July 30, 2004
Thoughts on "To End All Wars"
Robyn and I watched the movie "To End All Wars" last night on DVD. It is based on a book by Ernest Gordon in which he relates his experiences as a prisoner of war in Thailand during WWII. I had read the book last year, already knowing that a movie had been made about it. However, it took a while before the movie was available to rent (I don't think it ever made it to the theatres).
The movie is powerful. It's also gritty, with alot of violence and language. Therefore, I definitely don't recommend it for children (or for the sqeamish when it comes to movie violence, such as my wife!). The theme is basically this: the power of Christian self-sacrifice and forgiveness to give dignity and hope to those living in the most debased and terrible of circumstances. Mercy is greater than self-inflicted justice, forgiveness greater than revenge, self-sacrifice greater than self-preservation, love greater than hate.
My recommendation would be to read the book first. The movie does differ from the book quite a bit. I think the book actually deals with evangelical themes more forthrightly, though they are certainly present in the movie as well.
Ernest Gordon, who is Scottish, went on to serve as a chaplain at Princeton for many years. There is no doubt that his time as a POW gave him a profound understanding of the heart of the gospel message.
Did you see it? What did you think?
July 21, 2004
Grace e-mail bulletin - 7/21/04
Grace Presbyterian Church
E-mail bulletin
July 21, 2004
Dear Members and Friends of Grace,
Hello from the Pastor’s study! I
hope your week is going well for you so far. Since Robyn and I have arrived
here, one thing that has been impressed upon us time and again is what a
blessing the Young People’s Camp has been to the life of the regional
church. For this reason, we at Grace are pleased to be sending several of our
own to camp later this week. Those going from our church are: John and Jordan
Doerfel, Cory Rula, and Eric Pyle (to help run the camp). Keep them in your
prayers – that not only will they have a great time with old and new
friends, but that the Lord would be gracious to them by strengthening their
faith and increasing their desire to live lives fully committed to him.
Please note the following information:
This coming
Lord’s Day (7/25):
-
Our
family will be gone this Sunday. I was asked to preach at Providence
Presbyterian Church (OPC) in
-
My
thanks to those who will be ministering the Word of God to you in my absence.
John Mantooth will teach the adult Sunday School class, Bill Doerfel will
preach during the morning service, and Dave Guild will instruct the
congregation on the Lord’s Prayer during the evening service.
-
To
supplement our study on Ephesians in the evenings, listen to Dr. Sinclair
Ferguson’s sermons on this epistle at: http://www.pcpc.org/sinclairaudio/ .
-
When we
gather for worship, please remember that the musical Prelude preceding the
Greetings and Announcements is a time for you to focus your thoughts and hearts
on the Lord in preparation for worship. When you hear the Prelude beginning,
please take that as your cue to wrap up your conversations, find your place,
and ready yourself to worship. We are blessed with a very gifted piano player,
and I’m sure you’ll find that the music will minister to you as you
listen and prepare to come into God’s presence.
Presbytery of the
Southwest’s Young People’s Camp:
-
The camp
dates are July 24th -July 30th. Pray for safe travel for
those from our church who are driving to
Diaconal offering:
-
In our
study of the gospel of Mark, we have seen how Jesus not only preached and
taught concerning the coming of the
-
With
this in mind, pray that the Lord will gift and raise up men who can serve as
Deacons at Grace. Until he does, the elders will manage the diaconal fund.
However, our desire is that God will provide a man or men to serve in that
office that is specially focused on administering diaconal aid.
Eric Pyle’s work
with Wycliffe Bible Translators:
-
You can
view Eric’s latest newsletter at: http://opcnorman.org/Wycliffe/ericpyle/newsletters/heart_lang_exp_jun04.pdf. Pray that Eric will be able to begin his assignment by the end of
the summer.
Other matters:
-
Grace Presbyterian
will be assisting in the planning and running of the next Oklahoma City
Reformed Conference coming up in October (the 29th and 30th).
I volunteered our congregation to help with “Program Overseer
Responsibilities”. I will provide more details later of what this will
entail and let you all know of ways that you may serve. The speaker at
this year’s conference will be Jim Elliff, a former pastor and currently
president of Christian Communications Worldwide. I anticipate the conference
will be a great blessing as last year’s was.
-
After
biking all over
By his grace,
Pastor Scott
Pastor Scott Johnson
Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Visit our website: www.opcNorman.org
"Me First!"
