I have felt a need to start blogging again. I got away from ith when I discovered FaceBook and now I am feeling the need to blog. I am going to be sharing my thoughts from my early morning Bible studies. Currently I am studying 1 chapter of Nehemiah each morning. Now when I says that I am studying, actually it will be a "light" study with makers for me to go back and dig deeper at a later time. My plan is to read the chapter 5 times - then write it out in my own words, marking through bulleted points what God is showing me. I have been at this for 3 days and I am loving it.
At first I was writing everything in a journal but then I decided to start blogging it so I am taking the time over the next couple of days to re-write the material into the blog.
I hope this study will be a blessing to you - It has already taught me so much!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, April 6, 2009
Fellowship by Chris Chow
Chris Chow was in my youth group at Emmanuel Baptist Church in the late eighties. He was a strong Christian young man who was a deep thinker. We keep in touch through email. Recently he sent a study he did on "fellowship" in the church. It is a wonderful study. I asked his permission to post on my blog. He graciously agreed. You will be glad he did!
FELLOWSHIP --
As busy person (2 small kids hanging all over me whenever I'm at home trying to accomplish a task, pages all night from the hospital, catching up on tons of paperwork at the office, catching up on and co-laboring with friends and members of the church universal, early morning meetings, evening prayer meetings, earlier morning devotions, self-development projects of reading lists, projects, lawn-care, Sunday School preparation, worship team preparation, listening to new songs, daily readings of secular and Bible readings to the children, trying to carve out time for my patient and understanding wife), I find myself cringing at the request for my presence at yet another "fellowship". At the inspiration of a friend this week, I decided to look into what God says about it. Here's what I found. I welcome your comments.
Fellowship:
More than just a gathering
Chris Chow
April 2, 2009
The word “fellowship” is listed in the Bible 17 times.
Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” The word for “fellowship” here is “koinonia” (Strong’s 2842) which means “participation”, “sharing in”, “fellowship with”, “communion”.
God uses this word to call us into fellowship of his Son (1 Cor. 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”).
Paul uses this word to identify and share in Christ’s sufferings (Phil 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death”)
It’s used in Philemon 1:6 “that the koinonia of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”
Even John uses this word in 1 John 1:3-7 “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ…If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But is we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Paul uses this word to describe the plea of the churches of Macedonia to receive the support to the poor saints in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:4 “imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.”)
Later, to end the same book, he uses this word to describe the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the koinonia of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”)(See also Phil 2:1)
He also uses this word to describe our fellowship with the blood and the body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16 “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the koinonia of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the koinonia of the body of Christ?”).
[So, already, God describes the fellowship of Christ, of His sufferings, of our faith, with other believers, sharing in their ministry/gifts, of the Spirit, of the blood and body of Christ—it’s more than an identification, it’s a partaking/embracing/and perhaps incarnation of those things and what it means]
But in the same chapter, the Bible warns us not to fellowship with demons (1 Cor. 10:20 “Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”) The word for fellowship here is “koinonos” (2844, sound familiar?), which means “partners”.
That word “partner” is the same word used in Luke 5:10 to describe Peter, James and John’s work relationship (Luke 9-10 “For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.’”) The Greek word here is koinonos (Similar to koinonia) that describes a business relationship, with mutual responsibilities and accountability, working together to bring in the net, taking turns during the night watch waiting for fish, rowing out into the water together, investing their resources to continue the business, sharing the load and the return, improving the trade. “Titus my partner/koinonos” (2 Cor. 8:23). “Koinonos with them in the blood of the prophets” (Matt. 23:30)
In Galatians 2:9 Paul uses koinonia to describe his and Barnabas’ partnership Peter, James, and John (“And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.”)
In Philippians 1:3-5, Paul and Timothy addresses the saints serving in the church there: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,”
So you see, Paul uses the word almost interchangeably! Because of this, we need to see the idea of fellowship in our church body as more than just hanging out and exchanging jokes and superficial pleasantries, having a good time over fried chicken and potato salad (dumplings and rice in our Chinese church), or sipping coffee while discussing the latest sports news. That may be the start of things, but I believe God wants us to see the idea of fellowship as a partnership, a working relationship with each other (especially as leaders of the church) where we meet to always improve one another, sharpen each other in our walk and glorification of God, speaking (rhema) the Word (logos), teaching each other, raising the worship in our hearts together, so that we start AND finish strong, and working hard together for Him strategically like Peter, James, and John fishing, this time to gather souls, that the reign of heaven may be at hand in many more of our lives!
FELLOWSHIP --
As busy person (2 small kids hanging all over me whenever I'm at home trying to accomplish a task, pages all night from the hospital, catching up on tons of paperwork at the office, catching up on and co-laboring with friends and members of the church universal, early morning meetings, evening prayer meetings, earlier morning devotions, self-development projects of reading lists, projects, lawn-care, Sunday School preparation, worship team preparation, listening to new songs, daily readings of secular and Bible readings to the children, trying to carve out time for my patient and understanding wife), I find myself cringing at the request for my presence at yet another "fellowship". At the inspiration of a friend this week, I decided to look into what God says about it. Here's what I found. I welcome your comments.
