Distracted

I've been a little busy lately. I make a habit out of not being busy - just because everyone else is. But this week there have just been too many things, none of which are meaningless or empty. I do my best to redeem the time and don't really have an interest in doing frivolous, waste-of-time kind of things. That kind of lifestyle has freed me to do the things I love to do: spend time with my family and study.

But this week I haven't had much time to study. I've studied and read my Bible, but not like I am used to doing. I've been busy helping someone on a building project the last few days, and it is consuming my time. I am glad to be able to help, because that is part of Christian service.

Ironically, I am in the section in the Gospel of John about Mary and Martha. You know the story - Mary is annointing the feet of Jesus and wiping them with her hair. It's a lovely scene of worship! And then there is Martha, busy about her chores. Distracted and pulled away from the 'one thing' she should be doing.

Sometimes I feel like Martha gets a bad rap. It seems like she is doing what any woman who is gifted in serving would do. We are called to serve, are we not? I can imagine my wife would be tidying up the house and putting some food on a plate and making sure everything is just right if the King of Kings showed up at our house. Isn't that what Martha was doing?

I am not sure I've learned the point of this account in the Bible yet, but I see in the parallel passage in Luke 10 that Martha was distracted. She was worrying and bothered. It must have been the anxiety of performance that was so wrong and not the service itself. This explanation fits so well with the gospel message - because so many people thing they can perform, and then God will smile upon them. No... no performance is good enough. Mary seemed to understand that, and was enraptured by the simplicity of worshiping Jesus.

I Surrender All

Surrender? Never. No one wants to surrender. Surrender is a sign of weakness - a sign of loss - giving up - losing the will to fight to the end and win. Right?

But the gospel message is one of complete surrender. Humbly giving up all our rights to do what Christ wants us to do. That's pretty hard for those of us who want to be able to claim even just a little bit of credit for our successes in life (and blame our failures on others).

On Sunday morning, our congregation sang the great and mighty hymn, "I Surrender All". It was different this time. Every heart and voice was lifted to a different level and the song was more meaningful than ever before. It occurred to me that God wants me - wants us - to surrender ALL. Not some, not most... but ALL. He doesn't want the half-hearted. He doesn't want the mediocre. He doesn't want the left-overs. He doesn't want the proud. He wants the ones that understand that they can't 'win' on their own. He wants the ones who have counted everything else as loss. He wants the ones who have given up trying to please Him by their filthy rags of personal righteousness. He wants the ones who have thrown up the white flag of complete surrender, fully trusting in Him to do to them only what is for their good and for His glory.

I put alot of songs and hymns and praises out on this blog. That is because music can touch the heart in ways that other means cannot. God created us to appreciate music, and biblical sound words/lyrics can provoke us to think, provoke us to worship, provoke us to self-evaluation. Music, in its proper context, helps us rejoice at times and helps us cope at other times.

I hope I can sing the words of this song and mean it:

All to Jesus, I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

Refrain
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.

Refrain
All to Jesus, I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.

Refrain
All to Jesus, I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

Refrain
All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!


Mark

This Old House - Followup

High atop a bucket truck someone was running the controls of the wheels under this 400 ton brick house. Other house movers surrounded the building, manning their respective wheel, cranking hydraulic lifts when necessary over bumps and curbs.

It looks kinda strange to see a house in the middle of the street. Houses aren't supposed to be wandering down the street. But in a few hours, this old house made it to its destination. The house will sit on some makeshift supports until the permanent foundation is built underneath.

From the persepective of an untrained eye, the move appeared to be successful today. Time will tell if the move damaged the integrity of the structure. Only the owners will know about the damage inside - cracks, leaks, etc. And once the foundation is built and supporting the building, that 400 tons of brick, mortar, wood, metal and slate will be fully reliant upon a firm and steady foundation.

How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord,
Has been laid for your faith in His excellent Word.

