Acknowledgement

In Genesis 12:7, 8; 13:18 (Here at Bible Gateway), note the repetition:

• 7…he built an altar there to the Lord…
• 8…there he built an altar to the Lord…
• 3:18…there he built an altar to the Lord…

All of these were after the Lord had promised the land to Abram.  The last one was after he and Lot had gone their separate ways and the Lord reiterated His promise to Abram that He would give Abram the land.

It is striking to me that after the Lord promised him the land, on the journey toward what the Lord had promised, at each step, Abram built an altar.

It was an acknowledgement of the Lord’s promise, the Lord’s guidance, and Abram’s trust and dependence on the Lord.

There are projects that the Lord has given me that I may start well.  However, this passage reminds me that although the Lord may have assigned me that project, it is incumbent on me to walk in acknowledgement of both the source of the assignment and my dependence on Him to complete it.

Right Weeping

In Nehemiah 1:4 we read: “When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

When I read this, my first question was, “Do I weep over what causes the Lord to weep?”  Is what moves me to tears important to Him?  I don’t think He cares much about Hallmark movies.  I rather doubt that He is concerned about the outcome of the football games I watch.

On the other hand, I read that He wants us to abide in His Word.  I read in Jeremiah 23 (Here at Bible Gateway), that when the leadership of Israel did not abide in His Word, He was moved by that – seemed angry – wept?

In Matthew 28:18 – 20 (Here at Bible Gateway), He wants us to make disciples of all the nations, when we are not focused on that, it would seem that He would respond much as He did with the leaders in Jeremiah.

Nehemiah takes it up a notch in 1:6b: "…I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned."  Nehemiah knew that the nation had drifted away from what God wanted them to do.  His response was to pray, confess, not just once, but day and night.  He took it seriously.  

How are we doing as a Church?  Either globally or locally?  Are we abiding in His Word?  Are we obeying His commission?  Are we representing Him well to the lost?  Or are we more interested in pleasing ourselves, making ourselves comfortable in our meetings and events?

Nehemiah ends with this in 8 – 9: “Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them…”  Note that Nehemiah is basing his petition to the Lord on the Word of God, the promise of God.  

It seems that if we are to follow Nehemiah’s example, we will pray not just for ourselves or our needs but for the Church both globally and locally to do what the Lord wants done.  Further, when we see that the Church is not following what the Lord commands, then we will with Him weep.

Intentional Leadership

Ezra was a leader.  He led Israel in the project of re-building the temple amid opposition by the gentiles in the land.  How did he do this in the midst of such resistance and difficulty?  The answer, I think, in Ezra 7:6, 9 – 10 (Here at Bible Gateway).  Here are some of the things we learn about Ezra there:

• He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses
• The hand of the Lord was with him
• He set his heart to study the Law of the Lord
• He set his heart to practice the Law of the Lord
• He set his heart to teach the Law of the Lord in Israel

The structure and the figure of speech used here helps us to observe what is said about Ezra.  The use of the two ands connects "set his heart" to both of the following verbs.  The repetition of and, also is a figure of speech that intends for us to slow down and consider each of the statements carefully.  If the ands are replaced by commas on the other hand, we are to speed through the list to the result.

  

The first two observations above tell us much about Ezra, namely, that he was accomplished in his profession and that the Lord was using him.

The next three observations tell us that even though he was accomplished and had the Lord’s favor, he did not take that for granted but intentionally engaged in studying what he already knew.  He knew that there was more to learn.  Then note that he was committed to practicing, obeying, performing, following through on what he saw in the Law.  Further, he was committed, set, to teach others to do what he was doing.

We saw in 2 Timothy a few days ago that all ministry is the overflow of the Word of God from our lives into the life of others.  Here we see an example of that in action.  As we saw yesterday in Ezra 3:3 (Here at Bible Gateway) and Romans 15:4 (Here at Bible Gateway) we have an example we should both learn from and follow.

Grace in the Morning

Ever feel like this world is against you?  Read Psalm 90 (here @ BibleGateway).  Focus for a second on verses 14 – 15 (here @ BibleGateway).  It looks like it pretty much is against us.  Now consider Genesis 3:16 – 19 (here @ BibleGateway) and compare that to Genesis 1:28 – 31 (here @ BibleGateway).

