Posted on

The Importance Of Reading The Bible (ESD)

Spiritual Disciplines Banner

If you take a look around our society today, you see a level of superficiality that is almost unbelievable. Somehow, over the last few generations, we have turned into a culture that is focused on instant gratification, looks only to ourselves, and refuses to nurture the inner life.

The curse of superficiality is at epidemic proportions in the twenty-first century. The problem lies in the fact that we have lost the ability to be deep people. We are smart. We are connected. We are talented. But we aren’t deep.

If we want to see some incredible change in our lives, we need to be able to look at the inner life and take it deeper than we ever have before. And one of the easiest ways to do this is to spend time in the Bible.

Bible Reading Plans

Tomorrow, we will look at several ways to start this discipline, or deepen in in our lives. But to day, I want to look at some reasons why this is so important.

Here are ten reasons to spend consistent, daily time in your Bible.

Posted on

Coffee Break – 01.20.2014

Coffee Break Banner

Coffee Gear That Won’t Break The Bank – Making a great cup of coffee isn’t all that hard, but you do need a few things to make it happen. You need good water, at the right temperature. You need good coffee, not the poor stuff that you don’t know when it was roasted. And you need the right gear. Here is brief list of some of the things you can get to make that great tasting cup of coffee without draining your wallet.  I just can’t figure out why the Mr. Coffee drip machine made this list.

Perfect Paper Airplanes – I love paper airplanes. As a kid, I would fold fleets of them, and name after the x-wing fleet from Star Wars. I would spend hours playing with them, seeing how many new kinds I could learn how to create and how far I could throw them. So naturally, this article fascinated me. Might have to try to build this…

A Photographer Time Travels Into Her Childhood – This is an incredible idea. This photographer has inserted her adult self into photos from her childhood. I find it pretty creative.

Animals In The Womb – Ever wonder what some animals look like before they are born? Speculate no more. I found the elephant and the lion to be the most intriguing.

5 Ways To Pray For Your Pastor – Ministry can be hard. It can weigh heavily on those in leadership positions. That’s why those in ministry crave the prayers of the church. Here are five excellent ways you can pray for those you know in ministry.

Why I Reject Evolution – I believe in Biblical Creation. I believe that we can take Genesis at face value, understanding that God created this earth in six normal days, just a few thousand years ago. I see this as a foundational part of Christianity. This article makes some good points, although I wish he’d be a little more firm in his statements. He seems to waffle a bit. For the most part, he writes a good article, though.

The Distinct, Positive Impact Of A Good Dad – As a dad of six, I want to be the best dad I can be. I even write frequently, trying to help other dads do the same. This article comes as no surprise that a good dad is a necessary role in the family unit.

As by the grace of God we are what we are, so by his grace it is we are not what we are not. – Francis Burkitt

Posted on

Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:6-7

Paul expressed in last week’s passage just how joyful he was to see Timothy’s sincere faith. In this week’s passage, he expands on that comment, giving us a deeper glimpse into Timothy’s ministry.

Take a look at the passage in 2 Timothy 1:6-7:

2 Timothy 1:6-7

This passage is an often quoted passage, focusing on the difference between the spirit of timidity and the spirit of power. This is usually quoted to encourage someone to be bold in regards to their faith, encouraging them to speak out about God and what he has done and will do.

However, that’s only a portion of the truth contained in these two verses. Yes, Paul is encouraging Timothy to be bold. But there is much more going on here.

Last week, we saw Paul express joy for Timothy’s sincere faith. Now, he reminds Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God.” This is directly connected to the previous verses, evidenced by the clause “for this reason.” This is an unusual expression for Paul to use, occurring only here in all of his letters. It indicates that his thought here is directly connect to what he has just said.

He encourages Timothy to “fan into flame” the gift he received from God. The tense used here in the Greek is a present infinitive, and can mean to either “kindle anew” or “keep on fanning into flame.” The second idea makes the most sense here. Paul isn’t suggesting that Timothy needs anything further than the gift from God that he has already received, or that it has dwindled and needs refreshed. Rather, Paul is simply encouraging Timothy to continue steadfastly in his faithfulness to God and in his ministry to him.

Posted on

Book Review – You’ll Get Through This by Max Lucado

You'll Get Through This by Max LucadoSometimes you read a book at exactly the right time that you need it.

That was the case for me with Max Lucado’s newest book, You’ll Get Through This. My family has experienced a lot of upheaval over the past few months. We’ve moved across the country. We have family members facing serious debilitating illnesses. The economy isn’t great and we have to stretch to make ends meet.

In other words, life happens.

Sometimes, though, when life happens, it is easy to feel discouraged.