No More, My God, I Boast No More

Isaac Watts wrote this song. This hymn writer and theologian lived between the years of 1674 and 1748, and is known for such familiar tunes as "Joy to the World", "O God Our Help in Ages Past" and "When I Survey the Wonderous Cross". Let the words of this doctrinally rich song sink in...

No more, my God,
I boast no more
Of all the duties I have done;
I quit the hopes I held before,
To trust the merits of thy Son.

Now, for the love I bear his name,
What was my gain I count my loss;
My former pride I call my shame,
And nail my glory to his cross.

Yes, and I must and will esteem
All things but loss for Jesus' sake:
O may my soul be found in him,
And of his righteousness partake!

The best obedience of my hands
Dares not appear before thy throne;
But faith can answer thy demands
By pleading what my Lord has done.

What Did He Write?

The woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The accusers brought her before Jesus and seemed very eager to get His opinion on what to do with her. The Law of Moses required that such a sinner be stoned to death. As eager as they were to throw the book at her, they were all the more eager to catch Jesus in a trap.

He stooped over and wrote something in the dirt. I have always wanted to know what he wrote there on the cracked and dry ground. There are many speculations about what He wrote – maybe he wrote the sins of the accusers. Since He stooped down to write in the dirt again, maybe he attached names to those sins. But that is pure speculation because the Bible doesn’t say what He wrote.

One thing that struck me as I read this passage in John chapter 8 this morning is that God’s Word is powerful, whether spoken or, in this case, written. Whatever Jesus wrote the first time apparently didn’t sink in quickly. But when He wrote the second time, some light bulbs went off in the accusers heads. Those hand-written words straight from the finger of God-incarnate packed some spiritual punch. It caused every one of them to turn around and hightail it out of there. Was it guilt? Conviction? A sinking realization of whose presence they were in? Whatever was going through their minds at the time, it was something prompted by the Word of God.

When I get to heaven, that is one question I’d like to ask. "Jesus, what did you write on the ground that day?" He might answer, "it was my Word, living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword… able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart".

What Makes a Father Happy?

What makes a father happy? What makes a father grateful?

Having his seven year old son sprawl out on the livingroom floor, volunteering to lead the family worship time.

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of God" - 2 Timothy 2:15

From the Rising of the Sun...

I love clouds, I love the sky. I love sunsets and sunrises. I have tons of photographs of that kind of stuff, none of which really do any justice to the experience of witnessing it first hand.

I camped out this past Friday night in the back yard with my boys. At 5:30am I woke up to this sunrise. I ran inside and grabbed my camera to add to my collection of clouds and sunrises. Every bump on the ground that jabbed me in the back all night, every mosquito bite, every loud cricket - was worth it to get a glimpse of God's handiwork at dawn.

The Psalmist must have enjoyed camping out. He wrote these verses: From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised (113:3) and the heavens are declaring the glory of the Lord (19:1).

Amen!

God's Sense of Humor

No one can tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor.

Yesterday I was reading in the gospel of John and came across an interesting verse that jumped off the page. Right after Jesus had just finished feeding a gazillion people, and performed the amazing feat of walking on the water, the people were curious and approached him asking him how he got to the other side of the sea, seeing as he wasn't with the original band of people that took the boat, and there was no other boat on the shore in which he could have been in. So in response to there inquisitiveness, he tells them in John 6:26-27 that they were only after him because they got something good to eat and were hoping for more goodies:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal."

My wife and I entered into a diaglogue about what this verse could mean. We came to the conclusion that, yes it's necessary to work in order to eat - that should be obvious- but that there are other things (namely doing the will of the Father) that take much more important precedence than eating. Our single passion should not be where we are going out to eat this weekend or what is for lunch today or what kind of dessert we are enjoying tonight - but rather what it is that we are doing for the 'kingdom'.

