build up the body of Christ in love. In fact, in just a few verses from here, in five verses from now and the end of the next paragraph, Paul is going to tell us how to understand which gifts are the greatest and which are not. Namely the gifts are the greatest which do the most to build up the body of Christ, to build up the church. The problem for the Corinthian church was that they praised eloquence, they loved their talking and their talkers, and they prized those who could talk well above all other people. Paul is saying not so fast, the gifts that you should care about are the ones that, by love, most build up and edify the church. There are then two parts to this application as I apply what Paul writes here, to say seek to be useful to the church. The first part is this is what we've been talking about, we've got to understand that spiritual gifts will one day pass away. What this means is that no Christian derives his or her value from giftedness. You are not more or less valuable depending on how gifted you are, and you should not value other people for your appraisal of how valuable their gifts are. Understand spiritual gifts are temporary, they serve a purpose and then they will pass away. Instead recognize that God has called you to make your unique contribution. We only have individual parts of the members of the body. Right you have sometimes a couple of eyes, but for the most part you have one stomach, one liver, right? You have one of these things that we need to survive. Every person plays a unique role in their contribution to the body of Christ and you need to seek to usefully use yours. This may be in a prominent way or it may be in a humble way. Yet as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:22, even the humblest roles in the church are indispensable. This may be in a visible role or this may be entirely invisible to the church, for example in the gifts of prayer and generous giving. Yet God has so composed the body by giving greater honor to the part that lacked it. So, let me just absolutely make this clear, you have an important role to play in building up this congregation. I'm just reflecting on what's happened over the last few months. COVID-19 has been, to put it mildly, a giant interruption in life at every level and especially in the church. In some places there's been incredible suffering and I don't want to downplay that in the least. Everywhere else it has at least been a giant interruption in life, especially in the church. There were people who were serving in certain capacities that were interrupted because of this, who have not yet resumed them for one reason or another. We have some people who are serving right now in former capacities that it's difficult because of specific health challenges that they face. We've also just had normal church turnover in life where people move on to do new things in new ways, which means that we are left with a constant need for more people to serve in new ways in the ministries of the church. So right now, we're at a critical shortage for children's ministries. One of our big issues and concerns beyond just health concerns is that we don't have enough people to staff children's ministries right now. Can you be useful in nursery or in Sunday school? We need teachers and nursery workers. What about in technology? We're still scattered. Can you serve in sound and slides and streaming video, especially now that we have two services where this becomes all the more important? What about in college ministries? Our college students are coming back, welcome back college students. We now have two people who are members of our church who are serving at Creighton and at the University of Nebraska Omaha. This is an exciting time in college ministry. Can you serve in reaching out and loving on college students? What about hospitality? I've heard incredible stories about people who've sought out the most shut-in in our congregation to try to do something, anything, out of doors. What about inviting someone who maybe doesn't have high risk or health concerns to a meal in your home? The practice of hospitality must continue. We need to seek to be useful in the church and whatever our gifts are. 2. See the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. See him by faith in the Bible through the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, we do have a face-to-face view of God right now, God's people have always had a face-to-face view of God. However, it's always been partial, it's always been indirect, it's always pointed away from the sight to faith in the word of God. We have today a clearer vision of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ than God's people have had at any point in history. We have a better vision than Jacob did who saw God face to face when he wrestled with him in the shadows of the night in Genesis 32:30. We have a better vision of God face to face than did Israel who spoke with God face to face in Deuteronomy 5:4. When God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. We have a progressively better vision even than Moses who spoke with God face to face as a man speaks with his friend, in Exodus 33:11, but who is not permitted to see God's face in its full glory, Exodus 33:18- 23. In fact, we're told that we have an even better clearer vision of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ then did Peter, James, and John on the Mountain of Transfiguration. If you don't believe me, believe the one who is an eyewitness to his majesty. The apostle Peter, who writes in 2 Peter 1:19, 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 2 Peter 1:19, ESV Which means that we see so clearly that we have an even better vision than did the earliest church. They were learning about Christ, they were seeing Christ by the occasional exercise of these spiritual gifts. They would have an apostle who would come into the church and would preach and would try to build up and plant a church and they would move on to plant another church. That was the nature of apostolic ministry. If you had a prophet in your congregation, that prophet may get the word of the Lord on a given Lord's day and stand up and prophesy that word from the Lord. We'll read about that in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, but you weren't guaranteed that on any given Sunday. What about, trying to tie it all together with your knowledge? Well they had people who were gifted in knowledge to try to make sense of all of these individual revelations from God's Spirit. It was harder then than it is now because we have the complete final revelation of God in the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, it's progressively better. Because God is still working in the same way he always had, we will never go back. We don't need to continue to exercise the gift of prophecy and tongues and knowledge in the way that they were exercised before. What was more perfect came to us, the scriptures of God. Even still as perfect as the scriptures are the only problem, and I hesitate to even use that word, is that they are partial. We see here indirectly and not clearly face to face. So now as people who are gifted the extraordinary mercy of God in having the completed word of God in the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, hear the gospel. This is what it's all about. This is what God's been revealing, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” This gospel of Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, is that he came into this world to suffer the full weight of the curse of God's wrath against your sin. He took your sin and he promise to give you his righteousness. For those who receive him by faith you may see his glory now in the gospel, by the power of the Holy Spirit. To do that is to see God face to face, albeit still partially and still only by faith not by sight. This is what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, ESV See the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ by believing in Christ for your salvation. 3. Let us see every temporary part of our lives, everything that is temporary in this life as an opportunity to cultivate the permanent graces. Every temporary part of our lives, we need to see as an opportunity, a battlefield, an exercise, a playground where we can train and develop as children to full mature adulthood by seeing these opportunities to cultivate the enduring permanent graces, especially of love. Right now, our society, and even the church of Jesus Christ, is ripped apart and deeply divided by temporary concerns. As a pastor I will tell you there is nothing right now that grieves me more than this. It's the division in the body of Christ where we have people who see two parts to this discussion and you're somewhere on this spectrum. There are some people who see the value of safety, of life and they're very concerned about this and fear is driving a lot of how they're looking at things around them. Then on the other side of the spectrum there are people who see their rights as the most important thing, not their life but their liberty and the desire to preserve and protect their liberty has become the most important thing in their life. As we all navigate together this COVID-19 crisis the problem with this and everyone falls somewhere on the spectrum, as long as my focus is on one of these temporary concerns because both my liberties and my life in this world are temporary. As long as my focus is on a temporary concern of either life or liberty, what that means is that I'm focused on me and cannot focus in love on you. If all I'm thinking about are these temporary concerns, I can't focus on you to cultivate love. Paul is pleading with us. In his context what was ripping the church apart were their exercise and showing off of their various giftedness in the spiritual gifts. For us it's an invisible microscopic virus. Paul is pleading with us in 1 Corinthians 13, and has an edge, Paul is getting at something. He's pleading with us to remember that all of these concerns are temporary, and they are passing away. He's pleading with us to trade on, to expend ourselves, of what is temporary to gain eternal graces, especially the eternal grace of love. Can we see this as an opportunity to work together toward love? So, to those of you who are deeply concerned with life, on this side of the spectrum, I'm talking to you who are still at home. We love you. Do you recognize that we are not whole until you are here? We miss you. We are the body of Christ that's ripped apart, where we've left a limb behind and we can't be whole until you are here. We recognize that there are extreme medical cases, but we would plead with you come worship with us. We will do everything in our power to keep you safe, we will bend over backwards. Our promise is that at the 8:30 service, where we are all masks all the time, every security precaution is taken. Please come so that we can worship together as we work through this step by step, until the body can be whole again. Then to those of you on the other side of the spectrum to those of you deeply concerned with liberty. Do you recognize that love calls us to give deference and honor to others rather than making demands of them? I mean think about Jesus. Although it was deeply inconvenient and uncomfortable for him, the Son who existed in the form of God from all eternity, took the form of a servant and humbled himself in obedience to the point of death, even death at the hands of unjust men to pursue us and our salvation. Although it was deeply inconvenient, Paul just a few chapters ago talked about how he has become all things to all people so that all means he might save some, that some might come to know Jesus. If we want the whole body back in worship, shouldn't the strong do everything necessary to welcome those who have been weakened by fear, whether you think that's legitimate fear or not? Shouldn't we do everything for the weak? What if we began to see COVID-19 not as an opportunity or a platform for us to quarrel over our opinions, but instead as an opportunity a platform to outdo one another in showing honor to each other as Paul commands us in Romans 12:10. I don't do this often, I can't remember I've ever done this, but I'm going to give you an assignment that I really want you to do. I'm going to give you assignment that's backed by every bit of a pastoral authority I have, because I'm going to command you to read the Bible. I want you to read Romans 14. In Romans 14 Paul is dealing with a division in that church in Rome. It was a difference between the strong who had knowledge, who recognized that they were no longer burdened by the ceremonial law, in keeping the festivals of the Jewish Old Covenant, in keeping the food dietary requirements. Then those who were burdened by the desire to keep those were afraid, they were fearful. They thought that they had to keep them, they were afraid of being punished by their Lord, by their master. Paul is saying to the strong and to the weak, these instructions that are incredible. We are not in the same situation, but we are in a classic struggle, a classic conflict two different visions, two different values between the strong and the weak. The strong who value liberty, that's exactly what the strong are pursuing in Romans chapter 14, verses the weak those who are fearful. Read the Bible, read Romans chapter 14 and as you read through it prayerfully, consider Lord what does this say about my actions? What does it say about my attitudes? What does this say about what I say in my conversations, what I post on social media? What does this say about my general demeanor and outlook to others who have a very different view of this than I do? How should this shape me and transform me, whether I'm strong or whether I'm weak, to interact with my brothers and sisters who are on the other side of the spectrum? If you want to talk more with me about that I would love to talk with you more about that. Brothers and sisters, I don't know of a time when we have more needed to hear 1 Corinthians chapter 13, and God providentially has given us this passage right now as there are so many things that would seek to divide us. Can we see this as an opportunity not to fight, not to quarrel about opinions, but to welcome one another, to outdo one another in showing honor. Let's pray. Now Father, I ask that you would give us love. God, we want love, but it's nothing that we can produce. So we look to your Holy Spirit to take your word and to conform us to Christ's image, who went so far out of his way for us who suffered and risked his life all the way to giving it up at the point of death as he was pushing away every privilege and right that he had as the Son of God. Father, Jesus Christ is the one who unites us, and we pray that it would be, so much so now. We pray that we would come through this stronger as a church united by love in Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen.
