In Paris for the Weekend

A friend of mine is getting baptized tomorrow. She became a believer during the summer of 2009. I love baptisms. Its a sign of life: God still saves today. Grace is evident in her life.

For a little piece of French culture, I live two hours away from Paris. For a Frenchman, that means that traveling to Paris is a rare and special occasion. Two hours is a long trip (I'm exaggerating slightly). In anycase, French certainly don't live on the road like Americans.

By the way, I love Paris!

What Can The Black Eyed Peas Teach The Church?

You've probably already seen this great video. I just saw it on Ragumuffinsoul. He says the following:

"I believe this video annihilates the idea that people want to show up to an event (church) and stand in rows and be sung and talked to.
Safety is overrated.
People want to be a part of something big.
What can we, the church, learn from The Black Eyed Peas?"

I also find the video thought provoking. It's a great video. So there you go.

Church-Planting in Marseille (Part 2)

I didn't get the time to post this second video of church-planting in southern France. The previous video gave a good (though quick) understanding that France has never had a reformation. So we're peculiar. This video is an interview with Julien Bonnel, a young Frenchman church-planting near Marseille. As a teen, he went to the States and met Jesus there. He got married and (praise God) came back to France to plant churches while working a normal job.


This really rings a bell for me. I also feel that the French are just not ready to recognize pastors that don't have jobs. It's just so weird to them.

Church-Planting in Marseille (Part 1)

Stumbled upon this video from Ed Stetzer. I've heard Mark Driscoll sing praises of Stetzer so many times, I thought I would check him out. Turns out, he was just completing a quick tour of Europe: Germany, Switzerland, Italy AND France.


Here is a video of an American church-planter:

Will the Church be the Church for Homosexual Christians?

This article by Wesley Hill is thought provoking. Wesley is a Christian with same-sex desires and he explains the greatest need of homosexual Christians within our midst. I'm still not sure what to think about it, but I give it to your appreciation.

Source: JT

Why Can't Church Be More Like A Football (Soccer) Game?

Every match, the stadium is packed. All decked out in their fan-gear, the crowd cheers as the home team walks on to the field. They stand up and scream with delight when their team scores. When the referee makes a stupid call, everyone boos and curses at him. I don't know what you thought last time you watched a game, but Wednesday, I thought of church.

What if Church stirred as much emotion as a sporting event? All the Christians yelling their praise to God, totally in sync with the others around them. They dance and they shout, they sing songs (British supporters are the best for this) and they are totally in tune to what is happening on the pitch.

I look forward to the day, when I will be able to worship God in his presence like supporters worship in a football game. Only, it's going to be WAY better!

Please Pray for Me as I Prepare the Sermon This Sunday

I've been assigned 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 as sermon text for Sunday 22nd of February. I remember reading the passage a few months ago, as we were dividing up the letter into six passages. As I read, I knew who should preach that text. I found it rich, wonderful and so full of questions that needed answers.

I was hoping my father would be assigned the few first verses of chapter four. Instead, here I am preparing to preach on a topic I'm hesitant to speak on, sanctification/holiness.

Please pray for me. Ask God to give me humility, wisdom and strength to preach to glorify God. Pray also that I would have much love for the flock of Feignies (the church I attend). Thank you.

What I Miss Most of the Woman Known to Most as Sophie Kapitaniuk

To you she was Sophie. To me she was 'Mamy'. 3 months have now gone by since she has gone to be with Jesus. The pain has lessened (as it should), but I still think of her often. Here are a few things I'll miss of my grandmother.

• Her prayer. Daily she prayed. On Sundays, at church she would pray "Lord bless your servant," as the preacher stood. During the week I would drop by and ask her to pray for specific things. I don't know what will be the consequence of her prayers. I also cannot say what will now be the consequences of the lack of prayer, in our family, in our church and in our city.
• Her excitement. Though she was 75 years-old, she was easily glad when she heard stories of people taking risks for Jesus. She loved missions because she loved Jesus.
• Her listening ear. I know many women (and men) tend to become talkers as they age. They go on tangents and you just have to bear with them. Not so with Mamy. She really listened. She loved to offer advice, but she always listened. I miss being able to talk to her. I miss reading the Bible to her.
  
