July 23rd, 2008 Jeff
Aliterate people lack the desire to read. They can read (and thus are not illiterate ), but they just don’t.
Not sure what the statistics are on reading habits after high school but I doubt they are very encouraging in our society. People do many things enthusiastically, but not many people are readers as they get older. The exact opposite happened to me. I read a handful of books to get through high school, and then Christ arrested my heart and I quickly developed a voracious appetite for reading. (Still slowly though.)
At least 4/5 homes in America have a Bible, yet a small fraction of people actually dust off one of their many copies and read it. Why? We prioritize what we value. True knowledge of God is not valued. We tend to enamored with the latest and greatest fad, looking for a quick fix, while God’s timeless truth would bring the satisfaction and depth our souls crave (and were created to enjoy). We must fight, swim upstream, and with Him develop a love of Christ and His Word.
Last night our class kicked off — Enjoying the Bible for All Its Worth . I was deeply encouraged by the appetite of the 50 or so adults who came. They ate it up; we covered everything I hoped, and had more interaction than expected. It was a thoroughly enjoyable time for me as their teacher.
In fact, joy was the first thing we discussed: Enjoyment is not optional . Enjoying God. Enjoying the Bible. These are commands sustained by God’s good pleasure in fulfilling them in us. All of the Scripture points us to see Jesus the Christ as the most compelling and worthy Person in all the Universe — to value Him through delight. And it makes sense, since He created us to do just that.
At the start of the second hour I opened the floor, asking "What challenges do we face in reading and understanding the Bible?" Some candid answers from the class:
- not knowing where to start
- no pictures! (actually, most words in the original languages are in fact word pictures!)
- how does it all fit together — why is it not organized chronologically (specifically the OT)?
- pronouncing names (genealogies) and dealing with strange geography
- I fall asleep face down in my Bible at night
- psyche up myself to commit to reading, only to fail in consistency
- it’s boring
I added a few of my own:
- we don’t understand it
- the Bible says things we don’t like
- it takes time + work — we’re lazy!
Then I kindly pronounced all of these bogus . That is, each can be overcome, and God wills that we work with Him in valuing Him and His Word above all else. Have you specifically asked Him to conquer these tiny obstacles in you?
Speaking of joy, their assignment for next Tuesday night is to read Philippians (a letter all about joy) and first seek to grasp the "big idea" of Paul’s inspired epistle. We talked about how this course will help us develop in us the science and art of understanding Scripture and bringing it into our daily lives. It is hard work. We must sit and think and pray. But doesn’t anything worth doing take hard work? We are not alone in the process. God’s Spirit meets with us, shining the light of truth and significance on the passage.
So, fear not, we can make some early mistakes in our hermeneutics, seeking to correct one another gently. We can learn by diligence and humility how to rightly find out what the texts says and means, and how it applies to us today. That way we will all enjoy the Bible together, for all its worth.
For God’s glory and our joy, we get to work at erasing biblical aliteracy one God-loving believer at a time. Fifty of us are catching on.
Posted in Blog, Ministry, Reading, Teaching | No Comments »
July 23rd, 2008 Jeff
“All that may be known of God for our salvation, especially his wisdom, love, goodness, grace and mercy on which the life of a soul depends, are represented to us in all their splendour in and through Christ. No wonder then that Christ is glorious in the eyes of believers!”
- John Owen, The Glory of Christ (Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1994), 20.
[HT: Of First Importance ]
Posted in Blog, GOD is the Gospel, Jesus, Quotes | No Comments »
July 22nd, 2008 Jeff
Starting tonight I have the privilege and joy of teaching our 3-week crash course in practical hermeneutics, starting tonight, at Foothills Community Church: Enjoying the Bible for All Its Worth
(6:30pm at our building ; let me know if you want to come join us!)
I designed the course to be helpful for any and all Bible readers (even for those who don’t yet read it!) It should be beneficial for those who have plunged the depths of its truth for years as well as those still looking for that dusty Book on their bookshelf. All will benefit, and as Kari and my pastor remind me, I will attempt to "put the cookies on the bottom shelf."
My hope is that the five dozen people attending think and feel with God. And that I talk less and less as the first, second and third weeks come. At the start I will be talking more, and then we will move to all of us doing Bible interpretation and application to our lives.
My prayer is that it will be God speaking, and not me.
Here’s the (albeit a bit aggressive) general table of contents we’ll be tracking with starting tonight. Not all will be covered (e.g., the appendices), and more to follow in the next couple of weeks.
- Enjoyment is Not Optional
- Enjoying God
- Enjoying the Bible
- How Much is the Bible Worth?
- What is the Bible About?
- The Story—Understanding the Story Line of the Bible
- OT: Promises Made
- NT: Promises Kept
- What Challenges do we face when Reading Our Bibles?
