Don't forget -- no meeting this week (updated schedule on left)! However, I highly recommend our Tuesday night Truth ("TNT") service at Calvary South Denver tomorrow night at 7 PM!
Band of Brothers
* NOTE: Full version with links and other resources is in newsletter but here's the edited short version.
One of the primary "spokes" that makes up the "wheel" of this ministry is fellowship. By "fellowship" I'm not speaking of the bogus and potentially career-ending/marriage-ending escapades of police "choir practice" but rather the kind of "iron sharpens iron" fellowship that Solomon directs us to in Proverbs 27:17. Moreover, Paul reminds us in Hebrews 10:24-25 to "...think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together (aka, "church"), as some do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near."
Cooper Abrams, in his excellent short Bible study on fellowship (see link in newsletter version), points us to Acts 2:45-47 where we are directed to be "strengthened" through meeting together. Finally, our friends with GotQuestions.org have put together a biblically rock-solid short article on the importance of Christian fellowship that I highly recommend (again, see link in newsletter version).
In the excellent book (and the miniseries that followed it) Band of Brothers, Carwood Lipton quotes part of Shakespeare's Henry V speech at the Battle of Agincourt, to wit, "From this day to the ending of the world we in it shall be remembered. We lucky few, we band of brothers. For he who today sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." As God's servant-warriors, we are indeed a "band of brothers" (and yes, that most definitely includes our sisters as well) united under His banner. Let's be sure that we don't leave on of our own behind on the "field" but instead lift each other up in the cause God has set before us!
Finally, and in honor of our country's birthday, I wanted to share with you some truths expressed by Chaplain Paul Northcut of Cross and Shield Ministries (thanks to Grant Wolf for bringing it to my attention):
"This week we celebrate the birthday of our great nation. 236 years ago Godly men established this Republic on the principles found in God's Word. Our Founding Fathers understood that it's to God, not the government, that we owe our first allegiance. In fact it was a religious revival, 'the Great Awakening' in the 1730s, that inspired many Americans to fight in the Revolutionary War to secure their God given freedoms. John Dickinson, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, wrote 'Governments could not give us the rights essential to happiness - we claim them from a higher source - the King of Kings and Lord of all the earth (Jesus Christ).' General George Washington established the U. S. Military Chaplaincy Corps for the Continental Army in July 1775 making it the second oldest corps in the Army. Yes, we have a Godly heritage. Over two centuries ago Patrick Henry declared "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the gospel of Jesus Christ." But in recent years we have drifted away from those founding principles, and I'm afraid we may be close to losing His blessing. One of our greatest Presidents said it well, "If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Ronald Reagan. But more importantly God's Word tells us, "Blessed (happy and thriving) is the nation whose God is the Lord." (Psalm 33:12) This July 4th as we celebrate our independence - let's remember and renew our dependence on the Lord, Jesus Christ."
Can I get an "AMEN!"?
