You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2008.
Wednesday, January 30, we will be meeting at 7:00pm to 8:30pm. We will be meeting every Wednesday through the end of May.
We will begin our study in the book How to Read a Bible for All it’s Worth by Douglas Stuart and Gordon Fee. This lesson will help you be able to interpret the Scripture biblically. This will help in your daily devotions, Bible study and being able to share the Scripture with others.
Look forward to seeing you.
Psalm 24:1-10
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory!
Sovereign Grace Music is having a sale.
I have been tagged to disclose seven facts about myself. Enjoy.
1. It will be 7 years of blissful marriage on May 26, 2008. Emily and I have two lovable daughters, Kaylee 4 and Abigail who will be 2 on February 8. I’m thankful for my wife being 11 months older than me. The reason why you ask? I was married at 20. I couldn’t sign the contract for the hotel we stayed at for our honeymoon and all the bills at our first apartment were in her name. Thanks Emily for allowing me have electricity. I owe you one.
2. I was called to ministry at 14 during church camp. I graduated LIFE Bible College East in 2002 with a Bachelor’s Degree of Theology and began working as a Youth Pastor at Twinbrook Community Church. Last fall, I started my M.Div at Reformed Theological Seminary Washington DC. Here’s to a lot of fun work ahead.
3. I’m originally from New Philadelphia, Ohio and a huge Ohio State Buckeyes fan. I love watching and playing sports, football, basketball, baseball, church softball, golf and European soccer to name a few of the favorites.
4. In middle school, I was named the fastest typer in the 8th grade after holding the highest score in type attack the whole year. Thanks to all the years of playing video games to hone the hand eye coordination.
5. At 16, I failed the driving portion of my driver’s test and received a 98 percent on the written portion. Thankfully, I passed the second time around.
6. My favorite authors are Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, John Piper, RC Sproul, John Stott, AW Tozer, and Jerry Bridges. Not in any particular order.
7. My first job was a shoe salesman at JC Penney then continued my retail career at Finishline, Eddie Bauer and back to JC Penney’s catalog counter through high school and college. I have a ton of worthless information about shoes and clothes.
This book is a wonderfully detailed overview of the Reformation. His chapters are about why the reformation matters today, Martin Luther and the German Reformation, Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation Anabaptists, Calvin, Anglicans, Puritans and women who contributed to the Reformation. I have been a history fan since grade school. This book is great for those who love history and even those who are curious about learning more about the Reformers. What I love about this book is he makes the people involved come alive. They were real people not just characters from a story. He provides excellent side stories about how certain events were started.
The story of Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation started over a sausage dinner. Zwingli had refrained from eating sausage. It happened to be the season of Lent and that dinner caused Zwingli to preach a sermon entitled “On the choice and freedom of food” coming to the conclusion Christians can eat all foods. As my professor at RTS said last fall, Zwingli is often given a bad rep but he helped birth the Swiss reformation for which we should all be grateful. It was interesting to hear how Luther was constructing his thesis along the same time period as Michelangelo painting the Sistine chapel. It is amazing how in secular history class we never hear the full story at the same time important pieces of church history were going on.
Luther was responsible for the five solas. Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone, the Bible is the sole and final authority in all matters of life and godliness. Sola Gratia – Grace Alone, and Sola Fide – Faith alone. Salvation is by grace through faith alone. The cornerstone of the Reformation. Solus Christus – Christ alone, No other mediator between God and sinful humanity than Christ. He alone based on his work on the cross grants access to the Father. Soli Deo Gloria the meaning of the glory of God alone. All life is lived for the glory of God. These doctrines form the bedrock to what we believe.
So you ask yourself the question why does the Reformation matter today? Nichols answers that question in chapter one. “The Reformers remind us that unity apart from solid biblical and theological base builds a grand castle on mere sand…The Reformers saw nothing less than the Gospel at stake, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and others risked taking a stand for the Gospel…They risked their very lives. We study the Reformation because of what we can learn. We learn the treasure of the Gospel…We learn how easy it is to lose sight of its value. We learn what doctrines matter most…We learn that our faith and trust doesn’t lie in their lives but in Jesus Christ. They point beyond themselves to Him.”
Does this not sound familiar? Are we living in times when the Gospel is being questioned? The Gospel is too precious. Nichols asserts, “If we as a church don’t get it right on the doctrines of the Bible, Christ and salvation, we’ll never head in the right direction, no matter how innovative or energetic or zealous we may be.”
It is important to know where we have come from. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who came before. Another interesting point he brings out in the book is the countless men and women who lost their lives for the sake of the Gospel. There were kings who sided with the Reformers. There were those who despised them and wanted their lives and work eradicated. If it wasn’t for the lives lost we in this country would not experience the freedom to worship the Almighty God. There are still those who are being persecuted today for the Gospel. We need to remember and pray for those on the mission field everywhere.
Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
He has a section devoted to the Puritans as well. “Puritans were those who sought a pure church and a pure life going against the moral and religious status quo. They took holiness seriously, both for the individual and for the redeemed community of the church.” I loved this quote the Puritans said, “the phrase, communion of the saints…stresses the distinctly Puritan view of the church. Church is not a social club but a group of people brought together by a truly common union in Jesus Christ and in one’s common standing at the foot of the cross.”
