Resolved

Again, from Jonathan Edwards. He write this at the age if 19!

#4 Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or
body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor
suffer it, if I can avoid it.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Rob Signs
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My Inheritance in the Saints

This from Milton Vincent in his book, "A Gospel Primer"

"The gospel is not just a message of reconciliation with God, but it also heralds the reconciliation of all believers to one another in Christ. Through the death of Christ, God has brought peace where there was once hostility, and He has broken down the racial, economic, and social barriers that once divided us outside of Christ. (Eph. 2:14-16, Col. 3:11, Gal. 3:28, Rev. 5:9)

Also, when God saved us, He made us members of His household (Eph. 2:19), and He gave us as gifts to one another (Eph. 1:18). Each brother and sister is a portion of my gospel inheritance from God and I am a portion of their inheritance as well. We are significant players in each other's gospel narrative, and it is in relationship with one another that we experience the fullness of God in Christ (Eph. 3:17-19).

Hence, the more I comprehend the full scope of the gospel, the more I value the church for which Christ died (Eph. 5:25), the more I value the role that I play in the lives of my fellow Christians, and the more I appreciate the role that they must be allowed to play in mine."

This reminds me of the importance of the local church in the life of a believer. I've talked many times about commitment to the local church with my students and the volunteers in the HSM here at Immanuel. The more I read and study the more convinced I become that our love for Christ should be expressed through commitment to and service in our local church. I'm so thankful to Milton Vincent (a pastor in Riverside) for writing this book. It's so helpful on many levels and as I read this section this morning I was encouraged by this and just wanted to pass it on.

As we conclude our "Commit 2 Connect" campaign, I thought it was a great devotional thought on the importance of our commitment to our local church.

Rob
<><

Only in Hollywood...

So we're about to see Alice in Wonderland at the historic El Capitan
Theater in Hollywood (in 3D as well) and there's a live organ player
playing Disney songs while we wait for the show. There are also a
series of curtains that open before the show. Movie set pieces and
costumes are all over the theater. Very cool! Defintely worth the trip
to see it here at one of Disney's priemere theaters.

Korean-BBQ-Taco

Only in LA will you find this. And actually, it's quite tasty. Here in
LA on our "Spring Break Secret" activity. Seen quite a few things/
places so far. On our way now to more adventure!

Who knew?

Who knew we'd run into Beethoven in downtown LA? You never know what
will happen on a SIX33 HSM trip!

Dr. Hogly Wogly's

Amazing Texas BBQ place in Van Nuys!

Salvadoran Lunch

Nothing quite like a fresh Pupusa from Ara's kitchen for lunch. I'm
still not quite sure what a pupusa is, but it was quite tasty.

Base Isolated

LA City Hall is the tallest "base-isolated" structure in the world.
Interesting fact. Perhaps less interesting is the fact that I have no
idea what that means.

Only in LA!

Only in LA will you find a Korean BBQ Taco truck on the street. Had to
try one.

Bacony Deliciousness!

The Maple Glazed Bacon Donut at the Nickel Diner in the heart of
Downtown LA. Saw this place on Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives and had to
try it. Not so surprisingly, it's really good. I recommend it. Oh,
Brad does too.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

So tonight begins a new Sermon Series at SIX33. The title is "I Want to Hold Your Hand." It's a series on dating. Let's face it. There are many perils associated with dating. There are so many ideas and theories and approaches to what dating should be. Ultimately, we want to think biblically about everything. This is always a struggle as our culture and flesh both want us to think in what is essentially the opposite direction.

So we must ask the question: "what does the Bible say about dating?"
Here's the answer: Nothing. And everything.

I know that sounds vague, but we're going to spend the next few weeks looking at what the Bible teaches about marriage and how that should form the framework for how we think about dating. How we think about dating will lead us to how we date.

We need to build a biblical framework for our lives that affects all of our decisions and actions. All that really matters is what the inspired, authoritative, inerrant Word of God says and what it's implications are for our lives. That's where we're going.

Soli Deo Gloria!
Rob
<><

Resolved

#30 Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher
in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week
before.

Check out the "10 Questions for 2010" in the Sermons & Such section of
the Immanuel website.
www.ibchighland.org/six33

Rob Signs
<><

Resolved

#44
Resolved, that no other end but religion, shall have any influence at
all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least
circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it.

Rob Signs
<><

Quite a trek

So it was quite a trek finding this coffee shop. We'll see if it lives
up to it's reputation or not...

