Tuesday, 22 March 2016
Saturday, 24 October 2015
All we need is a love that changes everything
1
Corinthians 13 :1- 13
New
American Standard Bible (NASB)
The
Excellence of Love
13
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have
become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and
know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove
mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my
possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not
have love, it profits me nothing.
4
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not
arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not
provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away;
if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done
away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect
comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak
like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I
did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then
face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also
have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the
greatest of these is love.
In
an email to my friend Geoff Grice earlier today, I briefly made a reference to the story of
Cindrella, I’ve always wondered why Cindrella never feel in love with
Buttons, Buttons loved Cindrella for she
was, but Cindrella didn’t love Buttons in the same way, she chased the myth of
love with Prince Charming, yes she lived happy ever after, for many of us we need
to stop chasing the myth of love with prince or princess charming and find true
(real) love with buttons.
How
the New Testament defines love
From
http://biblemegasite.com/love.htm
New
Testament love is different from the love most people think of when they think
of "love". Most English Bible readers think that "love" has
the same meaning throughout the NT. Most believe that love simply means
"to have great affection for." Actually the New Testament Greek
language has 4 different words for "love" and each has a different
meaning. Don't worry about the Greek, I will explain them well.
1.
eros - Physical attraction. Strawberry Shortcake love: "I want the
shortcake. I want it bad! I will consume it without giving it a thought about
how the shortcake feels" Eros doesn't appear in the New Testament, but is
mentioned in the Greek Old Testament. Eros can often be selfish in the form of
lust. A healthy eros would be a physical attraction between a married couple.
But having this love and no others would make a mockery out of true love.
2.
storge - Family love. We don't love Aunt Minnie because of her eros (physical
attraction), but because she is our Aunt Minnie, a part of our family, even
though she is blind, deaf, and senile. Storge appears 3 times in the NT, twice
in its negative form (astorge - "without family love"), and once
combined with phila ("be devoted"). A mother who has her baby and
throws it in the trash can is showing astorge. I storge a Christian because
he/she is a member of my spiritual family. But what if said Christian renounces
Christianity? Could I still love him/her if storge was the only form of love I
had?
3.
phila - Friendship love. It is warm feelings and affection. It is liking
someone. Philia is emotional, spontaneous, and instinctive. The weakness of
this love is that in order to show it, it has to be shared. Your phila for me
is damaged if I don't show phila for you. I call the weakness of phila
"bowling partner" love: "I love you if you keep bowling strikes,
but start throwing gutter balls and I'll find a new bowling partner." Many
couples make this the main love in their marriage, and the marriage doesn't
survive the gutter balls of life. I phila my friends, I have feelings for them,
but that isn't enough to truly love them, especially if they don't show
affection to me.
4.
agape - A desire to do what is best for another. This Greek word is rarely used
in other Greek writings and used in a colourless way. The New Testament gives
agape a wonderful new meaning. Agape does involve a desire and a devotion, but
doesn't depend of affection received from another in order to exist. Its
purpose is to treat his fellow man with esteem and respect, even when rebuking
someone who has done wrong. Christ said if we love (agape) Him, we will keep
His commandments (John 14:15). We are commanded to display agape with all of
our heart, soul and mind to God and to show agape to our neighbor as we would
do for ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).
We are told by Paul to walk in the way of
agape (Ephesians 3:16-19). Agape is the fulfillment of the Law (Romans
13:8-10). John stated that agape expresses itself in word and deed and that
without agape, we don't know God, who is the very definition of agape (1 John
3:16-19, 4:8). Agape is the word used as love in John 3:16 and 1 Corinthians
13. In 1 Corinthians 13, it says that "love bears all things." The
Greek word for "bear" can also mean "cover," as in agape
throwing a cover of silence over the faults of others. I can even agape my
enemies, I can desire and act for what is best for them, regardless of their
feelings for me. Agape is an act of the will. I truly agape people, and I will
do what is best for them, even if they had no eros, storge, phila, or agape for
me. What people don't realize is that while eros, storge, and phila come
naturally to humans, agape is not, for it is divine. Agape has to be learned,
from God's Word.
The
Bible is not just a rulebook, but it is the dictionary of agape, whether agape
defines how we worship God or how we interact to one another. If we master
agape as defined in the Bible, we need nothing else to be more like God, for
God IS agape (1 John 4:8)
Eros
- Based on the glands. "I love you because I am attracted to you.
Storge
- based on genetic ties. "I'm love you because we are kin to each
other"
Phila
- based on emotions. "I really like you, I love you because I enjoy being
with you."
Agape
- based on a decision, an act of the will. "I love you", not "I
love you if....", not "I love you because....", just simply
"I love you".
1
John 4:7-21 New American Standard Bible
God
Is Love
7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves
is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God,
for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has
sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also
ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one
another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know
that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We
have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the
world.
15
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in
God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.
God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in
him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in
the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There
is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves
punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because
He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he
is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot
love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that
the one who loves God should love his brother also.
The
life that I have
Is
all that I have
And
the life that I have
Is
yours.
The
love that I have
Of
the life that I have
Is
yours and yours and yours.
A
sleep I shall have
A
rest I shall have
Yet
death will be but a pause.
For
the peace of my years
In
the long green grass
Will
be yours and yours and yours.
Leo
Marks, taken from Carve her Name with Pride the story of Violette Szabo
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
6 Warning Signs of Spiritual Abuse
6 Warning Signs of Spiritual Abuse
The church is called Word of Life Christian Center, but the tiny Pentecostal congregation in New Hartford, New York, is now known for death. It made headlines earlier this month when a 19-year-old member, Lucas Leonard, died during a so-called "counseling session" that involved 10 hours of beatings and interrogation.
Six members of the church now face criminal charges for the incident, which also left Lucas' 17-year-old brother, Christopher, hospitalized. Most of the group's 20 members were afraid to speak to the media. But a former member, Chadwick Handville, who now lives in Arizona, told The New York Times that the church had become a cult.
Sunday, 18 October 2015
12 Marriage Vows
http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/263639-12-truthful-marriage-vows-you-wont-hear-at-a-wedding.html/4
Saturday, 17 October 2015
The top 10 most beautiful villages in the UK
The top 10 most beautiful villages in the UK
It’s still 1943 in Tyneham, where time stood still when the army told everyone to leave because they needed the surrounding hills for training. Most weekends and throughout the summer school holidays the village is open to the public and you can stroll along the main street, between the abandoned stone cottages and poke your head into the old schoolhouse and church.
It’s still 1943 in Tyneham, where time stood still when the army told everyone to leave because they needed the surrounding hills for training. Most weekends and throughout the summer school holidays the village is open to the public and you can stroll along the main street, between the abandoned stone cottages and poke your head into the old schoolhouse and church.
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