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Pray the Scriptures by Scotty Smith
I really enjoyed this reflection by Scotty Smith about prayer. I hope that it is a source of encouragement to you and your journey of faith this week. I am a recovering self-centered pragmatic pray-er — a believer who spent many of my first years in Christ thinking of God more as a sugar daddy than the sovereign Father. Prayer, for me, had more in common with programming a heavenly computer than surrendering to a loving Master. I worked harder at claiming God’s promises for my…
Pray Where You Are: Praylessness as a Sign of Grace
Do you really long for the courage to believe that deliverance from a prayerless life is possible for you, and may become a reality? Then you must learn the great lesson that such a deliverance is included in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, that it is one of the blessings of the New Covenant which God himself will impart to you through Christ Jesus. — Dr. Andrew Murray One of the first things we need to get our hearts right in prayer is to pray our praylessness. This seems odd…
Repentance Is Just Humility
As a staff, we have been going through “The Heart of a Servant Leader” by John C. Miller (aka Jack Miller). This came at such an opportune time as I am recovering from a cold and last year with the diagnosis of diabetes. It made me reconsider so much about the notion of self care but also of “holy self-forgetting.” So for this week, I wanted to share a letter he wrote to a missionary who was recovering from a serious illness. Jack had also almost died a year before as he undergone…
Pray Where You Are: Gasping Surrendered Rest
Dear King’s Cross Family, This week has been one of those unexpected detours that start off with the feeling of dread. My youngest son was sick and as I started having a scratchy throat. I thought to myself, “here it comes…another cycle of the cold will come to the Ong family household.” It wasn’t that bad, Noah recovered pretty quickly and I thought it would pass pretty quickly. Then it was confirmed, I felt chills then my throat started to hurt; progressively it got worse and worse and…
Pray Where You Are: Divine Light
Dear King’s Cross Family, I want to extend my warmest and sincere regards to this New Year and I pray that it has been a means for you to reflect back on 2015 and also approach 2016 with great expectations. This past Sunday, I shared part one of a three part sermon on what are to be the some guiding principles as we move as a church. I shared Paul’s prayer for the spiritual strength of the church from Ephesians 3:14-21. I would like to share an excerpt from Jonathan Edward’s sermon…
Suffering as a Grace
As 2015 comes to an unexpected close, I am struck by how quickly this year passed and also thinking about how much the church has grown through our study of Romans and also now moving through our call to pray and pray through psalms. As I write this, I am enjoying some time with the family as we ventured into the city for a staycation. Nico and Noah are filled with wonder and I see a very big turning in the life of our sons that they are beginning to be spiritually formed. I look at them and…
One Solitary Life
Dear Church,On Christmas day, the world will collectively celebrate one life that has changed the course of history. Wherever your faith is, it is undeniable that the birth of Jesus Christ has marked the world in such a way we cannot dismiss it. There is probably no other day that has as much expectation as December 25th with so many families preparing for that morning of great expectations. In the Gospel of Luke Chapter 2:6, the birth happens and the arrival brings about promise, peace and…
Advent: Come Let Us Adore Him
Dear King’s Cross Family and Friends, This past Sunday, we started our Advent Sundays. Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “coming” or “arrival.” This four-week season of reflection and preparation for the Christmas season so we can fix our hearts and eyes on the arrival of Jesus. As many of you experienced during Thanksgiving, a good celebration requires proper balance of preparation and expectation for us to fully enjoy it. There is the preparation to travel to homes where feasts…
Reflections on Psalm 8
On Sunday, July 20, 1969, the world was fixated on the idea of men landing on the moon in module “Eagle.” When astronaut Neil Armstrong’s set foot on the moon surface said these memorable words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” However, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the lunar surface put everything in a Biblical perspective. He quoted Psalm 8:3,4, “When I consider Your heavens, the works of Your fingers, the moon and stars, which You have…
Conquering Prayerlessness by Dr. Andrew Murray
Each Friday, our staff and occasional visitors come together to pray in the morning. It is something that I have learned to really look forward to because it engages another person as we come before God in praise and petition together. I think that often our meditation on God and His word, we often come to God through the activities of prayer and not seeing the source of that activity or the goal of that activity. I lead a time with this devotion and I wanted to share it with you as your “Pray…