Monday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 25-26
NT: 1 Timothy 3
W&W: Psalm 119.49-56
Tuesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 27
NT: 1 Timothy 4
W&W: Psalm 119.57-64
Wednesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 28
NT: 1 Timothy 5
W&W: Psalm 119.65-72
Thursday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 29
NT: 1 Timothy 6
W&W: Psalm 119.73-80
Friday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 30-31
NT: 2 Timothy 1
W&W: Psalm 119.81-88
Today’s Reflection:
“At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws” (Psalm 119.62).
Do you ever have trouble sleeping? Sometimes I do. Something will awaken me in the middle of the night, and I find it difficult to fall back to sleep. Several months ago, I found a solution to quiet my mind and let sleep return to me. I think about God’s Word.
I have been trying to memorize 12 Psalms per year, and I have found that those Psalms help me on those restless nights. With them committed to memory, I can recite them over and over in my mind. (I don’t recite them out loud because I know that Lana wouldn’t like hearing me mumble in the middle of the night while she’s trying to sleep!) How thankful I am for God’s righteous laws – and his Psalms and gospels and letters and prophets!
When you awaken in the night, give God thanks for his word. May God remind us all of his laws. By his grace, may he make our mind inclined to think of his Word when we awaken. Then, we can thank him, have fellowship with him and respond to him. He will give us rest!
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Let’s put Matthew 16.24-26 together: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Assumption of Infallibility
Thursday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 22
NT: 1 Timothy 1
W&W: Psalm 119.33-40
Friday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 23-24
NT: 1 Timothy 2
W&W: Psalm 119.41-48
Today’s Reflection:
John Stuart Mill wrote: “All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.” While I cannot agree with much of Mill’s positions, I must confess that this quote is very true. I see its expression particularly in religion and politics, but the desire to silence dissent is common in every area of life: from the living room to the board room, from courtyards to courthouses.
The reality is, as Jesus taught, that truth shall set us free. And, there is nothing to be feared in discussion as long as discussion is based in truth. That’s why I – as a Christian pastor – belief in truthful, helpful and loving openness. That is why I – as a citizen – am concerned with the climate in Washington (But we must remember that it is not unique to today.) that is attempting to hurry things through legislature (healthcare and stimulus) without open and transparent discussion. It seems to me that approximately one half of the elected officials are being left out of the debate. I can see no reason for doing this other than two possibilities:
OT: Ezekiel 22
NT: 1 Timothy 1
W&W: Psalm 119.33-40
Friday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 23-24
NT: 1 Timothy 2
W&W: Psalm 119.41-48
Today’s Reflection:
John Stuart Mill wrote: “All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.” While I cannot agree with much of Mill’s positions, I must confess that this quote is very true. I see its expression particularly in religion and politics, but the desire to silence dissent is common in every area of life: from the living room to the board room, from courtyards to courthouses.
The reality is, as Jesus taught, that truth shall set us free. And, there is nothing to be feared in discussion as long as discussion is based in truth. That’s why I – as a Christian pastor – belief in truthful, helpful and loving openness. That is why I – as a citizen – am concerned with the climate in Washington (But we must remember that it is not unique to today.) that is attempting to hurry things through legislature (healthcare and stimulus) without open and transparent discussion. It seems to me that approximately one half of the elected officials are being left out of the debate. I can see no reason for doing this other than two possibilities:
- An assumption of infallibility on the part of the champions of President Obama’s agenda. Or,
- A fear that the truth will not help them accomplish their agenda. (e.g. the truth is not on their side.)
In either case, the results will be less than desirable.
We need to urge our elected officials to work together, to learn from each other, and to refuse to use parliamentary procedures that prevent discussion (reconciliation), bullying and intimidation, groundless accusations of racism, thinly veiled threats against private companies that dissent, or name-calling and posturing. Let’s have a fierce, civil debate on the merits of our proposals. What is true will survive scrutiny, but only if we scrutinize! If we lack courage to examine the issues, we will be trapped in sectarian and parochial solutions. There is a way forward in the healthcare debate. It is the way of truth.
