Bev Sterk
I grew up in the CRC, and am still here, along with my family. I'm married to Daryl, who has a construction business. I had a CPA license for 10 or so years, then I added EX to the front, and MOM to the back, so now I'm an EX CPA, MOM =). I am MOM to Duncan, Ian and Samantha. Our family also owns a raspberry farm, and in the summers we get to work out there.
Posted in: What is a Reformed Charismatic?
Sam, I would like to know of these scriptures... do you have a link or document or something as a resource on this? Thx.
Posted in: What is a Reformed Charismatic?
This is one thing I struggle with, that there is no place/table, if you will, in the crc structure for the gift of prophecy to be tested/shared in a safe way. I call this cessationist residue. The council might be a place, but if you are a woman, and there are no women on the council, we are potentially missing 1/2 of the prophetic gifting available to the church. This is totally separate from women in office. It is about the prophetic gifting.
Posted in: Teaching Boys to Respect Girls: Why It Matters
Having recently read numerous blogs/articles related to the sovereign grace ministries lawsuit, as well as becoming aware of a number of situations where (all kinds of) abuse and inappropriate sexual behavior have been covered up in the Church, I have found several headlines that I believe sum up what is going on: "Abuse thrives in a cultures of shame and silence" and "protecting the powerful at the expense of the weak"
it is time for honest transparency in the Church, to stop covering up and saving face...
it's time to follow I Timothy 5:20 so other leaders will be warned.
and it's time to deal with the sexual objectification of women that is so prevalent in our culture
It's time to speak up on behalf of the weak and vulnerable, that are the victims of abuse!
Posted in: Twice (a Month) - the New Normal?
This is not good news, and I find it a disturbing trend. We/the crc are suppose to be a fairly mature denomination of believers. This does not indicate that. This indicates heart issues (faith formation?) that need to be addressed. It seems we have made many other things a priority, other than the Kingdom. I know there are many reasons why we can not be in church every time the doors are open, some are valid, some are not, but God calls us to seek His Kingdom first. This is one indicator that we are not. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind... I know we will never perfectly attain this until we get through heaven's gate, but this is an indicator that we are not and instead maybe we are treating Jesus more as a "mascot" instead of as our "Monarch". (see David Bryant's "Christ is ALL" p.12-14)
The level of prayer in the North American church is another indicator of our lack of investing our resources into the Kingdom (95% of believers pray 5 minutes or less a day).
The giving level of believers at 2-3% of income is a significant indicator, and lack of fasting another indicator. These are all serious problems in the Church. Why? We have significantly missed the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit for a variety of reasons. I'm not saying we have totally missed it, but we have to a significant extent.
I appreciate John's comments. and I would love to see the Church gathering on a daily basis at various levels... I think the Koreans gather every morning for prayer...
Posted in: Twice (a Month) - the New Normal?
Why is attendance important? It's one indicator of our heart's desire to love God with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength, it is one indicator of seeking His Kingdom first. That God and spending time with Him is our top priority. God tells us over and over again to seek His face, worshipping together is a key way.
Why are we not meeting daily like the early church? I would love to see this happen. Curious as to when and where did we lose this rhythm?
under the emotional investment... whatever we do is first unto the LORD! He is our audience of One! I help lead an extended time of worship, and it doesn't matter how many people are there, because we are there for Jesus! Because He is worthy of our praise. God takes the pain of poor attendance and lack of enthusiasm to spend time with Him far more "starkly" than we ever will.
Posted in: Twice (a Month) - the New Normal?
John, your posts make me think of Isaiah 58:13-14...
Posted in: Twice (a Month) - the New Normal?
thanks Phil, I agree that it is a key component for the health of our congregations... I'm hoping to watch the workshop you shared at the prayer summit on this... do you know if they are available for viewing yet?
I think I will work on encouraging believers in the use of the daily office, maybe through a website such as oremus, to use as one of their devotional times...
http://oremus.org/
blessings as the Spirit gives you insight to build up and edify the Bride of Christ...
Posted in: Twice (a Month) - the New Normal?
thanks John for your encouragement... Believe you me, I am "influencing" every opportunity the Spirit gives me =) and I'm very thankful for forums like the network that let us discuss and sharpen concepts with others that have a similar frame of reference regarding our faith, as well as thankful to be given numerous occasions to have face to face discussions... but I will say I do get frustrated when people are resistant/fearful of this particular gift of the Spirit. I believe there are many (and all do to some extent per Acts 2) in our denomination that have the gift of prophecy, but are basically unaware of it, because it has not been taught or identified; it seems it is not understood very well. I have discussed this with numerous people, and when i share with them how the gifting works, it's like an "aha" moment for them... then there are others that insist God doesn't "speak" to us anymore other than through scripture and its illumination by the Holy Spirit, or that such "listening" is dangerous.