So what do I find so funny about that? God always reinforces biblical truth to us by using object lessons. Right after our discussion we went shopping to get (are you ready for this?).... some food!! A short, easy trip this time - just to get a few odds and ends. When we got home, we realized we had somehow left half of our food we had just paid for at the grocery store.

This Old House - Gospel Thoughts for the Week

There's a big old stately-looking brick house in our city. It looked rather odd though this morning as I drove past. There were alot of people standing around gawking at it. It's been vacant for years. At first glance, it looks good on the outside though. A closer look reveals that it has no foundation and it is in deplorable condition.

Apparently, the house has some history. The Troutman's built and owned the house (the builders and owners of the Troutman department stores that were once popular in Western Pennsylvania. Years of deterioration led to eventual plans to demolish the structure that would make room for a parking lot for the adjacent business. Someone who thought the place had potential bought the house for a dollar, but the real cost is in moving it a block away to its new 'home'. The costs of moving and renovating are likely going to be exceedingly more than the house will be worth when all is said and done.

Someday, this house will be resting on a firm foundation and will be restored to its intended splendor. It will be a beautiful building, bustling with activity. Someone saw that this house was worth saving, and spared no expense to accomplish it.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

When I get to heaven, one of the people I want to have conversations with would be Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He went to heaven on March 1, 1981. I was finishing up eleventh grade at that time and had no clue who this man was back then. In the last six or seven years though, I have grown to love this man who has written many books and commentaries that have impacted my life profoundly. He was a master using the right words to convey the message that was intended in the scriptures. In some cases, he'd spend hundreds of pages expositing just one verse, mining deep and pulling out those great spiritual nuggets of gold. I try to read at least two of his commentaries every year - there are many volumes to Romans, eight on Ephesians, two on Philippians, two on the Sermon on the Mount, several on Acts and others. There is no shortage of reading material from this great Bible teacher. Below are some of my favorite quotes out of one of my recent readings from Romans 1.

What a denial of Scripture it is to say it does not matter very much what you believe as long as you call yourself a Christian in general, or to say that you need not hold on to these doctrines as absolutes.

It ought to be impossible for us to use the word ‘gospel’ without bursting forth, as it were, into a hymn of praise and thanksgiving.


The Bible is authoritative. It is the only authority. It is our only rule and standard, and we must abide by its teaching in every respect. I must not believe anything unless it is plainly stated in the Scriptures or else can be ultimately deduced from the Scriptures.


[Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ] means a surrender of ourselves, a committal of ourselves, the involvement of our whole personality. No one can be regarded as having believed the gospel who has not repented and turned from a life of sin to a life of obedience to God in Christ Jesus.

Who are the unstable? The unstable are always the unlearned. The spiritual butterflies are the people who do not know doctrine. It is the unlearned who are always unstable, and every single New Testament epistle was written in order to stabilize people, to establish them, to ground them, to root them! And it is by the doctrines, the teaching, and the exposition that it is done. It is not entertainment we need. It is truth. It is knowledge. There are no shortcuts in the spiritual life. You cannot gallop through these epistles. You cannot rush through them a chapter at a time. It is only a deep and thorough knowledge of the Word that will give us true stability.

Why I Am Voting for John McCain

A year ago, John McCain was far from my first choice as the republican nominee for president. I can think of other people I'd rather vote for, but the choice is down to McCain and Obama.

There are plenty of conservatives who don't think McCain is conservative enough and so they are either voting for some third party candidate or not voting at all. I know people like that. The results of that backwards kind of thinking are obvious - it will be devastating for the country.

I don't think McCain is the real conservative that we need, but I'd be kidding myself if I didn't think he was the best of the two we have to choose from. I disagree with McCain on many fronts. BUT, I am voting for him and so should you, and let me tell you why.

