Tuesday, October 17, 2017
A test
This is a test for how worthwhile taking the time to do this blog is. If you read this, please let me know in some way. I enjoy writing these blogs, but it is showing that no one is reading them. Therefore I want to test to see if anyone out there is actually reading these blogs. Thank you.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
2 Timothy 2:15
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB)
I cited this passage in my sermon this past Sunday and it has come up in my recent study with our youth group. There are three words in this text that I want to focus on today.
Diligent - The command to open the verse is a command that requires us to exist in a state of diligence. When I think of diligent, I think of attention to detail and in the case of the context, we are to pay attention to how we are presenting ourselves before God. And the second word gives us a concept of how we are to present ourselves to God
Workman- Specifically, this workman that we are to be is to be a workman that does not need to be ashamed. This implies that there are workmen (and women) that will present themselves to God and be ashamed. This concept of shame is a difficult one for us to understand sometimes. We are to present ourselves to God in a way that is free from shame. And the third word tells us how we can do this.
Accurately - The way to be unashamed before God is to accurately handle the word of truth that has been entrusted to us. We are to accurately handle the Word. We are to accurately handle the Gospel truth that has been given to us. Again this implies that there are inaccurate ways to handle the Word given to us. And so we are to work hard to make sure that we are understanding and using the Word of God correctly.
I think that if we use this in reverse and understand that our accurate presentation of the Word of God is how we present ourselves to God without shame it would put a fire in our Bible Study. It would mean we do not simply read to mark a checklist off, but desire to understand and dive deep into what His Word is teaching us. And we would do so with a diligence that is unmatched!
To God be the glory!
I cited this passage in my sermon this past Sunday and it has come up in my recent study with our youth group. There are three words in this text that I want to focus on today.
Diligent - The command to open the verse is a command that requires us to exist in a state of diligence. When I think of diligent, I think of attention to detail and in the case of the context, we are to pay attention to how we are presenting ourselves before God. And the second word gives us a concept of how we are to present ourselves to God
Workman- Specifically, this workman that we are to be is to be a workman that does not need to be ashamed. This implies that there are workmen (and women) that will present themselves to God and be ashamed. This concept of shame is a difficult one for us to understand sometimes. We are to present ourselves to God in a way that is free from shame. And the third word tells us how we can do this.
Accurately - The way to be unashamed before God is to accurately handle the word of truth that has been entrusted to us. We are to accurately handle the Word. We are to accurately handle the Gospel truth that has been given to us. Again this implies that there are inaccurate ways to handle the Word given to us. And so we are to work hard to make sure that we are understanding and using the Word of God correctly.
I think that if we use this in reverse and understand that our accurate presentation of the Word of God is how we present ourselves to God without shame it would put a fire in our Bible Study. It would mean we do not simply read to mark a checklist off, but desire to understand and dive deep into what His Word is teaching us. And we would do so with a diligence that is unmatched!
To God be the glory!
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
The Power of Listening
This weekend at our church we had a special guest missionary for our 2nd Missions Emphasis Sunday of the year. While speaking on Acts 8 and the story of Philip and the Ethiopian, he pointed out that one of the things that we need to do as we engage our world is to listen and ask questions. The more I thought about this the more I thought about how profound it truly is. As the weekend ended with a concert in Las Vegas that did not go as expected and many people were injured and lost their life, what struck me when I turned on the news was how nobody seemed to be listening. Everyone was pontificating and sharing their opinions. They interviewed the shooters brother and he stated his opinion of his brother. The newscasters and politicians use the situation to get the best angle on the story and the best way to spin the story to make it fit within the agenda of whatever political party happened to be speaking. In all of this, no one was listening.
We have a crisis in our world that we need to listen to. It is called Sin. It is something that we should have listened to the Scriptures about. And its answer is not to reduce the number of guns used to commit sin any more than it would be to remove the eyes that commit lust. It is not to consider the factors that led someone to commit sin. THE ANSWER is to consider the remedy to sin provided by the Lord Jesus Christ and recognize Him as Savior and Lord. Nothing else will ultimately fix anyone.