Jim Elliot était un missionnaire chrétien évangélique en Equateur, qui avec d'autres furent tués en essayant d'évangéliser les Huaorani. Elisabeth Elliot est une auteure et oratrice chrétienne. Toutes ces personnes que je devrais connaître de Clare Heath-Whyte illustré par Jenny Brake (de blfeditions) est un livre regroupant des personnalités différentes mais qui ont décidé de suivre leur appel et faire connaître Jésus autours d'eux. Bonne écoute! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ecoute-l-histoire/support
You have probably seen the men with black coats, black panama-style hats and long curly sideburns (payots) and wondered who they are. These men (and women) in black are members of the Hasidic Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in 18th century Eastern Europe. The Hasidic Judaism community has grown exponentially beyond Eastern Europe and if you visit Brooklyn, New York you’ll find a thriving Hasidic community that has preserved it’s old world traditions in the modern world. We spoke to tour guide, Frieda Vizel, who knows Brooklyn, New York’s Hasidic community in an intimate way. Through her “Tours by Frieda” she helps people understand the Hasidic religion as well as the food, culture and architecture that defines the neighborhoods of Brooklyn that provide an enclave to the insular and often misunderstood people. An inquiry about cultures in jeopardy of dying led us to Marcel Perkins of Latin Trails. Marcel, who is based in Ecuador, introduced us to the Huaorani people who live deep inside the Ecuadorian Amazon. If you’ve never heard of the Huaorani it’s because the primitive community has chosen to remain “NON CONTACTED” and isolated for the most part. Marcel tells us that there was a short period of time the Huaorani offered primitive lodging for tourists. They’ve since moved away from tourism and now count on petroleum revenue for the survival of their small community of a few hundred. This move from tourism was an intentional effort to minimize their contact with the outside world in order to perserve their traditional way of life. Join World Footprints as we learn about the cultural heritages of Brooklyn’s Hasidic community and Ecuador’s Huaorani people.
A Homily for The Presentation of Christ February 2, 2019 All Saints Anglican Church, Prescott, AZ Text: Luke 2:29-32 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen. On January 3, 1957 four missionaries landed their plane upon a small sand strip in the Curary River in the jungle of Ecuador, some time be for this the young men had sensed a call from the Lord to reach the Huaorani people, who were known for being a particularly violent and relatively unreached people group. They had flown over the village and made initial contact and were hoping to soon make further contact, they knew this calling was dangerous, and perhaps deadly. After three days a small group from the Huaorani reticently made contact with the missionaries. They took one of the young man flying on the plane, and at first all seemed peaceable. However, the leaders of the tribe became suspicious, and rightly so, because other outsiders were equally eager to make contact, but this contact was in hopes of taking away their land. Soon jealousy over whelmed the leaders of the Huaorani and they planned an attack on the missionaries. At 3 pm on January 8th, the Huaorani made contact again, but this time with the intent of attacking and killing the four men. Shortly after this the missionaries were dead, and fearing retribution the Huaorani torched their village and fled. One of the missionaries names was Jim Elliot – he perhaps is the most well know of the four for a number of reasons but one thing he is remembered for is a short statement he wrote in his journal: “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Elliot and his four friends gave their lives which they knew they could not keep – in order to glorify God, and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps to some of us this sounds absurd, but this morning we meet another man who is waiting with eager expectations to meet Christ, eager to know Christ, and to see his captive people set free. This morning we meet Simeon the prophet. As I was studying and thinking about this passage – I was taken away by the thought of how in Christ’s early childhood narratives, he is barely seen, he is simply an infant given to the will of his earthly parents, and as such – shepherds, magi, angels, his parents, and two prophets become the focus of the narrative. Yet – even in this Christ is glorified, and we come to a deeper understand of who he is as our savior and incarnate Lord. We of course know Simeon’s song well as it is sung or recited during Evening Prayer, and we refer to it as the Nunc Dimittis. The song was traditionally used by monks during their last time of prayer of the day. The words from Latin mean “now you dismiss” referring to Simeon’s prayer of “Lord now let your servant depart in peace,” which of course is Simeon saying “now I am ready to die, ready to be with you.” The monks use this prayer as a closing song for the day as a part of their intentional reminder to habitually lay their lives down, to habitually die to themselves, which is our calling as well. For the monks of old the end of the day was another call to repent of the sins of that past day, to die to themselves, that come the next morning, if the Lord willed it they may rise to new life. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. The English translations of Simeon’s song begins with an address to God, using the word “Lord.” However, this is fascinating because the word that is used is not the word typically used when Scripture refers to God the father as Lord, nor as Christ the son. Instead it is a far less common word that is used a mere ten times in the New Testament. In almost all other cases the ESV translates it to “master,” one other time it is translated as “Lord,” and once, when used in conjunction with the typical word for “Lord” it is translated “sovereign.” These translational choices give us a glimpse as to what Simeon is trying to say – he isn’t saying “God, let me rest now,” no, he is saying “My master, my king, my ruler, my sovereign, dear owner of my soul, let me lay down my head, let me rest in your sweet mercy.” Simeon sees God not as some distant sky fairy, not as a benevolent grandfather, for Simeon God is not far off, but He is the ruler, and possessor of him as a human being and by extension we are called to rest in God in the same way. And this begs the first question: Are we willing to give up our entire lives for God, are we willing to say to God “our lives are in your hands”? Are we willing to trust God with every detail of our lives from the grand to the minute? Do we believe that: He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose? Then Simeon prays for death – “now let your servant depart in peace.” Do you find your satisfaction in Christ in the same way that Simeon did? Do we see that his coming into the world and into our lives is the culmination of all Good things that God has planned for his people? If God took our lives today – would we smile and say “my life is complete, I have done all that God has called me to do?” or would know somewhere deep down inside we had failed to glorify God, to love God with our total being, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves? Are we willing to let Christ be our everything? My friends – the bar for being Christian is high and you will fail to meet it. I have failed to meet it time and again, I am the chief amongst sinners, I fall down, I fail to love well, I chase false gods, my eyes wander, I doubt, I grow weary, and grumbly like the Israelites in the desert and wonder “how long o Lord?” Recently, I have felt the need to abide more richly in Christ, to renew my trust that He is good, and sovereign, and ruler over my life. I know of God’s sovereignty intellectually, but sometimes I grow distressed that things are not working out the way I want them to. Yet, I have seen God provide. I have never been without, I have never wanted, I have never gone hungry, I’ve always had a roof over my head, a friend to talk to. I have rarely had a lot, but the little I have is enough to get by. God has always faithfully provided – I have seen this throughout my life with Christ – in the tears and joys, in the anxiety and peace, in the seasons of a little and in the seasons of a lot he has been there – if he can provide in this way – surely he will provide in every other way, surely he will guide me – surely, he has proven himself a faithful and good master – and now I must abide. Beloved – we will sin, we will fail, we will feel utterly unworthy of our calling into Christ – because we are– but Christ is the father who runs out to meet the prodigal son in the field, who puts upon us the best robe in the closet, who celebrates and kills the fatted calf for us. Christ rejoices and embraces us when we’ve wandered and return home, Christ will leave the 99 for the one lost sheep, Christ will come for us, guide us, heal us, forgive us, and love us, so let us not fret for one moment. We have not and cannot earn our salvation – and that is the point of Christ’s death for in His death and resurrection we find grace and forgiveness and in that we are called to reside in Him, we are called to trust him with every aspect of our lives, we are called to know that He is our sovereign master, we are called to abide richly in him, we are called to die to ourselves, so that he may live abundantly in us, and we may live abundantly in him. