Mercy with Fear

Jude 1:22-23 tell us "... have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh." (ESV).

  We should always have mercy on those who doubt. I believe most of us have no problem showing mercy, as Jesus himself is mercy. The letter of Jude says something interesting though. It tells us to show mercy in a certain way. It says to some "we should show mercy with fear". While we all love showing mercy we most likely never thought that mercy could be displayed through fear. When we think of striking fear into some we probably relate it to what terrorists attempt to do but this is certainly not what Jude means here. Remember the context here is saving individuals out of the fire and hating anything stained by the flesh.

  

  We as Christians having saving knowledge are equipped for the ministry of reconciliation. We are all called to be ones crying in the wilderness for all to repent and come trust in Jesus. This is because we know who God is. We know that He is infinite, holy and righteous. He hates sin and wickedness and will judge it accordingly. He is an all consuming fire who mercifully extends love and grace through himself Jesus to all who are humble and see they need an advocate. So when Jude says show mercy though fear he means we must take this knowledge to the world even if we do not feel comfortable, safe or confident. The world needs mercy and we know why but if the world does not know why they have no reason to seek an advocate or Jesus. So showing mercy through fear is a necessary way we tell others of the Gospel. This is obviously in the word because we hate doing it. It is hard for us to go against the grind of the culture. Our cultures motto as we speak right now is tolerance, and political correctness.

  Remember the world may reject you for telling them of something they should be fearful of but the Holy Spirit says that you are showing them mercy. If we care about others we will approach the world with a certain vigor and intensity like one who is "snatching them" out of a fire. This is because truthfully that is exactly what we are doing.       

  

Thank you and may God cause you to have a deep hunger for the things of righteousness. 

Youth Pastor of Riverwalk Fellowship,C.C.Sortini 

You can also follow on Twitter or http://vimeo.com/ccsortini

Not the King of the Jungle but Judah

 

  Isaiah 31:4 Says "... As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey, and when a band of shepherds is called out against him he is not terrified by their shouting or daunted at their noise, so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. " 

To Face book or not to Face book?

 

  Boasting somewhere around 300 million active users, a dedication that rivals that of Harry Potter fan clubs with 50% of it users logging on every day. A worldwide sociological foot print that draws in more than 70% of its users from outside the United States.

   Needless to say and nothing new; Facebook is an influential entity in our culture. Young people, old people and people from all different nations use Facebook.   

   Seeing that facebook is such a widely used networking platform and everyone and there dog uses it, could there be anything wrong with it? 

    Below is 4 things worth considering when using facebook.

1.        Although it is convenient to be able to contact your friends by the touch of a button, and super easy to check up on them, does “poking” someone really constitute as saying hello? Maybe sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we really are concerned with our friends when really we don’t want to spend the time in giving them a phone call or having coffee together.  

   If we are ever going to have a meaningful conversation or relationship sometimes it takes more than just a “poke”.

2.       I wonder if it is healthy to have access to everyone’s pictures of memories or experiences. Can we as “facebookers” abuse this ability? Can we be too concerned or interested in other people’s lives?

3.        Even though we are not talking face to face on facebook can we cross the unseen boundary lines of communication with the opposite sex on facebook? Can we be flirting when we shouldn’t be? Can we be talking more than we should be?  

4.        Some things should be kept private. We have to really consider what we want to communicate to the world. Not every picture, thought or concern should be shared.  In John 7:10 we see that Jesus did some thing’s privately without others. So think before you post…

   As technology ever advances we as Christians are forced to define what is morally acceptable in ways that we have never done before.  Facebook can be a great tool but as Paul said whether we eat or drink let it be to the Glory of God. So in the same way whether we facebook or whether we don’t let it be to the Glory of God.   

Thank you and my God cause you to have a deep hunger for the things of righteousness. 

Youth Pastor of Riverwalk Fellowship, C.C.Sortini 

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Have it your way or Have it His Way

Isaiah 4:20-21 (NKJV)

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness. Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!"


  Today, anyone almost at anytime, can pull up to a fast food joint and get whatever they want. They could either have chicken or beef, cheese no cheese, fries or fruit, super sized, regular size or a kids size. The options truly are endless, and when it comes down to it we can basically have it our way. We call the shots.

Twilight

 Everyone is crazy about the new Twilight. I think if we took a poll of the youth group almost 100% probably went to go see the movie and I bet if we asked some of their parents they would confirm they went to. Who could blame them it is such an epic love story, with giant man puppies and sweet cuddly vampires.

  Although the movie does have such an epic love story and super fictional beings, it does address some real, everyday, life issues as well. Over the next few days I want to ask you what you think about a couple real life issues in the movie, and how the characters handled it.

So keep an eye out and Comment Back on the Facebook page!

Thank you and my God cause you to have a deep hunger for the things of righteousness.

Youth Pastor, Chris Sortini

When was Jesus Born ?