• Her presence. At the birth of my youngest cousin I cried at the realization that she would never know our grandmother. When, God willing, I have children, I will not be able to show them to Mamy. She loved children, and few things made her happier than holding babies.

3 months have come and gone. I still think of Mamy daily. I'm simply glad that her suffering is over and that she is happy now. Her love was God and to himself has gathered her. She is in heaven because she trusted Jesus as her saviour.

What Are Your New Year Resolutions? What Place Did You Leave For Jesus?

I wasn't planning on writing today, but changed my mind after the church service. There was no sermon today, but simply a time of fellowship (we're small, we can do that). We pulled the chairs into a circle and shared what are goals were for 2009. We also read verses that had impacted our lives in 2008 or that we wanted to fly over our lives as banners for 2009.

One of the ladies read part of Colossians 1 and asked a simple question that I thought I would also pose.

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy."

Colossians 1:17-18

After reading, she looked at us and asked: "Does Jesus have the first place and the most important part in all your plans, dreams and hopes for 2009?"

The question struck me and I simply ask it of you. May Jesus have the supremacy in our lives this year and every year.

Get the Old Ladies and You Win the War

While distributing the monthly flyer in my village, I thought of a video I'd watched. The video was made by Mars Hill Church in Seattle. On the web it is known as the "Banned Church-Planting Video" for an interesting reason...
Anyways, Mark Driscoll argues that a church-planter should strive to get the young men in their twenties. They are the innovators, the entrepreneurs, the leaders and the heads of young families. "Get the men and you win the war", says Driscoll. He is very convincing.

However, as I was doing my route in Recquignies, I was hit with the reality of my present situation. It seems that most people in the village are little old ladies, where am I supposed to find the men?
As I was talking to God about this, it hit me that Driscoll might have it all wrong. It isn't the men we need, for example, look at George Verwer's testimony. As he always tells us, some little old
lady put him on "her Holy-Ghost hit-list" (aka Prayer) and he gave his life at a evangelistic meeting.

So I felt that God might be saying to me, "get the old ladies and you
win the war..."

What is a church?

If I were to ask you, what is a church? You would probably have something in mind that resembles a bit the photo. If I were to ask a passerby here in France that same question, he would certainly agree.

We're a nation with a Catholic heritage. So that photo is exactly what we understand as being a church. Its a big building, where the windows depict stories. The building isn't heated and the benches we sit on are uncommonly uncomfortable (they must do it on purpose), so

much that it comes as a relief when we stand up for part of the liturgy.
There is a priest who does his rounds. But for lack of priests and of
funds, the mass in villages is often held midweek, so that the priest
can hold mass on Sunday in a 'bigger' church. That is a church in the
minds of my people.

In my mind as well, there is often this notion that the church is a
building and something that we do on Sunday morning. God gently
reminded me of the truth during the month of August as I rediscovered
His church.

Fear vs. Hardening

"Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble."
Proverbs 28 verse 14

During the month of August, my church is closed. So a few of us have been gathering together for fellowship on Sunday mornings. I may describe this is greater detail in some future post. The reason I mention this here is that for those of us who met up these past weeks, the fear of the Lord was a recurrent topic.

Indeed, to fear the Lord sounds strange to our contemporary ears. Its archaic, isn't it? As you probably know, King Solomon's thesis, in the book of proverbs, is that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1v7). However, what struck me in chapter 28 (quoted text above) is the opposition Solomon makes between fearing the Lord and having a
hardened heart. To soften your heart is to fear the Lord. To harden your heart is to ignore God and rebel against Him.
So I find this verse helpful in explaining the fear of the Lord and
thought of our conversations the past two Sundays.