Downtown LA

One of the views we'll have if you discover the secret at www.ibchighland.org/six33

Angels Flight

The shortest railway in the world. Built in 1901 and just reopened
this month. Only .25 to ride!

I love LA!

Filming a commercial

In downtown LA, you never know when you'll happen across a movie or
commercial set. I'm here hanging out with a friend and planning a few
things for our Spring Break Secret and happened across this. It's a
row of Vespas and lots of lights, cameras, actors, and sets. Very cool!

SIX33 Guest

Special guest from Vancouver, Canada Mike Bertness entertains and
shares with the HS and MS at SIX33 tonight.

BENNY HINN CONFRONTS JOEL OSTEEN & OPRAH (Larry King)

This is interesting. I don't really think I can compose the words that I would need to respond to this.
Obviously, Benny Hinn is talking about Joel Osteen, but..... um.....
I just don't know what to say.
When Benny Hinn is calling out Joel Osteen, I just kind of have to laugh.
(I especially love the organ accents)

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-ej7n7Nhns&feature=youtube_gdata

Rob Signs
<><

Resolved

This werk's resolution from Jonathan Edwards:

#30 Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher
in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week
before.

Rob Signs
<><

SWC Variety Show

The High School Choir performing at the Annual Variety Show. They
sing, do skits, and pretty much whatever they're "challenged" to do
(for a reasonable donation of course!)

Will you be my friend?

When we're little, we're pretty open about asking someone to be our friend.
As we get older, we still seek friends and make friends, but we're not as blatant about it (usually)

The trouble is, as we get older, while we should be wiser and more discerning about who we should have as friends, often we're not. We enter into friendships and relationships without the discernment we should have.

Reading through Proverbs brings so many things to the surface. Friendship is one of them. Reading through Proverbs 12, you'll come to verse 26 which says, "One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray." (ESV) The literal meaning of the first part of this verse is: "The righteous chooses his friends carefully" which clarifies the principle so well. 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 essentially tells us that we should not ever join in any spiritual endeavor with someone who is not a believer. This principle certainly applies to many things from marriage to mission trips, but doesn't really address a simple friendship.

Eric Lane, in his excellent commentary on Proverbs, says this:
"The wise/righteous man is very careful whom he chooses for his confidant and adviser (close friend). All this teaches us that friendship is best entered not casually but carefully. In choosing friends we have a duty, to ourselves not to let the demands of friendship lead us astray, and to our friend to help him/her go the right way."

We certainly shouldn't follow the monastic idea of separating ourselves from all things secular and hiding away and not interacting with those who are not followers of Christ at all. We do, however, need to be much wiser in those we choose to be friends with.

One commentator put it this way: We shouldn't allow anyone who is not a believer to have a place in our life where they would have influence over us.

Put simply - the people you choose as friends, those you hang out with, those you spend time with will have a profound influence on you. The one(s) you spend the most time with will have the most influence on you.

Make sure that influence is Godly. One of the guiding principles of the reformation was Soli Deo Gloria. Remember - everything in life is to be to the glory of God. From the little things in life (eating, drinking) all the way up to the friends you choose and every other decision you make - you should seek to glorify God through them.

One of the "Ten Questions" for this year is "How will you intentionally evaluate all of your friendships and determine which ones you should keep?"

Let the Bible (Sola Scriptura) guide you as you answer this question and are obedient to His Word.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Rob

<><

Resolved

More from Jonathan Edwards:

#28 Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and
frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in
the knowledge of the same.

Now that's becoming saturated in Scripture!

The Gospel in Czech!

This morning, as our missionaries prepared to share, I asked Taylor, 14, my favorite question: "What Is the Gospel?" He was taken a little by surprise, and later told me he could have given a better answer if I'd warned him, but I think he did a pretty good job having been put totally on the spot! I'll post a translation in a little bit.

Our Missionaries

Harold & Ginger Johnson, our missionaries this past week. We got to
hear from them this morning in BSF.

YoYo in Czech!

It's pretty much self explanatory...

The Incomparable Al Mohler

So good to hear Dr. Al Mohler, the president of Southern Seminary
preach with 3,000 other Pastors.

Benefits

One of the great benefits of living in
southern California is the ability to grab lunch at In-N-Out any
time. :-)

More fun.....

Toy Story

So Noah & Nate (and a few others) joined us at DL. This ride is so good!

Tower!

Space Mountain!

Hayden, Taylor, me, the Shelbinator, Harold, & Ginger on Space
Mountain. The first ride of the day and no wait at all!

DL with the Johnson's

We just arrived!