I thought this was interesting. It was a blog posting a pastor made in regards to the date of Jesus birth. I thought it gave a clear response to the speculation made of the actual date. I am posting this to compliment my previous posting. I feel that it may help express the main theme which is that the actual day of Jesus birth is not of true importance. This is simply because scripture does not tell us, although it does give us real FANTASTIC historical clues. What is important is the actual event and what it meant to all of creation. The celebration of December 25th has obviously lost its true drive to marketing and commercialism and the actual celebration is merely a tradition. So we must always remember what is at the center of it all and that is Jesus. Merry Christmas to all and have a great New Year . . .

Have a look.

There is simply no clarity regarding the timing of Jesus’ birth.

The Scriptures do not speak directly to the issue, but the presence of flocks in the field has caused many to question the traditional December date of Christmas. This is because grazing in the field seemingly indicates a milder climate than that of winter, although there are reports of occasional breaks, for upwards of a few weeks, in the rainy winter season.

Commentator William Hendriksen raises an interesting point as well: “At this season of the year many roads in that region are impassable. No government would have forced people to travel then to the places where they must be registered" (New Testament Commentary: Luke, vol. 11, 150).

On the other hand, New Testament scholar Darrell Bock shows that while “some Jewish traditions argue for grazing in the period from April to November,” others note “that these restrictions are limited to sheep ‘in the wilderness’” (Luke 1:1-9:50, 226-227). Furthermore, a section of Talmudic literature (M. Šeqal. 7.4) “implies year-round grazing, because the Passover lambs graze in February, which has the harshest weather of the year. Thus, this reason for rejecting the tradition is not definitive" (Ibid., 227).

The traditional December 25 date of Jesus’ birth originated during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine (A.D. 306–337). As Bock describes, the December 25 date

coincided with a pagan feast of Saturnalia, or the rising of the sun from darkness. . . . But the tradition for the date may go back even further, since it may be mentioned by Hippolytus (A.D. 165–235) in his Commentary on Daniel 4.23.3. . . . However, Hippolytus’s meaning is disputed, as it is unclear whether he is referring to the date of the birth or the date of the conception. If it is the latter, then a December date is presented, but the reference is unclear. Alongside the possible third-century testimony for a December date stands Clement of Alexandria’s testimony (ca. A.D. 200) for an April/May date (Ibid., 227).

Without a clear date for Jesus’ birth, it seems the early church simply seized the opportunity that the pagan feast of Saturnalia provided. The feast celebrated the return of the sun after weeks of ever-increasing darkness, which parallels the biblical metaphor of Jesus illuminating our dark world. Furthermore, Saturnalia included the sharing of gifts, which corresponds to the gifts given to Jesus by the Magi and the gift of salvation Jesus gives.

In the West, the date of December 25 was established by the time of Augustine. Unlike the Western Church, the Eastern Church observes Christmas on January 6, as the day that both Jesus was born and the Magi visited him.

Additionally, determining the year of Jesus’ birth with exact precision is incredibly complex. The two gospels that speak in greatest detail about Jesus’ birth (Matthew and Luke) are unclear on this point. Therefore, it seems most wise to say that it was 5 or 4 B.C., as those are the years nearly every evangelical scholar accepts after looking at all of the evidence.

In the end, the year and date of Jesus’ birth are apparently not a significant issue because God did not find them valued enough to clarify in Scripture, which simply says it happened “in the fullness of time.”


By, Mark Driscoll
Preaching Pastor at Mars Hill Church

Thank you and my God cause you to have a deep hunger for the things of righteousness.

Christmas, a day celebrated for an eternity!

 

  The Trees are lit, light bulbs hang from roofs and snow men smile in retail stores in plenty, it must be that time of year. People are running around buying the latest toys and greatest gadgets and working hard to complete the wish lists of all their loved ones. It seems at times the whole world is up in flames of celebration.  Some are celebrating family, some friends, some health, there are those celebrating prosperity and a good year. Some people are celebrating a cultures perseverance, some it is a tradition and I am sure there are a few that are celebrating just to celebrate.  All of these things are great reasons to celebrate and do have their significance I am sure, but I must say there is a celebration that supersedes all of these reasons in meaning and purpose.

    All though the year uncertain and cannot be known for sure,(prob. around 200 A.D.) December 25^th was established as the day that all mankind would recognize Gods visitation to humanity in the form of a baby. Hence the celebration of Christmas. It was a day set to celebrate it every year and to always remember what God did for mankind and how he revealed Himself.

The day God ordained for this to come to pass (the actual birth of the Christ) as the scriptures tell us was in the days of Herod the King of Judea about 2000 years ago. This was the day that God gave mankind true joy and true victory, love, purpose and yes something to CELEBRATE! This day supersedes anything that has ever taken place in all of history and this marks creations most memorable moment. To know what He did and how He impacted everyone in His path you would have to read books called Luke, Matthew, Mark and John. After reading them only then you can see who God truly is and what this day is truly about.

