Recent Posts
God? Who Needs Him?May 31, 2013
Self-sufficient humanism. Paul saw it coming – “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
Imago Dei
September 12, 2012
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Why Can't I Pray?
August 18, 2012
The bible gives us several reasons, but according to Jeremy Taylor, a deceitful heart is at the root of prayerlessness.
It's Not Rocket Science
July 23, 2012
To keep in step with the Spirit should be our daily quest. And if we are successful at that, all of life falls into place.
Theological Steak
April 10, 2012
These words by P. T. Forsythe on the magnificence of Christ's work are to theology what Ruth's Chris is to a good steak.
Describing the Indescribable
February 11, 2012
What we have in Christ will take all eternity to describe. But for one segment of one sermon, a great preacher made a mighty attempt.
Making Sense Of It All
January 30, 2012
Where are things headed? Is there rhyme and reason to the endless cycle of summer, fall, winter and spring? Is there a plan in place, or is randomness the explanation?
Happy, Happy, Happy
January 4, 2012
The declaration of independence holds up the pursuit of happiness as a right. Did you ever consider the reading the bible might be the one source that will never let you down?It's unfortunate that George Mueller is not a household name, considering all the good he did for thousands of parentless children on the streets of London in the middle of the 19th century.
The orphanages that God raised up through Mueller's faith were started with only two shillings (50 cents) but as he prayed - believe it or not without making his needs known - slowly but surely the buildings were built to feed and house orphans for sixty years.
How did this happen, you ask? Curiously, Mueller credits his habit of scripture reading.
I believe that the one chief reason that I have been kept in happy useful service is that I have been a lover of Holy Scripture.
It has been my habit to read the Bible through four times a year; in a prayerful spirit, to apply it to my heart, and practice what I find there. I have been for sixty-nine years a happy man; happy, happy, happy."
Forget four times. Try once in 2012. Baby steps. Here are some questions to keep you focused and to increase your understanding of what you are reading.
1. What do these words actually mean?
2. What light do other scriptures through on this text? Where and how does it fit in the total biblical revelation?
3. What truths does it teach about God, and about man in relation to God?
4. How are these truths related to the saving work of Christ, and what light does the gospel of Christ throw on them?
5. What experiences do these truths delineate, or explain, or seek to create or cure? For what practical purpose do they stand in Scripture?
6. How do they apply to myself and others in our own actual situation? To what present human condition do they speak, and what are they telling us to believe and do?
From A QUEST FOR GODLINESS by J. I. Packer, page 105
The Bible and Yadayadayada
February 4, 2009
There was a time in the Old Testament when, while cleaning out the Temple, a "book" was found. People began reading it, and before long, the city of Jerusalem was repenting! Only one book has such power - God's word, the Bible.The precepts of the LORD....are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. Psalm 19
One aspect of the Fall is that we value too highly that which does not deserve such attention, and we disregard what is most valuable. Considering that the word of God is just that - the WORD OF GOD! - is it not amazing that we can ramain so casual as to its influence on our lives?
Jonathan Edwards has an admonition for us today:
You all have by you a large treasure of divine knowledge, in that you have the Bible in your hands; therefore be not contented in possessing but little of this treasure.
God hath spoken much to you in the Scripture; labour to understand as much of what he saith as you can.
God hath made you all reasonable creatures; therefore let not the noble faculty of reason or understanding lie neglected.
Content not yourselves with having so much knowledge as is thrown in your way, and as you receive in some sense unavoidably by the frequent inculcation of divine truth in the preaching of the word, of which you are obliged to be hearers, or as you accidentally gain in conversation; but...
.....let it be very much your business to search for it, and that with the same diligence and labour with which men are wont to dig in mines of silver and gold.
JONATHAN EDWARDS
The Saving Power Of God's Word
January 3, 2009
The 66 books of the Bible, the old and the new testaments, are the word of God to us. And it will take all eternity to hear the stories of how God has used specific verses to convict and to save. But it will be a delight to hear.
Go Away And Leave Me Alone!
December 13, 2008
This world is enemy territory, and Satan fights for every inch. And the biggest threat to him are Christians who take the word of God as just that, the word of God, and seek to live by that word, knowing that to be the path of greatest happiness.
"Now Where Was I?"
October 27, 2008
No preacher would deliberately set out to confuse the listener. But some sermons wind up doing just that. Once in a cul-de-sac, the only way out is to turn around. How can we avoid that altogether?
Detecting Slippage
October 21, 2008
This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:2
What's Your News Source?
October 19, 2008
Newspapers are myopic. Who, where, when, how. The why is not so easy. Yes, online news is faster, but scripture alone gives us the big picture, giving us a framework of God's plan that calms our souls, reassuring us that the end is in God's hands.
Anybody Seen My Bible?
October 3, 2008
We can read anything and everything before we sit down and read the one source of truth that doesn't lie - God's word, the Bible. Which is crazy, because only scripture gives us the spiritual nutrients we need to run the race of faith.
Who Needs Theology? We Do!
October 1, 2008
When did doctrine become a dirty word? It smacks of something fixed, and we love our freedom, even when it comes to who God is, and what He is up to. But we will rue the day that we force it to the back of the bus.
God's Map - Theology
September 28, 2008
During the Middle Ages, theology was referred to as the Queen of the Sciences." But more lately it has been in a steady freefall. Just what has been lost? According ot C. S. Lewis, we have lost our map. And that spells trouble.
Comfort and the Plan of God
July 11, 2008
The kingdom of this world is becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. But that battle is "no holds barred" - it's nasty, and believers can get caught up in some pretty uncomfortable moments in the process.
You And God's Word
July 8, 2008
"A calm hour with God is worth a whole lifetime with man." Andrew Murray M'Cheyne
