Last week was Ancon. It was a full on week of learning from God’s word about church and what it means to gather together as God’s people. I’m planning on writing a few blog posts with some reflections of the week, and to start with I wanted to start with some quick reflections from the week. These may not make sense to everyone, as they’re not all fully explained. I will however expand on some of these points in future posts. If you were on Ancon, add some of your reflections in the comments. If you weren’t on Ancon, check out Twitter to see all the #ancon11 goodness.

1. The word church (ecclesia) means gathering.
2. The laws in the old testament help the Israelites understand how to love God and love others.
3. In 1st century Israel, there was a problem in that Rome had taken over. Different groups had different ideas about how to continue living as God’s holy people and responded to this differently: Sadducees were the ruling elite and cut a deal with Rome, Pharisees were concerned with keeping the law, Essenes chose to run and start again and theZealots wanted to violent revolution for God.
4. The confession that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, is what separates a Christian gathering from any other gathering (From Matthew 16:16-18).
5. We’re not a shadow, but an outpost of the heavenly church.
6. You become part of Jesus’ church when you become a Christian.
7. All Christians are members of the body of Christ. It is not optional.
8. The new testament refers to church in two different ways. Either as the universal church (referring to all Christians from all of time) or as the local church (a local gathering of believers).
9. The local church is the precious body of Christ.
10. If three Christians are hanging out together, it is not necessarily church. What makes it church is when the word is taught faithfully.
11. Church is where the body of Christ functions together as a church.
12. Church is not about me and God. It’s about God, his people and how I fit into it.
13. There are some issues in the church that are worth fighting over, but often we must love each other and submit to authorities (more on this in a future blog post). Continue Reading…

If you haven’t heard yet, then you haven’t been listening to the news. According to Harold Camping, May 21, 2011 will be the day when the world as we know it ends. Nearly every news network has reported on this, mainly due to Harold Camping having a massive network of Radio stations that broadcast over the world from the US. Read some of the news stories at independent.co.uk, smh.com.au and heraldsun.com.au.

The idea of May 21 as the day of judgement comes from a series of calculations that Harold has made dating back to Noah’s ark. I couldn’t follow the logic in the argument enough to explain the details, but if you would like to read more about it then you can at their website, here.

So… Is the world as we know it really going to end tomorrow? Will Jesus return tomorrow…?

Continue Reading…

I think I may be too young to think about my last words, but that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about the last words of others.

Recently in Bible study, we’ve been reading 2 Timothy, which was the last letter that Paul wrote. In 2 Timothy, Paul is passing on his final words of wisom to Timothy, his mentee. Although the letter does not represent his final words, they are some of the last words that Paul wrote from the chains of his imprisonment in Rome.

Before I get on to some of my favourite last words from Paul, I thought I’d have a search for some other famous last words.

“Don’t worry, they usually don’t swim backwards.” (From TopTenz.net)

These are the last recorded words of Steve Irwin, the Australian conservationist and crocodile hunter. These were sadly his final words before he was killed by a stingray spine.

“I have offended God and mankind because my work didn’t reach the quality it should have.” (From World of Quotes)

The last words of Leonardo Da Vinci.

“Nothing, but death.” (From corsinet)

Were the last words of Jane Austen when asked by her sister what she wanted.

Thinking through the last words of people can be quite sadening, as death in this world is scary and unknown. However, some of the last words of Paul are quite the opposite. They are victorious and encouraging. Read them below.

Continue Reading…

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

If Christ has not been raised then preaching is useless and Christians are to be pitied above all others, but Jesus is risen and is alive today!