    You see it is more than a Tradition for traditions can be forgotten and replaced and this day is more than a culture for cultures can change and die out. This day is a thing written not on calendars but on men and woman’s hearts. This is not a day or an event that can be merely expressed through giving of gifts and decorating with lights. It cannot be celebrated in one day in one year or in one life. This day is not about a day but about a man and His name was and is Jesus. He will be celebrated not in a day but in all eternity.

    With Jesus you find something to celebrate. Without him it is just gifts, malls and Tradition. I pray you find the reason for  all seasons, AMEN.

    " And the angel answered her , "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over shadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called Holy the Son of God.

                                                                                                                                           Luke 1:35

                Thank you and my God cause you to have a deep hunger for the things of righteousness.

The fork in the road...

Today while completing my school application for Southwestern I was asked a series of interview questions pertaining to the field and study that I wanted to go into. One of the questions I was asked is what I will be discussing bellow. The question is as follows...

-Explain your decision to follow Jesus Christ as Lord.

Now, you are probably wondering what is the big deal with this question, I mean why is Chris writing the very first R3 post on this question right? Well to be honest I have no real reason for making this the first post other than the mere fact that I decided to. So you probably should not read too much into it...

But, I will say this...

I thought this question was a complete misrepresentation of what Jesus has so supernaturally done in my life. You see when the recruiters of the seminary asked me about my decision to follow Jesus I could only assume that they meant, why did I decide or choose to trust in Jesus? Now before I go off on a tangent... I would like to note that their might be a slight possibility that the school was referring to after my salvation. But if this was the case they really should have clarified (now back the point). I feel that this was a complete misrepresentation to what Christ has done in my life and it belittles God himself. You see, I guess I could have answered the question by stating that every day I wake up and do my Christian work out starting out with a hardy bowl of Fruits of the spirit loops followed by a set of righteous push up's, a nice couple of laps around the neighborhood and a firm sturdy decision to follow Jesus because its the right thing to do here in America but this just is not the case. I could say that everyday when I come to that Fork in the road were one has to make the decision to do the right thing or the wrong thing, to sin or to serve God that I muster up enough strength to do the right thing. But once again this just is not the case. This "decision" to follow Jesus really is not a decision at all and to say it is just takes away from, steals even, from the most wonderful event that has happened to me in my life. To be honest with you when I come to that fork in the road of life and need to make a decision to be a sinner or a servant, to choose God or Satan I unrelentingly would always default to sinner instead of servant if it were not for the irresistible glory of God. If this magnum decision of choosing Jesus or the world was truly up to me I would never do what was right. You might say then that I am just too weak willed and I honestly would have to agree with you, I am. If it was not for the Holy Spirit in me ever drawing me closer to the finish line I would never make it to the finish line. It is because of Him inside me; it is because He turned my heart of stone into a heart of flesh that I am able to see Him. You could say that it was a true act of God.

I also desire to make it clear that when you claim that your salvation is a decision made on your own account you have belittled God's most amazing display of love which was Christ's sacrifice on the cross. If Jesus’ act of sacrifice to reconcile man was made for just those who made the right decision, how trivial would it have been? Would if no one chose to, or would if one day I did and the next day I did not. Would we just have to hope that the day I die I chose God...? And these are simple surface level questions...

To answer their question directly I would have to say that the reason I decided to follow Jesus was because I had and still have a deep burning conviction to do so. It is because my heart has been captivated by the most compelling Truth of all existence.

Thank you and may God cause you to have a deep hunger for the things of righteousness

C.Sortini

If you would like to read my actual response to the application question I have added it bellow.

1. I feel that to properly answer or to explain my decision of following Jesus Christ one would have to look into the recesses of my heart and soul and from there you will be able to really understand this decision. You see my decision to follow Jesus was and is in my opinion less of a decision and more of a supernatural event. I found that before I served Jesus I had a desire for the things of the world. I was concerned with money popularity, my future and how I would make all these things come to pass in the way I wanted and saw fit. I was materialistic consumed with how I presented myself, how I looked and what people thought of me. If I would have been honest with myself I would have seen that life was about me and what I wanted. Although I knew Jesus and did proclaim Him as my savior serving Him was not my priority. Presenting my body as an instrument of righteousness was not always my first concern. I put other things first before God they were Idols and in a place of preeminence. But God had His way in my life.

Even at a young age I had always felt and heard God’s call on my life to be in the ministry, to be a servant of God and specifically a preacher. Although I ignored this call and pursued my own dreams and aspirations there was nothing I could do to escape the providential hand of the Almighty God. In the midst of my sin and arrogance he captured my heart squeezing me dry of all the things that did not glorify Him. With love, faith, hope and the testimony of His son I was left wanting nothing else but Him and more of Him. Stuck in this paradox of hunger and satisfaction I desired and desire still nothing else other than Jesus and Him glorified. So ironically my decision to follow Jesus was not really a decision at all I was pulled out of the fiery pits of hell by the mere mercy of God. Every day I wake up compelled with a conquering irresistible conviction to serve God and although I am a sinner still I cannot and will not ever serve another. So to answer the question directly I would say that my decision to follow Jesus Christ is due to the fact that I can serve no other and do nothing else but serve Him.