While gearing up for a study through the Book of Judges I was doing a review of the Bible up until Judges. I wanted to get a flavor of the historical context of the events, as well as the spiritual vibe of the people being written about. It doesn’t take long, whether reading Genesis through Joshua, or just Judges by itself, to see a pattern of people loosing faith in God. Not because of what God does or doesn’t do, but because of the people and their choices. This idea of trust or faith struck me in light of Genesis 2 and 3. It struck me because I’ve never seen these events in this light before. Maybe I’m just slow. (Some would say there ain’t no maybe about it!) What struck me in Genesis 2 and after is this; where there is faith, there is life and relationship with God. Where there is no faith, there is no life, there is death, and there is separation from God.
continue reading "No Faith, No Life"

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If you look to your right you will see our “Blogroll” facility. These blogs are truly one of a kind. Please keep you hands and arms from the cage wall as they can be rather challenging little blogs.

Some guys I have come to appreciate over the last couple of years (in no particular order, except maybe alphabetical) are Bill Walden, Jim Jacobson, Ken Sutton, and Mike Macon. They are all Calvary Chapel pastors from all over the place. Some I initially met online, some in person. Their diversity of personality and experience makes for some great resources. Not only have I added them to my blogroll here but my bookmarks in my browser as well. Take some time and read their stuff. Hopefully they will pop in from time to time here and contribute their nougaty goodness.

And don’t feed them, especially after midnight.

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Words have what is called a “semantic range”. It means that any particular word can have a range of different meanings. Those meanings depend on context. For example, the word “day”. “What day do you want to meet?” “Back in my day…” “It’s the end of a long day.” One word, three different meanings.

A thought occurred to me a week or so ago and I’ve been chewing on it for a while. As I was thinking it through and how I might convey this thought, I felt it important to point out that the use of two specific words might be outside of their usual semantic range. These words are “grace” and “faith”. Were they read with the typical meaning, that having to do with salvation, what I’m trying to say might come across as heresy. It isn’t. As you read this, just bear with me and I think you will see the Biblical truth in it. It may even inspire some change in your own life as it has in mine.
continue reading "Running on grace or faith?"

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This past Tuesday I had the privilege of teaching at the Fellowship of Christian Optometrists at Pacific U. It was a total answer to prayer to be able to connect with a group of college students. My role is to teach at the weekly Bible study every other week. On the off weeks one of the students will teach a more topical study and I will teach through a book. I chose Galatians because it’s shorter and it’s so meaty about being believers in the world, sticking close to right doctrine, and walking in the power of the Spirit.

When it came time to start the study I asked everyone to open their Bibles. (If you are one of these students and you happened upon this blog, this isn’t an attack on you. Consider it an exhortation and encouragement.) Only one person had a Bible with them, besides me. And he had it by accident. Every Christian, every believer, everyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ ought to have a Bible with them or easily accessible at all times. It’s just a must. It’s a given.

Why? It’s your bread of life. It’s your water. It’s your sword. We are always in enemy territory. If we go around unarmed we are also undangerous. We have nothing with which to ward off the enemy. We have nothing with which to defend ourselves. Most importantly, we have nothing with which to open and share the words of life. Granted that much of this can be done with scripture we have memorized. That is extremely important. But in this day and age it’s really nothing to carry one around with you.

I do remember what it was like as a college student. It’s often required that you carry all of your books you need for the day’s classes all day long because you don’t have a chance to go back to your dorm to reload. They get heavy! But these days you can get a Bible, a whole BIble that is 3x5x1.5 and weighs next to nothing. If you have a break between classes you can whip it out and read a chapter of Psalms, or the whole book of Jude. get a quick snack as it were.

Christian, God’s word is your lifeline. It is the final answer. Stash one everywhere you are. At your desk, in your car, in your bag or briefcase, especially in your heart. Who knows? Maybe this is why God hasn’t been using you the way He wants to use you, and the way you want to be used. You haven’t been equipping yourself. Try it for a while and see what happens.

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As I think I said in the “Here we go” post, I could have gotten as much out of the sessions if I had stayed home and watched the DVDs. That isn’t to say there was/is anything wrong with the sessions, it has more to do with how I process info. I don’t like crowds, I don’t like the eating with people and the usual chit-chat that goes with it. It isn’t that I think I’m above it or anything, I just genuinely feel awkward in those situations. Having said that, I could not have gotten what I did get from the conference via DVD or following the blogs.
continue reading "Post CCSPC 2008 Syndrome"

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