So perhaps we need to encourage people to read the Scriptures so that we can ask, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Or just ask them, "Do you understand what you are seeing" as we address cultural issues. And this applies to more than just the devastating events in Las Vegas. We need to be willing to listen to the Word of God and allow Him to change us from the inside out. We need to be much better listeners.
We have a crisis in our world that we need to listen to. It is called Sin. It is something that we should have listened to the Scriptures about. And its answer is not to reduce the number of guns used to commit sin any more than it would be to remove the eyes that commit lust. It is not to consider the factors that led someone to commit sin. THE ANSWER is to consider the remedy to sin provided by the Lord Jesus Christ and recognize Him as Savior and Lord. Nothing else will ultimately fix anyone.
So perhaps we need to encourage people to read the Scriptures so that we can ask, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Or just ask them, "Do you understand what you are seeing" as we address cultural issues. And this applies to more than just the devastating events in Las Vegas. We need to be willing to listen to the Word of God and allow Him to change us from the inside out. We need to be much better listeners.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Knowing Nothing But Christ
Paul makes an interesting statement in 1 Corinthians 2:2. There he says, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." In this statement he is commenting on the content of the gospel message that he proclaimed to them and the manner in which it was proclaimed. Most of the context relates to the idea that the gospel message was not about Paul and how he presented it, but about the power of the Word of God proclaimed and enabled by the Spirit of God to connect with the heart of the hearer.
I do not know about you, but I need to be reminded of this because I tend to sneak into my life far too often. It is very easy to become the center of what Christ has done. He did it after all for me. This thought is both misleading and dangerous. Christ did not die for me in the sense that He died for the singular purpose of my salvation. That is simply not true. Christ died in obedience to the will of the Father and to bring honor and glory to God in His perfect salvation plan. When we say that He died for me, what we need to be referring to is substitution. He died the death I should have died and in this sense, biblically, he did die for me.
But when we are proclaiming the gospel, perhaps we, like Paul, need to be reminded that we should preach nothing except Jesus. Not Jesus and our preferences in worship. Not Jesus and our neatly wrapped theological package that we think you must accept all of it or none of it. Not Jesus and . . . anything. It is simply the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that saves and that should be the center of our gospel-centered conversation.
I do not know about you, but I need to be reminded of this because I tend to sneak into my life far too often. It is very easy to become the center of what Christ has done. He did it after all for me. This thought is both misleading and dangerous. Christ did not die for me in the sense that He died for the singular purpose of my salvation. That is simply not true. Christ died in obedience to the will of the Father and to bring honor and glory to God in His perfect salvation plan. When we say that He died for me, what we need to be referring to is substitution. He died the death I should have died and in this sense, biblically, he did die for me.
But when we are proclaiming the gospel, perhaps we, like Paul, need to be reminded that we should preach nothing except Jesus. Not Jesus and our preferences in worship. Not Jesus and our neatly wrapped theological package that we think you must accept all of it or none of it. Not Jesus and . . . anything. It is simply the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that saves and that should be the center of our gospel-centered conversation.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Why I Preach the Bible
Why do I spend so much time preaching the Bible? I may be able to get more people in the pew if I preached "10 ways to be a better father" or "How to engage a sinful culture". Why spend any time reading the Bible if people can do this on their own. Actually, my reason is quite simple - God tells me to do it.
Paul says to a young pastor named Timothy in his second letter to him in chapter 4 and verse 1, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word." It is fascinating that this comes in a section referencing times when it is difficult to preach the gospel. In a world that is out of control what is it that a pastor can do to ensure his faithfulness to God? Preach the Word. And, Paul exhorts Timothy to do so. This is more than a suggestion, it is a strong command. It is a command that is judicially binding, as it requires witnesses. And the witnesses that testify to Timothy's need to preach the Word are as follows: God himself, Jesus Christ who is judge of living and the dead, by the appearance of Christ and the kingdom of God in its entirety! Every time I preach, I preach in the presence of these witnesses and therefore am exhorted to make sure that my message is the Word of God!