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. I hope we can see vividly that God calls us to obedience, calls us to give up our lives, calls us to see Him as our sovereign Lord and master, but how do we know what it is that God calls us to do? Simeon says that these things are according to God’s word – and we know from verse 26 that God had revealed to Simeon through the Holy Spirit that “he would not see death before had seen the Lord’s Christ.” But how do we live such spirit filled lives? For aren’t we promised that if we are in Christ we are given the Holy Spirit? A wise man once told me “you give the Holy Spirit words by knowing God’s word.” Of course we know that the Holy Spirit is actively drawing us closer to God, is actively re-forming our heart, is actively giving us a deeper conscious, a deeper understanding of right and wrong, we know that when the church is uniformly drawn to some purpose, it is probably the spirit moving her to do so, but how do we habitually live in submission to the Holy Spirit? It begins with knowing the word of God, it begins with reading it voraciously, reading it as it is the bread of life, and where we will find the living water, letting the word renew our minds. It is here that we find the pure form of the word of God, it is here that we see how he has acted for the millenniums before the coming of Christ, and how he came to die to set his captive people free, it is in God’s word that we come to know his character, of his goodness, his love, his mercy, his justice. Let us be devoted in the task of knowing God – not to earn anything – but that we would know Him and he would know us, and in that we would learn to be conformed to His will, that we would be better servants and children, that we would be able to pray Simeon’s prayer more faithfully, and that we would know – that he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Perhaps Simeon is endued with some great wisdom, perhaps we knows that Christ must die a death of shame to take away our own death, sin, and shame, perhaps Simeon knows that Christ will be scorned and rejected, perhaps Simeon is wiser and more faithful than Christ’s disciples will prove to be at the crucifixion, but nothing stands to tell us this is the case. No – Simeon simply prays “my eyes have seen your salvation,” for he is endued with the Holy Spirit and simply recognizes Jesus as the Christ, simply recognizes that Jesus will be the one to bring freedom to God’s people. Simeon knows who this little baby is, but does not know how God will act – and that is enough for him. We too know of God’s deliverance, we too know that we are given peace in our abiding in Christ, we too know the end of the story – but we do not know how we will get there. So when the earth trembles and nations rage, when people are evil, when they plot or when they gossip, let us not waver, let us not faulter but say “mine eyes have seen your salvation,” and persevere with faithfulness, and remember: He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. But now Simeon says something amazing – think for a moment about the disciples – they all seemed to believe that Christ came to be the temporal king of Jerusalem and Israel, to drive the Romans out of the nation, and to reestablish the state of Israel, to sit upon his ancestor, David’s earthly throne. But Simeon seems to recognize that maybe, just maybe Jesus is more than an earthly king. For it is before all people that Christ is prepared – it is before all people that Christ comes to and it is Christ who will judge all people at the end of time, it is to Christ that every knee shall bow. At the coming of Christ two thousand years ago, we find the beginning of this, but not the end, we find the beginning of the end. And then Simeon does a double unfolding – he recognizes that Chris is light for the gentiles and the glory of God’s people, Israel. This day in the Christian year is commonly called Candlemas, it was the day that the church traditionally blessed their candles for the year, and people would bring their candles for their homes to be blessed as well. Nothing in the church building is there by accident or happenstance, rather everything has meaning including candles. We have intentionally set this building aside for one purpose – to worship God, we have set it aside to be a sacred space. Like all thing in the church, the candles have meaning. We light them as a habitual reminder of Christ’s light coming into the world to save sinners. We light a fire at the Easter vigil and carry that light into the church, proclaiming the light of Christ coming into the world, the light of Christ being resurrected, proclaiming that all hope is never lost. The priest or deacon sings the exultet at the vigil to remind us of the importance of that light in our lives and in the world, the candles are lit from the paschal candle, and act to remind us of the light of Christ in our lives and so when you see the candles on the altar, let them trigger your memory – that Christ came into the world to enlighten you and I, that Christ came into the world to set us free from the darkness of our sin, that Christ is our light and our hope. But he is also the glory of His people Israel – Israel is God’s people, Israel was set aside to be a blessing to all nations – and this blessing is the coming of Christ. By bringing Christ into the world Israel glorified God, and in such Israel is glorified. Yesterday as I was driving home around sunset and I was thinking about the beauty of the earth. My favorite time to come up from Phoenix to Sunset point is that hour before sunset. It sparks in me such an appreciation for God’s creative power. Yesterday my thoughts wandered to how one day God will re-create the earth and when God restores all things to how they were meant to be how much more beautiful it will be. Then, I realized – what will be truly beautiful will be to experience God’s glory – for now we see through a glass dimly – but then we will see fully, experience fully, we will not be separated from the glory of God by our sin, but will bask in his love and glory perfectly. This is what God does for sinful humanity in Christ Jesus, he makes us free, and makes us to know Him, and though this is out of love – more importantly it glorifies God, because another has recognized that God is the good and sovereign master of their lives. Another has recognized that he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. I started this sermon with the story of four missionaries who died on a sandbar in the Ecuadorian jungle and you may wonder how we know so much about them? Well, a few years later two of their widows went to live with the tribe, through this several of the Huaorani people came to know Christ, came to know his freedom, and came to be faithful followers of Christ. The four families became inextricably interlinked with the Huaorani people. One of their sons came to be friends with one of the men who killed his father – and a reporter said to him “I understand forgiving someone who had killed your father, but how can you love him?” The man thought for awhile and then came to that old saying that perhaps we all know “hurting people hurt people,” and realized perhaps – “forgiven people forgive people” and loved people love people. We are forgiven and we are loved – and as such – we are to be forgiving and loving. If we are residing in Christ, if Christ is our sovereign Lord, if we have given Christ the total of our being – then we know that the words Jim Elliot scribbled in his journal nearly seventy years ago are not folly but true - He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose, for what incredible goodness we gain when we reside in Christ! In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Episode 48: Through Gates of Splendor On 8 January, 1956, five Christian missionaries were martyred by members of the Huaorani people as they sought to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Ecuadorian rain forest. Elisabeth Elliot, wife of Jim, one of the martyred missionaries, tells the story in her book Through Gates ... Read more Episode 48: Through Gates of Splendor
Meg Toben is an Earth Activist Mama based in Chapel Hill, NC. She is a co-creator of The Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain, a sanctuary space for nature connection, renewal, and healing the human-earth relationship. Megan has twenty years of experience as an environmental educator, and ten years as an executive director. Her love for art, ritual, Earth, and humanity inspired her to offer a nature-inspired space to all who are working to heal our world. In this episode, we dig into: How The Eco-Institute was born Becoming an activist against climate disruption Megan’s experience in Standing Rock A celebration for the Huaorani people of Ecuador Challenges in cultivating community How you can’t buy purpose and authenticity How complicit we can be at the expense of planetary demise What The Eco-Institute has to offer A prayer and fasting ceremony in the wilderness Asking questions and being guided to reconsider everything Conducting a listening tour and a reimagining council A definition of permaculture Details of the permaculture immersion program Cultivating connection through soul work and dismantling ego Links: Learn more about Megan and The Eco-Institute at https://eco-institute.org/ Connect with The Eco-Institute on Instagram @the.eco.institute Connect with Rising Earth Immersion on Instagram @rising.earth.immersion Connect with Megan on Instagram @megantoben Connect with The Eco-Institute on Facebook @the.eco.institute Join The Eco-Institute for Rising Earth: A Semester of Transformative Permaculture Immersion To learn more about upcoming programs and workshops, view The Eco-Institute Program Calendar Learn about a kindred program, youthpassageways.org
