Disclaimer: I’ll try to explain the film without giving too much away, but consider this your “Spoiler Alert.”

While exploring a remote area near Canyonlands National Park in Utah, Aron Ralston (played by Academy Nominated James Franco) gets stuck in a crevasse with his right arm pinned against the wall by a boulder. The film explores the thoughts, emotions and challenges facing Ralston while he is stuck in the cave for 127 hours.  The film – and Franco in particular – do a good job of exploring both the realization of the problem and the process of solving that problem.
The original lure of the film is watching how this man will survive. I had assumed that the climax of the film would be when Ralston finally gets free from the boulder that trapped him. However, the filmmakers surprised me with where they placed the climax. The story takes an unexpected turn when it identifies the actual “problem” facing our hero.

So you don’t have to stay up all night reading this blog, I’m going to focus on the main reason marriage is important (at least what I think the main reason is, but you can tell me later if you agree).

I believe God designed marriage to develop our understanding for and participation in Jesus’ relationship with his bride, the church. Think through this short historical overview with me.

1. First, the Genesis creation account establishes marriage as God’s idea and plan for humanity (Genesis 1-2).
2. Then, God commends marriage throughout the Old Testament period, and even uses marriage as a metaphor for how he sees his relationship with the nation of Israel (Isaiah 54:5; 62:5; Hosea 2:19).

Because I tend to buy stuff that I don’t really need at auctions, I rarely go anymore. BUT, I found some tv shows that show auctions and now I can see other people’s purchases!  Ever watch “Auction Kings”?  It’s very exciting to watch people bring stuff in and put a value on it and then see if the auction brings anything close to that!  Recently, I discovered the “Barrett-Jackson Auction” which is high end cars that are auctioned off.  Cars regularly get auctioned off for $100,000 to $200,000!!!  Can you imagine the “whoosh” (remember Jeff’s sermon), that those buyers must get?  Can you imagine spending that kind of money on a car that they are probably not going to drive?  Most of the cars are added to existing collections of cars that these people have! 

Why do I find this curious?  It’s because of the way we, at other times, express our feelings towards children.  We all have heard the phrase:  “just a child” in our casual conversations.  “Yes, there will be six for dinner, but one is just a child.”  Oh, well, we can be late for the game … he’s just a child, he won’t care.”  “Don’t worry, I can meet with you – I was just supposed to take my kid to lunch.”  How about … “We won’t go to the church service this week because it’s just the children.”  And then there are the horrible, degrading bumper stickers that I will not quote … but please remove them from your car!

(All the books mentioned below are available in the Northview Online Bookstore under the subheading of “Women & The Eldership Question”)

Kevin DeYoung, Freedom and Boundaries.

DeYoung’s book is great mostly because it is accessible. If you want a concise presentation of the complementarian view on this issue (which is the view I believe the Bible teaches), this is a great place to start. He’s also an excellent writer with a good sense of humor.

Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth.
Wayne Grudem, Countering the Claims of Evangelical Feminism.

Cast a look around any weekend in church, and you’ll note many, many individuals simply standing (and apparently quite uninvolved) during our times of sung worship. I have to ask whether or not we understand the significance of why we make time for singing at church.

Now I’m fully aware that there are times of worship during which silent reflection is appropriate, necessary, and desirable. And there have been times where I, or others I know of, have been unable to sing the lyrics there before me - for a number of reasons perhaps. However, do we really take the time to reflect during those times? Or do we simply take our cue that ‘not singing’ is appropriate during times of corporate worship singing.

Quite simply, to evangelize is to verbally communicate or proclaim or preach the Gospel message.

We preach the Gospel but allow the Holy Spirit to do the “work” (that is – to soften the heart, convict sin, lead to repentance, and assure salvation).

Evangelism isn’t a sales job. Evangelism is obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit so that He can work.

Should everyone proclaim the Gospel?

Absolutely! Check out Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-6; and Acts 1:8 for some examples of commands to preach the Gospel.

Did you read them?

Good.

Now, let’s explore the topic of evangelism a little bit further.

