I know...

Its been a long time coming but the moment has finally arrived. I present for your reading pleasure and thoughtful critique...drumroll please... a new blog! Woohoo! I can feel the energy from the crowd of enthusiastic readers as they quickly scan the page to make sure that what they're seeing is real. I know you've been waiting patiently and this is your lucky day! The only problem is that I really don't have much to say at the moment. Sad, I know. I've found that its much easier to avoid blogging when you have a blackberry. I have almost no need of a PC these days.

If I were a baseball player, this would be a major batting slump. It seems like all I do these days is go to work, listen to sports radio all day (of course all the talk is about Cam Newton), go home and spend time with the family and go to bed, then rinse and repeat. However, its getting to be the time of year where everyone kind of takes a look at their lives and does a personal inventory of what they're thankful for.

Here is a good start for me: I'm thankful for my beautiful wife Jessica who makes my lunch every day (she gets up at 5 a.m. to do this) and stays home with four kids, all of whom can be very obnoxious, and usually still manages to smile at me when I walk in the door every evening. I don't know what I'd do without her...

Enough of the mushiness. I like pie, and this time of year is the perfect time to get some.

Well, gotta go, bit maybe I'll get away from my blackberry again soon...

This is probably one of the best series of sermons I have ever heard (and he's only to chapter 2 of James). David Platt is an incredible communicator and the church needs to hear the things he is saying. He has called the Church at Brook Hills to meet the needs of the widows and orphans in Shelby county based on James 1:27 "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." They are responding like I never thought a "mega-church" would. I believe that God is really going to use Platt's ministry to transform the Birmingham metro area.

A Solid Foundation

A couple of weeks ago, as we were preparing for bed, my son asked me, "Daddy, what happens when we die?" This is one of those questions that you both hope for and dread at the same time. You hope for it in that your child is showing interest in spiritual things, but dread it in that you wonder how to lead a 5-year-old in a discussion about such weighty topics.

A year ago I would have been woefully unprepared in how to lead my son in answering this question, but we have found a very helpful tool in educating our children in spiritual matters...drumroll please...the children's catechism.

The conversation went something like this
Issac: "Daddy, what happens when we die?"
Me: "We go to heaven or hell."
Isaac: "I want to go to heaven."
Me: "Can anyone go to heaven with this sinful nature?"
Isaac: "No, our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven."
Me: "There are a few things that need to happen before you can go to heaven. First, you have to be regenerated. What is a change of heart called?"
Isaac: "Regeneration."
Me: "Second, you must repent. What is it to repent?"
Isaac: "To be sorry for sin and to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God."
Me: "Third, you have to believe in Jesus. What is it to believe or have faith in Christ?"
Isaac: "To trust in Christ alone for salvation."
Me: "So to go to heaven you have to be regenerated, repent, and trust in Christ. Who can change a sinner's heart?"
Isaac: "The Holy Spirit alone."
Me: "How do we get the help of the Holy Spirit?"
Isaac: "God has told us that we must pray to Him for the Holy Spirit."

As you can see, I was able to mix the catechism questions in with our conversation to lead it in a meaningful direction. This tool has helped us to lay a strong foundation for our children. I hope that anyone who has children, especially young chidlren, at home will take this to heart and do something to provide a solid foundation for them.

The DJBRP Jan 8th

The reading for Jan 8th was Matthew 4:12-17, Acts 5:1-16, Psalm 8, and Genesis 21-23.

The passage from Matthew covers the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Again, Matthew's focus seems to be on establishing Jesus as the one who is fulfilling what the prophets foretold (vs. 12-16). Then, in verse 17, we hear Jesus simple message, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." If Jesus told people to repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand, shouldn't we tell them to repent because the kingdom of heaven has come?

The passage in Acts covers the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira. God punished them for lying to the Holy Spirit. We are not told why they decided to lie, only that they did. God's punishment on them brought great fear and reverence to His name. Maybe the early church was being to relaxed about who God is, I don't know, but God was not going to let Himself be belittled.

Psalm 8 is a fairly well-known psalm. It tells of God's majesty and glory in all of His works and in His sovereignty.

Genesis 21-23 covers the birth of Isaac through the death of Sarah. Probably the most important section of this passage is in chapter 22 where Abraham takes Isaac up the mountain to offer him as a sacrifice to God. The amazing thing is Abraham's complete confidence in God to do what He had promised. Abraham goes up fully expecting to kill his only son on the altar, and instead, God provides a ram. Abraham trusted God to fulfill His promise concerning Isaac even though he would be dead. He trusted that God would raise him from the dead, as we are told in the new testament, so Abraham already had the hope of the ressurection.

