The biblically faithful follower of Christ must respond to the culture with both grace and truth. In part 4 of Sexuality, Culture and the Bible, Pastor Dan Cox reads from John 1:1-18.
Subscribe to new episodes:
Or search for Wonder Lake Bible Church in your favorite podcasts app.
(more…)
These are actual complaints received by Thomas Cook Holidays from dissatisfied “English” customers:
1. “I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.”
2. “It’s lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during ‘siesta’ time – this should be banned.”
3. “On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food.”
4. “We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price.”
5. “The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room.”
6. “We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow.”
7. “They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax.”
8. “No one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared.”
9. “Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers.”
10. “We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish.”
11. “The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun.”
12. “It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair.”
13. “I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends’ three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller.”
14. “The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the resort’. We’re trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service.”
15. “There were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners.”
16. “We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning.”
17. “It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel.”
18. “I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes.”
19. "My fiancé and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.”
~ Author Unknown. Seen in Cup O’ Cheer
God has designed holy marriage as a one flesh union between one man and one woman, faithful for life. In part 3 of Sexuality, Culture and the Bible, Pastor Dan Cox reads from Genesis 2:18-25.
Subscribe to new episodes:
Or search for Wonder Lake Bible Church in your favorite podcasts app.
(more…)
God calls us to holy sexuality within the gracious confines of biblical marriage. In part 2 of Sexuality, Culture and the Bible, Pastor Dan Cox reads from 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.
Subscribe to new episodes:
Or search for Wonder Lake Bible Church in your favorite podcasts app.
(more…)
May God keep both your bodies and your hearts safe.
May He help you to know the right thing to do in every situation, and may you choose to do it.
May He give you courage to be strong in tough situations.
May He make you be friends who are willing to lay down your own desires to meet the needs of a friend.
May He help you be kind to others, and let others be kind to you.
May He help you remember to pray in sticky situations.
May He help you to watch your words. Let your words build others up and not tear them down.
May you always know that you are God’s masterpiece, no matter what anyone else says.
Help me to make home a refuge for them, a place where they can rest and be comforted after a hard day.
May He help you be respectful of others, both adults and other children.
May He help you open your minds to learning, but help you remember to compare everything you are taught against God’s word.
May He help you to grow this year in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Help me to be the parent that they need. Let me hold onto my patience and look to You for wisdom before opening my mouth.
Let this year be filled with joy and unexpected gifts.
Amen.
As seen in Cup O’ Cheer
We like to sing hymns in our church—the older the better. We often put new music to them, but sometimes we sing the songs as written. The power of the words, the beautiful melodies, the fact that Christians sang these truths long before us, make hymns an important part of our worship.
Colossians 1:15-23 is a poem and was likely an early hymn that Paul used in his letter. These lyrics weren’t simply theological truths (though they were that), but they were also affirmations of loyalty to the kingdom of King Jesus over the Roman Empire.
When Paul referred to Jesus as the “image” of God, he used the Greek word eikon (Colossians 1:15). The eikon of Caesar may have been on every coin, and it was plastered on the empire’s banners and architecture. But Paul asserted that Jesus (not Caesar) was the true king, the one whose image offered us God and requires our worship.
Further, historical records made many references to Caesar that this hymn would have countered. Caesar was said to be “equal to the beginning of all things,” the “beginning of life and vitality,” the “savior,” and the one who “put an end to war and … set all things in order.” Caesar was even declared “god manifest.”
With that background, consider a few lines from the hymn the church sang: Jesus “existed before anything … and is supreme over creation” (Colossians 1:15). Through Jesus, “God created everything” (Colossians 1:16). Jesus holds “all creation together” (Colossians 1:17). And to be perfectly clear: Jesus is over all “thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities” (Colossians 1:16).
Singing a hymn of loyalty to Jesus is an act of subversion; it’s against every other power that would make claim to our allegiance.
— Winn Collier
Read Colossians 1:1-29. Where do you see other words of loyalty to Jesus and acts of disloyalty to the powers of this world?
What kingdoms and powers are asking for your allegiance? What hymn lyrics speak to your heart?
As seen in Our Daily Journey With God via Cup O’ Cheer