Notice that the curses in 3 are in direct contrast with assignments Adam and Eve are given in 1.  They were to fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over it.  Instead, because of their disobedience, Adam now had to deal with a cursed ground that would now resist his efforts to live to say nothing of the assignment to subdue.  

Eve was to be a helper and the mother of all living.  Rather than be a helper she now would want to dominate Adam.  Further, the fruitful and multiply assignment was going to be accompanied by greatly multiplied pain.

So the deck was now stacked against them, and by extension us.  Life moved from a lush garden to a harsh cursed and fallen world into which we have arrived.

Moses reminds us in his prayer that to navigate this cursed world we must cling to the grace of God each morning.  That would seem like a strong recommendation to start each day in His Word and asking for the grace we need to make it through that day.

Promotion

There is a cause and effect relationship that I have seen play out in several passages of scripture.

Cause	Effect	Note
Proverbs 11:2 (here at Bible Gateway)
When pride comes	then comes dishonor	Note the contrast
But With the humble	is wisdom
1 Peter 5:5 – 6 (here at Bible Gateway)
Pride	God is opposed	Again contrast
Humble	God gives Grace
Humble yourself	God will exalt you at the proper time
James 4:7-8, 10 (here at Bible Gateway)
Submit to God, Resist the devil	The devil will flee
Draw near to God	He will draw near to you
Humble yourself in the presence of the Lord	He will exalt you
Matthew 23:12  (here at Bible Gateway) also (Luke 14:11; 18:12  (here at Bible Gateway))
Whoever exalts himself	Will be humbled	Note the contrast "and" essentially is functioning here as "but"
He who humbles himself	Will be exaulted
Philippians 2:8 - 11 (here at Bible Gateway)
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.	For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
1 Corinthians 11:1 (here at Bible Gateway)
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.		Paul exhorts us to imitate Christ by humbling ourselves...

There are more passages that deal with this.  Psalm 75:6 – 7 (here at Bible Gateway) and Hebrews 5:4 (here at Bible Gateway) are two you may want to consult.  The issue is we are to avoid exalting ourselves, self-promotion.  I continually ask the Lord to deliver me from this.

Self-Perpetuating Command

One of the things that is interesting about the great commission, Matthew 28:18 – 20 (here @ BibleGateway), is that it is self-perpetuating.  As you probably know, the only imperative in the sentence, 19 – 20 (here @ BibleGateway), is the verb make disciples.  The rest of the verbal forms, go, baptize, and teach are participles which derive their force or mood from the main verb.  So, each of those inherit the imperative.

There are some other interesting things about those participles but those are beyond the scope of this post.

What is meant by self-perpetuating is the force of the last participle, teach.  What are the 11 to teach?  “To observe all that I commanded you...” this would include 19 – 20.  So the 11 are to lead people to Christ and teach them all that He commanded them, which would include them doing the same as the 11.

Paul figured that out.  In 2 Timothy 2:2 (here @ BibleGateway) we see echoes of the Great Commission.  But Paul also figured out it was an ongoing charge.  Look at the following passages: 

• 2 Timothy 2:10 (here @ BibleGateway)
• 1 Corinthians 9:23 (here @ BibleGateway)
• 2 Corinthians 11:28 – 29 (here @ BibleGateway)

Paul after his road trip, focused on sharing the gospel.  The three verses above seem to describe his singular focus.  Would it be reasonable to suggest that if we are believers, if we are disciples, apprentices of Christ, that like Paul we should have a similar focus?  After all isn’t that the idea behind teaching inheriting the imperative from make disciples.

Loose End – Part 3

Yesterday we continued to think through the issue that Wilberforce and Osborne both wrote about 206 years apart.  An issue that persisted throughout those 206 years and seems to persist today.  That is the seeming apathy to the Lord’s exhortation to abide in His Word.

Yesterday I shared the idea that reading books about the Bible, listening to messages about the Bible, watching programs, going to classes about the Bible, is not the same as being in the Bible.  I have done and still do all those things.  I have a ThM, which was 128 hours of class and untold hours outside of class, and that does not count the courses I took in Greek and Hebrew before I got to seminary.  I’m sitting in an office that has every available wall lined with full bookcases and there are 20 or so boxes of books in storage.  All of those things, books, programs, classes are helpful, but they cannot and are not supposed to be the major input of our Biblical lives.