Friday’s scripture reading includes the following: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may life peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (2 timothy 2.1-2). We need to pray for our government officials that we may preserve the freedoms that make peaceful and quiet lives a possibility.
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.26: What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sons of God
Wednesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 21
NT: 2 Thessalonians 3
W&W: Psalm 119.25-32
Today’s Reflection:
Galatians 3.26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” In this verse, we see that God is not just a metaphysical concept, not just an idea, not just a power or force or principle. He is our Father. Since he is our Father we find that…
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.26 : What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
OT: Ezekiel 21
NT: 2 Thessalonians 3
W&W: Psalm 119.25-32
Today’s Reflection:
Galatians 3.26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” In this verse, we see that God is not just a metaphysical concept, not just an idea, not just a power or force or principle. He is our Father. Since he is our Father we find that…
We are children of God!
- By Creation
- By Forgiveness
- By Care
We are challenged by God!
- To Come to Him
- To Be Like Him
- To Trust in Him
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.26 : What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Lord Is My Portion
Tuesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 20
NT: 2 Thessalonians 2
W&W: Psalm 119.17-24
Today’s Reflection:
In the devotional book Moring and Evening, Charles Spurgeon shares the following thoughts from “The Lord is my portion” (Psalm 119:57):
- Look at your possessions, believer, and compare your portion with the circumstances of your friends.
- Some of them have their portion in the field; they are rich, and their harvests yield them a golden increase; but what are harvests compared with your God, who is the God of harvests? What are bursting granaries compared with Him who feeds you with the bread of heaven?
- Some have their portion in the city; their wealth is abundant and flows to them in constant streams until they become a very reservoir of gold; but what is gold compared with your God? You could not live on it; your spiritual life could not be sustained by it. Could it grant peace to a troubled conscience? Apply it to a sad heart, and see if it could prevent a single groan or minimize one grief. But you have God, and in Him you have more than gold or riches could ever buy.
- Some have their portion in something most men love – applause and fame; but ask yourself, is not your God more to you than that? Do you think that human accolades or thunderous applause could prepare you to face death or encourage you in the prospect of judgement? No! There are sorrows in life that wealth cannot alleviate, and there is the deep need of a dying hour, for which no riches can provide.
- But when you have God for your portion, you have more than everything else put together. In Him every need is met, whether in life or in death. With God for your portion you are rich indeed, for He will supply your need, comfort your heart, relieve your grief, guide your steps, walk with you in the dark valley, and then take you home to enjoy Him as your portion forever. “I have enough,” said Esau; this is the best thing a worldly man can say, but Jacob replied in essence, “I have everything,” which is a note too high for carnal minds.
The Lord is my portion! Is he yours?
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.26: What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Monday, September 21, 2009
Thankful for Me?
Monday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 18-19
NT: 2 Thessalonians 1
W&W: Psalm 119.9-16
Tuesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 20
NT: 2 Thessalonians 2
W&W: Psalm 119.17-24
Wednesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 21
NT: 2 Thessalonians 3
W&W: Psalm 119.25-32
Thursday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 22
NT: 1 Timothy 1
W&W: Psalm 119.33-40
Friday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 23-24
NT: 1 Timothy 2
W&W: Psalm 119.41-48
Today’s Reflection:
Have you ever had someone say to you, “I’m thankful for you”? How did it make you feel? Appreciated? No doubt. Valued? Of course. But, have you ever stopped to consider what it is that would make someone else thankful for you? The Apostle Paul wrote to the church of the Thessalonians that he was thankful for them because “your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1.3).
Growing faith and increasing love. Those things bring gratitude to the hearts of those who are responsible for your spiritual development. As a father, I am thankful for my kids – and I boast about them – when I see them growing in faith and increasing in love. It has been such a joy to see them – as adults – to develop their own faith and relationships. I just stand back and say, “Yeah. They got it.”
I believe that we bring gratitude to the heart of Jesus when he sees our faith in him growing and our love for each other increasing. Think about it – Jesus himself thankful for your growth and love! Makes you want to grow and increase a little more, doesn’t it?