John McCain loves his country. And he doesn't just SAY it, he has proven it. John McCain is a loyal and courageous man. He doesn't just give speeches about it, he has lived it. In our day of the threat of terrorism, we need a loyal and courageous man in the White House. John McCain is tough. Anyone who spends five-and-a-half years being beaten and kicked around by the North Vietnamese prison guards is tougher than nails. John McCain is a hero. He had the opportunity to come home after a couple years and he said 'no'. He didn't want to give in to the propaganda machine or go home before others who were imprisoned before he was. That is selfless. I want a tough guy - a real man- a hero in the White House. He won't equivocate or vascilate on the toughest issues of our times. I am confident that his heroic experiences in the Vietnam war will come back to serve him well as the President of the United States. That's why I am voting for John McCain. Consider the alternative.

Spend the time to read this lengthy ARCTICLE ON JOHN MCCAIN. It is worth your time to get to know this man.

Morning Devotion

The following is an excerpt from the Puritan prayer book , 'The Valley of Vision':

Almighty God,

As I cross the threshold of this day
I commit myself, soul, body,
affairs, friends, to thy care;
Watch over, keep, guide, direct, sanctify, bless me.

Incline my heart to thy ways;
Mould me wholly into the image of Jesus, as a potter forms clay;
May my lips be a well-tuned harp
to sound thy praise;

Let those around see me living by thy Spirit,
Trampling the world underfoot,
Unconformed to lying vanities,
Transformed by a renewed mind,
Clad in the entire armour of God,
Shining as a never-dimmed light,
Showing holiness in all my doings.

Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands.
May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.
Order this day all my communications
According to thy wisdom,
And to the gain of mutual good.
May I speak each word as if my last word,
And walk each step as my final one.
If my life should end today,
Let this be my best day.

7-Eleven

This morning's Bible reading was in Psalm 7. Every time I read Psalm 7:11, I think of my encounter some years ago at a local convenience store, 7-Eleven. It says 'God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day'.

I ran into the store to buy a drink and as I received my change and a napkin, I noticed a rack full of pornography behind the counter. Interestingly, on that particular morning, I had read Psalm 7:11, and it occurred to me that God DID have indignation toward the people responsible for distributing this poison and contributing to the blight on society. There was a printed note on my napkin that stated if I was in any way unsatisfied with my visit to 7-Eleven to call the number listed. So... I did.

I politely told the person on the other end of phone that I was done shopping at 7-Eleven until I knew that they were done selling pornography. That person showed me that they had their own form of indignation and they became immediately agitated at me for being so bold as to call them on the carpet. Their response concluded with, 'we are a company that provides goods to ALL people, not just a few'. And then the call abruptly ended.

I wonder who the 'ALL' of that statement included, because it certainly didn't include me anymore, and probably countless other Christians would not shop there if they knew they peddled this kind of sewage. I wonder what would happen if I tried to sell some Bibles out of their store? Or how about even GIVE them away in their store or in the parking lot? Wonder how much 'indignation' that would generate?

The wonderful flip side of Psalm 7:11 is Psalm 11:7 - "For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face". After considering the gravity of Psalm 7:11, I am really thankful for Psalm 11:7... Those who walk uprightly will what??! Behold His face??! If we didn't have enough incentive to live right because of God's indignation, certainly 'beholding His face' would be enough.

Praise the God of indignation.
Praise the God of righteousness.

Hope and Change - Gospel Thoughts for the Week

I just visited the official website of one of our presidential candidates. One of the statements on the site said it was 'Powered by Hope'. And of course his political slogan is, 'Change We Can Believe In'.

Unfortunately, those two phrases have been hijacked and the real meanings of 'change' and 'hope' have been made about as clear as mud. And to be honest, the other presidential candidate does not offer real change and real hope either. We're foolish if we think we'll get either one from 'Washington' anytime soon. We need to awaken from our 'spiritual recession' and go to the One who offers hope and change.

