AGAPE LOVE & THE ATTITUDES AND CONDUCT IT PRODUCES

AGAPE LOVE & THE ATTITUDES AND CONDUCT IT PRODUCES

Here is my interpretation of the scripture passage below.

All the best character assets are features for which we may strive with our natural affections and versions of love but we invariably fall short or come shy of a consistent intense display of them because the truth is that only agape love accomplishes this ‘perfection’ to which you have alluded. Ours at the moment is the immature, unfinished, as yet imperfect versions of these traits, a kind of reflection or likeness of that which will come when we are complete and God’s perfect love fully owns us. -- is that some of what you are saying?

 

1 Corinthians 13: ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always persev

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)

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MAKING CHOICES (a poem)

Life is about making choices.
I choose you still.
I chose you when I was young,
couldn’t see past tomorrow.
You too had a choice to make
Looking forward you chose me.
We talked about investing trust,
confidently chose to trust each other,
we pledged it for a lifetime,
such an audacious prospect.
Since life’s about choices, there were times
you might have changed your mind.
Planet life offers many options,
I could have tripped on some,
but we both embraced our ageless choices,
so trust and promise won.

I now see many yesterdays,
today is where I live, and you are here.
If there will be no tomorrow,
today and yesterdays were enough
because you chose me.

© Ron Unruh, March 2020

MY LONG GRIEF (A POEM)

The loss of one, the loss of a son,
The loss of a wife, the loss of a life,
The loss of a lover,  
Slow to recover,
Becomes a long grief.

The hurt of absence,
The pain of empty,
The sound of silence,
There is no relief. 

Don’t cliché me to death,
Don’t tell me ‘don’t cry,’
Don’t say get a grip,
When I cry out ‘Why?’
Mine is a long grief.

One day will pass and then another,
In some deficit way,
I will recover,
But I won’t be the same.
My long grief laid its claim.

I’ll smile again and help others grin,
Hiding the anguish I carry within.
I’ll live longer and I’ll live without,
But I’ll always miss the one life was about.
‘twill be a long grief.

© Ron Unruh, March 2020

WE ARE DUST

It’s just my opinion. You can take it or leave it. Just don’t argue with me. You’re entitled to keep your own opinions to yourself. Humans are such momentary and delicate beings, superfluous really to the functions of the universe. Our existence is perilous. We are dust. We will return to dust. There are no guarantees to us about our continued health, future success, or the promise of tomorrow. However, mercifully, we have a God who loves us and, for some divine mystery, he values our presence. He is a God who walks among us. He did it once literally, and since he came and went, he is with us non-stop by His Spirit inside us if we allow him. How much do we undervalue who the Spirit is, what it means to us to have the Spirit of Christ alive within us. 

WE DO NOT LOSE HEART

On Sunday February 9, 2020 I preached at Northwest Langley Baptist Church. It’s a small congregation now. This church had glory years of vibrant helpful ministries to many people. Over many decades the bush that once surrounded this church building turned into a commercial, industrial area with numerous dining establishments nearby. It’s on the 200^th Street high traffic corridor at a strategically located intersection where the Colossus Theatre sits. Residential areas are not immediate to the church property. Some might view its future as tenuous. Some in the church might be discouraged. The apostle Paul wrote letters to the church in Corinth, and 2 Corinthians chapter 4 Paul expressed ideas that I believe were appropriate for NWLBC, and predictably for almost every other Christian who experiences a whack of trouble and heartache at different times. 

The link below brings you to an archive of audio recordings of recent sermons. Look for Feb 9, 2020 – 2 Corinthians 4. You can listen to all of it, or perhaps touch the thin grey progress line at the 35-minute mark, and listen to the last few minutes.

How Can Northwest Langley Baptist Church Fit Into God's Strategy

PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

On November 3 2019 I spoke at Cloverdale Baptist Church on the subject Persecution and the Response that must be expected from us toward other believers in jeopardy in many nations where freedom of religion is denied.

The link presents the 35 min presentation. Persecution and a CBC Response November 03, 2019