- Bible Reading as a Lifestyle
- I-O-U-S
- Hermeneutics 101
- The Importance Of Hermeneutics
- Context
- The Time Challenge of Interpreting the Bible
- Allowing the Author + Text to Speak
- Meaning Flows from the Top Down
- Levels for understanding
- 6 Steps for Understanding the Bible
- A Method Of Hermeneutics
- 1. Identify the genre of the biblical passage
- 2. Read the Bible book for the big picture
- 3. Determine the structure (or outline) of the Bible book
- 4. Make observations about the book or passage
- 5. Meditate on the book or passage and upon your observations, and interpret the meaning of the passage
- 6. Apply the passage to your own life (seeing how it relates to other people especially)
- Bible Genres
- Appendix (definitions, notes on a Bible reading plan, and some short articles for further reading)
Lots of illustrations/diagrams in the notebooks, and plenty of room to take notes. We’ll be getting into some texts ourselves to see how to both understand (think) and enjoy (feel) God’s thoughts after Him.
We’ll also be diving into a few texts, one of them being James 1:2-4 .
Open Bibles, open minds and hearts. God, help us to read Your Word well and see the worth, work and ways of Jesus through every page.
Posted in Blog, Ekklesia, Joy, Teaching | No Comments »
July 21st, 2008 Jeff
"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." ( John 15:11 )
"There is not one blade of grass, there is no colour in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice."
- John Calvin
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." ( Philippians 4:4 )
"Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” ( Luke 15:10 )
"Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places."
( Habakkuk 3:17-19 )
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." ( Matthew 13:44 )
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ( Matthew 25:23 )
"So there was much joy in that city." ( Acts 8:8 )
"And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." ( Acts 13:52 )
"Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith." ( 2 Corinthians 1:24 )
"… for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." ( 2 Corinthians 8:2 )
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. …
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." ( Galatians 5:16, 22-25 )
Posted in Blog, Joy, Quotes | No Comments »
July 17th, 2008 Jeff
[Looking for a little feedback here.]
Kari and I took a pre-marital and marital counseling course earlier in the summer and are wrapping up our final project for it. The task is to organize/compile a resource notebook for future pre-marital counseling sessions. Eight total sessions have been organized, ranging from biblical view of marriage, a wedding policy, family of origin, expectations, personality and communication, finances, in-laws, intimacy, and a final checkup after the honeymoon. (The table of contents and outlines are all set, but you get the idea about the general categories. Didn’t want to share all my secrets.) This process has helped me see some of the gaps we didn’t stress enough in our previous counseling for married-couples-to-be. Always learning and improving!
My notebook is in draft form now and will be finsihed up mostly this weekend (I hope). Just looking for anything helpful final additions to add to it.
Anyone have specific resources (like a certain chapter from a book, or a worksheet, or the best advice) you are willing to share?
(Note below or send me an email - jp at deTheos dot com.
Posted in Blog, Multnomah Seminary | 3 Comments »
July 16th, 2008 Jeff
Josh Hamilton, All-Star centerfielder for the Texas Rangers tells his incredible testimony of a life thrown away only to have Christ redeem him. If you are a sports fan, then you want to get to know Josh Hamilton and our Savior Jesus who rescued him. If you are a fan of God’s redemptive work in and through restored lives, then this story is for you.
Actually, if you are breathing … read this story .
(The story ran July 5, 2007. I first read it last Summer in ESPN The Magazine and am stoked to follow Josh’s comeback all the way to the big leagues and testimony for Jesus the Christ.)
The real hero is his wife Katie who stuck with him through thick and thin, and you can sense Josh’s sheer admiration of his better half.
About his new purpose in life, Josh speaks:
"I have a mission now. My mission is to be the ray of hope, the guy who stands out there on that beautiful field and owns up to his mistakes and lets people know it’s never completely hopeless, no matter how bad it seems at the time. I have a platform and a message, and now I go to bed at night, sober and happy, praying I can be a good messenger."
And:
Baseball is third in my life right now, behind my relationship with God and my family. Without the first two, baseball isn’t even in the picture. Believe me, I know…
Read the whole article .
[HT: Tim Challies, A la Carte for the reminder]
Posted in Blog, Sports, Stories | No Comments »
July 15th, 2008 Jeff
Upgraded to Wordpress 2.6
A couple especially helpful features are revision versions (and who edited them and when), as well as captions for images.
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July 13th, 2008 Jeff
Just finished reading a fascinating book, Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists by Collin Hansen (Crossway Books, 2008). Hansen is editor-at-large for Christianity Today magazine, and a phenomenal writer and story teller, in my humble opinion.