Meg Toben is an Earth Activist Mama based in Chapel Hill, NC. She is a co-creator of The Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain, a sanctuary space for nature connection, renewal, and healing the human-earth relationship. Megan has twenty years of experience as an environmental educator, and ten years as an executive director. Her love for art, ritual, Earth, and humanity inspired her to offer a nature-inspired space to all who are working to heal our world. In this episode, we dig into: How The Eco-Institute was born Becoming an activist against climate disruption Megan’s experience in Standing Rock A celebration for the Huaorani people of Ecuador Challenges in cultivating community How you can’t buy purpose and authenticity How complicit we can be at the expense of planetary demise What The Eco-Institute has to offer A prayer and fasting ceremony in the wilderness Asking questions and being guided to reconsider everything Conducting a listening tour and a reimagining council A definition of permaculture Details of the permaculture immersion program Cultivating connection through soul work and dismantling ego Links: Learn more about Megan and The Eco-Institute at https://eco-institute.org/ Connect with The Eco-Institute on Instagram @the.eco.institute Connect with Rising Earth Immersion on Instagram @rising.earth.immersion Connect with Megan on Instagram @megantoben Connect with The Eco-Institute on Facebook @the.eco.institute Join The Eco-Institute for Rising Earth: A Semester of Transformative Permaculture Immersion To learn more about upcoming programs and workshops, view The Eco-Institute Program Calendar Learn about a kindred program, youthpassageways.org
When my friend Ray was diagnosed with cancer, he startedreading obituaries. He found comfort in the newspaper's daily litany of thedeparted. Somehow it made him feel less alone. Like a pilgrim who is travelingin company, instead of someone who stumbles along a difficult path by himself.It was the ordinariness of the thing that helped him the most.I feel something similar whenever I thumb through the oldyearbooks in the faculty lounge. Their faces framed in horn-rimmed and cat-eyeglasses, the images of former faculty gaze back at me with pursed lips or shysmiles. I do not recognize any of their names. They are long forgotten by theschool they once served. Along with them are rank upon rank of students who arealso long gone. They are not remembered either. Indeed, most of them werehardly known when they were here. Like the majority of us, they were justordinary people.It's hard to be ordinary. Especially in a culture whichworships the heroic. This is particularly true of the Christian world. AuthorWendell Berry writes that the Judeo-Christian tradition favors the heroic. “Thepoets and storytellers in this tradition have tended to be interested in theextraordinary actions of ‘great men'–actions unique in grandeur, such as mayoccur only once in the world” he explains. This is a standard that isimpossible for ordinary people to live up to.As a young Christian, I remember being captivated by thestory of Jim Elliot, one of the five missionaries who lost their lives whenthey attempted to bring the gospel to the Huaorani people of Ecuador. When Iwas finished I got down on my knees and prayed that God would make me a martyrtoo. It was a foolish prayer, prompted more by romanticism than by devotion. Itwas a request born of youthful impatience and a rash hunger for glory. Not atall like the real martyrs, most of whom stumbled into their unique calling.It takes another kind of courage and a different skill setto follow the path assigned to the majority. “The drama of ordinary or dailybehavior also raises the issue of courage, but it raises at the same time theissue of skill; and, because ordinary behavior lasts so much longer than heroicaction, it raises in a more complex and difficult way the issue of perseverance”Berry observes. “It may, in some ways, be easier to be Samson than to be a goodhusband or wife day after day for fifty years.”On some days we feel like we are only going through themotions, merely shuffling along as we pass into oblivion. Instead, we aretraveling in company. We are upholding the world with hundreds of small andordinary efforts. We make the bed. We drive the kids to school and worry aboutthe kind of day they will have. We go to work. We clean the bathroom. We waitfor the end of the world and the dawning of the age to come. It is a kind ofliturgy.Practicing the present requires that we reclaim a sense ofthe eternal significance of the mundane spaces in our lives. We don't do thisby trying to change the quality of our experience in those areas. The mundanewill still involve the mundane but by accepting the ordinary as a context inwhich God is present. The ordinary tasks assigned to us by our calling and lifesituation are no less meaningful to God than those that are extraordinary. We don'tneed to be attempting great things all the time. We don't need to make a namefor ourselves. As far as we know from Scripture, Jesus spent most of the firstthirty years of His earthly life doing very little that was worth writingabout. He lived in Nazareth and worked an ordinary job. To the people in Hishometown there didn't seem to be anything particularly special about Jesus. Hewas “the carpenter,” just somebody from the village (Mark 6:3). We do not need to resort to extraordinary acts of devotionto experience the reality of God's presence. Nor does the reality of God'snearness evaporate when we grow busy or our circumstances become difficult.
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada sharing a follow-up to Jim Elliot’s story. You know the background well. In the mid-50s, Jim Elliot and four other missionaries, including their pilot, Nate Saint, left for Ecuador to evangelize the Huaorani, an ancient tribe never reached by man. They made contact with the tribe from the airplane using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts. After several months, the missionaries decided to build a base just a short distance from the village. Encouraged by one or two friendly encounters, they began plans to visit the Huaorani. Then in January 1956, they landed a plane on a small beach in the river near the village. At first, the Huaorani seemed friendly, but raising their spears, they attacked, and Jim Elliot was, that day, the first of the five missionaries to be speared to death, including Nate Saint, the pilot. It was a tragic massacre, but the blood spilled by those martyrs provided a seed for the gospel to go forth, because not long after that, Mincaye, one of the Huaorani men who speared to death Nate Saint, he became a Christian. The word of God spread and many years later Mincaye became an elder in the village church. He later said of the change in his tribe, “We acted badly, badly, until they brought us God’s carvings (that’s the Bible). Then, seeing his carvings and following his good trail, now we live happily and in peace.” Years later, Mincaye met the young son of Nate Saint whom he had murdered. Steve Saint and his family had come to live among the Huaorani. Because he had killed Steve’s father, Mincaye felt a special responsibility in helping to raise him. A kinship bond was formed and Mincaye adopted Steve as his tribal son. In 1995 when Steve was older and brought his family to live permanently with the tribe, Mincaye considered Steve’s children as his grandchildren. It is an amazing story of God’s healing, grace and mercy – this man, Mincaye, who was rescued from savagery and heathenism is part of Nate Saint’s family, the man he murdered many decades ago. I had the blessing of meeting Steve and Mincaye years later at a big event in Holland organized by Billy Graham. And, over the years, we’ve stayed in touch, Steve and I. That is why, not long ago Steve Saint called our ministry at Joni and Friends. He let us know that Mincaye is now 90 years old with very weak legs, unable to walk and he needs a wheelchair. Steve asked: “Can you help us find a wheelchair that would be suitable for rugged terrain in Ecuador?” Well, I tell you what, our ‘Wheels for the World’ team was happy to provide just the right wheelchair for Steve to take with them to Ecuador for Mincaye. We normally don’t provide individual wheelchairs to people overseas, but this was an extraordinary case. And I’m so proud of our ‘Wheels for the World’ team because they bent over backward and worked so hard to provide just the right wheelchair. If you’d like to see a photo of Mincaye in his brand new chair, I’ve posted it on our radio page today at joniradio.org. I am also posting a photo of the wonderful Wheels for the World team, our friends and our staff who put this wheelchair together. If the story of Steve Saint or Jim Elliot has inspired you over the years, then you know all about this remarkable man, Mincaye. Please pray for him as it is not easy to be 90 years old and live with pain, especially in a jungle. Pray that his spirits remain bright, and that the wheelchair will be a testimony of God’s grace and provision and that the church in that area will continue to grow. Pray for him and his congregation in Ecuador. And don’t forget to come by and see Mincaye’s photo at joniradio.org.