Here at Northview, we try to equip, empower and encourage all who call Northview their home church to live in response to the Gospel, so that people around them are impacted with the good news of what Jesus Christ has done for them. We try to get people to guide their passions, use their gifts and relate with others in such a way that God is glorified and the Gospel is proclaimed – because everyone has a role to play in preaching the Gospel.

I hold strongly to the belief that all Holy Spirit filled disciples of Christ ought to make disciples – this discipleship process begins by proclaiming the gospel of what Christ has done for us, so that people may believe. How will someone become a disciple unless they believe? How will they believe unless they have heard the Gospel preached? And how will they hear unless someone verbally communicates it to them (see Romans 10:14)?

In light of all these objections, you would expect a preacher like me to come out defending church attendance, wouldn’t you? The more cynical among us would likely point out that my job is at stake here, so I have a lot to lose if people start listening to Pastor Pillow at Bedside Baptist instead of making the trek to hang out with hypocrites like me. Not wanting to let the cynics down, might I suggest three reasons that going to church is more important than you think?

1. Christianity is a faith that happens in community.

OK. I’ll say this as straight as I can - The New Testament writers just don’t have a category for churchless Christians. To have God as your Father is to have the church as your brothers and sisters. This is a line from Joseph Hellerman’s s outstanding book, When the Church was a Family…

These days, what do you think of when you hear the word membership?

You may think of paying an annual fee so that you can be able to purchase goods from a website or at Costco.

There can be a certain status associated to a membership if that membership is a very tough one to acquire. But, what does membership mean when it pertains to a membership at a church?

Let’s be clear, being a member of a church does not make you any more or less spiritual.

You would have to search and do some interpretational gymnastics to find where membership is mentioned in the Bible.

Now, I’m a Narnia fan from way back, reading the series for the first time when I was 19 (I know, a little old, but had never encountered them until I heard about C.S. Lewis at the Intervarstity Christian book table at S.F.U.).  I guess what I’ve loved most of all about the books (having read them as a Christian) is their beautifully crafted allegory of the Bible. In The Magician’s Nephew, we saw Creation. In the Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, we saw Calvary and the Resurrection so eloquently symbolized. The imagery doesn’t end, and in fact, is quite powerful in ‘Dawntreader’. The recent M.B. Herald issue has a series of articles by Randy Klassen pointing some of these out, and I recommend reading them, either in hand or on line – from August through November so far.

So feel free to put a post below or email us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and share your story.

I’ll start.

I could hardly wait to attend the PNE this year. For those of you who don’t live in the Fraser Valley, PNE stands for Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver’s annual Fair. Like every fair there are rides and shows and food and marketplace booths. I was going for the marketplace booths.

You see, at last year’s fair I saw bedding sheets for sale. These were no ordinary bedding sheets; these were Egyptian cotton bedding sheets. And they weren’t just Egyptian cotton bedding sheets; they were 1200 count Egyptian cotton bedding sheets. As you can tell I love bedding, soft, luxurious, melt-into-the-bed, bedding, and these sheets promised that and more.

A new fall season has begun. The new theme for Women’s Ministries at Northview is she loves together.

We know that as men and women, the more we engage with each other around common interests and serving opportunities, the more God’s love is visible in us and through us to our world.

So why don’t we love our world more? I can name a few of my own reasons:

    If you’re anything like me (which one of me is enough!), then your week can often start off by the tone set emotionally, physically and spiritually from within you. If you don’t believe me, then take a moment to ponder the events of your past week. Let’s say the weekend was sunny, warm and you got to hang out with friends/family…maybe had a nice bar‐b‐q…went for a run…played some golf…went on a hike. Your relationships seemed to go without incident, and you went to church, heard a good message, sang songs that really connected with you…and you even remember the kind words your employer gave you the previous week about a job/task done well, or your kids seemed particularly appreciative and respectful of your parenting. Your spouse pays extra attention, and perhaps surprises you with some extra love and kindness…what a great weekend.  Monday rolls around, it’s still sunny and you’re ready to get on with a “good” start to the week, and you find that little voice within saying; “Praise God…what a great life I’m blessed with!”