Queen's Road Cell

Discipleship in action – Purity Introduction P urity can mean: 1. freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes. 2. physical chastity; virginity. 3. freedom from any admixture or modifying addition. 5. ceremonial or ritual cleanness. The person who is in right relationship with God is to live a life of purity. Again and again in Scripture, we are told to have a pure heart (Matt. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:5; Heb. 9:14; Jas. 4:8; 1 Peter 1:22). In the original languages purity renders the Hebrew tahowr , zak, bar (ritually clean, purified   in the Pentateuch. Flawless. “Clean animals,” “pure gold”) or Greek hagnos, atharos (chaste,   clear, clean) (cf. the linen cloth wrapping Jesus’ body (Mt 27:59) Understanding this helps us to understand that the concept of purity is closely related to holiness and righteousness. It has to do with sinlessness. There are both external and internal aspects to these concepts. You can hav...

Joyce and I shared about our attending the wake of a son of a Christian couple I had known from my JC days. This young man had been having problems at work and had just broken up with his long-standing girlfriend. We saw the broken hearts of the parents and remembered also our own bereavement when Doreen died. Suicide is always the hardest way to die in how it affects the family of the deceased. I know we have spoken on this issue before, but we again affirmed that suicide is not an unforgivable sin - but one in which the sinner has no chance to repent. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is truly unforgivable, is when the sinner has no desire to repent.So the believing Christian who is truly saved should be saved even if he/she sins and takes his/her own life. Not every one of us will have the opportunity to confess our sins if we die suddenly, after all. We also did a brief recap of "why bad things happen to good people". Our response then is: 1. There are no good...

We asked ourselves what makes a comparison "false", as opposed to "true". A "false comparison" is so if certain things are not meant to be compared in the first place, and this includes aspects of our relationship with the Lord. It is also "false" when the attitude behind wanting to know more about another person is incorrect. It is certainly not wrong to be concerned about another Christian or to compare ourselves to one another. In fact, when we "stir up one another to love and good works" (Heb 10:24-25), and interact with one another as "iron sharpens iron" (Pr 27:17), comparisons are necessary for our spiritual growth. A certain competetiveness is not unchristian (c.f. Paul's use of this to encourage the Corinthians to give in 2 Cor 9:1-5). What would be wrong is when comparisons are done because of insecurity, self-gratification of curiosity and a desire to be superior to others. Busybodies and gossips seek and ...

I shared how Joyce and I were visiting another cell on Good Friday as part of an 'inspection tour' and how they were doing spiritual gifts in Book 4.2. Listening to their sharing helped me realize how fortunate I felt to be able to serve in church in areas where I am gifted. We shared that our service in church need not always be in areas where we feel capable or gifted. We also serve where there are areas of need when no one else is available for a critical task. When He does this He always provides the resources and the grace to see us through. And sometimes the experiences we have in areas where we feel unsuited make us better equipped for service in areas where we feel more comfortable. We asked the question: if the Holy Spirit leads us into all the truth(Jn 16:13), how is it that Christians with the Spirit can disagree on practical and doctrinal matters? One possible reason is that our experiences and mindset obscure the voice of the Spirit, but it is probably more corre...

The resurrection and discipleship Introduction A basic tenet of our faith For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.  (1 Co 15:1-8) “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne,  he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, th...

We first talked about "success" and whether we regarded ourselves as successful people. There was a general reluctance to call ourselves "successful". But Eugene made the excellent point that success would be achieved if we could hear the "Well done, good and faithful servant" of Christ at the end. We know that there are some aspects of our lives that are more successful than others, whether spiritual or secular. I shared that I thought success could be defined in terms of discipleship - in FFMC we have defined a disciple as " one who is in the process of becoming all that Christ has called him or her to be and do. There is a longing to follow Christ (Lk 14:27 ), know Him (Jn 10:14 ) and become increasingly like Him (Mt 10:25 , Lk 6:40 , 2 Cor 3:18 ). We are successful when we are faithful disciples. We do fail morally as well as in terms of not achieving task-oriented goals, although the distinction between these categories of failure can be blurre...

Shaun and Wen Ai celebrated 8 years of their knowing one another and 4 years of marriage recently with a nice wagyu dinner! They shared how they still found marriage fun. Despite arguments they maintain their happy state by guarding mutual dignity even in the midst of arguments, not directing attacks personally, and learning how to love one another not to hurt each other even when hurting. They try to set out their personal opinions and hurts in the correct framework and context. We had a short discussion on relationships and submission in the context of a Christian marriage. Wen Ai said that we needed to teach our girls what to look for in a husband - they need not just to find someone whom they can love, but respect as well. We said that the submission that Ephesian 5 calls wives to give is not a sign of inferiority, but of role. The husband cannot demand submission in such a way that wives sin. The wife must render submission to Christ above submission to the husband, although th...