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.26: What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
OT: Ezekiel 18-19
NT: 2 Thessalonians 1
W&W: Psalm 119.9-16
Tuesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 20
NT: 2 Thessalonians 2
W&W: Psalm 119.17-24
Wednesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 21
NT: 2 Thessalonians 3
W&W: Psalm 119.25-32
Thursday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 22
NT: 1 Timothy 1
W&W: Psalm 119.33-40
Friday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 23-24
NT: 1 Timothy 2
W&W: Psalm 119.41-48
Today’s Reflection:
Have you ever had someone say to you, “I’m thankful for you”? How did it make you feel? Appreciated? No doubt. Valued? Of course. But, have you ever stopped to consider what it is that would make someone else thankful for you? The Apostle Paul wrote to the church of the Thessalonians that he was thankful for them because “your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing” (2 Thessalonians 1.3).
Growing faith and increasing love. Those things bring gratitude to the hearts of those who are responsible for your spiritual development. As a father, I am thankful for my kids – and I boast about them – when I see them growing in faith and increasing in love. It has been such a joy to see them – as adults – to develop their own faith and relationships. I just stand back and say, “Yeah. They got it.”
I believe that we bring gratitude to the heart of Jesus when he sees our faith in him growing and our love for each other increasing. Think about it – Jesus himself thankful for your growth and love! Makes you want to grow and increase a little more, doesn’t it?
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.26: What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Towne Hall Meeting – Keep the Information Flowing!
Thursday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 14-15
NT: 1 Thessalonians 4
W&W: Psalm 118.15-29
Friday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 16-17
NT: 1 Thessalonians 5
W&W: Psalm 119.1-8
Today’s Reflection:
Finishing up on the questions submitted to the Towne Hall Meeting, following is my response to the question asked about getting people connected to the church:
I have said a lot about what I believe to be the necessary marks of a disciple. A follower of Jesus Christ is one who…
· Knows God in Worship
· Shows Love in Relationship
· Grows Up in Discipleship
· Goes Out in Citizenship
· Sows Seeds of Partnership (praying, giving, inviting, serving)
· Flows Out in Leadership (This sixth component is not requisite for all Christ-followers because God does not call everyone to lead.)
With that in mind, I believe we should design the ministries and programs of the church to develop all these ingredients of the Christian life. But, we also need to be simple in our approach and not duplicate our efforts. I believe we should plan one main activity to provide for expression of each of the first 4 marks of the disciple. Something like…
· Know – our worship service
· Show – our Sunday school
· Grow – our Sunday night (used to be “evangelistic hour, but no longer…”)
· Go – Wednesday night ministries and Mission and community involvement
There could be other ways to meet these needs, but we must keep the structure simple and communicate it.
These 4 ministries would grow out of the seedbed of…
· Sow – pray, give, invite, serve
And the first 5 would be overseen by identified leaders:
· Flow – equipping God’s people for works of service
More important than the ministries and programs themselves, however, are the transitions between ministries. We not only need to plan good ministries, we need to be purposeful about how we are going to get people to transition along the path of spiritual development. For example, one of the main concerns during our worship time should be how are we going to encourage people to move into small groups. We need to make a structure for that to happen and build it into our weekly ministries.
In summary, I plan to increase member engagement by:
· Doing what we do best
· Getting everybody in small groups
· Focusing on transitions
· Planning clear and positive methods of communication
I hope these blog postings have been helpful to you – both Bethel Nazarenes and others who have kept up with them.
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.25: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
OT: Ezekiel 14-15
NT: 1 Thessalonians 4
W&W: Psalm 118.15-29
Friday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 16-17
NT: 1 Thessalonians 5
W&W: Psalm 119.1-8
Today’s Reflection:
Finishing up on the questions submitted to the Towne Hall Meeting, following is my response to the question asked about getting people connected to the church:
I have said a lot about what I believe to be the necessary marks of a disciple. A follower of Jesus Christ is one who…
· Knows God in Worship
· Shows Love in Relationship
· Grows Up in Discipleship
· Goes Out in Citizenship
· Sows Seeds of Partnership (praying, giving, inviting, serving)
· Flows Out in Leadership (This sixth component is not requisite for all Christ-followers because God does not call everyone to lead.)