All of those, as good as they are, are filtered through the study and experience of others.  As good as those others are, their work is not inspired.  We need to be in the Word of God ourselves, before we pick up a book – say we are studying Ephesians.  We need to do an overview, analyze each section, and then summarize what we studied.  Then and only then we are ready to look at some secondary source.  If we engage in the secondary source first, what we see will be channeled toward what the teacher, author, or speaker saw.

There is another challenge though.  For the most part, churches regardless of their tradition, have not done a good job of equipping those in the community with the skills needed to study the Word for themselves.  Ephesians 4:11 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway), outlines succinctly what the ministry of a local church is to be.  The leaders are tasked to equip those in the church to do the work of the ministry.  Did you catch that?  The leaders are not supposed to do the work they are to equip the saints to do so.

That may be the source of the problem.  Seminaries, at least the ones I am aware of, do not focus on training pastors to equip.  They are focused on exegesis, hermeneutics, exposition, and homiletics.  That is, in a normal person’s words, technical study, interpretation, explanation, and proclamation.  Thus, most pastors do not equip, they proclaim.  Again, that is good.  I have listened to thousands of messages and have benefited from them.  But the primary input, the most help I have gotten, has been from personal study, personal engagement, wrestling with the text of the Bible.

I learned how to do that, not from classes – while there were some classes that helped in the sense that they suggested methods or tools of which I was not familiar.  Rather, it was from individuals who showed me how to do the work and gave me feedback on what I saw and how I explained it.  It is that interaction, that back and forth, what Paul refers to in Ephesians 4:16 (here @ Bible Gateway), as “being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body…”  Classes do not equip.  Practicing what a class teaches, under observation by someone who knows and is mastering or has mastered the content and gives feedback and constructive criticism – that is what equips.

It seems to me that is what we need in our churches.  I have heard there are some that are doing this.  I am working at doing so in my church.

Loose End – Part 2

Yesterday we started to probe the issue that both Wilberforce and Osbourne spoke to around 206 years apart.  Today we will consider some of the implications of what we examined yesterday.

The conclusion yesterday was that if one does not engage in the activity that Christ exhorts, the implications are dire.  That conclusion is driven, in part, by John 8:31 (here @ Bible Gateway).  As we saw, if one is to be a disciple of Christ, one must abide in His Word.  The import of that is if one is not abiding in the Word, then one is not a disciple.  

In an earlier post we examined 1 Peter 2:1 – 3 (here @ Bible Gateway).  The passage is a complex conditional statement.  Essentially it says that if one has tasted the kindness of the Lord, that is has fully experienced His kindness, then that one will long for, hunger for, not be satisfied without the Word of God.  Would it not be the case then that if a person does not have a hunger for the Word of God, if they are not pursuing learning it, studying it, reading it, would it not be reasonable to conclude that they have not tasted the kindness of the Lord?

In Luke 6:46 (here @ Bible Gateway), Jesus asks a rather penetrating question.  “If you call me Lord, why do you not do what I say?”  Isn’t the implication there that if one is not doing what Christ says, He is not their Lord?  

I have been engaged with more than one church’s small group project.  One of the consistent challenges is getting the groups to engage personally, individually in the Word of God.  Many are quick to read “Christian” books, or watch “Christian” videos, or focus on fellowship, but to read secondary sources is not the same as reading the Bible.  

I have been asked to review two study Bibles.  I have done one, and the other is in the que.  Both are chock full of notes and reference material.  When I was new to the faith, the Scofield Reference Bible was the main Bible that people carried.  It too was chock full of notes and reference material.  Full disclosure I have at least four Study Bibles.  I don’t use any of them.  Why?  The notes and reference materials are the work of man.  They are not inspired.  The text of the Bible is inspired.  Hebrews 4:12 (here @ Bible Gateway) does not say, “For books about the Bible and the notes in your study Bible are living and active and sharper than any two edged sword…” you can fill in the rest.

