Together for the Gospel

Jeff has mentioned to several of us how much he and the other BCLR pastors were encouraged by their time at the T4G conference. He has made a special reference to Pastor John Piper's message and encouraged us to listen.

Here is the link to the FREE mp3's from all 8 sessions, including not only Piper, but CJ Mahaney, John MacArthur, Al Mohler and others. Also, if you haven't seen their blog yet, check it out.

Worship Matters

"The Great God values not the service of men, if the heart be not in it: The Lord sees and judges the heart; He has no regard to outward forms of worship, if there be no inward adoration, if no devout affection be employed therein. it is therefore a matter of inifinte importance, to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God."

Isaac Watts, Discourses on the Love of God. Taken from Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters.

2.22 Logo

I've been after Aaron Malyk for quite some time now to design a new logo for 2.22. He has accomplished his assignment and done well, IMHO. You'll be seeing this new logo incorporated into blog headers (hit "F5" to refresh this page and watch a different header image appear), flyers, etc. (bumper stickers?). Below are some excerpts from an email he sent me explaining the elements of the logo. I thought that it would help you understand the artistic expression behind what we stand for.

With the name of the group being 2:22, I felt the most important basis for the 'branding' was to find a typeface with a good '2' numeral (see BBC Two branding links below.) After searching and searching and not being able to find what I was looking for, I ended up designing a custom '2' numeral based around circles and complementary geometrics, to try and achieve the most perfect '2' ever designed. This might sound completely crazy to you, but I really couldn't find a '2' which looked good enough. I wanted perfectly rounded ends, a good heavy weight and clean straight lines.

I've used the 2 numeral I designed, with a subset colon. I felt it was better to go with a colon than a period, since that's how scripture references are usually presented and without it you lose the meaning entirely. But subsetting the colon provides an aesthetically-pleasing deviation from the norm and makes the logo distinctive and memorable. The subset colon gives the text and identity, and creates a logo.

I've also paired the 2:22 logo with a brush-strokes icon which I really like. The idea with the brush strokes was to, very loosely, tie in the logo with the scripture on which it is based. The scripture commands us, in summary, to flee passions on the one hand, and pursue virtues on the other. So the brush strokes icon gives a sense of movement from (left to right) disorder and passion to more order and solidity. I think together with the clean 2:22 type on top there is a distinctive icon which makes for a logo with 100s of applications...

Be sure to thank Aaron for his hard & creative work!

I've Wasted It

For me as a boy, one of the most gripping illustrations my fiery father used was the story of a man converted in old age. The
church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone’s amazement he came and took my father’s hand.
They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the
people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face—and what an impact it made on me to hear my father say this through his own tears—“I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted it!”
~Don't Waste Your Life, John Piper

Does your life seem like a blur? Do you feel like you're not making the most out of the resources God has given you? This Tuesday night we'll be addressing the topics of time & money in our study on relationships. How does your use of time & money reflect your relationship with God? With others? In preparation for our study, you might want to be ready 2 Corinthians 8 & 9 and Ephesians 5:15-21.

To encourage you to think about these two areas in our lives that we most often steward poorly, we want to invite you out Tuesday at 6:30. As a supplement to your study, we'll be giving away 3 CD copies of an interview that John Piper did on FamilyLife several years ago. These interviews are based on the topic of Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life. Many of you have already read this book, but if you haven't, you can read the book online here. Did you know that Desiring God also has a DWYL podcast? Listen and/or read the DWYL blog here.

Hope to see you Tuesday.

2.22 Sunday Lunch w/ Jeff & Judy

There's nothing like Sunday lunch. If you were raised in a family that treasured the time around the table after a morning of Lord's Day worship, then you know what I mean.

As part of our 2.22 Summer 2008 activities, Jeff & Judy want to invite you into their home once a month for Sunday lunch (in the house!). We'll gather there immediately following the morning worship service for a meal (on the house!) and hopefully good conversation as we discuss the morning message.

We'll begin these lunches in June (to allow for the Crotts' to recover from their May vacation!) and on the dates below. If you're on Facebook, you'll also receive an invite for which you may RSVP.

2.22 Sunday Lunch with Jeff & Judy

June 8
July 13
August 10

2.22 Saturday Night Fellowship

Pastor Jeff & the leadership of 2.22 are wanting to give you plenty of opportunities for mutual encourage and koinonia this summer. Here is just one of those opportunities:

For the next four months of May, June, July & August, 2.22 will be having a Saturday night fellowship at the home of Aaron & Anita Wilson. We'll grill some burgers & enjoy outdoor games/activities. The dates are listed below as well as in the sidebar and we'll always begin around 5pm.