In 2010, Sarah's curiosity and thirst for adventure led to the greatest expedition of her life, becoming the youngest female Documentarian at 21 years of age to produce her first film in the Amazon Rainforest “Amazon Souls”. While over there for 2 weeks, Sarah lived with the Huaorani tribe, hunted with the warriors, gathered with the women and was initiated into their existence by marriage to a warrior, making her a Queen! Through this alliance Sarah continues to send out their message of protecting their land through her film and speaking work. Sarah’s achievements include winning the “Spirit of Adventure Award” from the Captain Scott Society 2014 for her next big expedition, “Life In The Darien Gap”, shortlisted by the SES (Scientific Exploration Society) Explorer of the year Award 2014, Finalist of the National Geographic Explorer Award, Finalist of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship Award 2014, highly commended by The Adventure Fund in association with Sidetracked magazine. With an interest in ancient civilizations and a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, Sarah has since been exploring the world, embarking on adventures and working on various film and humanitarian projects. As a side project, after realising there was no hub for female explorers on or off screen, Sarah partnered with Russ Malkin from Big Earth to set up ‘The Adventuress Club’ – a platform to connect, share, empower and encourage women in the world of adventure. Show notes Not knowing how do describe herself Doing what she loves How she defines herself Not living a conventional lifestyle Being inspired at 9 years old Making her first film at 21 Being made a Queen What life was like growing up Her childhood and being the ‘black sheep’ of the family Growing up in a conservation, Bengali, Muslim family Being a fashion designer Spending 16 months living with her grandparents in Bangladesh What she learnt from that experience Coming up against resistance Proving people wrong Without action there is no reaction Feeling different from everyone else Trying to prove herself constantly Meeting the tribe for the first time Hunting with the warriors Living with the tribe for 2 weeks Dealing with the language barriers Getting use to being naked The marriage ceremony Heading back to the UK and adjusting to life afterwards Finishing her final year at university Deciding to become a journalist Heading to the Atlas mountains Learning to be open and understand of people who are different Setting up - The Adventuress Club Plans for 2019 Final words of advice and tips for you Social Media Website : http://sarahbegum.tv Twitter : @Sarah_Begum Instagram : @sarahbegumtv Facebook : @sarahbegumtv The Adventuress Club The Adventuress Club is here to inspire and empower women to live in the spirit of adventure. Website: https://www.theadventuress.club Facebook: @theadventuressclub Twitter : @AdventuressClub
sermon transcript Introduction For a year or two, I have arisen early in the morning with Calvin and Daphne to read Courtney Anderson’s biography of Adoniram Judson, a missionary to Burma. The biography is called To the Golden Shore. The golden shore refers to Burma, which had a golden king. Everything there seemed to be made of gold, including the emperor’s palace. Those who went to the emperor to ask him for something fell at his golden feet. Imagery of gold permeated everything. So To the Golden Shore was an image that Courtney Anderson chose for the entire mission to Burma, but at the end of this biography, it had a different, higher meaning. At the end, Anderson writes, “At 15 minutes after 4:00, on Friday afternoon, April 12th, 1850, Adoniram Judson reached his golden shore through more suffering than I can put into words. Very few people died as hard as he did, suffered physically as long as he did.” The golden shore was a symbol of how difficult it was for Judson to live his life to bring people to Christ. In a spiritual sense, he died at sea and finally reached his golden shore in his death. Randy Alcorn, in his book, Heaven, opens with a powerful story, an illustration from 1952, of a long distance swimmer named Florence Chadwick, who did stunning things, including swimming the English Channel four times, twice each direction, setting the record for that long distance swim. She had a goal to swim from the Catalina Island off of the coast of California to the mainland. On the day of the swim, the weather was foggy and chilly, and she could hardly see the boats accompanying her. She swam and swam and swam for 15 hours. She begged, finally, to be taken out of the water along the way. Her mother, in one of the boats alongside, told her she was very close and not to give up. Finally, physically and emotionally exhausted, she stopped swimming and was pulled out. When she got onto the boat, she discovered that the shore was less than half a mile away, covered with fog. At a news conference the next day, she said, “All I could see was the fog. I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.” Two months later, she succeeded. It was just as foggy, but she said, “I kept the mental image of the shoreline in my mind as I swam, and it enabled me to finish.” Randy Alcorn, picking up on this, says, “Perhaps you’ve come to this book burdened, discouraged, depressed, or even traumatized. Perhaps your dreams—your marriage, career, or ambitions—have crumbled. Perhaps you’ve become cynical or have lost hope. A biblical understanding of the truth about Heaven can change all that. I pray this book will help you see the shore.” I am praying that the sermon series will help you see the shore. I yearn to give you a fuller scriptural view of the eternally glorious world that awaits all of us in Christ. In contrast to Adoniram Judson, Stephen Hawking died this week at the age of 76. He was a brilliant physicist, cosmologist, atheist. He suffered all his adult life with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS, confined to a wheelchair, and became a picture of a secular hope, of what the human spirit can overcome. He was a thoroughly secular man. His work was seeking a unified theory that would explain everything: Origins, destinations, and everything in between. That is what he sought with physics and with mathematics. His most famous statement about religion was: “I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers. That is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.” In that spirit, he died. It is an amazing insight in the way he looked at human life, that we are nothing more than biochemical machines with certain biochemical reactions in our brains, and when all that stops, then life ends. As brilliant as Stephen Hawking was, I have the joy and privilege this morning to contradict him based on Scripture — the word of God; based on faith in what the Lord has told us of the shore to which we are sailing. What Will Heaven Be Like? Meditate on Truths about Heaven For two weeks, we have been unfolding Revelation 21 and 22, the best, most careful description in the Bible of the world to which we are going. Revelation 21:1-3 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’” What a magnificent vision of our future blessedness, of our future happiness; not a fairy tale for those afraid of the dark, but a reality to which we are moving. It is beneficial to take the Scriptures as they are given, and extensively meditate on them. The Westminster theologians said, “The Word of God is not only what is printed on the page, but what can be logically deduced from the scripture.” In this way, we build a theology. I want us to have a theology of Heaven, but I do not want to go too far afield from the text. Amen. I do not want to be like the astronaut hundreds and hundreds of feet away from the Space Shuttle with a jet pack but no tether. I want to tether to the text, but I will do everything the text allows me to do. Heaven will be far greater than anything we can imagine. Ephesians 3 says, concerning God, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or think.” The NIV, says “More than we can ask or imagine.” That works there, because Paul is talking about things that push the limits of what we can think; that is what imagination is about. We are thinking about what can be scarcely imagined. Ephesians 3:20-21: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” No Death, Mourning, Crying, Pain No More Death — The Resurrection Body This morning, we will focus on Revelation 21:4: “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” We are commanded to meditate on heaven. Colossians 3 makes that plain. Revelation 1:3, regarding the whole book of Revelation, says, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” Read these words and take them to heart. Ponder them. Cherish them. The great Puritan preacher and theologian, Jonathan Edwards, focused on Heaven every day of his life. He said, “It becomes [or benefits] us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven... to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end and true happiness.” Every moment of your life should be seen as a journey toward Heaven, and everything should be subordinated to that. After an extended detailed theological teaching and meditation on the resurrection body, Paul applies that to our practical Christian lives of service to God and to Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” That includes everything that God has equipped us to do in the body of Christ: specific spiritual gift ministry and all of the general duties that are part of the Christian life —intercessory prayer, evangelism and missions, holiness and all of those things. Stand firm, do not be moved by anything that happens to you, and give yourself fully to your labor in the Lord. Meditation on Heaven will do that. False aberrant views of Heaven are rampant. Every false religion has a view of Heaven. Roman mythology has Elysium, a lush shaded meadow, like an outdoor park, with luscious fruits growing and athletic contests occurring. In Norse mythology, it is Valhalla, a feasting, banqueting hall, a place to drink and eat meat and celebrate valiant military victories with their god Odin. Radical Islam teaches a heavenly paradise for warriors who die in jihad, including 70 to 100 beautiful virgins with wide dark eyes. The blessed will recline on couches in a beautiful garden, like Eden, and enjoy sensual pleasures forever, including rivers of pure water, fresh milk and rivers of wine. Buddhism speaks of seven circles of heaven that are part of this present physical world, which are themselves temporary. The ultimate goal is Nirvana, which is nothingness, a drop in an endless sea — one loses his identity and ceases to exist. Native American tribes like the Lakota in North and South Dakota conceived of happy hunting grounds where one would continue life as a hunter and do very well. All these conceptions of Heaven illustrate the truth of Ecclesiastes 3:11: “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” All people have eternity in their hearts. We have a conception of the afterlife, the world that is coming. But Scripture reveals that we cannot rightly think about Heaven on our own. If left to our own unaided imaginations, we will think wrong thoughts. