Nadia asked me, Pastor John Lin of Redeemer and Rev. Lin of CCCNY, which one is better.
We both went to both services today. The Redeemer in the morning, at 9:15 AM, and CCCNY the usual 11:30AM choir rehearsal before service at noon.
To both of our disappointment, it was not Tim Keller this time but the Downtown Redeemer pastor John Lin. So it is reasonable to say Rev. Keller was scheduled for downtown today. So begins the cat and mouse game at the 83rd ST. new church of Redeemer (Westside).
No matter, it was still...Redeemer. So we stayed.
John Lin, the Korean (I think) pastor, preached on Matthew 6:25-34. He associates worrying to failure to control.
Rev. Lin, preached on Repentance, but all her content is focused on relying on God. On the providence of God. Off topic? Not surprising.
I told Nadia it was very similar, not much different between the two pastors if you combine the pros and cons of their sermons.
When John Lin preached on "Don't Worry, you cannot control anything in your life", I wonder just what is our responsibilities then.
In concurrence with John Lin, Rev. Lin...(So many Lins...Rev. Lin, John Lin, Elder Lyna Lin, and now Minister Wen Wen Lin), also preached on relying on God. But when she defined that as repentance, that it means a total submission to God, I had to wonder a few questions. Touching on sins, she merely said "Repentance is not about preventing sins, if not once and for all, forever", as if should one mention the word "sin" in repentance, one is trying to say that it means a Christian will never sin anymore once he becomes a Christian. Or that one is a hypocrite by covering up obvious sins. Don't ask me, I was confused too, it was as if she has multiple subjects but wasn't sure what to pin point at. If anything, her main content is just simply "Dependance upon God". Unless of course, she wanted to justify her sinful attitude.
Reliance on God is the aftermath of Repentance, not the definition.