No, it's more dangerous for us not to walk in this gifting (therefore quenching the Spirit), then to walk in it, even if we do make mistakes. Again, scripture says to "eagerly desire". Training and teaching on this gifting will hopefully eliminate many of the mistakes that can be made. That is one of the reasons why people are resistant, because they can point to examples where significant harm was done because someone said "thus saith the LORD" or "God told me..." .. that's why it's very important learning how to test, and test together whatever "prophetic" insight is shared. Otherwise it is a door for people to get off track into a cult and chaos to occur per John McArthur. Several keys for those operating in the prophetic are: to be much in the Word, to be much in prayer and worship, and to be in fellowship with and under the authority of a local church. If believers are not willing to honor and submit to the authority of the church, that is an indication of not being in alignment with the Spirit. I will say the Spirit really opened up this gifting for me as He worked on my prayer life, and I see this gifting stronger with those who spend significant amounts of time in prayer. Now is that a hard and fast rule, probably not, but the 2 do seem to have a pretty strong correlation.
So yes, I'll keep "influencing" ;)... but hopefully it's sharpening, because as Michael shared (oh yeah, that was in another thread =) so see PVK's thread on women and classis under the classis forum for that comment), everything must line up with scripture, we cannot go outside of scripture - that is dangerous, and that's why being in a body of believers is so important to keep us accountable.
Posted in: Christ’s Face in a Street Person
Praise the LORD! this link to this video of Matthew west's song, my own little world, by Christ Church of the Heartland in Texas is working again. It is such a powerful video and it was profound timing when I first watched it...
I encourage you to watch this... It's HIS time!!!
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=FJ2F91NU&utm_source=GodTube%20Must-See%20Video&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01/04/2012
Posted in: My Dream for the Christian Reformed Church
hmmm. lots of thoughts, here's a few... not sure if you left this out on purpose or why it's you didn't mention it, but one of the areas I feel like the LORD is opening up to minister to us is through the gift of prophecy, which will use both creation and the Word. Is the Spirit in us a "3rd book" . The Word is one, creation or confirmation via the natural is one, and the Spirit in us ministers to us as well, all 3 will point us to God (which the Spirit is of course) and help us live our lives through daily leading and guidance.
next thought... a few weeks ago, was wrestling with "programs", and a conclusion I came to, was that God is an infinitely creative God. We (humans) tend to jump on something that worked a few times and then turn it into a program and market it and say how it will "grow" your church or whatever. What i believe is God wants us to spend time listening to Him every time. He is so creative and longs for us to spend time with Him. Sometimes I wonder if using "cut and dried" programs, gives us an out of spending time in "listening" communion with Him, but then we miss out on what He's got planned for us because we are using and "old word" so to speak.
and the last thought I'll share is a confirmation of this insight...
boq... Imagine a church filled with people whose every moment is attuned to the presence and glory of God. This would be attractive. This would be meaningful. This would grow God’s church. eoq eoqee
that reminded me of a statement for Mary Geegh's little book "God Guides" p10... "How wonderful the world will be when everyone is guided by God's Holy Spirit..." not saying we'll see perfection here on earth, but i think it is a key for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Blessings to you as you pursue the thoughts that the Spirit is stirring up =)..
Posted in: Weight Loss is a Lot Like Sanctification
Bless your hearts... beautiful insights, I sense hearts/spirits being stirred with His Spirit...
When we share the good things, aka testimonies, of what He is doing in our lives, we are reflecting Him, His light...
I have found sharing His stories of what He's doing in my life does 2 things, one encourages those around me who are struggling themselves and hungry for more of Him, or gives me insight to pray on behalf of someone when they are "critical" in some way. It makes me double check myself as well, to make sure there isn't a valid concern.
I love Miss Martha, she's practical, industrious and diplomatic, and I can totally relate to her "plea" in Luke 10:40... she was distracted with much serving aka a lot of work, very busy... then says to Jesus... "don't You care... (that I'm doing all this work alone, no one's helping me)" classic pity party... the enemy loves to isolate us and make us feel like we are the only ones struggling with something or doing anything about some injustice or whatever it might be... so when we share our testimonies, it breaks that deception that we are the only ones who struggle with whatever issue it is, and instead connect on a deeper level. hope that makes sense..
let us draw near to Him with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Hebr. 10:22a)
Posted in: Weight Loss is a Lot Like Sanctification
I just read the testimony from Robin Mark, the musician who composed of Days of Elijah of how that song came to be (btw, "he" wrote/composed it in about 30 minutes-see link for full testimony). It confirmed the struggle that we can feel alone and isolated some times, as Elijah, who felt "alone and isolated" after his "battle" with the enemy on Mt. Carmel. This is a common attack from the enemy, particularly after we have experienced a powerful move of God. So let's continue to encourage each other as we follow His leading and guidance, through the testimonies of how He works through our obedience in response to His promptings... every glimpse we see of believers growing in their faith, in their relationship with Jesus, is very significant, and incredible encouragement to each other. It is food for our souls, and fire for our prayers.
from Robin's testimony:
I felt in my spirit that He replied to my prayer by saying that indeed He was very much in control and that the days we were living in were special times when He would require Christians to be filled with integrity and to stand upI for Him just like Elijah did, particularly with the prophets of Baal. “These are ‘Elijah’ days”. Elijah’s story is in the book of Kings and you can read how he felt isolated and alone in the culture in which he lived. But God told him to stand up and speak for Him.
http://psalm2004.com/2009/04/24/days-of-elijah/
and as our pastor shared this morning," if you are moving in His Spirit, you are desperate for encouragement"...