Surveying the Blogs

There are several Blogs that I have bookmarked on my browser that I read nearly every time I get on the internet. I just wanted to share a few of them with you.

John Piper

Al Mohler

Thabiti Anyabwile

Abraham Piper - Check this one out on "being right."

Insights from Thomas a Kempis

As I was reading from The Imitation of Christ I found a great truth. Thomas says, "Each day we ought to renew our resolves and rekindle the fires of our fervor as if it were the first day of our conversion." I don't know if he knew he was paraphrasing Paul, but that is nearly exactly the same idea as Colossians 2:6. "Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." (NASB)

Everyday for the believer should be that same as the day of conversion. What happened that day was a total surrender of self to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we should strive to rekindle that affection for our Lord every single day.

God Rewards the Wicked

Psalm 17 is one of my favorite Psalms. This morning as I read through it for perhaps the thousandth time, it hit me about as hard as it did the first time. The psalmist is crying out for God to give justice. He presents his case. He is righteous. God can test him all He desires. The psalmist is one of His children. Then there are the other men. They are wicked. They speak proudly. They seek to take the righteous down to the ground. "Arise, O Lord, confront him..." (Ps. 17:13 NASB).

Then the psalmist gives four statements about how God deals with these wicked men.

1. He says that their portion is in this life. In other words, they get their things now. Their reward is in full now. They will get the things that they are longing for in this present life.

2. God fills their belly with His treasure. I'm not sure about you, but I find that a little odd. God punishes the wicked by filling their bellies with His treasure. Whatever God means by treasure, I'm sure it's something I would want too.

3. They are satisfied with children. In our culture, this may be considered a curse, but in the Bible, children are a blessing from the Lord. "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord... Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." (Ps. 127:3-5 NASB)

4. They have so much that they leave their abundance to their children. Not only does God give them their portion in this life, they have so much of it that they leave it all to their children. They are wealthy beyond the average man, who was near poverty in their society.

All these are the rewards of the wicked. The psalmist does not seem to be upset, however. In fact, he seems to have the attitude that this is just. The last verse of the Psalm shows us why.

"As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake." (Ps. 17:15 NASB)

How often, if ever, are we satisfied with the face of God. The Psalms cry over and over again that God is the source of our joy. Yet, we walk around as discontented Christians. Turn to God that He may be the satisfaction of your life.

Teaching Yourself

I was reading from the book of Psalms again this morning. As I read through the Psalms I try to experience the same thoughts as the psalmist. This morning, I couldn't sing along. In Psalm 16, I read verse 7. I says, "I will bless the Lord who has counseled me..." At this point I was singing right along with the Psalmist. "Yes, I will bless the Lord," I said in my mind. Then came the off pitch note in the chorus. Verse 7 continues, "Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night." What? I can't go along with the Psalmist at this point. My mind surely doesn't instruct me in the night. If anything, I am at constant odds with my mind to keep it focused on things that are sinful.

I asked the Psalmist how he was able to experience this. Then he told me. Verse 8 reads, "I have set the Lord continually before me." "Oh, that's the part I'm missing, " I thought. Then I remembered reading The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. For him, staying in God's presence at all times what the chief order of the day. He even reached the point that even his time washing the dishes in the kitchen was just as spiritual as his quiet time.

The only way to get to the point that my mind instructs me in the night is to continually set my mind on the Lord. Then, without thinking about it, I will be thinking on the glories of the Lord. In whose presence there is fullness of joy, and in whose right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:11 Paraphrased)

Swearing in the Psalms

I was reading Psalm 15 this morning and something struck me as very interesting. The Psalm opens by asking the questions, "Who may dwell on Your holy hill?" In other words, the psalmist is asking, "Who is worthy to fellowship with the Lord?" He proceeds to list several things that one must do or not do in order to be worthy to ascend the hill of God. The last part of verse four is what struck me.

The Psalmist says, "He swears to his own hurt and does not change."(Ps. 15:4 NASB) Have you ever made a promise that turned out to be inconvenient for you to fulfill? I certainly have. More often than not, I must admit, I am more likely to go back on my word. The Psalmist tells us that the righteous man does not go back on his word even when it has been to his hurt. He does not change what he has said.

Jesus paints a similar picture in the New Testament when he gives the Sermon on the Mount. He goes further and says that we shouldn't even swear. Not that we should avoid giving our word in such a way that we hurt ourselves, but that giving our word should be so trustworthy, we need not swear to convince someone that we will do what we say.

"But let you statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; anything beyond these of of evil." (Matt. 5:37 NASB)

Summer School - Old Testament Survey

Last night we began our summer class, BIB 101 - Old Testament Survey. It will be a 14 week study of the Old Testament. If you missed last night, don't worry. I only went over the Introduction to the Old Testament course.

There is a reading assignment due for next week. Before you get to church on Wednesday, read Gen. 1-3, 12, and 15. These passages will cover creation, the fall, and the Abrahamic Covenant. These are all foundational to understanding the rest of the Bible. So, don't miss next weeks class.

If you need another copy of the Syllabus, click the link below to download it.

Syllabus

See you Sunday.

Insights from Thomas a Kempis

I try to spend a few minutes every morning before I get to the work of the day reading something that will help nourish my soul. As of late, I have been reading from Thomas a Kempis' The Imitation of Christ. This morning I read something I found to be very true in my own walk. Thomas states,

If we eradicated one vice per year we should soon become perfect men. But often we see the opposite happen. We find we were better and more fault-free at the time of our conversion to God than many years afterwards.

I had a professor in college tell me that the closer to God we get, the larger the cross that saved us seems to be. The greater our sin becomes in our eyes. This is a good sign, he would tell us, for this showed that we were more heavily relying on God for our salvation and not on ourselves. On the other hand, other people would see our cross as getting smaller. It would appear to them that we were getting more and more righteous. I have to wonder is Thomas a Kempis was experiencing the same thing in his monastery.

Don't lose heart when you find yourself in sin another day. Christ' blood is just as good today as it was on the day you were saved. Rejoice that you have an advocate standing before the Father day after day pleading your case. "but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Romans 5:20 NASB).

Summer Book Club

I think I have finalized everything for the summer reading. We will hopefully meet four times from now through August to discuss the books that we read. Here is the list.

1. Prince Caspian - C.S. Lewis

2. Don't Waste Your Life - John Piper

3. Walking with God - John Elderedge

4. UnChristian - David Kinnaman

We will discuss how it will work at church Wednesday night. See you then.

Out for the Summer

It's almost that time.  I only have to drive to campus one more time.  One exam, two papers, and a little reading is all that stands between me and a few weeks off.  

I am in the planning stages of creating a book club for summer reading.  Now that I will have time to read more than just my school books.  If you are interested in participating, let me know.  I will be picking out our first book in the next couple of days.  My plan is to read four books with you over the course of the summer.  Then we can engage in some dialogue.  

I'll post the books on the web as soon as i make a decision.  Check back soon to find out more.