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, a well-known verse, says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him… [people stop there and miss context] but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” Those who stop at verse 9 assume we cannot know what Heaven will be like, because we do not know what God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed some of it to us by the Spirit. Yes, we see through a glass darkly, but we ought to take what the Spirit reveals in Scripture, and by the Spirit’s leading, through exegesis and good interpretation, try to understand. This magnificent verse, Revelation 21:4, says, “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” We are in the first world, the “old order of things”, now, but there is a second world coming. That is a more literal translation. The first things will have passed away. This old order of things, this present world, is filled with incalculable suffering and pain and misery — a river of sin and death. Adam sinned in the garden, and as Romans 5 says, in Adam we all sinned. Through Adam, we received the death penalty and a corrupt sin nature. But the text says that He will wipe every tear from our eyes. That is a powerful image to me of God’s intimate, relational comforting. With His own hand, He will wipe away our tears. Think of all the tragic funerals throughout history. Think of infant mortality. Almost a million infants die every year. How do we measure the grief and tears that has brought to mothers and fathers for centuries? How much more the death of toddlers, when the child has wrapped his parents around his little finger and then they have to bury him? Few things would be more difficult and tragic in this life than burying a child. There are also countless tears connected with suffering —tears cried by people in intense pain, like burn victims, or cancer victims, people in their final stages, with nothing to relieve their agony. Or tears connected with material loss, like when a house burns down. In Lexington, Massachusetts, at my first church after I came to Christ, there was a fire caused by electric lights on a tree. It was very tragic — a grandmother died of smoke inhalation, and they lost everything. We were there to try to help, but it was heartbreaking. Think about farmers who lose all their earthly wealth when hail or an early freeze comes and destroys their harvest, and they have to start over again, if it is even possible. Think about tears cried by lonely people, such as single people who desire a spouse, tempted to think that no one will ever love them, feeling so lonely in this world. Even what we might consider trivial tears are noted by God. My tears as a 6-year-old learning to ride a bike were significant to me. I started the process by riding down a hill. It was great until I crashed into a teenager’s car. He was waxing it and buffing it; that was his baby, and he chased me through the woods. I cried tears of fear that day. There are also tears of bitter remorse over sin. Think about people who have ruined their marriages through sin, men or women, and they want to but cannot save it. They lament and weep, and there is nothing that can be done for it. There are tears cried by old people in nursing homes as they look at a photo album or something that brings back memories — the people in it are gone; that time is gone. They grieve the loss of an era. Perhaps the most poignant in the sequence of redemptive history are tears that we will all likely cry on Judgment Day. This is hard for us to imagine, but when we give Christ an account of everything done in the body, good or bad, we who believe will not be condemned. We will not hear the words, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Though not condemned, we are not free from accountability. We will look Christ in the face and explain our lives, as it says that we will do in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” When we see the portion of our lives that produced wood, hay and straw go up in flames, we will suffer loss and will feel emotions of regret and will weep. How sweet then will it be for Christ’s own hand to wipe away our tears and say, “No more. We are done. You will never weep over those things again.” Closely connected with that is this next idea that there will be no more death. John Owen, the Puritan theologian, wrote a great work on the atoning work of Christ called The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. What a great title that is. When Jesus died and rose again, those two actions together destroyed death. But the victory that God the Father willed that Jesus would win over death was to be a long unfolding victory, not an instantaneous destruction of death. The Father said to the Son, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” [Psalm 110:1; Luke 20:42-43] And He says in 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 “Christ must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” He will destroy death. He will win. Death will be swallowed up in victory! For you basketball people, that is a 50-point win in the championship game. Christ will win a resounding victory over death, but not yet. That is why he wept at Lazarus’ tomb, out of compassion, because of the sorrow that death has caused over centuries of redemptive history, Revelation 20:14 talks about the final end of death: “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.” That is the death of death — no more death. The key to this is the resurrection body, as we have previously discussed. 1 Corinthians 15:50-52 says, “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. [We cannot go to Heaven just as we are. We must leave behind this body of death and sin, praise be to God for that. Romans 7 says we will be delivered from this body of death.] Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” Earlier in that chapter, in four couplets, Paul compared the body of death and the resurrection body — sown in weakness, raised in power; sown a perishable body, raised imperishable; sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body. Cling to those four adjectives. It will be an imperishable body. It will be a glorious body. We will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father, radiating with the glory of God. It will be a powerful body. Isaiah 40 says, “You will run and not grow weary; you will walk and not be faint.” Amen. Limitless power coursing through our resurrection bodies. And It will be a spiritual body. We do not fully know what that means, but we have some indication with the resurrection body of Jesus, which was doing different things than natural bodies — escaping wrapped grave clothes covered with sticky resinous substance; coming through the walls of the cave, or the heavy stone door, long before the women arrived when the angel moved the stone for them. Later, the disciples were in the upper room with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, and Jesus came and stood among them. Isn't that great? He told them, as he needed to, “Peace be with you.” They were overwhelmed with feelings of joy when they saw their Lord. He took food and ate it and said to Thomas, “Touch my hands and see” because Thomas had said, “Unless I put my fingers in the nail marks, I will not believe.” Jesus is physical and yet somehow spiritual, and our bodies will be the same. “Hard” Memories Purged from Pain No More Pain All of us understand pain. Some of the worst pain in this life is mental and emotional, such as the anguish of depression and sorrow and grief and regret. Parents who have endured the pain of teenage suicide would choose physical pain rather than the emotional anguish they feel every time they remember their son or daughter, every time they see a photo, every time they walk into their room or see a stuffed animal that was in his or her crib. There is a kind of a therapeutic forgetfulness in this life so that we can move on. But what will we remember in Heaven about our lives here on earth? That is a question that has occupied me for over a decade — no pain, no grief, no mourning, no regret in Heaven. No psychological trauma, no anguish, no guilt. All those things are painful. Whether or not we will have memory of the painful events in our lives, though, is a question on which some men that I respect are divided. John McArthur says to some degree, provisionally, there will not be memory of these things. He cites Isaiah 65:17-18: “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.” That is the New Jerusalem, New Heaven, New Earth. I understand Isaiah is saying the former things will not come to mind or be remembered. But it does not mean we forget. Many verses use that kind of language. We still remember the Red Sea crossing even though something greater has come. We treasure both the Red Sea crossing and the greater exodus that Jesus won. If we do not remember, we will not get to do that. This seems to be saying instead that the New Heaven, New Earth will be so great that any memories of the past life will be as nothing compared to it. McArthur is saying that he cannot imagine how we could remember the grief and misery and suffering of this life and not feel pain. His provision is partial amnesia or some kind of cleansing of the memory. On the other end of the spectrum is John Piper. He says there will be both memories and sweet heavenly regrets. He wrote, “I want to live my short life on earth with as few regrets as possible. … When I think on these things, it makes me tremble at the prospect of living a trivial, self-serving, comfortable, middle-class, ordinary, untroubled American life. I can’t keep eternity out of my mind. Life is short and eternity is long. Very long. It is a long time to regret a wasted life. … Which raises the question: Is there regret in heaven? Can regret be part of the ever-increasing, unspeakable joy of the age to come, purchased by Jesus Christ? My answer is yes. I am aware of promises like Revelation 21:4, ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ But I don't think this rules out ‘tears of joy,’ and it may not rule out ‘regretful joy’.” I respect both John Piper and John McArthur, but I disagree with both of them. Instead, I suggest that there will be perfect memory in heaven with no associated pain, mourning, or crying. Mourning is the inner psychological mental state, and crying is the action that comes out of that. Both are gone. How is that even possible? I would answer, how could it be any other way? How could we celebrate the grace of God in Christ to a multitude greater than anyone could count if we do not remember anything about their lives, if we are not able to celebrate in detail God’s grace to specific sinners, how he worked to bring that person through many troubled waters to repentance and conversion, and then through sanctification to Heaven? I want that story in Heaven so that we can celebrate the beautiful diversity of the redeemed. The thing we all likely worry about most on this topic is whether we will I remember our sins in Heaven. On a gut level, we all would hope the answer is “Of course not! Heaven is a happy place!” My response is, how will we celebrate the amazing grace of