Fellowship:
More than just a gathering
Chris Chow
April 2, 2009
The word “fellowship” is listed in the Bible 17 times.
Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” The word for “fellowship” here is “koinonia” (Strong’s 2842) which means “participation”, “sharing in”, “fellowship with”, “communion”.
God uses this word to call us into fellowship of his Son (1 Cor. 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”).
Paul uses this word to identify and share in Christ’s sufferings (Phil 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death”)
It’s used in Philemon 1:6 “that the koinonia of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”
Even John uses this word in 1 John 1:3-7 “that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ…If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But is we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Paul uses this word to describe the plea of the churches of Macedonia to receive the support to the poor saints in Jerusalem (2 Cor. 8:4 “imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.”)
Later, to end the same book, he uses this word to describe the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the koinonia of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”)(See also Phil 2:1)
He also uses this word to describe our fellowship with the blood and the body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16 “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the koinonia of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the koinonia of the body of Christ?”).
[So, already, God describes the fellowship of Christ, of His sufferings, of our faith, with other believers, sharing in their ministry/gifts, of the Spirit, of the blood and body of Christ—it’s more than an identification, it’s a partaking/embracing/and perhaps incarnation of those things and what it means]
But in the same chapter, the Bible warns us not to fellowship with demons (1 Cor. 10:20 “Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”) The word for fellowship here is “koinonos” (2844, sound familiar?), which means “partners”.
That word “partner” is the same word used in Luke 5:10 to describe Peter, James and John’s work relationship (Luke 9-10 “For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.’”) The Greek word here is koinonos (Similar to koinonia) that describes a business relationship, with mutual responsibilities and accountability, working together to bring in the net, taking turns during the night watch waiting for fish, rowing out into the water together, investing their resources to continue the business, sharing the load and the return, improving the trade. “Titus my partner/koinonos” (2 Cor. 8:23). “Koinonos with them in the blood of the prophets” (Matt. 23:30)
In Galatians 2:9 Paul uses koinonia to describe his and Barnabas’ partnership Peter, James, and John (“And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.”)
In Philippians 1:3-5, Paul and Timothy addresses the saints serving in the church there: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,”
So you see, Paul uses the word almost interchangeably! Because of this, we need to see the idea of fellowship in our church body as more than just hanging out and exchanging jokes and superficial pleasantries, having a good time over fried chicken and potato salad (dumplings and rice in our Chinese church), or sipping coffee while discussing the latest sports news. That may be the start of things, but I believe God wants us to see the idea of fellowship as a partnership, a working relationship with each other (especially as leaders of the church) where we meet to always improve one another, sharpen each other in our walk and glorification of God, speaking (rhema) the Word (logos), teaching each other, raising the worship in our hearts together, so that we start AND finish strong, and working hard together for Him strategically like Peter, James, and John fishing, this time to gather souls, that the reign of heaven may be at hand in many more of our lives!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Evangelism
This video is really amazing and an eye opener for people who are afraid to evangelize. REAL caring goes a long way......
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Psalm 91 - Devotions -- Day 20
The last devotional was about the defeat of evil. No evil is going to overtake you because you have eternal life in Jesus – who is our secret place. Today we are promised that plagues will not come near our dwelling place.
In the 19th century the bubonic plague wiped our thousands of people. In an effort to stop the plague from spreading, residents were required to post a plague notice on their doorposts. People knew to stay away from that home because the plague had come near.
Do you want to hear some good news? There is NO DEATH in the dwelling place of the Most High! Death was defeated at the tomb when Jesus rose from the dead. I love how the Psalmist reminds us that death will not even come near us!
There is not need for warning signs on the doorpost of your spiritual dwelling place. God provided a cure for the plague! The blood of Jesus is the perfect cure for the plague of death. Through Him we have eternal life. Death does not stand a chance! I am alive forevermore in the secret place of the Most High! No plagues for me!
In the 19th century the bubonic plague wiped our thousands of people. In an effort to stop the plague from spreading, residents were required to post a plague notice on their doorposts. People knew to stay away from that home because the plague had come near.
Do you want to hear some good news? There is NO DEATH in the dwelling place of the Most High! Death was defeated at the tomb when Jesus rose from the dead. I love how the Psalmist reminds us that death will not even come near us!
There is not need for warning signs on the doorpost of your spiritual dwelling place. God provided a cure for the plague! The blood of Jesus is the perfect cure for the plague of death. Through Him we have eternal life. Death does not stand a chance! I am alive forevermore in the secret place of the Most High! No plagues for me!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Which Way Will America Go?
The video below is a message I preached on Sunday, October 27, 2008.
If you will go about 24 minutes into the video, you can pick up where I started preaching. The message of this video is timeless, although,I do mention the election and the candidates for the presidential election.
Our country is at a crossroads -- which way will we go. Our new president has been elected - now what will happen? Which way will we go?
Christians -- Arise!
If you will go about 24 minutes into the video, you can pick up where I started preaching. The message of this video is timeless, although,I do mention the election and the candidates for the presidential election.
Our country is at a crossroads -- which way will we go. Our new president has been elected - now what will happen? Which way will we go?
Christians -- Arise!
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