God's grace.

title: Breaking down barriers
date: Thursday, June 24, 2010
time:11:26 AM

Hi all

Let's learn to breakdown walls and barriers of prejudices and build up bridges of Christ's love with other through our words and deeds based on biblical truth so that we can truly be the salt and light in this dark and corrupt world (Matthew 5:16).

M.Y.

Daily Devotional, June 21

Posted to Ephesians 2:14 on Jun 19, 2010 at 12:28 PM

Ephesians 2:14

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

"the walls come tumbling down"

If you perform a Google search for the Rwandan genocide, you’ll encounter thousands of disturbing stories and graphic images. The most disturbing emerge from a church building in Nyarubuye, where between five and ten thousand Tutsis were murdered. The visual depiction of such gruesome violence in the one place where the victims thought they would be safe is horrific. BBC writer Fergal Keane viewed the scene and described “the rotting bodies . . . twisted terribly, faces frozen in the last terrible expression of violent death.” Keane finished with the question we all ask: “How could men do this?”

We do this, the Bible tells us, because we are sinful and are tempted toward the vile bent to crush others who seem different from us or who are offensive to us.

In Ephesians, Paul wrote a letter bursting with overarching themes of sin, mercy, and grace (Ephesians 1:2-9). After painting broad brushstrokes of God’s redemptive activity, however, Paul specifically stated how God’s people were to live in His world.

The central social issue of Paul’s day was the bitter conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles. This was not mere dislike—but true hatred. One first-century Jewish theologian stated this extreme view: “The Gentiles were created by God to be fuels for the fires of hell.” And the Gentiles abused Jews at every opportunity.

“But now,” says Paul, “you have been united with Christ Jesus” (v.13). Because of Jesus, the wall separating human from human has come crashing down.

Jesus intends to do this to every wall sin erects. The wall of resentment between husband and wife. The wall of anger between daughter and dad. The wall between Israelis and Palestinians, between Hutus and Tutsis, between rich and poor. Everywhere we find a wall of division, the mercy of Jesus will one day arrive with a wrecking ball.

--Winn Collier, Our Daily Journey

CLICK HERE to visit OurDailyJourney.org

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title: Remember the love of our fathers
date: Thursday, June 17, 2010
time:10:17 AM

Hi all,

Let's remember the love of our fathers but also more importantly remember our Heavenly Father.

Let's wish all of our fathers happy father's Day!

M.Y.

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title: AGPC G2 Youth Camp 2010
date: Wednesday, June 16, 2010
time:9:49 AM

Come and join us pple.

JC..

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title: Let's ask God to give us wisdom
date: Wednesday, June 9, 2010
time:10:19 AM

Hi all,

We need God's wisdom in dealing with various things in our lives as the Bible reminds us: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5)

Daily Devotional, May 25th

Posted to Proverbs 1:7 on May 24, 2010 at 03:10 PM

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

“Refusing to play the fool”

Israeli media recently reported on the frenzied scene in garbage dumps around Tel Aviv, as people searched for one million dollars stuffed in an old mattress that had been accidentally discarded. A woman identified only by her first name, Anat, told a local radio station that she didn’t realize her elderly mother had the money stuffed into the beat-up bedding. After she made the discovery, the garbage truck had already picked up the trash-turned-loot. Perhaps sticking a million dollars in your mattress without telling anyone is not the wisest choice.

We make both wise and foolish choices every day. Some decisions yield good dividends, some are costly. Some choices weigh heavy, while others prove to be inconsequential. Most of us, however, would prefer to live according to wisdom. We’d like to make healthy and fruitful choices for our lives, careers, friendships, finances, and marriages.

Scripture tells us that God desires to give us wisdom, to bless us with the kind of knowledge that allows us to live with joy and integrity (Proverbs 1:2). In fact, God Himself is the wellspring for this freeing wisdom. The “fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,” says the Bible’s wisdom writer (v.7). If our lives already reflect wise direction, we can take in God’s wisdom and “become even wiser” (v.5). If we’re struggling with learning how to live well, God’s wisdom will teach us how to “do what is right, just, and fair” (v.3).

The opposite choice, of course, is to ignore wisdom, to ignore God. Tragically, disaster and heartache will always result from this foolish choice. As Bob Dylan once sang, “Gonna change my way of thinking, make myself a different set of rules. Gonna put my good foot forward and stop being influenced by the fools.”

God alone provides wisdom to keep us from playing the fool. —Winn Collier, Our Daily Journey

CLICK HERE to visit OurDailyJourney.org

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