God without it? Think of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the day he woke up breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. Before that, he carried out those murderous threats by dragging off men and women to prison. When the Sanhedrin met, he cast his lot against those Christians, condemning them to death, consenting and delighting in their executions, including Stephen. On that particular day, he was traveling on the road to Damascus when Christ appeared to him and said, “‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now, get up and go into the city and you'll be told what you must do.’” On the road to Damascus, he saw a part of the glory of the resurrected Christ and was transformed. Did he forget what man he had been before that? Not at all. He writes in 1 Timothy 1:13-17: “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” [Will that display, which works to convert people like us, not also do very well in heaven? He ends with this beautiful doxology:] “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” I do not see heavenly amnesia being a part of that. I think it is heavenly celebration of God’s grace to Saul of Tarsus. Will David remember what happened with Uriah the Hittite? Yes. In Daniel 4, we can argue that Nebuchadnezzar was transformed and saved eternally. Will he remember that he was a megalomaniac pagan tyrant who used his authority to oppress the people he had conquered, even to the point of condemning all of his counselors to death if they could not tell him what his dream was? Will he remember throwing Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into a fiery furnace, because they would not bow down to his golden idol? Will he remember in Heaven, when Daniel told him to renounce his wickedness, what that wickedness was? Yes. And all, in those memories, will give God the glory for their salvation. Mary Magdalene will remember that she was inhabited with seven demons. The woman whom the Pharisees thought of as “sinful” wept over Jesus’ feet and washed his feet in her tears and dried them with her hair. Because Jesus forgave her abundantly, she poured out her love for him abundantly. There is a link between the two. That will work so beautifully in Heaven. The Samaritan woman whom Jesus met and saved at the well said, “I have no husband.” He responded, “You are right in saying you have no husband. In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. What you said is quite true.” Do you think she will remember that whole story? I think she will. I think the centurion who oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus is in Heaven. The centurions seem to do well in the New Testament — they are typically good guys. This centurion testified after Jesus died, when the earthquake and eerie darkness occurred, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.” That is the fruit of Jesus’ prayer before he died, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” That was not a universalistic prayer of a high priest praying and hoping that some people would be forgiven. That was a specific high priestly prayer for one of his sheep who was about to cross over from death to life. “Father, forgive him. He does not know what he is doing.” Do you think in Heaven that centurion will know that he was the one who killed Jesus? I think so. And he will celebrate God’s grace to him for bringing him, a pagan Roman, to salvation. Tertullian said, “The blood of martyrs is seed for the church.” Will the martyrs remember their suffering, their blood that was shed, and those who persecuted them? If some of the persecutors became brothers and sisters in Christ, then the blood of martyrs was a seed. Out of their bloody seed came new Christians who had persecuted them perhaps a day or a month or a year prior. Will those remember that they were persecutors? In Heaven, will John Newton remember his former profligate life, his wicked life, and all the people he enslaved as a slave trader? Corrie ten Boom tells a story about an SS guard in one of the death camps she was in, where some of her family died. She met him later, and he was so filled with joy because he had come to faith in Christ. He wanted to shake her hand, but she could not reach out her hand because of the difficulty of memory. Is it possible that they will have full memory in Heaven, along with full, rich deep fellowship in Heaven? Will Jim Elliot be able to spend eternity worshiping side by side with the Huaorani who killed him and his friends, and who were later led to Christ by his courageous wife, Elizabeth Elliot? I think they are already doing so, but it will be even better in the New Heaven, New Earth. The tapestry of grace that God has ordained through His providence is woven through with various colors of thread, some dark, some light. The pattern does not make much sense to us now, as though we are looking at the backside with the jumble of knots when we consider the painful trials of life. But when we see the front side of the tapestry when we are in Heaven, in the presence of the beauty and the radiance of that place, we will rejoice. Ephesians Chapter 2:6-7 is the best verse to prove and illustrate what I am saying. “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages, he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” In the coming ages, He will show us how gracious He has been. Heavenly amnesia does not allow for that to happen. Forever, we will put on display just how gracious God was to us, and we will celebrate that with no mourning, no crying, no pain, but absolute joy and delight. While we live in this world, we need to feel all kinds of pain, physical and emotional and spiritual. We need to feel pain physically so that we will stop doing whatever we are doing. If you are burning your hand, you do not want to wait until you smell smoke. It is a grace and a gift from God to feel instantaneous pain to get you to move your hand away from that to avoid significant damage to your hand. In Heaven, we will not need any of that. If injury is even possible, we will experience instantaneous healing. The speculations are limitless. But in this world, we need spiritual, emotional, psychological pain connected with our own sin. Pain enables us to “Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” [James 4:9] We need to feel pain for your sin, because we are not finished being led astray by the world, the flesh and the devil. We are still in danger, and the pain keeps us from future sin. It enables us to genuinely repent and turn away from damaging patterns of life, so we will stop doing them. In Heaven, we will not need it. There will not be any world or flesh or devil, not the way we define the world as an alluring, enticing whore of Babylon. That is gone. The devil will be in the Lake of Fire. Our current flesh will be gone. We will have a resurrected nature, so we do not need grief or mourning or pain over our sin in Heaven. But if you do not feel it now, you are in great danger. It may be that you are not a Christian. There is a place for grief and sorrow over our sin now, but not in Heaven. How can there be memory of our sins without any mourning? Think of it as having the stinger removed. 1 Corinthians 15:55 says, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Death has been defanged by Jesus. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. The law gets defanged for us. In Heaven, there will not be any law for us, only the moral beauty behind the law. We will not need to be commanded to love God with all of our hearts, because we will do so easily. We will not need to be commanded to love our neighbors as ourself. We will do so. We will not need the law, and there will not be any stinger embedded in the memories. Psalm 30:5, 11-12 says, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. … You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.” We remember so we can celebrate what He has done to comfort us. We will remember all of our sorrow and sadness and the circumstances of how we came to Christ. I read recently about how John Wesley, before his conversion, was on a ship in a terrible hurricane. The sea was heaving, the waves were crashing over the deck, and the sails were being shredded. He was certain it was his last day on earth. A group of German Moravian Christians on the ship were singing and praising God. He knew, watching them, that he was not converted. Later, at a Moravian prayer meeting at Aldersgate, he found Christ. He pursued the Moravians because they had something he did not have. In later years, when he looked back at that storm, did he look on it as horrible and awful or as the instrument of God to bring him to salvation? Do you think in Heaven Joni Eareckson Tada will remember that fateful day in 1967 when she dove off the bridge into the shallow Chesapeake Bay and snapped her spinal column? She will be in her resurrection body, and she will celebrate God’s grace. How could we understand her life apart from her circumstances, from which her ministry flowed in large part. It would not make any sense. As a trustee of the International Mission Board, I get to interview missionaries. When we meet these folks, we find out how they came to Christ. With married couples, we get to find out how they met. About two months ago, we met a couple who met in college at a Christian ministry party. She said, “I met him, I didn't like him at all. Then I left the party and backed into his car, crushed it, so we met again and we got to know each other.” They were both laughing at that story. I can tell you it was not funny the night it happened, but they can laugh about it now. Take that and multiply it by infinity. That is what heavenly memories will be like — no sorrow at all, just joy of what God did, how He used our weakness and our sorrow and our sin and our smallness and our pettiness and overwhelmed it with grace and built this incredible church. We will celebrate all of it. Applications Come to Christ! First and foremost, I yearn for everyone listening to my voice today to be there in that world where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain. Hell is the exact opposite. The inhabitants of Hell swim in death forever — an eternal death. “The worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” We cannot put into words what the pain and the mourning and the regret will be like; it will be far worse than we can imagine. I sometimes get a foretaste as I am sharing the gospel with people. I wish they could understand how much they will re-live that moment, if they do end up in Hell. They will go back to the moments they heard the gospel turned their back on it. Adoniram Judson went to ask the emperor of Burma for religious tolerance in his nation. He somehow gained an audience with the golden ear, and he fell at the golden feet. He and his co-workers made their pitch, including sharing the Gospel. The emperor listened for a while and then stopped, dropped the tract on the ground, stepped on it and walked out of the room. Judson never saw the emperor again. I asked my kids, as I was reading that to my them, “Do you understand how that moment was exactly the opposite of what it appeared?” It appeared that this American