It is confusing to me why the Lord allows this.  He states that His word will not return void, Isaiah 55:11 (here @ Bible Gateway).  It seems like, many, if not most, of those claiming to be in the Body, have chosen to abandon His Word.  Chosen not to abide instead to depend on proxies to apprehend the Word of God.  This seems to have resulted in an ineffective and anemic Body.  I don’t know why this persists.  But the quotes from Wilberforce and Osborne indicate that it has for the last couple of hundred years.

The Holy Spirit inspired His Word, all of it.  It reflects God’s nature and character, 2 Peter 1:1 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Peter in 2 Peter 1:16 – 21 (here @ Bible Gateway) compares having the Word of God to his experience seeing Jesus transformed on the Mount of Transfiguration.  But, we have trouble getting believers to engage personally in it?  Why?

I have some thoughts on that I will share in the next post.

Loose End

In June of last year, I shared two quotes, one by William Wilberforce, the other by Grant Osbourne.  As noted in the post, the quotes were 206ish years apart and yet essentially dealt with the same issue.  In that post I said I would share my thoughts on those two quotes.  In reviewing my journal and the blog just now, I realize I never did.  So here goes…

If I were to synthesize the two quotes the common issue seems to be that there is a tendency in the community of faith to not take the need to work at understanding or studying the Bible as necessary for every believer.  There seems to be a prevailing sentiment that after I come to Christ, I’m done with work in terms of knowing Him.  Sure, I will listen to the occasional message and may read the occasional Christian book, but actually dive into the Word of God for myself?  I wouldn’t know where to start.  Anyway, that is the job of the pastor and teachers.  They need to study and tell me what to think.

In the previous paragraph I referred to the community of faith.  Why?  This issue prevails from Genesis to Revelation.  The people of Israel abandoned the Word of God.  There were times of renewal.  Each time the Word was found and read to the people and the people tore their clothes and repented.  But abandoned the Word again in short order.

In Jeremiah 23 (here @ Bible Gateway) the Lord reveals His attitude toward this type of behavior.  The prophets were not sharing the Word of God with the nation.  Rather, they were sharing their own dreams and ideas.  God did not like that.  It is worth your time to read the chapter.

In the New Testament over and over the importance of the Word of God is emphasized.  Perhaps the section of Scripture that is most telling is John 15:1 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In that passage John repeats the Greek word μένω (meno) 11 times in those 16 verses.  The word is variously translated abide, remain, continue, dwell.  We are exhorted by the Lord to abide in Him and have His Words abide in us.  In John 8:31 (here @ Bible Gateway) the exhortation is to abide in His Word to be His disciple.  Both statements in John 8:31 (here @ Bible Gateway) and John 15:7 (here @ Bible Gateway) are conditional.  The construction of the sentences indicate that it is not certain that those who heard or read will actually fulfill the condition of having the Words abide in them or abide in His Word.  The implications of not doing what Christ exhorted are dire.

This is getting longer than I intended when I started.  So I will finish it in the next post or so.  Stay tuned.

The Job of Every Believer

A while back something I was reading caused me to chase a theme through the New Testament.  

Here are the passages that came to mind:

• 1 Corinthians 12:7, 24 – 27 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Romans 12:4 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Ephesians 4:1 – 3, 11 – 16 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Hebrews 3:13 – 15 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Hebrews 10:23 – 25 (here @ Bible Gateway)

As you see the passages deal mostly with gifting of each member of the body of Christ.  It occurred to me, while working through this, that the purpose of each individual in the body is to build up the other members.  Based on Hebrews 10 (here @ Bible Gateway) that is an intentional and thoughtful enterprise. 

To the extent that we do not build one another up, not consider, not encourage, not strengthen, not challenge, not exhort, not call to walk worthy, to that extent we weaken not only the body, but we diminish ourselves.  By not building up a member in Christ, we are choosing to not activate that person’s gift thus depriving the body and us of their ministry.

The argument will be made that it is the domain of the elite, the pastors, the leadership of a body to build up the members.  But, that flies in the face of the Lord’s command in Matthew 28:18 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway).

Under Obligation

From time to time I read part of a devotional, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions (VOV), during my personal devotions.  They are short; two pages.  But I tend to break them up into sentences and reflect on the message.  It seems that some of the Puritans thought when Paul commanded that we imitate him, that meant they were to write sentences like he did.  Some of their sentences are looooong.  I break those up.