Lucado’s new book is written with that in mind. Taking a look at the life of Joseph, from the Old Testament, Lucado offers hope and encouragement for those times that get you down, those times that are discouraging and turbulent.

We’ve all been there. Circumstances are not what we would like them to be. Maybe it’s financial. Maybe it’s a health issue. Maybe it’s a relationship falling apart. Or a job with difficulties around every corner.

Joseph had it pretty bad as well. Throughout You’ll get Through This, Lucado examines how he responded to a family that hated him, that sold him into slavery. Lucado digs into how Joseph responded to the injustice of being wrongly accused and thrown into prison. And Lucado studies how Joseph handled his monumental rise to power, and his reunion with his family after twenty years.

When life throws a curve ball our way, how do we respond? Through looking at Joseph’s life, we can gain some incredible principles for our own life. We can rest assured that God is right there with us, even though despair and despondency dog us at every turn.

And, we can realize that we’ll “get through this. It won’t be painless. It won’t be quick. But God will use this mess for good. In the meantime don’t be foolish or naive. But don’t despair either.”

With God’s help you will get through this.

Are you facing circumstances in your life where you need this reminder? If so, would you care to share so we can pray for you? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

I highly recommend that you read You’ll Get Through This, by Max Lucado. You can purchase it at Amazon.com in print or for Kindle.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

Posted on

Coffee Break – 01.13.2014

Coffee Break Banner

The Best Time For Your Coffee – Ever had a cup of coffee and it felt like the caffeine just didn’t kick in? That’s because our body actually has periods during the day when it absorbs and metabolizes caffeine more readily than others. This article from Neuroscience DC gives all the details.

School Wasn’t Canceled For Bad Weather In 1882 – Christmas break ended over a week ago, but our school missed an additional week due to last week’s polar vortex. Some have wondered if our prominent school cancellations are proof that we’ve gone soft. Take a look at this article from The Atlantic, examining life in the 1880s compared to today.

Mountain Landscape Carved Into Encyclopedia Britannica – People using everyday things for creative purposes rank pretty high in my estimation. This artist is no exception. He’s carved a landscape into a series of encyclopedias. It’s beautiful, and his attention to detail is amazing. And these encyclopedias probably get more looks than the ones in my school library ever did…

How To Get People To Read The Bible Without Feeling Dumb – With the start of a new year, many are interested in reading through the Bible. But the Bible is a difficult book, and it can be hard to understand. When we say that reading the Bible is easy, we may be doing a disservice to those who have a hard time getting through the harder passages and books. The reality is, reading the Bible takes continual discipline and work. This post explains that, and we’ve put together a tool that helps you accomplish it.

Pastoring In A Facebook World – There seems to be a lot of talk about dumping Facebook. And a lot of teens are doing just that, simply because their parents and grandparents are on there. But with a large majority of the people in our churches on Facebook, pastoring can be quite difficult. Here are a few of the ways social media makes it harder.

What Would Polygamy Do To Society? – With all the recent changes to the definition of marriage and family, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that polygamy would be the next big thing to hit the news. A cursory reading of the book of Genesis shows why this is a bad idea. And this article gives a few more reasons.

3 Critical Truths About Our Money – One of the things we tend to not be very good at is generosity. And before you get upset with me for saying that, because you are good at generosity, think about our culture, both in America and globally. We really aren’t very good at generosity, are we? These three truth about money and a biblical understanding of it are severely needed in our culture today.

You cannot love a fellow creature fully till you love God. – C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

Posted on

Memorize Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:3-5

True to form, Paul begins his second letter to Timothy with a brief statement of thanksgiving. This is fairly typical of Paul’s writings. He makes a point to bring thanksgiving to God to the table in everything he does. This letter is no different.

You can see his statement of thankfulness in 2 Timothy 1:3-5:

2 Timothy 1:3-5

Thankfulness is an attitude that has suffered in our culture in recent years. We’ve opted for a sense of entitlement and superiority, instead of gratitude thanksgiving. This is unfortunate, because the Bible has much to say on the topic of being thankful. It’s often very obvious, such as 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

But much of what the New Testament, and especially the writings of Paul, has to say about being thankful seems to slip past us without being noticed. That’s because a lot of it is found in the greetings of his letters, which we sort of gloss over. After all, it’s just a greeting, right?

There is a lot of theology packed into Paul’s greetings. Remember the deep theology we unpacked in 1 Timothy 1:1-2, Paul’s first greeting to Timothy? There was a lot there, and his greeting to Timothy in the second letter is no different.

Paul is thankful. For what? It’s unclear exactly what Paul is thankful for, because he doesn’t explicitly state what he is thankful for in this passage. However, from what he does say, we can infer that he is thankful in at least two areas.