His new book is an expansion and more detailed research project of his September 2006 article in Christianity Today magazine . During that time and afterward he traveled all around the country (for nearly two years) chronicling the diverse movement, from the Passion conferences to Southern Seminary, to Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis (home of John Piper, pastor for preaching and vision), to Sovereign Grace Churches, to visit with dozens of churches and pastors and professors across the country, to Yale and Princeton (Jonathan Edward’s roots) and all the way to Seattle (home of Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll, preaching pastor, and the Acts29 church planting network). It is truly amazing how much info, interviews, reflections and candor he Hansen was able to pack into 156 pages.
Having read and followed most of the "key players" among the resurgence in and towards the doctrines of grace for a few years, I was delighted to better understand their interwoven story. I recommend this quick read for those not familiar with the God-centered theology, or with an caricature/skewed view of it as it relates to biblical doctrine. Others have reviewed and responded to the book in other places (see links below).
Hansen’s book reads like a string of captivating articles, and he does more than give facts as he reflects, summarizes and connects the doctrines of grace, people of grace, the centrality of Christ and some of the various issues facing the American church with journalistic creativity. I especially appreciated the tone found throughout of an others-directed, servant-like humility and the need for evangelism, mission (and missions), and serving the local church and community. To be God-centered, Bible-saturated and Gospel-driven means to give our lives away sacrificially.
Spurgeon is quoted on page 114 noting how the doctrine of election is not aimed at dividing saints, but rather "Israel from Egypt" (as in the OT). He goes on:
“A man may be evidently of God’s chosen family, and yet though elected, may not believe in the doctrine of election. I hold there are many savingly called, who do not believe in effectual calling, and that there are a great many who persevere to the end, who do not believe in the doctrine of final perseverance. We do hope that the hearts of many are a great deal better than their heads. We do not set their fallacies down to any willful opposition to the trust as it is in Jesus, but simply to an error in their judgments, which we pray God to correct. We hope that if they think us mistaken too, they will reciprocate the same Christian courtesy; and when we meet around the cross, we hope that when we meet around the cross, we hope that we shall ever feel that we are one in Christ Jesus.”[1]
Let all remember:
“What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” ( 1 Cor. 4:7 )
(Brister and Challies are both mentioned in the book.)
[1] Quoted in Iain H. Murray, Spurgeon v. Hyper-Calvinism: The Battle for Gospel Preaching (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1995), 112.
Posted in Blog, Books, God-centered, Reading, Theology, Web | No Comments »
July 11th, 2008 Jeff
Next to our kitchen sink we have a "slop bucket." It serves in the way a garbage disposal does for most Americans: all the food scraps go in it. At least once a week we take it out before the flies congregate too much. (I’m told it was the norm of previous generations to have slop buckets in their homes.)
It seems that many Christians have a "slop bucket" when it comes to sin. We simply dump our little sins throughout the days and weeks with hardly any care at all, and then go to Jesus seeking forgiveness when things get really bad (or the slop bucket is full). We repent of our slop buckets being too full, and not really of the idolatry of our souls in finding satisfaction outside of Him. (Perhaps we need to repent of our shallow and incomplete repentance?)
The quote on Of First Importance today relates completely to our need to treat Jesus as more than a slop bucket:
“I ought to go to Christ for the forgiveness of each sin. In washing my body, I go over every spot, and wash it out. Should I be less careful in washing my soul?
I ought to see the stripe that was made on the back of Jesus by each of my sins. I ought to see the infinite pang thrill through the soul of Jesus equal to an eternity of my hell for my sins, and for all of them.
I ought to see that in Christ’s bloodshedding there is an infinite over-payment for all my sins. Although Christ did not suffer more than infinite justice demanded, yet He could not suffer at all without laying down an infinite ransom.”
—Robert Murray M’Cheyne, quoted by Andrew Bonar, Memoirs of Robert Murray M’Cheyne (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1960), 175-176.
Also see Jonathan Dodson’s reflections on "Evangelical Confession Booths "
Posted in Blog, Gospel, Jesus, Quotes, Sanctification, Theology, repentance | 1 Comment »
July 9th, 2008 Jeff
" ‘Tis not that I did choose Thee,
For Lord, that could not be;
This heart would still refuse Three,
Hadst Thou not chosen me …
My heart owns none before Thee,
For Thy rich grace I thirst;
This knowing, if I love Thee,
Thou must have loved me first."
– Josiah Conder, 1836
Found in the front matter of the Jesus Storybook Bible we bought Dutch. Wow, that’s the type of Christ-exalting humility and truth I hope our young son to grasp. We hope to swim with him in the deep end of God’s perfections and grace (even from this young age).
"We love becaus e he first loved us ." [ 1 John 4:19 ]
Posted in Blog, Books, Family, God-centered, Grace, Theology | No Comments »