Paul says to a young pastor named Timothy in his second letter to him in chapter 4 and verse 1, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word." It is fascinating that this comes in a section referencing times when it is difficult to preach the gospel. In a world that is out of control what is it that a pastor can do to ensure his faithfulness to God? Preach the Word. And, Paul exhorts Timothy to do so. This is more than a suggestion, it is a strong command. It is a command that is judicially binding, as it requires witnesses. And the witnesses that testify to Timothy's need to preach the Word are as follows: God himself, Jesus Christ who is judge of living and the dead, by the appearance of Christ and the kingdom of God in its entirety! Every time I preach, I preach in the presence of these witnesses and therefore am exhorted to make sure that my message is the Word of God!
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
People
Living the Christian life would be really easy if it were not for the other people around. Ever thought that? Ever thought that if no one else was around you would have no trouble doing all the things you need to do? I mean it would be so easy to be kind if they would just be kind to me. I could tell the truth if I did not have to impress my boss. I would be patient if they were just a little easier to get along with!
It is interesting that the church is just as difficult a place to get along with people. We all have different personalities and different ideas of how things should be done. And sometimes these clash and cause conflict. When this happens there are a few verses that I think we should remember.
Ephesians 4:31-32
We know the second verse in this set. We know that we are to be kind, but have you ever thought about how hard it is to be kind without letting go of the bitterness, wrath, anger, slander and malice in verse 31?
Have you ever thought that this verse is here because of the tendency we have as people to exhibit this kind of behavior?
Philippians 2:1-11
Here is a challenging one where we realize that the way that we relate to one another is directly impacted by how we have related to the things that Christ has done for us. And that how we relate to one another is connected to how our ultimate example - the Lord Jesus Christ. For me this puts into perspective the things that I have to endure. Sure people can be harsh but they whipped and beat Jesus. Sure they can be mean, but they killed Jesus. And Jesus still loved them.
Today, remember that God loves you enough to include other people in your life so that you can demonstrate His love to them. Even when they are difficult!
It is interesting that the church is just as difficult a place to get along with people. We all have different personalities and different ideas of how things should be done. And sometimes these clash and cause conflict. When this happens there are a few verses that I think we should remember.
Ephesians 4:31-32
We know the second verse in this set. We know that we are to be kind, but have you ever thought about how hard it is to be kind without letting go of the bitterness, wrath, anger, slander and malice in verse 31?
Have you ever thought that this verse is here because of the tendency we have as people to exhibit this kind of behavior?
Philippians 2:1-11
Here is a challenging one where we realize that the way that we relate to one another is directly impacted by how we have related to the things that Christ has done for us. And that how we relate to one another is connected to how our ultimate example - the Lord Jesus Christ. For me this puts into perspective the things that I have to endure. Sure people can be harsh but they whipped and beat Jesus. Sure they can be mean, but they killed Jesus. And Jesus still loved them.
Today, remember that God loves you enough to include other people in your life so that you can demonstrate His love to them. Even when they are difficult!
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
The Purpose of the Law
We are soon going to be studying the law of God in our Sunday School class. Whenever I do this it is good to remind myself of the purpose of the law according to the New Testament. For this we turn to Galatians chapter 3. I want to focus today on a single verse from this text. Please note with me Galatians 3:22.
"But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise of God by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."
My mom used to tell me to stop telling my brother to shut up, but that is precisely what the Bible says that the law does. The law shuts me up. The law reminds me that I have no ability to keep it on my own. It tells me that I am not good enough and need the love of Christ and the work of Christ to keep me in the favor of God. The law shuts me up.
Here is the simple reminder that we all need. We are all failures under the law of God. No one can keep it perfectly. No one. Not a single one of us. And that is precisely its purpose. To keep us quiet. To remind us of our need. May God use His word to consistently and constantly remind us of our need for Him.
"But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise of God by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."
My mom used to tell me to stop telling my brother to shut up, but that is precisely what the Bible says that the law does. The law shuts me up. The law reminds me that I have no ability to keep it on my own. It tells me that I am not good enough and need the love of Christ and the work of Christ to keep me in the favor of God. The law shuts me up.
Here is the simple reminder that we all need. We are all failures under the law of God. No one can keep it perfectly. No one. Not a single one of us. And that is precisely its purpose. To keep us quiet. To remind us of our need. May God use His word to consistently and constantly remind us of our need for Him.
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