The Norman Transcript is going to print this devotional article in the Religion Section of this Friday's paper. If you don't get the Transcript, here is what I wrote:
“Me first!” How many times have you heard this from a child wanting to be at the head of the line, or the next to play with a toy, or the first to get ice cream? For better or worse, children usually don’t hide their true feelings and desires. And so they blurt out “Me first!”. Sadly, as children grow into adults, their manners may improve, but their desire to be Number One doesn’t change. Deep down, who doesn’t want to be “first” – first in honor, power, and status? Who wants to be last? In politics, business, school, and even within families (indeed, within marriages!), people engage in power struggles and seek their own interests above all else. It seems that it’s always been that way. So we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that long ago two of Jesus’ closest followers, the brothers John and James, sought to secure their own privileged standing in the Kingdom of God. They said to Jesus, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (Mk. 10:37). In other words, “Me first!”. But they didn’t realize that this kind of selfish ambition has no place in the Kingdom that Christ came to establish. Their concept of greatness was completely out of place. There is a greatness to be had in the Kingdom of God, to be sure, but it is a greatness that comes from seeking to be last, not first, a desire to be the lesser, not the greater. Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (vs. 43,44). Become a servant? Be the slave of all? What honor is there in that? There is infinite honor in that, because God himself became the lesser; he made himself servant of all. God, in the person of his Son Jesus Christ, set aside his limitless glory and exalted status, and became lower than the lowliest servant by offering himself a sacrifice to pay for the sins of others: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (v.45) If Christ himself came to serve, how much more ought we to humble ourselves and serve one another. Not “Me first!” - but “Me last!”!
July 19, 2004
Grace e-mail bulletin - 7/16/04
Grace Presbyterian Church E-mail bulletin July 16, 2004
Dear Members and Friends of Grace,
Greetings to all of you in the matchless name of Jesus Christ! It’s good to welcome back those who were out of town for various reasons. For those that are still away, we look forward to your return!
We had a wonderful time of worship and fellowship down in Garland, Texas, last Friday evening. As you know, there was a special service at the “newly-minted” Faith Presbyterian Church (formerly OPC of Dallas Northeast). The service was both a recognition of this church’s status as a new and separate congregation of the OPC (as opposed to a missions work), and a time to ordain and install deacons and elders who will serve the congregation. Rev. Todd Bordow (Covenant OPC, Fort Worth, TX) reminded the people of the congregation that they ought to measure the “success” of their ministry not in terms of spectacular growth, or the immediate cultural transformation of the area, or the complete reformation of the church in Northeast Dallas, but instead in the individual people who are, one by one, transformed by the preaching of Christ and the love shown in his name. He reminded everyone that though Capernaum served as Jesus’ ministry headquarters, not much visible fruit was to be seen there. That is, except for the tax collector Matthew, who became one of Christ’s apostles. Rev. Bordow exhorted the people to remember the Matthews that they will reach with gospel as they faithfully follow the Lord.
I wish you all could have heard the message. At Grace, too, we need to remember that the Lord may use us in profound, but outwardly unspectacular ways as we minister to those whom he sends us.
Please note the following information:
Opportunities for service:
- Diane Rula has graciously offered to take up the responsibilities of cleaning the church each week in preparation for Sunday service. Thank you, Diane. - We still need someone who will take care of the yardwork around the church. This would involve mowing the small yard out front and trimming the weeds and grass around the building. Please let me know if you are interested in serving in this way.
Elder visits:
- Elders are called to be overseers of God’s flock, shepherding “the church of God which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). One effective way for elders to exercise this shepherding care is to visit with members of the church (usually in their homes). Your session is planning to begin these visits soon. I will be in contact with you about this.
Women’s Bible study and Men’s prayer breakfast:
- These will be held this coming Saturday, July 17th. The Women’s Bible study will begin at 8:00 a.m at the Johnsons’. The Men’s prayer breakfast will start at 7:30 a.m. at the church.
This coming Lord’s Day (7/18):
- The adult Sunday School will continue to study the role of suffering in the life of the church as we look at the book of Acts.
- I will preach from Mark 9:38-41 during the morning service. The sermon will be “Christian First, Presbyterian Second”.
- We will continue our study of the first chapter of the book of Ephesians for the evening service. To hear some excellent preaching on Ephesians, listen to Dr. Sinclair Ferguson’s sermon series on the epistle: http://www.pcpc.org/sinclairaudio/ . (I must confess that I’ve only listened to part of one of the sermons. But, I don’t think I’m taking a big risk to say that these sermons are “excellent”. Ferguson is one of my favorite preachers and everything I’ve heard from him has been very edifying).
- Everyone is invited to the Johnsons’ after the evening service for SOUP and BREAD.
Presbytery of the Southwest’s Young People’s Camp:
- Remember that this year’s Young People’s Camp is right around the corner! The camp is for all young people going into the 6th-12th grades. It will be held at the Bishop Quarterman Conference Center in Amarillo, Texas, from July 24th -July 30th.
Other matters:
- Grace Presbyterian will be assisting in the planning and running of the next Oklahoma City Reformed Conference coming up in October (the 29th and 30th). I volunteered our congregation to help with “Program Overseer Responsibilities”. I will provide more details later of what this will entail and let you all know of ways that you may serve. The speaker at this year’s conference will be Jim Elliff, a former pastor and currently president of Christian Communications Worldwide. I anticipate the conference will be a great blessing as last year’s was.
- After biking all over Norman, [Jiang] Zhe is looking to buy a car! If anyone knows of a good car for sale in the price range of $3,500 - $4,000, please let [Jiang] know.
In his service, Pastor Scott
Pastor Scott Johnson Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC) Norman, Oklahoma Visit our website: www.opcNorman.org
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