Yesterday this was the sentence that I wrote out in my journal:

Send me forth to have compassion on the ignorant and miserable.

I was struck by the depth and simplicity of the thought.  Most of the time these excerpts bring to mind verses that support what I read.  This was no exception.  Five passages came to mind.  The first was Romans 1:14 (here @ Bible Gateway).  It is not my favorite verse.  I am ok with all of it but the last three words.  However, I know that I can’t pick and choose what I obey.  I have trouble with foolish people.  I have found that there are a lot of them.  Yet 1:14 (here @ Bible Gateway) tells me that as a believer I am under obligation to share the gospel with them.  The sentence in VOV, echoes Paul.

Then two passages in Ezekiel, 3:18 – 19 (here @ Bible Gateway) and 33:8 – 9 (here @ Bible Gateway).  When you read those you will see that our obligation extends to the wicked as well.  That the passages are virtually identical, indicates emphasis.  We are exhorted emphatically that we are obligated to share the good news with the wicked.

Then Jude 22 – 23 (here @ Bible Gateway) came to mind.  Jude speaks of the urgency of the matter.  We need to view the Greeks, barbarians, wise, foolish, and wicked as inside a burning building and we are the only one that can get them out.  Fun picture.

Lastly, Matthew 28:18 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway) came to mind.  You have probably hear messages on this passage.  We are told – well the only imperative in the passage is make disciples.  The other verb forms, go, baptize, and teach are all participles.  Participles get their force from the main verb, make disciples, so they take on the imperative mood of make disciples.  The point of this, is that we are expected to make disciples.  The first step in making a disciple is to lead them to Jesus.

It is easy to justify why we are not sharing the gospel.  I have essentially been under house arrest since last March because of my compromised immune system due to the cancer and subsequent chemo.  But, even before that, much of what I have been called to do focuses me on equipping believers in their study of the Word of God.  So in a sense I am insulated from non-believers.  But I don’t find in Scripture any out.  I am still under obligation to our list of Greeks, et al.  I have to use every interaction with another person as an opportunity to share Christ.  To go forth, intentionally, with compassion.  I am not very good about that.

Abiding in Sin

This is substantially a continuation or a further development of yesterday’s post.

In the time with the Lord this morning one of the passages to which I was directed was Jude (the reading plan I use had Jude yesterday but I misread it and jumped into Revelation, oops).  In Jude 4 (here @ Bible Gateway) we read that there are those in the community who turn grace into licentiousness.

Thinking through that, and there is much to which that applies, more than I want to explore in this post, several other passages came to mind.

Romans 6:1 – 2 (here @ Bible Gateway): Paul emphatically states that we are not to claim the grace of God as a covering to remain, continue, or abide in sinful behavior.  Which would, it seems, be what Jude suggests is turning grace in to licentiousness.  Interestingly, the word that is translated “continue” (NASB) here is in the same word group as the word that is translated “abide” in John 8:31 – 32 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Galatians 5:13 (here @ Bible Gateway), echoes the thought here in Romans 6:1 – 2 (here @ Bible Gateway).

James 4:17 (here @ Bible Gateway): James reminds us that if we know what is right and do not do it.  That is sin.

John 8:31 – 32 (here @ Bible Gateway): Jesus said that if we are going to be His disciples, we will abide, continue, in His Word.

Luke 6:46 (here @ Bible Gateway): Jesus asks a significant question.  Why are you calling me Lord if you are not doing what I tell you to do?

All of these together would seem to suggest that if we claim to be followers of Christ – note that in Acts 11:26 (here @ Bible Gateway), those who are called Christians were first disciples – one of the distinguishing marks of a Christian, a disciple, is that they are those who abide, remain in, continue in, His Word.

That would seem to be the right thing to do, would it not?  So, if we are not, are we not abiding in sin?

Is Jesus Enough?

Learning to deal with the reality that my capacity has been greatly limited, at least for the next several months, has surfaced several issues that I have needed to process.

