The Very Word of God

Scripture. Breathed out by God so that we, men and women of God my be competent and equipped to do every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16.)

Scripture. Living, active, convicting, life altering, sharp, pointing, discerning. (Heb.4:12)

Scripture is God's very word to a world that is lost. It is the history of God reaching out to his people. It is the gospel, the good news that Jesus the God/man, lived, died, rose again to conquer sin and death!

Yet, we have a tendency to soften what it says. 1 Pet. 1:15b that we are to be holy in all of our conduct. I tend to think sometimes that I am OK in the area of holiness, especially when I use the world as a lens to interpret this scripture. When faced with a holy God who hates sin, my mind quickly turns to the wretch that I am!

How about Romans 13:14, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires". I don't know about you but sometimes I like to change that ''no provision" to ''a little provision is OK''. I know that is not what scripture says, I'm born again, how bad can a little provision be anyway!?

I have been singing to myself "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". I love that song just a little more then I hate it. "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love". That's me. Scripture comands me to be holy, to make no provision for the flesh. Fail, flee, hide.

Hebrews 2:1, "Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it."

We (I) need to pay closer attention to what scripture says and not so much to what the world says we (I) may or may not need.

Divine Parentheses

This morning as I was reading in Galations I was struck by a verse that is bookended by parentheses. "Odd.", I thought to myself. Usually, when I use parentheses, I use them to enclose an afterthought. I don't know if this is the proper use of them or not, I was never very good in English (just don't tell my son! (see, an afterthought)). I am not sure that the parentheses used here by Paul are an afterthought or not. I am sure that it does not matter because these parentheses are contained in the word of God and therefore, true.
I was very encouraged and excited once again to be spoken to by the word of God! Galations 2:8 says

(for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles).


That same ''he'' is also working in modern day believers! That same ''he'' is working in you Christian! Let us live that way! I praise God for his triune ministry to us as believers, for He who has began a good work in us WILL complete it! (Phil. 1:6)

A test we cannot fail

This week I finished 2 Corinthians.
13:5 says,
"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"

These are hard words for me to swallow sometimes. I find it much easier to look at others. My examination of them often makes me feel better about myself. "My sin isn't that bad!"

I know it's not true. My sin is that bad and worse. It is my sin that put Christ on the cross. It is my sin that I need to deal with. It is my sin that keeps me awake at night. It is me that I am told to examine.

Christianity is not easy. I praise God that he tells me that, His divine power has given me everything I need, and His grace is sufficient for me, and that I can do all things through Him!

It is this testing of ourselves that reveals to us who we really are. Let us not fail to meet the test!

Now That We Are Men (and Women!)

I was reading 1 Corinthians 13 this morning. I would like to share verses 11-13.
Often when reading the ''Love Chapter" I get so caught up in the first 10 verses that I miss all the rest. What a great promise!


When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Let us be men and live for that time when we will know fully and rejoice that have been, are and, always will be fully known.

Epic Fail

''Epic fail'' has become a trendy term for failure. There are web pages and TV programs dedicated to the failure of others. These pictures and shows are designed to be humerus (for the most part) at the expense of the one failing.

I would like to take a moment to point out that there is a book (the Bible) that does this as well though not in a humerus way. It points out that we as humans are an epic failure. The failures are different for the saved then they are for the lost but failures none the less.

I had one of those epic fail moments today while reading Phillipians 2:14. It says,
"Do all things without grumbling or questioning.''

Strong medicine eh? There are things in my life that almost require me to grumble! Oh wait...this text says all things are to be done without grumbling. Hard words for me to listen to today! I want to grumble! I want to complain! I want to question!

Thank God for this book that is living and active! Thank God that I am being changed by his Word. Yes, I continue to be an epic failure. I will continue to fail (sin) until glory. I look forward to that. No more sin. No more problems with self, or pride, or lust, or grumbling, or questioning, or..........

Be-attitudes

The beatitudes. Talk about conviction! A friend of mine recommended that I use Lloyd Jones' commentary as we together wade through the Sermon on the mount. Our latest study spoke of the meek. Matthew 5:5 says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Meek, a short little word with a very complicated definition. Part of that definition is, ''an emptying of self''. A realization that life is not about me. It's about God. There are many great examples of this in scripture and one in particular I would like to bring to your attention. Our Lord Jesus is spoken of by Paul in his book to Philippi as humbling himself, making himself nothing in order to glorify God.

Phillipians 2:4-8
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

There is a lot of nourishment to be had from this short section of scripture! What an example we have here of what it means be meek! The creator of everything became nothing (human)! Talk about denying yourself! I have a hard time giving up the nothing that I am! Because of his awesome example God highly exalted his son. We are also promised a reward for being he meek, we shall inherit the earth! Thankfully, it is not this sin tarnished earth that will be ours but a new earth. I can not even begin to imagine what that will be like.


This short study on the word meek has humbled me, broken me, caused me to examine myself and see that I am a wretch. I am not worthy of His great love. I deserve nothing, but, because of His great love I have been redeemed! There is little pride in that statement, wonder, worship, and praise yes, but pride? I have nothing to be proud of. The glory belongs to God alone.

A church or The Church

I would like to take some time to tackle an issue that has been heavy on my heart for some time now.

Cultural relevance.

This question of cultural relevance can be seen everywhere. People are coaxed into our nations many Church's by any number of things: music, shock value, lights, camera, action, even sex and the marriage bed. Nothing is sacred. If it will draw people in it has the potential to be used to do just that. The real reasons, the Gospel and worship seem to take a back seat to all of this man made hype.

It is not your pastors personality or preaching style. It is not whether you have a contemporary or traditional worship service. It's not the friendly smiling faces that may greet you at the door. It not the size, location, or architecture of your building, it does not matter if it's a new church, old church, house church, or rented out space church. It's the Gospel.

Martin Lloyd Jones in his book "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" while speaking about the Poor in Spirit, has this to say, "There is a tendency rather to exalt a certain aggressiveness and self assurance and to justify a mans making use of himself and his own personality and trying to put it forward... The advertisements that are being increasingly used in connection with Christian work proclaim this tendency very loudly. You read the old records of the activities of God's greatest workers, the great evangelists and others, and you observe how self effacing they were. But, today, we are experiencing something that is almost a complete reversal of this. Advertisements and photographs are being put into the foreground.

If someone has been chosen by God to be saved none of these things will bring salvation. It's not as if God needs us. Men dream up many things to bring people into their churches. The Gospel does not need men to make it look more attractive. The Gospel needs God. The Gospel is not about mans glory but Gods.

I am not saying that all of these things are worthless. I am saying that when these things become who we are or what we fight for or rely on they become worthless. Man has no power to save the lost. That power belongs to a far greater God. Rom. 1:16 speaks of the Gospel as being THE power of God for salvation.

Once a church becomes more interested in numbers then they are about worship and the Gospel they are coming dangerously close to being more of ''a church'' then The Church.

The book of 1 John talks much of self examination. Self examination is important for The Church as well. Is it all about Vanity Fair and the wisdom of man to attract people or is it all about the Gospel and real worship? Are we trying so hard to look like a church that we are in danger of missing the point?

We serve a great God. It is all for His glory. Let us never forget this all important fact!

Col. 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.