You'll want to be sure and bring a lawn chair & if we need you to bring any food items, we'll let you know before the date. If you're on Facebook, you'll also receive an event invitation for which you can RSVP.

If you have any game or activity ideas or just need directions, please email us!

2.22 Saturday Night Fellowship

May 31
June 28
July 26
August 23

NEW 2.22 Facebook Profile

I've created a new Facebook profile for 2.22. We currently have a 2.22 "Group", which doesn't allow me to add photo or podcast apps like you can on a main profile page. Most of you should be getting invitations, but if you don't, you can go directly to the new page and submit a friend request.

And yes - I'll admit... I'm starting to like Facebook.

An Indestructible Relationship

If you weren't at 2.22 Tuesday night you missed a great message from the first two chapters of Job. Pastor Jeff showed us how Job’s indestructible relationship with God manifested itself in two faith-filled expressions, found in Job 1:20-22 & Job 2:9-10.

As part of his message, he quoted from John Piper's poem "The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God". This poem - published also in a book is available as a free online pdf file.

The Desiring God website says this of the book:

Job lost everything: his wealth, his health, and his ten children. All swept away in one satanic storm. Reduced to a heap of flesh, ashes, and tears—rebuked by friends and jeered by strangers—righteous Job wrestled over the purpose and presence of God in the midst of unbearable pain.
In this book, John Piper recounts the story of Job in beautiful, compassionate poetry and revels in God's sovereign and surprisingly joyful purposes in allowing exquisite suffering in the lives of his saints. A deeply moving book, especially for those experiencing great suffering and loss.

Piper is as much a poet as he is a preacher, so you're bound to enjoy this work - which was recently reviewed here (ht:Abraham Piper). We'll have Jeff's sermon audio available on our podcast later today.

New Feature Feed: Josh Harris

Having featured New Attitude's blog for about a month now, we'll narrow it down a bit and feature Na's "founder" and conference speaker, Josh Harris. You'll find on his blog everything from his sermon series to Sovereign Grace goings on to news about his popular twin brothers.

You'll find the Josh Harris Feature Feed in the sidebar. Enjoy!

PLOW Patrol

April 5th marked the re-launching of "PLOW Patrol". PLOW Patrol is an opportunity for 2.22 to serve others in our church body or community. We recently served Jim & Billy Gaye Viner while Jim was still recovering from a recent surgery. In just a few hours, we were able to rake their entire yard & gather a nice collection of curbside baggage (see a few photos in the sidebar).

We will continue this through the summer months - always on the first Saturday morning of each month. The next PLOW Patrol will be on May 3rd. This is the annual BCLR churchwide workday, so we'll be joining in with the rest of the body to do some spring cleaning in and around our own church.

Please mark on your calendars the following dates & join us for a great time of serving.

May 3rd - BCLR Workday at the church

June 7 - Location TBA

July 5 - Location TBA

August 2 - Location TBA

Mercy

Tuesday night, April 1st, we considered the topic of mercy as we continued our study on relationships. I just finished reading & wanted to recommend a book to you that I think exemplifies true mercy.

When Invisible Children Sing is a true story of Dr. Chi Huang & his short time with the street children of Bolivia. After four years of Harvard Med School, Chi - a Christian - only needed a few classes to graduate. Instead, he asked & was granted a one year sabbatical. For the first half of that year, he studied the Old & New Testaments. Then, he wanted to serve - anywhere - as long as it was in a poor & pitiful place. The street children in Bolivia were a perfect fit for Chi's desires. Ninety percent of street children in Bolivia are drug addicts and the sexual activity among them leads to disease, abortion and further poverty.

Chi walked - literally - among these children for months treating their diseases, bandaging their wounds, medicating their illnesses - but most importantly - he was there to be there, for the kids. Kids who daily solicit for drugs, sex or money simply wanted from Chi his attention. And he gave it.

Telling the stories of five individual children and mentioning many more, Chi Huang presents his life experiences in manageable bits of story, written cleverly and jumping steadily from one night on the street to another days later. At times he takes the reader back to his own childhood and his experiences being a smart and unpopular student, a highly talented tennis player, and a typical bratty brother to his younger sister until her untimely death from Leukemia when he was a teenager.

Chi's mission of mercy is one to be admired. Serving the poorest of the poor - the weakest of the weak - in the streets and sewers of a poverty stricken city, should give us all a renewed desire to show mercy to all. This is an easy yet compelling read & I highly recommend securing a copy for yourself. Or, you can borrow mine!

You can buy the book at amazon and read more about the ongoing ministry started by Dr. Chi here.

Last night's message will be available as a podcast soon - but in the meantime, you can download the 21.5 MB file by clicking here.