The DJBRP Jan 7th

The reading for Jan 7th was Matthew 4:1-11, Acts 4:23-37, Psalm 7, and Genesis 18-20.

The passage from Matthew covers Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. It seems that temptation is always the strongest when we are in the wilderness, but Jesus shows us how to combat temptation. In verses 4, 7, and 10, Jesus uses scripture to defend himself from the devil's tempting. This is why scripture memorization is so imprtant and why we need to do more of it.

The passage from Acts covers the believers in Jerusalem praying for boldness to preach the gospel. The prayer is amazing and is a helpful model of how we should make our desires known to God. Maybe one day the church will pray like them again...

Psalm 6 was written by David in response to false accusations. He calls upon God repeatedly to vindicate him. This is where people overstep their bounds most of the time. If someone insults us or says something false about us, we want to fight and correct them immediately. We respond in anger and sin. David left it in God's hands to do the vindicating, right where it belongs.

The passage in Genesis covers God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah through Abraham's pawning Sarah off as his sister. A lot of really crazy stuff goes on in this portion of scripture, most of which I don't want to even try to discuss because the sins are so grotesque, but the incident with Abraham and Sarah prentending that they were brother and sister is really interesting to me. It wasn't that they did it thats interesting, it is what God did to the one they tricked. God was going to kill Abimelech because he had taken Sarah into his house. The crazy thing is, it was God who kept Abimelech from sinning with her and then he makes Abimeleech ask for Abraham to pray for him so that God won't kill him. Genesis is the weirdest book sometimes :-) I sure don't understand everything that happens in it...thats for sure.

The DJBRP Jan 6th

The reading for Jan 6th was Matthew 3:13-17, Acts 4:1-22, Psalm 6, and Genesis 15-17.

The passage from Matthew covers the baptism of Jesus. In this passage we see God's affirmation on Jesus as His beloved son (v17). God Himself declared Jesus to be deity so who is anyone else to say he is not? I do think it is interesting to note that Jesus' baptism is recorded but we never see where any of his disciples are baptised...

The passage from Acts covers Peter and John being called before the council. The thing that sticks out to me in this passage is Peter and John's boldness to proclaim the gospel no matter what. Verses 19 and 20 say, "But Peter and John answered them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard'." It didn't matter what anyone else thought or said, they were going to preach the gospel. Read the prayer in verses 24-30. May we pray for the same boldness to empower us to preach the gospel without fear.

Psalm 6 is a desperate prayer. David seems to be in absolute agony over something. He is crying out to God with everything in him to be delivered and he appeals to God's love for him, "Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love." This is the cornerstone of David's life. If he can't appeal to God's love for him, then he is as good as dead.

Genesis 15-17 covers God's covenant with Abraham, the birth of Ishmael, and the promise of Isaac. Why is verse 11 recorded? It says, "And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away." Is there something in this that we need to learn from? In this whole passage the promise of Isaac is the only one that is said to be everlasting. Every other covenant is temporal, but the promise to the child of promise is forever.

The DJBRP Jan 5th

The reading for Jan 5th was Matthew 3:1-12, Acts 3, Psalm 5, and Genesis 12-14.

The passage from Matthew covers the beginning of John the baptist's ministry. This is a very interesting passage to me. It describes John's message as a warning, "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand", "who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?", "even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees", "but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." John's message about Jesus is a one of judgement. How do we reconcile John's message with Jesus' ministry?

The passage from Acts covers Peter healing the beggar at the temple and his sermon to the people gathered there. Peter says about the healing, "And his name-by faith in his name-has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given this man perfect health in the presence of you all." The man who was healed had faith in Jesus, but not only faith in Jesus, but faith through Jesus. The power of Jesus not only healed him, but also gave him the faith to be healed. Isn't God good?

I wish I could pray like David. He had such confidence when he prayed that God would hear him and meet his ,whatever they might have been, and he was living under the law! How I want to learn to say with David, "Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray."

The passage from Genesis covers some of Abraham's journey. God's promises to Abraham are incredible. In verses 2 and 3 of chapter 12 he says, "And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." In verse 16 of chapter 13 he says, "I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted." I think Abraham might be a post-millenial if he were alive today :-) When I read these promises, I can't help but think of the passage in Revelation where John is shown a multitude that no on can number (Rev 7:9-12). That scene is God's promises to Abraham ultimately fulfilled.