#god bless ramon our lord and savior

[glowsticcc]

[ramon-balaguer]

+ Is Your Worship Is Truly Christian or Pagan +

 Due to technical difficulties (No video, which is just as well, since I rather Not be recorded :) ) I am only posting the written msg on this 2020 first Advent Sunday. Hope you'll find it enlightening, practical and relevant in you life now to Be and Do. <3 #REBTD 😇

 “To be human is to worship.” Those are the opening words of Daniel Block’s excellent new book on worship, For the Glory of God. Men and women are inveterate worshippers. Paul makes this clear in Romans 1. Even those who reject the plain knowledge of God which can be perceived within the Created order do not cease worshiping. Rather they simply begin worshipping created things instead of the Creator (Rom 1:18ff). Given that we all worship and that our hearts tend to be deceptive, it is vital that our worship be shaped by what God has made clear in His Word rather than by personal opinions, past experiences, or intuitions.

While not an exhaustive list, the following 7 points help us think more Biblically about our worship:

 1. Worship is to be regulated according to Scripture.

It matters to God how His people worship Him. Form matters. Just ask Aaron’s two eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu. We are never invited to worship God in ways that seem Right to us. Scripture never calls us to do what “feels right” in God’s presence. Rather, God’s Word makes quite clear those elements of which our worship should consist. They are the preaching of His Word, music and singing, the reading of Scripture, prayer, tithes and offerings, confession of sin, and the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper).

In a day when many Christians operate as spiritual entrepreneurs, it is important to remember that we do not decide how to come to God (or “connect,” “experience,” “encounter” or whichever word is more popular). To once more quote Block: “[The] goal of authentic worship is the glory of God rather than the pleasure of human beings, which means that forms of worship should conform to the will of God rather than to the whims of fallen humanity” (p. 6).

 2. Worship is the response to God’s self-revelation.

We worship God in response to that which he has revealed about himself. Christianity is a revealed religion. That is we cannot intuit the gospel or those attributes of God not clearly visible in the created order. In this way we are dependent upon the Scriptures to truly know and worship God. This is why God has made the proclamation of his Word central to worship.

 3. Worship may be accompanied by affections but not guided by them.

I wonder what is meant by statements like, “The worship was great”? I’m not trying to be picky here but we can tell what we believe about a thing from the things we say about it. It seems to me that the way we evaluate worship often has less to do with its adherence to God’s stated will and more to do with the depth of affections (emotions) that we feel. Certainly our worship of God ought to engage the affections. But we must always remember that emotions are tricky things susceptible to manipulation and misguidance.

 4. Worship should not be governed by pragmatic concerns.

If there is an unofficial religion among evangelicals today it may well be pragmatism. It’s the idea that if it works, then it must be good. If it grows our church, if it attracts young families, if it appeals to millennials, if it produces the right emotions then it is good. But the church’s worship must never be governed by such concerns as church growth, the preferences of unbelievers, attraction to a preferred demographic, or our subjective experience.

 5. Worship is for God.

While we are generally careful not to say so, there seems to be a tendency to treat worship as something which is for us. Don’t misunderstand. There are great blessings to be had in worshipping God. What is more, God does not require our worship as though he needs something from us (Acts 17:22-25). Rather, God calls us to worship him because of His essential worthiness. God demanded the release of his people from Egypt that they might worship Him (Exodus 5:1). The Psalms repeatedly call upon the people of God to worship the Lord because of who he is and what he has done. We worship God because it is always right for the creature to worship the Creator.

 6. Worship is not meant to facilitate mystical encounters with God.

It is clear that many Christians believe that music and worship play a mediatorial role in our relationship with God. But worship does not bring us to or otherwise facilitate an encounter with God. Certainly we worship just as we live Coram Deo (before the face of God). Jesus, by his dying and rising, has brought us to God. For all of the opining on this issue, I have yet to see anything in Scripture that tells us that music brings us to God. Jesus our Great High Priest has brought us near to God and he requires no further assistance.

 7. Worship and Obedience are inseparable.

The Holy Bible does not separate persons from their deeds. Neither does the Bible separate worship from obedience. The primary evidence of what is in the heart is not our words or emotions but our deeds. In his parable of the Vine and Vinedresser (Luke 13:6-9) Jesus teaches that branches that do not produce fruit are tossed into the fire. This principle is established by God in the form of covenant blessings and curses (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). God’s moral Law (The Ten Commandments) may be properly understood as a call to live all of life Holy for the glory of God.

 Now, given that even “Christmas’” is considered “Pagan” by even some Christians… Let us ALL Celebrate, Live and Worship Holy as unto God this Holiday Season in remembrance of the Nativity of our Lord & Savior, Jesus, The Christ. Have a Merry Christmas Sharing and Serving Presents of Love, Joy and Good Tidings and Time with Loved ones and those in need, near and far… And may this 2021 New Year be gay all year long with Abundant and Renewed Faith, Health, Love and Wealth. 🙏 Love, Annette & Ramon. 🥰

[carlsbadcommunity]

Missionary of the Week

From Pastor Max and Anne Vague:

“Praise God for a great year of ministry for the Morning Star Institute (MSI) classes.  Pastors and students have expressed their gratitude for the studies with comments like; ‘This is just what we needed. This needs to be taught in other churches.’ This was especially true of our studies of Galatians with the emphasis on ‘The just shall live by faith’.”

“It was good to relate this to the Protestant Reformation and the need to stay true to the Scriptures in our preaching and teaching today. It is easy for ‘works ’, rather than ‘grace’, to sneak into the teaching of the churches.  Micronesians were taught that you had to be good to go to heaven.  So it is important to them to be taught that you must be born again (John 3:5), which includes receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Even the Old Testament Survey course, I taught, brought positive statements about learning so much from the Old Testament.”

“As the year comes to a close, we are blessed, along with others who went with us, to have a part of God’s work of teaching His Word to faithful servants so that they can share it with others.  Along with a dozen classes that we shared, Rev. Kohne Ramon (Pohnpeian) taught another dozen or so classes in Pohnpei, Hawaii, and the US Mainland.”  

“We already have a tentative schedule for 14 classes in 2018, beginning in April and ending in November.  Rev. Ramon has just added a new location for classes in Killeen, TX, where his granddaughter is now living.  He has requests for other areas as well, such as the Salt Lake City.”

Please pray for:

· Travel safety for Max in his seven trips amounting to fourteen weeks away.

· Good health for both Max, and for Anne, who helps with the MSI plans and is   the bookkeeper for Morning Star Messengers.

· Spiritual growth in the students who attend the classes with the result that they will teach others also.

 Max closes with, “Without your prayers and support, this work would not be possible.  So, thank you for your partnership in 2017. We are trusting for your continued support of 2018.”  To God be the Glory!!