Jan 2nd

The reading for Jan. 2nd was Matthew 1:18-25, Acts 1:12-26, Psalm 2, and Genesis 3&4.

The passage from Matthew covers the birth of Jesus. The great thing about this passage to me is that the angel instills so much confidence in Joseph about whose child Mary is carrying and what he will do. The angel says to him, "...you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." There is no doubt about what Jesus would do, therefore there is no doubt about what he has done. He has saved his people from their sins!

The passage from Acts covers the days leading up to Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The most notable thing that happened in that time was the choosing of Matthias to replace Judas, but perhaps the most overlooked thing was what they were doing before they chose him. Verse 14 says, "All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers." What would we see today if we found a church that was devoting themselves to prayer?

Psalm 2 speaks of the reign of God's anointed which is obviously a prophecy about Jesus. The most interesting part of this Psalm to me is the last 3 verses. They say, "Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." I think that we can see this demonstrated in the fall of all of the great empires since Jesus' time. Think of Hitler's Germany. Who was more powerful than they? Yet they were brought low, and when they were defeated the country was absolutely destitute. Kiss the Son...

The passage in Genesis makes me wonder what it must have been like to walk with God in the garden. Apparently, even after the fall, men still had regular conversation with God face to face (see verses 13 and 14 of chapter 4). I've always thought of Cain as the ultimate sinner. Who could have been worse? Yet, even after he murders his brother, God gives him His protection. Why do you suppose that is?

The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan Jan. 1st

The reading for Jan. 1st is Matthew 1:1-17, Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 1, and Genesis 1 and 2.

This will be a pretty short blog :-)

The passage from Matthew establishes Jesus' claim to the Davidic throne by showing His direct earthly descent from David. So when Pilate put the sign on the cross that read "King of the Jews", that was a legitimate earthly title for Christ and not just a heavenly one.

The passage from Acts is an interesting one. Verse 10 of chapter 1 says, "And while they were gazing into heaven..." Does this refer simply to staring into the sky or is it more than that? It seems, at least from my reading, that the apostles were given some sort of glimpse into heaven that is never described. This is obviously just speculation on my part but I wonder what they saw...

Psalm 1 is fairly well-known. This Psalm is about how God blesses the one who loves to obey Him and thinks about what is pleasing to Him, and its also about how God will not allow the wicked to stand, "for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." (ESV)

Genesis 1 and 2 are about the creation of the world and of man. In verse 14 of chapter 1 God creates the sun, moon, and stars, and He says that they are to be for signs, seasons, days, and years. Now, the seasons, days, and years I understand, but what does he mean by signs? I am also having trouble with the meaning of verse 16 where it says that the greater light will rule the day and the lesser light will rule the night. What does He mean by rule?

A New Year, A New Blog

Happy New Year!

There are a few new things that I will be doing this year. First, I've just started a new Bible reading plan that was recommended by John Piper that I will try to blog along with. Second, I'll be reading through Calvin's institutes with reformed21.org and hopefully will do some blogging about that as well. As I said in my previous blog, I want to do better about preaching the gospel to my children. One of the ways I'll be doing this is starting a family worship time every night. Hopefully I'll also be able to get the Sunday song list and Scripture a week ahead of time so that we will be better prepared to worship corporately as a family.

God Bless

The Gospel and Children; Joel Osteen or John Piper?

My wife and I were discussing this book earlier today when the thought came to mind, "Why do we talk to our children about the gospel like Joel Osteen and adults like John Piper." What I mean by this is we treat our unregenerate children as if they are regenerate and just need to know how to live victoriously and we treat unregenerate adults like they are unregenerate and need a Savior. Isn't this the height of hypocrisy? Isn't it folly to treat our children in this manner? Would we not tell a lost stranger of how hopeless they are and how desperately they need Christ if they are to be freed from their sins and an eternity in hell? Why then, do we neglect the gospel of Christ when it comes to our children? Are we so vain as to think that because they are our children they get a free pass? Shouldn't we be working harder to make our children understand the gospel than we do a stranger? It seems to me that the way I currently treat my children with respect to the gospel is less loving than the way I treat a total stranger. It seems to me that this is a grave sin. May God grant us repentance and favor in this matter and may we love our children enough to preach the gospel to them regularly.

Really great quote

"Should the sun refuse to shine; should the showers refuse to descend; should the earth refuse to bring forth food; or should trees in a fruitful soil continue barren; would you not say that it was contrary to nature and to the design of their creation; and that since they no longer fulfilled this design, they might properly be reduced to nothing again? And do you not see that while you refuse to praise God, your conduct is equally unnatural, and that you may justly be made the monuments of his everlasting displeasure? What would only be unnatural in inanimate creatures, is the height of folly and wickedness in us; because we are capable of knowing our duty, and are under innumerable obligations to practice it. Let the sun then refuse to shine, the showers descend, and the earth to be fruitful; but let not rational creatures refuse to praise their Creator, since it is the purpose for which they were created."

- Edward Payson (1783-1827) from Legacy of a Legend

Book Review: Growing Your Faith by Jerry Bridges

I just got finished reading the book Growing Your Faith by Jerry Bridges. I had not read any of his previous works, but when I picked this title up to look at it, it really grabbed my attention and I'm glad it did. He took chapters from his previous books, put some newer material with it, and had a ready-made handbook for spiritual growth. I look forward to reading some of his other works such as, The Pursuit of Holiness.

This work concentrates on spiritual growth in practical ways but his focus is always on the foundation of growth, that is, grace. We are to strive for growth but unless the Lord gives the increase we labor in vain. We have to rely on His grace to give us the righteousness of Christ, but also work in us with the power of Christ. In all of our striving we must rest on Christ's grace to us.

I love the way he encourages the believer to grow in Christ and to rely on Christ to give growth. I really liked his definition of grace: "God's favor through Christ to people who deserve His disfavor." I also really liked what he had to day about dependence: "We are dependent upon the righteousness of Christ for our acceptance with God, and we are dependent on the power of Christ for our ability to pursue spiritual growth."

I recommend this book to all believers both old and new. It is definitely refreshing to those of us who have been Christians for a long time and it would be a great start for new believers.

God bless and happy reading.

Leaks Revisited

So today I got up early and waited on a handy-man to arrive. He got under the house and looked at the pipe that was leaking last night. When he got out from under the house he informed me that the piping had never been glued together. The house was put on the lot in 1998...it had been that way for ten years and didn't leak until this past weekend. He got under the house and fixed it and only charged us 25 dollars. Shortly after he left...it broke again. We had water spraying everywhere under our house all over again. I had to go turn off the water again, etc. We called him back and he came and fixed it all over again. This time it stuck...so far :-) It ended up being very simple to fix and didn't take very long, but we couldn't have gotten a deal like that from a plumber. I'm just glad I'm finally be able to take a shower and flush the toilets.

By the way, our handy-man is only 79 years old.