Is a trumpet blown in a city and the people are not afraid. Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it Amos 3;6
Of late we see, hear and read about many disasters around the world. What or who causes all these disasters. DA Carson has this to say in his Love of God for Nov 14
If a warning trumpet sounds, it is because a dangerous enemy has been sighted. Events have causes. So Amos
drives home two points. (a) If disaster strikes a city, God must be behind it (3:6).Of course, there may be many secondary causes, but ultimately God himself is
behind it. Amos does not believe in coincidence, bad luck, or a finite God who slips up now and then. He believes in providence—and believing in providence
means believing that in disasters God is speaking the language of warning or judgment. (b) The warnings God gives correspond with real dangers. The trumpet
blows to warn of a real enemy. God may provide gracious warning through his servants the prophets (3:7)—and such warnings are not hot air, mere religious
mouthings, but flags that correspond with imminent danger. So repent: “The lion has roared—who will not fear?” And don’t shoot the messenger: “The Sovereign
LORD has spoken—who can but prophesy?” (3:8).
As the country celebrates its 52th Independence Day, I could not help but reflect on the number of justice or injustices experienced by the people. Today’s devotion bring me to a passage of Isaiah about the Servant of the Lord. The passage is one of the four songs called the “servant songs” in Isaiah. The New Testament identify the Servant of the Lord as Jesus. He is God’s faithful “people”, fulfilling God’s intention for Israel. In Him the remnant has come down to one faithful person. And Jesus is the individual who rescues God’s people. He is both the truly faithful people (person) of God and the promised one who rescues God’s people.
He is Justice to all nations. The Servant will rescue God’s people and make God’s glory known to the nations. The Servant will accomplish this not with a sword or army, but through God’s Spirit (v 1) and God’s word (‘his law in v4)
1-4 “Take a good look at my servant. I’m backing him to the hilt. He’s the one I chose, and I couldn’t be more pleased with him. I’ve bathed him with my Spirit, my life. He’ll set everything right among the nations. He won’t call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant, but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right. He won’t tire out and quit. He won’t be stopped until he’s finished his work—to set things right on earth. Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for his teaching.” (The Message)
He is a Light to all nations. Though humanity has rejected its Creator, the Servant will once again bind people to God in a covenant (v6). He will reveal God to the Gentiles (= the nations). He will undo the effects of sin (v7). The Servant will begin a new age in God’s dealing with mankind (v 8-9)
5-9God’s Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it,Who breathes life into earth’s people, makes them alive with his own life: “I am God. I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations, To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons. I am God. That’s my name. I don’t franchise my glory, don’t endorse the no-god idols. Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled. I’m announcing the new salvation work. Before it bursts on the scene, I’m telling you all about it.” (The Message)
The question is what should be the people of God has been or in today’s situation, what should the followers of Jesus be in this world. How do we treat the bruised people in our country?
Recently I was privileged to view the live blogging of Pr Sivin Kit who attended a seminar on Christian Servanthood by Dr Siang Yang Tan. It was an experienced to see his live commentary of the talk as it progressed throughout the day. It was as if I was attending the seminar at the same time. The thrill was to look forward for next comment or summary of what Dr Tan was talking about. Here is the link to his blog, Sivin Kit’s Garden. The seminar was based on Dr Tan’s book entitled “Full Service: Moving from Self-Serve Christianity to Total Servanthood. And today I bought the book in order to have a deeper understanding of the topic.
The book has received outstanding review from Richard J Foster, Founder of RENOVARE. He says:
True service is close to the heart of all who are following hard after Jesus. For this I welcome Full Service by Siang Yang Tan. Dr Tan has wonderfully distilled and critiqued the vast literature on servanthood and leadership, and in addition, given us practical insights into how servanthood looks like in daily life. Full Service is itself a genuine act of service.
Dr Tan describes “True Servanthood” in this ways:
True servanthood flows out of a deep friendship with Jesus. True servanthood is empowered by the Holy Spirit as a result of abiding or remaining in Jesus (John 15:5), producing spiritual, eternal fruit in becoming more like Jesus and touching many lives for Jesus by drawing people to him. True servanthood is characterized by loving obedience to the Lord, and compassionate ministry to others. True servanthood fulfills our deepest longings and calling. It does not diminish us or others, except to die to our sinful, false self. True servanthood enables us to grow up mature and real in Christ, with authenticity. True servanthood is not about imitating Jesus or trying to be like him through our own self-efforts. It is about living in Jesus and Jesus living in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is about Jesus then living through us to reach out to the broken world with love and friendship, centred in our loving friendship with him first. True servanthood focuses on God and not the individual.
There is a huge difference between Christianity and much of Evangelicalism. Christianity defines the gospel as "Jesus Christ is God who assumed our flesh, lived a perfect life in our place under the law, fulfilled it perfectly, bore our debt for having broken the law, and then was raised the third day for our justification." The whole gospel is completely about Jesus Christ and everything contained in that gospel happened between the years 1 to 33 AD [sic]. That gospel was finished in 33 AD and then it was proclaimed and it is still being proclaimed to the ends of the earth.
The Evangelical version of that is: no, the gospel really is, not just includes, but the gospel really is Jesus in my heart; my being born-again (it is not that the gospel brings about my new-birth), but the gospel is my new-birth. And therefore, the gospel is my moral transformation.
Brothers and sisters, if you hold that second view there is no reason at all for you to criticize the Medieval [Roman Catholic] church because the doctrine of justification for the Medieval church was, "What happens inside of you. Your sanctification." This is what the whole Reformation was about, and why we need a second reformation.
(Adapted from Mike Horton, "God’s Story vs. Our Stories," The White Horse Inn, June 14, 2009.)
Citing examples from TV, pop music, and best-selling books, an article in Entertainment Weekly noted that "pop culture is going gaga for spirituality." However,
[S]eekers of the day are apt to peel away the tough theological stuff and pluck out the most dulcet elements of faith, coming up with a soothing sampler of Judeo-Christian imagery, Eastern mediation, self-help lingo, a vaguely conservative craving for ‘virtue,’ and a loopy New Age pursuit of ‘peace.’ This happy free-for-all, appealing to Baptists and stargazers alike, comes off more like Forest Gump’s ubiquitous ‘boxa chocolates’ than like any real system of belief. You never know what you’re going to get. (1) More
When we think about the cross, the passion, the death of Jesus Christ, it is always worth spending time thinking about this amazing passage in Isaiah 53. It’s a beautifully structured poem in the original, and consists of five stanzas or sections. And as is the case so often with Hebrew poetry, the first and last stanza have certain parallels, as do the 2nd and fourth.
It is neatly represented by a cross, with the top and bottom panels corresponding to each other and the left and right panels also having certain features in common. All of which draws our attention very firmly to the central verse, the central section of Isaiah’s prophecy, which is in the middle of the cross below. More
An excerpt for Josh Harris’ message, "The Resurrection and the Life," given on Easter Sunday 2009 at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md. The Scripture text was John 11: 1-44.
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Recently I was privileged to view the live blogging of Pr Sivin Kit who attended a seminar on Christian Servanthood by Dr Siang Yang Tan. It was an experienced to see his live commentary of the talk as it progressed throughout the day. It was as if I was attending the seminar at the same time. The thrill was to look forward for next comment or summary of what Dr Tan was talking about. Here is the link to his blog, 