'Hope', in the biblical sense (as in Hebrews 11:1), is belief of an absolute certainty of something in the future, regardless of the uncertainty of today. Dr. John MacArthur says in his commentary on this verse, that "Christian hope is belief in God against the world - not belief in the improbable against chance". We have hope (absolute certainty), that God will cause all things to work for our good and for His glory - that is the 'hope' of the Christian. We don't 'hope' that Obama or McCain will pull us through.

'Change', in the biblical sense, is 'repentance'. Repentance is defined as 'a change of heart or change of mind that results in a change in ones behavior'. When we are commanded to 'repent' in scripture (Acts 17:30, and others), God expects us to think differently and consequently act differently, conforming to the image of Christ. THAT is 'change we can believe in'. If people would turn from their sin and embrace righteousness and the forgiveness offered by Christ, that would be the change we so desperately need as a nation - not the counterfeit change that's being dangled in front of us.

Mark

Praise!

I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
- Psalm 145:1-3

In our family worship time today, we read from this Psalm, which is one of my favorite. In the margins of my Bible on that particular page, I have written the following things:

"No chorus is too loud, no orchestra too large, no Psalm too lofty for the lauding of the Lord of hosts" - Charles H. Spurgeon

P - privately and publically
R - reciting the
A - attributes and actions of the
I - invisible
S - sovereign God of
E - eternity

Turning Seven

Well, today I did it. I bought my son the Red Ryder BB gun he's been coveting for the last year or so. We took a road trip to Cabela's in West Virginia to buy something we could have bought 6 miles away. But that's ok, because we have made it a tradition to 'go somewhere' for each of the kids for their birthday.

Tomorrow, our oldest son turns seven. Every kid who has ever shot a gun in the past 50 years probably first squeezed the trigger of a Red Ryder BB gun. Today was my son's turn. He loved every minute of it... and so did I! Happy Birthday Jack! And don't put your eye out...

Blessed Assurance

Blessed Assurance, written by Fanny Crosby has always been a favorite old hymn of mine. I have memories of singing it often in church - the tune and the words just stuck glue in the hymn book of my mind all these years.

I never ever forgot the Biblical truth that this song conveys: that when you are truly saved from the grip of sin - bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ - you not only have assurance... you have Blessed Assurance!

One of the great old voices of truth in the past - it was either Edwards or Spurgeon - said something to this effect (my paraphrase) - "I could swing over the pit of hell on a thread and have no fear of falling in because of the assurance and security I have in Christ Jesus".

The reason he could say that, and the reason we can sing this song, is because of the power of Christ to keep that which is His own (John 10:28; Romans 8:35-39; Jude 24 just to name a couple scriptures - and there are MANY). The doctrines of 'assurance' and 'eternal security' are some of the most comforting doctrines. Many people do not have assurance of salvation and eternal life. There are a variety of reasons for that: 1). they may not actually be saved 2). they may be saved, but holding on to a certain sin. Habitual sins rob people of their assurance. 3). they may be walking in obedience but do not have a firm grasp on the doctrine of eternal security - the fact that if Christ was able to deliver them from sin in the first place then he is certainly able to keep them. Its the argument from the greater to the lesser. If Christ can accomplish the greater thing (salvation), then keeping someone saved is not that hard for him. This is cause for 'praising my Savior all the day long'. Right?

1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain: This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
(Refrain)

3. Perfect submission, all is at rest;
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.
(Refrain)

Ben Franklin's Virtues and Precepts

My kids recently attended Vacation Bible School at our church, where they learned about money... spending it, giving it and saving it. There were many principles that all of us adults in attendance learned too. One night we went home with a small 3x5 card with Ben Franklin's Virtues and Precepts. Take a look at these:

1. TEMPERANCE - Eat not to dullness.
2. SILENCE - Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER - Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION - Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY - Make no expenses but to do good to others or yourself. Waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY - Lose no time; always be employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY - Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE - Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION - Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS - Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILTY - Do not be disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. HUMILTY - Imitate Jesus

Good advice...