missionary was groveling on the ground begging for a favor from the mighty emperor, but what was actually happening was that an emissary of the true Emperor of the universe was there offering this sinner a chance at amnesty from all of his sins so that he would spend eternity on the true golden shore. Satan is so deceptive to obscure what is really happening. I am begging all of you who know that you are on the outside looking in. Now, today is the day of forgiveness, the day of salvation. I, an emissary of the King, am begging you, be reconciled to God. Christians If you are already reconciled and you are a Christian, how shall you now live? Pursue the two journeys. Internally, grow in holiness. Put sin to death, because some day you will be pure and holy. Externally, spread the Gospel. Talk to people this week, invite them to church, invite them to faith in Christ, invite them into a conversation about this eternal world to which we are going. How many people surround us every day with Stephen Hawking’s atheistic mentality? Tell them the truth while there is still time. Closing Prayer Close with me in prayer. Father, thank you for the time that we have had today to celebrate your grace and your goodness, thank you for my friend Rob Hatcher, for the way I have been able to watch his family love on him and care for him, and for the grace you have shown him, and for the privilege of being part of that in a small way. He represents a multitude greater than anyone could count, and we will be celebrating your incredible working, so diverse, so detailed in bringing people to Christ. I cannot wait. Lord, give us joy, give us energy, give us the ability to stand firm and let nothing move us and be abounding in the work and the labor of the Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Mikel R. Nieto (San Sebastián, 1980). Comisario, artista sonoro e investigador. Ha realizado estudios en San Sebastián, Madrid y Barcelona. Inmerso desde hace años en práctica y teoría fonográfica, imparte talleres en centros culturales y universidades. Forma parte del equipo que realiza el Mapa Sonoro de Euskadi, soinumapa.net , y de Kots! Radio, así como del portal de difusión mediateletipos.net . En la actualidad coordina, junto con José Luis Espejo y Xabier Erkizia, el Observatorio de la Escucha. Sus grabaciones de campo, hechas con sus propios micrófonos por todo el mundo, capturan el espacio de sonido desde múltiples puntos con el objetivo de reconocer los límites de identidad sonora del lugar. Sus métodos de grabación son parte de su proceso de creación de sonido. En este sentido, Mikel nos confiesa sentirse más cerca del poeta que del músico. Colabora desde hace años con la bailarina y coreógrafa Jone San Martín en proyectos de danza para su paisaje sonoro. Es autor de una investigación sobre el impacto del Antropoceno a través del sonido de los copos de nieve, en colaboración con diferentes instituciones europeas. Dark Sound de Mikel R. Nieto, publicado por la editorial alemana Gruenrekorder, especializada en paisaje sonoro, ha sido calificado como “el libro negro del paisaje sonoro” por su forma y contenido. El libro está impreso con tinta negra sobre papel negro para obligar a quienes lo lean a esforzarse en su lectura. El libro contiene una introducción como epílogo de José Luis Espejo, una carta a los Huaorani, dos textos de investigación y un poema, textos descriptivos y fotos de grabaciones, una posible cronología, un glosario, una compilación de varios textos con testimonios, informes y declaraciones de diferentes personas, grupos, instituciones y publicaciones en referencia al impacto, directo o indirecto, del ruido de la industria petrolera durante sus diversas fases de desarrollo sobre las personas, el medio ambiente y la fauna.. Dark Sound tiene como tema principal la escucha ensimismada, tomando como referencia simbólica la fricción en el acto de la escucha de las últimas comunidades indígenas no contactadas en la selva del Amazonas y el sonido de las máquinas de la industria petrolera. Las comunidades indígenas, hoy en peligro de extinción, ya fueron testigos de la fiebre del oro y de la búsqueda del Dorado por parte de los primeros colonizadores que, años después, se perdieron en la búsqueda del País de la Canela. El caucho y el petróleo son los recursos naturales más preciados en la actualidad. Dark Sound pretende generar una reflexión en torno a nuestra capacidad de escucha a través del otro: cómo prestar oídos a la otredad del otro, que soy yo mismo. Desde este planteamiento inicial, Mikel R. Nieto construye una red de conexiones sobre la escucha y el ruido, que condicionan nuestra idea de ser y estar en el mundo, en clara alusión a la responsabilidad individual en cada acto de escucha.
Mikel R. Nieto (San Sebastián, 1980). Comisario, artista sonoro e investigador. Ha realizado estudios en San Sebastián, Madrid y Barcelona. Inmerso desde hace años en práctica y teoría fonográfica, imparte talleres en centros culturales y universidades. Forma parte del equipo que realiza el Mapa Sonoro de Euskadi, soinumapa.net , y de Kots! Radio, así como del portal de difusión mediateletipos.net . En la actualidad coordina, junto con José Luis Espejo y Xabier Erkizia, el Observatorio de la Escucha. Sus grabaciones de campo, hechas con sus propios micrófonos por todo el mundo, capturan el espacio de sonido desde múltiples puntos con el objetivo de reconocer los límites de identidad sonora del lugar. Sus métodos de grabación son parte de su proceso de creación de sonido. En este sentido, Mikel nos confiesa sentirse más cerca del poeta que del músico. Colabora desde hace años con la bailarina y coreógrafa Jone San Martín en proyectos de danza para su paisaje sonoro. Es autor de una investigación sobre el impacto del Antropoceno a través del sonido de los copos de nieve, en colaboración con diferentes instituciones europeas. Dark Sound de Mikel R. Nieto, publicado por la editorial alemana Gruenrekorder, especializada en paisaje sonoro, ha sido calificado como “el libro negro del paisaje sonoro” por su forma y contenido. El libro está impreso con tinta negra sobre papel negro para obligar a quienes lo lean a esforzarse en su lectura. El libro contiene una introducción como epílogo de José Luis Espejo, una carta a los Huaorani, dos textos de investigación y un poema, textos descriptivos y fotos de grabaciones, una posible cronología, un glosario, una compilación de varios textos con testimonios, informes y declaraciones de diferentes personas, grupos, instituciones y publicaciones en referencia al impacto, directo o indirecto, del ruido de la industria petrolera durante sus diversas fases de desarrollo sobre las personas, el medio ambiente y la fauna.. Dark Sound tiene como tema principal la escucha ensimismada, tomando como referencia simbólica la fricción en el acto de la escucha de las últimas comunidades indígenas no contactadas en la selva del Amazonas y el sonido de las máquinas de la industria petrolera. Las comunidades indígenas, hoy en peligro de extinción, ya fueron testigos de la fiebre del oro y de la búsqueda del Dorado por parte de los primeros colonizadores que, años después, se perdieron en la búsqueda del País de la Canela. El caucho y el petróleo son los recursos naturales más preciados en la actualidad. Dark Sound pretende generar una reflexión en torno a nuestra capacidad de escucha a través del otro: cómo prestar oídos a la otredad del otro, que soy yo mismo. Desde este planteamiento inicial, Mikel R. Nieto construye una red de conexiones sobre la escucha y el ruido, que condicionan nuestra idea de ser y estar en el mundo, en clara alusión a la responsabilidad individual en cada acto de escucha.
This week on Armed Lutheran Radio, Lloyd and Pastor Bennett take on another audio interview with Reverend John Piper (whose "cocky swagger" we first met back in Episode 55) who again suggests that we don't need guns because he could not kill a home invader who would probably go to hell as a result. Mia Anstine is talking about air rifles, Sgt. Bill shares lessons learned about match gear, and Aaron has tips for what to look for in choosing reality based training. Ballistic Minute with Sergeant Bill Sgt. Bill shares some lessons learned the hard way about gear you might want to bring with you to a match, just in case the weather takes a turn for the worse. Aaron Israel of Fundamental Defense Aaron Israel is building off Sgt. Bill's tip from Episode 74 RE reality based training, with tips for what to look for (and to look out for) when choosing a reality based self-defense course. Mia's Motivations with Mia Anstine Mia Anstine found her some air rifles at a recent Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) event. Clinging to God and Guns Rev. John Piper is back and he's brought his cocky swagger with him. Asked to respond to his suggestion that people not buy guns with their economic stimulus checks, Rev. Piper explains why guns are a bad idea, because Christian missionaries refused to use them against Huaorani savages in Ecuador in 1956. Prayer of the Week O Lord, who never fails to help and govern those whom You bring up in Your steadfast fear and love, make us to have a perpetual fear and love of Your holy name; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen. www.ArmedLutheran.us/alr-episode-76/ www.CooksHolsters.com
Complete show notes can be found at redefinedlife.com/9 Tom McElroy is a wilderness survival expert and the founder of Wild Survival. Growing up in a wealthy town, he dreamed of escaping the common path in order to live the hobo lifestyle. He decided to learn wilderness survival skills to enhance his ability to make it on his own and he discovered his life passion in the process. Tom has has taught wilderness survival skills to more than 10,000 students over the past 20 years. He developed his knowledge by spending a year living off the land, becoming an instructor at the most famous tracking and survival school in the country, hunting with blowguns in the Amazon with the Huaorani tribe, running through Copper Canyon with the Tarahumara (Raramuri), and living with a tribal shaman in a palm thatched hut a hundred miles off the coast of Sumatra. His diverse experiences have given him an extensive toolkit for survival in nearly any location that he now passes on to his students. In this episode Tom shares: How nobody in high school believed he could live in the woods for a year instead of going to college. What he learned during his year living in full survival. How living off the land turned changed him from a bad student to a great student. How he trained his brain for success. Why we need to experience nature and how primitive skills can enhance that experience. What he learned from living with indigenous people around the world. How he feels about his experience as a cast member on Naked and Afraid. What advice he would give to someone looking to lead a more fulfilling life. More Information Wild Survival Wild Survival Facebook Tom's Videos Find all his videos here. ************************************************* Music from this episode can be found here: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/unreal_dm/33850
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