In the past 13 years the Lord has given me the opportunity to serve believers in 11 countries on 4 continents.  It has been a privilege.  He has given men and women in those places tools to understand the Bible in ways they have not done before.  He has refined the process and the message.  The material has been translated into four languages.  He has given me lasting relationships with significant people.  I have been asked back to most of the places He has allowed me to serve.

I was scheduled to leave this Friday for the second trip to a sub Saharan country.  The treatment canceled that trip along with a three-week vacation to South Africa and a large game reserve in eastern Africa in July.

While I still meet with three Bible studies and our small group at church online, and talk to men on the phone, I have not been able to meet with anyone in person since the middle of March.

As I was praying about this a sentence in a devotional I use from time to time stood out:

Thy goodness has been with me during another year, leading me through a twisting wilderness, in retreat helping me to advance, when beaten back making sure headway. (The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, page 204)

Reflecting on that sentence, I wrote in my journal, “This describes well my life, Lord please – don’t shunt me aside…”  As I wrote that down it became clear that I valued serving Christ more than Him.  It was a clear rebuke.  Two passages came to mind, Luke 10:18 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Luke 10:38 – 42 (here @ Bible Gateway).  The question for which I do not have a good answer yet is, “If all I have is my relationship with Jesus, is that enough?  Is He enough?

I know what the answer should be…

Leadership Training

The training of leaders is a continual source of research, effort, and courses.  In 1 Samuel 16:1, 7, 13 (here @ Bible Gateway), we find Samuel replacing the failed leader, Saul, with his hand-picked replacement, David.

Samuel was directed buy God to go to Jessie’s domicile and to review Jessie’s sons, one of them was to be king.  Samuel was told not to look at their appearance or stature, it was the heart that the Lord was after.

Thinking through this it seems that the selection of David as king was not for David’s benefit, it was for the Lord’s purpose.  We tend to view position personally.  That is a position is mine.  That does not seem to be the case in the Lord’s economy, a position is for the Lord, for His glory.

The Lord’s standards are different than ours, mine, or the world’s.  It is not about education.  It is not about leadership traits as taught by the business schools.  It is about heart.

Anointing David in the presence of his brothers, set up a similar dynamic as that which Joseph faced.

It may be that the sibling were used to shape David as king.

Regardless, one thing that is clear, God does not follow good leadership theory in choosing the leaders of His people.

Reboot

There is still much to say.

The long absence here this year is the result of a year that has been full of both travel and challenging health.

Many times, I have started to write again.  Topics that drew me were the intersection of homosexuality and Christianity and the ordination and inclusion of women in the proclaiming pastorate (it was the controversy surrounding the changing position of Beth Moore that was the impetus).  I began to write on both but after starting the first, realized that it would consume weeks or months of posts to handle well.  On the second in talking it over with my wife, who has benefited greatly from Mrs. Moore’s ministry, it was clear that, again, the topic would consume many weeks.  It was not and has not been my focus to deal directly with issues as these.

So, I will start again.  My focus is the requirement the Lord has stated for us, if we are to be His apprentices, to abide in His Word.  It is my settled conviction that if one is truly pursuing His requirement to abide, the issues above about which I was tempted to address will resolve.

It is a further settled conviction that for the most part many if not most believers are not abiding in the Word as our Lord has commanded.  Rather they have become dependent on others to study the Word for them and to tell them what they found.  The vast number of Christian books published each year is a testament to this reality.

So, the purpose here, mostly to remind myself, is to both encourage us to abide and in some small way attempt to equip those who engage here to do so.

So, we will reboot, there is still much to say.

Life

Consider Deuteronomy 32:47 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Note how the Word of God is described.  It is not an idle word – it is your life.

If we are ones that claim to follow Christ, to seek Him, to want to know more about Him, how can that be done apart from His Word?

Further, if we are ones that claim to be followers of Christ, then are we not expected to share that reality with others?  How?  With our own ideas and words.  I have seen men meeting together about the Christian life with no Bible in evidence.  I have been to “Christian” workshops in which no single reference to the Word of God was made.  I have been to a men’s event at a church where the speaker shared a vision out of a dream he had to a room full of men, no Bible.