Worse Than An Unbeliever

There are all kinds of Bible reading programs. Some get you through the Bible in a year. Some take you through the Bible in a chronological order. Some programs have you reading the same book for 30 straight days. All of the programs obviously have their benefits.

I have a system that works real well for me. I like to read through a book of the Bible as though it were the very first time I have ever read through it.
Sounds unusual, but as many times as we read through... say, the book of Matthew... we can almost recite the birth of Christ or the passion week passages by rote memory. The danger in that is that we often read right past something that God has intended to use to speak to us that day. We already know the ending of the story, and so we cruise right through our daily reading and mark it off of our bible-in-a-year checklist.

Putting the ending of the story out of my mind for the moment and soaking in every sentence, every phrase, every WORD is very helpful in seeing what God has for me.

Today, a verse jumped off the pages of 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 8. I had skimmed over this verse in the past. "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." The context is in regards to taking care of widows... but there are a couple principles here that I believe are important to all 'heads of households'. MacArthur's commentary on this verse states that this person who does not provide for his own hasn't necessarily lost his salvation, but rather has denied the principles of compassion and love that is at the heart of the Christian faith. He goes on to say that the reason they are worse than an unbeliever is that failing to provide for 'his own household' is inexcusable because they have the commandment of God and enablement from God to love. Worse than an unbeliever. That is some powerful, thought-provoking, Holy Spirit convicting language. I am glad I didn't miss that phrase this time through 1 Timothy!

God Bless You?

I hope my office mates aren't reading this blog today. Some of them sneeze louder than the freight train that blows past my office several times a day. The natural reaction of any polite person usually is to respond by saying, "God Bless You!!".

Without even thinking, we invoke God's name. Without even thinking, we pronounce a blessing on someone. The third commandment (Exodus 20:7) makes a prohibition on using the Lord's name in vain, and in our politeness I wonder if we're using God's name in a flippant and unworthy way when we use it so casually as a sneeze response. "God Bless You!", we shout back over the cubical wall. "God Bless You!", we call out... I wonder if we ought to be reserving God's name for a more hallowed situation, such as when we bow our knees in prayer, or worshiping Him in spiritual songs and hymns. I wonder if we ought to be saying "Excuse you" or "pardon you" rather than offending God by the mis-use of His sacred name.

And even if we really are attempting to use His name properly when we say "God Bless You" after a good hearty sneeze, is it really proper to command God to bless someone who might be rejecting Him and His Son? Maybe that person is currently under God's judgment, and calling on a blessing would be the exact opposite that God wants at the time. Not trying to be mean here or parse words... just calling for a re-evaluation of how we use God's name...

Mark

Cocoa Puffs and Second Thessalonians

This morning I was reading in First Timothy. This is Paul's chiefly counsel to the young pastor Timothy encouraging him to fight the good fight and to keep the faith.

Oddly, every time I read this chapter, I think of the incedent I had a few years ago at the breakfast table:

I have a weird kind of thing with my Bible. It is my most prized possession and so I treat it as such - to the n'th degree. When I write in it, there can be no mistakes. When I turn the pages, there can be no dog-earred pages. When someone 'borrows' my Bible to quickly look up something, I almost panic that they won't handle with the same care that I would. I don't put papers, bulletins or pens in it, because that would ruin the spine. I keep it in a canvas Bible cover to protect it from the elements, and I don't leave it lying around just any where.

So... imagine my panic. I pour myself some Cocoa Puffs, loaded down with frozen blueberries, and top it off with skim milk in a bowl half the size of a pickup truck. Chocolate cereal and blueberries make a dangerous color of milk. I sit down to read the very last chapter of 2 Thessalonians (the page of which is on the back of 1 Timothy - what I was reading this morning). For some unknown reason, I reach across the table and not yet being awake, I knock my bowl of puffs over - all over 2 Thessalonians 3. As an interesting side note, several of the verses that fell victim to the brownish-purple milk are about 'eating'. You never saw me move so fast in my whole life, scrambling for paper towels. I didn't care about the table cloth. I didn't care about the floor or the table or the chairs or the bowl. All I cared about was my Bible. I almost cried. The story has a good ending though. The only lasting damage surprizingly was that only that page of 2 Thessalonians/ 1 Timothy has a few wrinkles in it.