This should be the common unity not only of the individual church but the church as a a whole. Our common unity and bond should be in Jesus Christ at the foot of the cross. Ephesians 4:4-6, There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
In the appendix he gives important timelines, texts of the Reformation, catechisms (not the full catechisms the important pieces), and the Prayers of the Reformation. This book is a great read. It will cause you to really appreciate church history and the price that was paid for the Gospel.
Mark your calendars.
Calling for Truth, a live call-in radio program of Dr. Paul Dean and Pastor Kevin Boling, has joined the 2008 Puritan Reading Challenge. Calling for Truth broadcasts every afternoon from 1:00-2:00 pm EST, originating from Greenville, South Carolina (Talk 660 – covering SC and parts of NC, GA, and TN). They also stream their radio show live on the internet, and the shows are available for download at the audio archives or their SermonsAudio page.
But not only has Calling for Truth joined the challenge, they have invited Timmy Brister (and YOU) to talk about the PRC on their radio program at the end of each month! Timmy Brister is scheduled to be their guest next Wednesday, January 30, to discuss the PRC and more importantly The Bruised Reed and Richard Sibbes. All of you participating in the reading program are invited to call-in (1.888.660.9535) during the program (1:00pm until 2:00pm EST) with your questions and/or comments.
Tomorrow, January 23rd from 6:30pm to 8:30pm we will be meeting at Manna Food Center to organize the shelves. It’s a great time to be together doing a service project. It helps the hungry in Montgomery County and you can receive community service hours as well. Parents and youth are welcome. The address is Manna Food Center 614 Lofstrand Lane, Rockville, MD 20850. It is near the Hostess bakery off Gude Dr. in Rockville. Come out and join us.
Skit practice will take place on Saturday, January 26th at 10am to 12pm at the church.
This week I finished the Bruised Reed. I was impressed with Sibbes’ creative writing style. His comparisons remind me of reading Bunyan. Chapter 13 entitled Grace Will Reign, Sibbes gives several conclusions why Christ’s Government will be victorious. I want to focus on the objection, “Why the enemy seems victorious? We need to remember, firstly, that God’s children usually, in their troubles, overcome by suffering…this victory is by degrees.” Suffering is not a popular word in our culture today. However, suffering is essential to the Christian life. Sibbes suggests, “God often works by contraries: when he means to give victory, he will allow us to be foiled at first; when he means to comfort, he will terrify first; when he means to justify, he will condemn us first; when he means to make us glorious, he will abase us first. A Christian conquers, even when he is conquered…Christ’s work, both in the church and in the hearts of Christians, often goes backward so that it may go forward better.” Now is he suggesting that God is playing a game with our minds and lives. Certainly not. There is a greater good God will accomplish. It is the same in covenant theology. Every covenant the Lord gives comes with a blessing and a curse.
I am reminded of James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
All believers are going to face trials and experience hardship. One key to remember is that God is with you even in the midst of the trial. He has never left you. It is through the trials that our faith is made stronger. “As seed rots in the ground in the winter time, but after comes up better, and the harder the winter the more flourishing the spring, so we learn to stand by falls and get strength by weakness discovered. We take deeper root by shaking…Let us assure ourselves that God’s grace, even in this imperfect state, is stronger than man’s free will in the state of original perfection. It is founded now in Christ who, as he is the author, so will he be the finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2). We are under a more gracious covenant.” He goes on to express that those who have weakness with watchfulness will stand and those who have strength and overconfidence in themselves will fail. It is those who acknowledge their weakness are great for God to perfect His strength in.
He gives several evidences of Christ’s rule in us but to summarize and “help us in our trial, we must know that there are three degrees of victory: first, when we resist through we are foiled; second, when grace gets the better, though with conflict; and third, when all corruption is perfectly subdued. When we have strength only to resist, we may know Christ’s government in us will be victorious, because what is said of the devil is true of all our spiritual enemies, ‘Resist the devil and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7); because ‘Greater is he that is in you, who takes the part of his own grace, than he that is in the world’” (1 John 4:4).
Suffering and trials can be difficult to overcome. However, it is through Christ that we have victory in Him.
Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Psalm 46:10-11, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD Almighty is with us the God of Jacob is our fortress.”
Questions to ponder
1. How do you respond when a trial or suffering comes?
2. Do you rest on your own strength to get you through?
3. Why do we seem to run from God or run to God during those times?
4. Has your faith been made stronger and how have you grown through the storm?
5. Have you expressed your thankfulness to God for bringing you through?
Psalm 16
16:1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight. [13]
4 The sorrows of those who run after [14] another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me. [15]
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being [16] rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption. [17]
11 You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
I added some new links on the side bar.
One you will want to check out is the ESV Bible online daily devotional.
They have several reading plans to choose from. Since it is January and resolutions are often made. Why not pick a devotional and follow it this year. I decided to pick the Daily Reading Bible. I will read through the OT once and the NT and Psalms twice. Once you click on it you can scroll to the bottom of the screen and make it an RSS feed. You can add it to your browser bar and never say you didn’t read or see it when you turn on the internet.
They have RSS feeds available for all the devotionals plus a daily verse and weekly memory verse. Here’s to a successful year of reading the Word.