Unless I am reading the Bible incorrectly, which is possible, we are to abide in Christ's word, John 8:31 – 32 (here @ Bible Gateway).  In Colossians 3:1 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway), Paul reminds us that our life is in Christ.  Deuteronomy reminds us that we learn about that in His Word.

If you really want a dose of this spend some time in Psalm 119 (here @ Bible Gateway)…

Proclaim or Passive?

Look at Psalm 96:10 (here @ Bible Gateway).  Does that seem vaguely familiar?  Compare with Matthew 28:18 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway).  The imperative in Psalm 96:10 (here @ Bible Gateway) is “Say”: in Matthew 28:18 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway) it is “make disciples.  It would seem that one precedes the other.

Now look at Isaiah 39:8 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Psalm 78:9 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway).  How does the attitude expressed in these two passages align with Psalm 96:10 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Matthew 28:18 – 20 (here @ Bible Gateway)?  The obvious answer is, they don’t.

Hezekiah was informed that his sons would be taken into exile, signaling the end of the nation.  His response?  Well at least that won’t happen on my watch.  Ephraim is depicted in Psalm 78:9 – 11 (here @ Bible Gateway) as and archer, a warrior, an equipped archer.  But when they were needed for battle, they were nowhere to be found.

Are there many like this in the Body today?  Are there those who have been commanded to both “say” and “make disciples” who like Ephraim are nowhere to be found?  Not engaged?

Seems so.

One of the leaders in a church I know quips that many in the church cannot be bothered with engaging in what the Lord wants them to do, because they have a Netflix account.  I’m not sure that their reasons are that compelling.

How do you imagine the Lord will respond to this level of passivity in His people?

Equipping the Heart

Yesterday looking at Deuteronomy 4:39 (here @ Bible Gateway) and other passage we say that it is possible to engage in the Word and not take it to heart, that is not have it change or transform our thinking or behavior.

In the past I have used a three step illustration on how to move people intentionally toward the Lord.  You can see it below.  The idea was you engage them in the process, establish them in the disciplines, and then equip them to engage others in the process.

I have learned in the past three or four years that I left out a couple of steps.  Before one can be engaged in something they have to know that something exists.  So I added Expose prior to Engage.  Further, one will not really work at engaging others in the process if they are not aware that is the intent of the Lord.  Paul speaks of the Gospel being entrusted to him which he in turn entrust to Timothy and Titus with the expectation that they would entrust it to others.  2 Timothy 2:2 (here @ Bible Gateway) is the clearest example of this.

So I added Entrust between Equip and Expose.

But there are two other things that have to happen with an individual.  To be established they have to learn to consistently apply the Word of God to their lives.  In order to bear fruit, they not only need to be equipped, but they have to abide in the Word.  One might argue that learning to abide is part of being equipped, but I wanted to emphasize it.

This is the model I am pursuing at the moment.  I will probably learn more as I go.

To Heart

If you were to read Deuteronomy 4:39 (here @ Bible Gateway), it seems to indicate that it is possible to engage in the Word of God, to read or study it and not take it to heart.

As cross references take a look at these passages as well:

• Psalm 27:14 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Psalm 31:24 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• Malachi 2:2 (here @ Bible Gateway)
• James 1:21 – 25 (here @ Bible Gateway)

The clear message is that hearing, knowing the Bible is not enough.  We have – further, exposure is not enough – one has to take it to heart.  To use the word that Jesus and Paul used, we have to abide, live in, continue in the Word.  So we have to essentially, live by or apply the word to our lives.  Romans 12:2 (here @ Bible Gateway) describes that as being transformed, having our minds renewed.

If I am reading my Bible correctly, our assignment, that for which we will be held accountable, does not stop there.  We are to not only take the Word to heart, abide, we are to equip others to do the same.

More on that next…

Hard Stuff

What do you do with hard passages?  Passages that seem to conflict with what you believe.

There are two main positions on salvation.  One is that if you accept Christ then you are not going to lose that relationship.  The other position is that you can fall away and lose your salvation.  You hold, or your community of faith holds to one of those positions.

What do you do with 2 John 9 (here @ Bible Gateway)?

How do you reconcile that passage with the view that one cannot fall away?  If you hold the second view, does this passage support your position?

Take your time on this.  Do not answer without validating your answer from other passages of Scripture.