Foundations News 5/2/12 and Covenant Chronicles

 

SOCIAL:

 

GIRL'S NIGHT is tomorrow (Thursday) May 3rd at 7 p.m. at Kerry Leasure's. It is going to be a lot of fun and a great way to catch up with friends and meet new ones! Appetizers, Desserts and Drinks on Kerry's porch. The Leasure's address is 675 Shades Crest Road in Bluff Park. You can come in the front drive and pull back down behind to the parking on their back lot- or Google 704 Valley Avenue- their driveway is right next to that house- the parking is in the lot. If you are planning to attend, please let Kelli know (thethreadcrafts@aol.com)  Many thanks to Kelli, Bethany and Kerry for planning a fun evening!

 

COVENANT CHRONICLES FROM DANNY GIFFEN:

 

It is truly difficult to tell you what was the most memorable aspect of this past weekend at Covenant.  Some would suggest the Hembree wedding that Bill Hay and Danny led, many would tell you it was Les Newsom preaching for RUF Sunday, a few more may say they loved Kenny & Katy Hutson leading us in song, but of course all these, while good, pale in comparison to Mr. Ingram Link's announcements--specifically at the first service.  From Ole Miss digs, to smoochin' to jeopardizing the career of the pastor of discipleship, no stone was left unturned!  I would like to form a petition that would force Dave to provide the announcements once a month for the next year.  Is anyone on board?  You can go to Covenant Pres' Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/28461904401/  and give us a "like" if you want to see that happen.  Back to thanks though, we do appreciate Les and all the RUF pastors for leading our church this past Sunday.  And Congratulation to all of our seniors in high school.  We are very proud.

 

What's Happening

1.  Summers at Covenant:  We have a few things the same and few things different planned this summer.  Our June Sunday School Shuffle will start on June 3.  There are 5 classes to choose from:  Worship, Theology (Westminster Assembly), Bible (book of Proverbs), Women's Study & Marriage.  We will have one service from May 27 – Sept 2 at 10 am.  Sunday School will be at 9 am with fellowship and food served beforehand.  No Sunday School on May 27 or Sept. 2. 

 

2.  First Monday Lunch Bunch – Join us Monday, May 7th at 11:45 am for lunch and sharing with Jean Miller.  Childcare is available.

 

3.  Covenant Family Camp: Get it on your calendars, but October 12-14, Covenant will be hosting our first ever Family Camp at Alpine Camp.  More information to come but we are very excited about this retreat.  Yes, we have cleared it with diehard WE's and RTR's and both of you all are away that weekend.  However we will be having a section of camp reserved for viewing the TX/OU game.  We will be playing Patrick Swayze movies all weekend long as well. :)

 

4.  When Helping Hurts Seminar – Join us on August 18th here at Covenant Pres as we host with about 15 other Birmingham churches a seminar of Mercy Ministry and Missions.  This event is sponsored by Christian Service Mission.  It will address the question, "What do we do next in our effort to help people who are poor?  How can we shift our efforts from dependency to empowerment.  The seminar is taught by Dr. Brian Fikkert from the Chalmers Institute and Covenant College.  Cost is $45 and sign up today at chalmers.org/birmingham 

 

5.  Children's Ministry Blog - http://www.covpreschildrensministry.blogspot.com/ check us out!

 

Theology 101

Hopelessly Devoted: Numbers Chapter Twenty Two Verses Nine Through Thirty Five

by MOCKINGBIRD on Apr 30, 2012 • 9:20 amNo Comments

 

Who knew? For what can be seen as a dark and and foreboding picture of the all-too-fearsome power of the magnifying glass-wrath-and-anthill God, the God of the Old Testament kings and prophets, instead becomes a powerful indication of God’s favor for working things out in the upside-down world of the cross. Old Testament mysteries, talking asses and the grace of God! This morning’s devotion comes from Ben Phillips.

Behold I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me (v. 32b).

In college I played on an intramural co-ed flag football team. One of the suggestions floated for a funny team name was “Balaam’s Asses” referring to this passage in Numbers with Balaam and his donkey on their way from Moab.

However much mileage we out of talking donkeys these days, this passage in Numbers is quite heavy. Balaam is a soothsayer (think palm reader) who charged people for his skills in divination. The King of Moab tries to hire him to curse the Israelites because he is afraid they will invade his land. So here is a pagan king hiring a pagan professional curse-dispenser to strike the people of God.

This account shows God in a strange light. God tells Balaam to go with the King’s servants, but when Balaam goes, God gets angry with him. However, if that’s as far as you go “into” the story, you’ve only caught the second most important part, and you’ll miss the most important part. The second most important part is the problem of choice, i.e. Balaam’s choice as a sinner. The most important part of the story is…the donkey. Yes, the donkey. Let me explain.

God gives Balaam the option to go, but just prior to that had told Balaam that he shouldn’t go, because the Moabites want him to curse Israel. Balaam’s choice leads him right into God’s judgment. That’s the problem with sinners like us: a sinner making good choices is still a sinner. God tells Balaam in verse 32 that the reason he has opposed him is because Balaam’s “way was perverse before me.” Strangely enough, that’s the very distinction between atheology of glory and a theology of the cross. A theology of glory tells us our choices can (and do!) sync up with God’s will. A theology of the cross tells us our choices never can. Heavy? Well, yes, but that’s why we need intervention.

In Balaam’s case,  intervention comes through the donkey. The donkey sees the angel in the road, but Balaam can’t. Why would this be? Only because God arranged it so. When the donkey actually changes course and saves Balaam from this ‘holy ambush’, he gets upset and beats the donkey. God opens the donkey’s mouth and it talks to Balaam, and only then does he see the angel and realize the peril he was in.

God’s ways are not our ways, and even when we think we are doing the right thing, very often it is the wrong thing. It happens all the time in our lives. If it happens all the time, what does this mean? What hope do we have?! We can never be “saved” by our choice(s). We always need someone between us and our penalties. In Balaam-the-pagan-curse-dispenser’s case it was a donkey, ordained by God to keep him from judgment, but what about you and me? We have been given a message that God can and has provided better than a donkey. He has intervened with himself. God the Son was offered as a sacrifice to turn aside God’s holy and righteous judgment against a sinful and disobedient people – a disobedient people who chose to beat and kill him, much like Balaam with his beast of burden. To trust in the intervening cross, to believe in that ‘precious flow that makes me white as snow,’ is the product of grace indeed.