Marriage Enrichment Director Clay Coffee Makes Some Recommendations

I spoke recently with Clay Coffee, Central's Director of Marriage Enrichment, about the preaching series on marriage going on at West County Fellowship. He had some book recommendations for those looking to foster a healthy relationship with their spouse. Take a look:



We will have these books available for purchase at WCF very soon.

If you would like to do a "marriage tune-up" with Clay (a relationship inventory and a couple of sessions) feel free to e-mail him or contact him at the church's main line (314-727-2777). If you are looking for more in-depth help with your marriage, Clay can also refer you to many excellent counselors in the St. Louis area.

What We Mean and What People Hear: Communicating God’s Mercy to and Loving the Secularized Person

Sir Anthony Hopkins was interviewed by Piers Morgan the other night on CNN and it got me thinking about how people outside the church hear us when we talk about our beliefs in God and scripture. Here are some snippets from an article describing the interview:

When asked if he believes in God by Piers Morgan on his CNN talk show, he said: "Yes, I do. I'm not an atheist. I don't know what it is. None of us do… I believe in a God that Einstein believed in, a sort of Spinoza kind of interpretation."
…
Discussing the absolute beliefs of organized religions, he said: "I think it is dangerous. Certainty is responsible for some of the most awful terrors in the world.

"I made a point in the film ('The Rite'), I was saying to the young priest, 'So what do you believe in? The truth? Oh, yes, the truth. Look where that got us. Hitler, Stalin - they know the truth.'

For those of us who have a Christian faith or other specific faith convictions, we might take offense at this, but I believe it’s more constructive to think about Sir Anthony’s reaction to the idea of intellectual certainty (Stalin could hardly be called a person of religious certainty unless that he was certain that God didn’t exist). Intellectual certainty, in Sir Anthony’s mind, leads to a destructive arrogance and a devaluing of human life.

Whether we agree with this logic or not is not my concern at the moment. The fact that many people in our culture think this, logical or not, does interest me. It interests me because when I seek to talk about God’s mercy in Christ, I want to make sure they hear what I mean. When I talk about God's mercy, I mean 'God values you and so do I... God has shown me grace and that has humbled me... that humility leads me to service and care of any person who crosses my path.' Saying “I am a Bible-believing Christian” may be akin to saying, “I am a religious extremist,” in the minds of many people. Is this what we mean to communicate?

I have no formula to vault over the prejudices of our culture against those who have religious convictions, but I can tell you how I have sought to present to people the orientation of my life. When someone asks, ‘Do you believe in the Bible?’ I answer, ‘I believe in God… I trust Him… and I believe that he has spoken to me in a way I can trust: namely, the Christian scriptures.’ I don’t imagine that this would dispel all fears a secularized person might have of me, but at least it puts my faith in terms that don’t hit upon his or her worst fears: bigotry and arrogance.

If we are to communicate what we mean to say about God’s love and mercy, we must spend time thinking about what people are hearing when we talk. And this kind of sensitivity and care is usually the first step in answering God’s call upon our life: loving your neighbor

For the full article about Piers Morgan’s interview with Sir Anthony Hopkins, click here.

The Active Ingredient in Loving Relationships: Submission

I have been thinking a good bit about marriage and relationships in general... what makes them work, what puts strain on them. Again and again I come back to this idea: submission is the active ingredient in loving relationships. Of course, there are many things which go into healthy relationships but what makes these diverse ingredients come together is submission.

I am not talking about rolling over and playing dead in a relationship. I mean taking what you have... your gifts, your resources, your very person... and actively submitting it to the good of another. "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Phil. 2:4. So many of our relationships are a pursuit of self-affirmation. This is why we tend to be friends with people who share our outlook and interests. It also tends to be why we have so much tension in our marriages, as our spouse seem less and less interested in telling us how great we are.

This is at once both a difficult concept and an empowering idea. It is difficult because the idea of willfully submitting ourselves to another's interests seems to violate our freedom and personhood. It is empowering in that our love no longer becomes a question of someone else's behavior. As Christ actively gave himself to the good of those who were undeserving but in need... submitting who he was to our good, so we should love others... by submitting ourselves to their good. Food for thought as we lie in bed next to people who we feel often disappoint our expectations.

(For more on this idea, come here Daryl preach on 2/6/11 at West County Fellowship, Marriage: Loving Self or Loving Another? or listen online after 2/6/11)

Staff Thoughts on Christ, Part 1: Music Director Eric Stiller

Christ is central to our faith and our worship. His divinity and the necessity of his life, death and resurrection are clear from scripture. However, there may be many different aspects of who Christ is and what he has done that strike us most powerfully. We thought we would ask our staff about their personal reactions to Christ and share their thoughts with you. We start that today with a brief interview with Eric Stiller, Director of Music for West County Fellowship.

Charlie and Rachel Looney Welcome a New Son, Calvin

We wanted to let you know the good news: Charlie (intern with Central and WCF) and Rachel Looney are now the parents of a baby boy, Calvin James Looney. Calvin was born this morning (1/29) at 4:30 am. Mother and baby are doing great and will head home tomorrow. Glory to God for this amazing blessing to the Looneys and to our church. Take a look for yourself.

A Brief Chat with Matt Wicker, WCF Children's Ministry Director

We are showcasing two things with this blog entry. First, we are trying to make better use of our video capabilities to let folks know about West County Fellowship... our staff, our events, our hopes for West County as we tell folks about the love of Christ. Second, we took advantage of this technology to talk briefly with our Director of Children's Ministries, Matt Wicker and hear about his work day. Take a look and let us know what you think about going 'behind the curtain' with the WCF and Central staff. We hope you enjoy this first taste.

The Need for Discipleship

I have been thinking a great deal about our fledgling group out in West County St. Louis and both the need and opportunity we have to grow both deeper and wider. Though we are connected to a well established and mature church (Central Presbyterian, Clayton Campus) we need to be working on how we, as the West County campus of Central, grow in maturity.

Most of the programs Central offers tend to be Clayton based and therefore not always easily accessible to our folks. With that in mind, I wanted to begin building a menu of things for our folks based here in West County. First on the menu: What Christians Should Believe... this is 13 week (a quarter) one-on-one meeting with the pastor (me) walking through the fundamentals of our faith and how it should impact our lives.

It is based on the book Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. If you are a man looking to go deeper in your faith through study and mentoring, contact me and we'll get started. I am looking to work with four men this quarter but if more show interest we will schedule you for the next quarter. If you are a lady looking for an opportunity to be mentored by either walking through this book or doing something else, please let me know and we will get a mentoring relationship set-up for you.

Lord willing in the next couple of months we will add more things to the menu... perhaps a weekend seminar or a mid-week class. Until then, let me know if you would like to take advantage of this appetizer!