With that in mind, I believe we should design the ministries and programs of the church to develop all these ingredients of the Christian life. But, we also need to be simple in our approach and not duplicate our efforts. I believe we should plan one main activity to provide for expression of each of the first 4 marks of the disciple. Something like…
· Know – our worship service
· Show – our Sunday school
· Grow – our Sunday night (used to be “evangelistic hour, but no longer…”)
· Go – Wednesday night ministries and Mission and community involvement
There could be other ways to meet these needs, but we must keep the structure simple and communicate it.
These 4 ministries would grow out of the seedbed of…
· Sow – pray, give, invite, serve
And the first 5 would be overseen by identified leaders:
· Flow – equipping God’s people for works of service
More important than the ministries and programs themselves, however, are the transitions between ministries. We not only need to plan good ministries, we need to be purposeful about how we are going to get people to transition along the path of spiritual development. For example, one of the main concerns during our worship time should be how are we going to encourage people to move into small groups. We need to make a structure for that to happen and build it into our weekly ministries.
In summary, I plan to increase member engagement by:
· Doing what we do best
· Getting everybody in small groups
· Focusing on transitions
· Planning clear and positive methods of communication
I hope these blog postings have been helpful to you – both Bethel Nazarenes and others who have kept up with them.
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.25: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Towne Hall Meeting – Ideas for Connection - I
Wednesday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Ezekiel 13
NT: 1 Thessalonians 3
W&W: Psalm 118.1-14
Today’s Reflection:
A concern submitted to me for response at our Towne Hall Meetings was: “What are your ideas on ways we could get some of our adults connected to the church and grounded? (So many seem to have a very loose connection to the church and are uninvolved in any kind of ministry or even in Sunday school.)” I responded as follows:
This morning, I mentioned how important it is to be engaged in the church. Engagement is less about what you do as how you feel about the church. And how you feel is influenced by small groups, by communication, and by working in your areas of strengths and giftedness. We are going to do a congregational assessment in October to help us begin working toward having an engaged congregation.
But, considering the small groups factor of this equation, I am a Sunday school man… I believe that the old Sunday school song we used to sing is still true today: “Everybody ought to go to Sunday school!” We need to get people connected in relationships with one another. If a person does not make friends in the church in the first 6 months, then there is a great likelihood that he or she will drop out. Sunday school is the perfect structure for the making and keeping of spiritual friendships. I think we should set as a goal that 100% of our members should be actively involved in a Sunday school class – whenever they meet! We are planning to train the youth in REACH – a simple method for using Sunday school to care for each other and reach others outside the flock. We also are planning the addition of a new adult class this fall. I also want to continue visiting the adult Sunday school classes to help EACH one REACH one.
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.25: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
OT: Ezekiel 13
NT: 1 Thessalonians 3
W&W: Psalm 118.1-14
Today’s Reflection:
A concern submitted to me for response at our Towne Hall Meetings was: “What are your ideas on ways we could get some of our adults connected to the church and grounded? (So many seem to have a very loose connection to the church and are uninvolved in any kind of ministry or even in Sunday school.)” I responded as follows:
This morning, I mentioned how important it is to be engaged in the church. Engagement is less about what you do as how you feel about the church. And how you feel is influenced by small groups, by communication, and by working in your areas of strengths and giftedness. We are going to do a congregational assessment in October to help us begin working toward having an engaged congregation.
But, considering the small groups factor of this equation, I am a Sunday school man… I believe that the old Sunday school song we used to sing is still true today: “Everybody ought to go to Sunday school!” We need to get people connected in relationships with one another. If a person does not make friends in the church in the first 6 months, then there is a great likelihood that he or she will drop out. Sunday school is the perfect structure for the making and keeping of spiritual friendships. I think we should set as a goal that 100% of our members should be actively involved in a Sunday school class – whenever they meet! We are planning to train the youth in REACH – a simple method for using Sunday school to care for each other and reach others outside the flock. We also are planning the addition of a new adult class this fall. I also want to continue visiting the adult Sunday school classes to help EACH one REACH one.
This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
Matthew 16.25: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