This event in my life, as insignificant as it seems, does remind me of an important principle that we find in the letters to Timothy about handling the Word of God. We are to preach sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3; 10-11). We are to pay close attention to our teaching (1 Timothy 4:16). We are to study so that we accurately handle the word of truth (1 Timothy 4:6-8, 2 Timothy 2:15). We are to preach the word in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).

Someone teaching from God's Word has the solemn responsibility of doing it right. There is no excuse for doing a shoddy, sloppy, clumsy job. We are required to interpret the Word correctly and communicate exactly what God has said to us, not what we THINK He may be saying. The Christian's responsibility, especially the teacher, must communicate the Word as God has intended - heralding the gospel - and if someone is offended, so be it. Let the chips fall where they may. If we do not handle the Word of God accurately and boldly, then we are guilty of soiling the pages of scripture with our 'Cocoa Puffs' of clumsiness, bumbling around and not paying attention to what we're really doing. It amounts to Biblical vandalism - something I hope I am never guilty of.

Independence? Gospel Thoughts for the Week

As we approach Independence Day, I contemplate what ‘freedom’ really is. In America, we suffer from a false sense of freedom. While I very much appreciate the God-given freedoms I enjoy every day (paid for by the shed blood of countless brave men and women), I also sense that many people who think they are ‘free’ are under the heaviest yoke of slavery.

Yes, in America, we pretty much have the ability to pick and choose what we want to do, go where we want to go, decide who we want to hang out with, buy what we want to buy and vote for what people we want to lead the country. And yet at the same time, we are held in bondage by those same things. We don’t own our houses - our houses own us. We try to impress people we don’t like by buying things we don’t want or need, and so we work too many hours and forfeit family time. We put corrupt people into power and then complain that our taxes are too high and nobody in Washington cares about the burden on the poor and middle class.

The truth is that freedom in its purest sense is not whether or not you live in America. Freedom is only found in being released from the chains of your sin. Someone who has not turned from their sins and put their full trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross is a slave, no matter what kind of house, friends or job they have. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 6:16-18, "Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." And again in Galatians 5:1, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

Do you see?! The slave becomes free by becoming a slave! The slave of sin confesses and forsakes his sin, and becomes a slave of righteousness, which really is the freedom that he or she had been longing for. For the one who turns from their sin, Independence Day can have a new and infinitely more meaningful view of freedom. For the one that gives his life to the Master, this is the one that has deliverance from the guilt of sin, the power of sin, and the pollution of sin. No document in the National Archives and certainly no bureaucrat in Washington DC can promise THAT kind of freedom.

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. - Romans 6:22

Don't Blink

On the way home from work today I didn't listen to my normal 20 minutes of Sean Hannity. Instead I was flipping through the radio dial and heard this song by Kenny Chesney just as I was thinking about how fast my children are growing... click HERE and listen to this song and watch the video. Life is a vapor, and this song crystalizes that reality very well...

Here are the words:

I turned on the evening news
Saw a old man being interviewed
Turning a hundred and two today
Asked him what's the secret to life
He looked up from his old pipe
Laughed and said "All I can say is. "Don't blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink

I was glued to my tv when it looked like he looked at me and said
"Best start putting first things first."
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can't flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth

Don't Blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you insteadT
rust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink

So I've been tryin' ta slow it down
I've been tryin' ta take it in
In this here today, gone tomorrow world we're livin' in

Don't blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap and you
Wake up and you're twenty-five and your high school sweetheart becomes your wife

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster then you think
So Don't blink
Naw, don't blink
Life Goes Faster Than You Think