Category: Bible

Going Viral

Have you seen any of the viral challenges going around online?  There were all sorts of stunts being pulled for 15 minutes of fame.  Some claimed they did it to raise awareness of issues, but often the issues were lost in the ice water buckets being poured over people.  I have a new challenge to propose.

Christianity Today recently reported research by Lifeway: “We’ve released new research as part of the Transformational Discipleship study that shows only 19% of churchgoers personally (not as part of a church worship service) read the Bible every day.“

That research was based on the transformation church assessment tool and Bible study.  Lack of daily Bible reading, not to mention studying, is a growing problem.  God’s word is sufficient for all we are to believe and do. Yet how can we know what God expects if we don’t study His word? He speaks to us of this in 2 Tim 3:16-17 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” NKJV

God’s word is profitable for us!  It is good for doctrine.  Doctrine is what we believe and teach.  It is good for reproof and correction.  God’s word sets a standard and points out when we are not living up to God’s standard of righteousness.  The word is good for instruction.  It teaches us more about God and His expectations.  Finally, it completes and us equips for every good work.  We believe in the sufficiency of the Scripture.  God’s word alone provides all we need to know and do to please and glorify God.

So why don’t we make reading it a priority?  We must get back to the word of God.  The wisdom of God’s word is timeless and applies to every day of our lives.

Join me in a challenge that will make a real difference.  Let’s read the Bible every day!

 

The Rock

Have you ever had a book change your life?  As a kid, I discovered JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series.  I read them many times.  I was captivated by the struggle of good versus evil and the little guy playing a major part in the final outcome.

There is another book which captivated my mind and heart at a young age which still impacts my life.  As a young child, Momma would read us Bible stories.  The heroes of my childhood were Samson, David, Moses, and Joshua.  Later, I learned about the teachings of Paul, John, and Jesus.  I still learn something new and see how the word of God shapes my life.  It is no wonder the prophet Isaiah sad “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”  Isaiah 40:8  NIV

God’s word is alive and works within us to conform us to the image.  They key is to put it into practice.  Jesus said, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24  NIV Jesus instructs us that life built on the rock of His word stands the test of time.  He also contrasted that life with a foolish one. “ 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:26-27 NIV.

God’s word is a solid foundation upon which we can build our lives.

The Drill

IMG_0178

Since leaving the classroom, I have gotten to be involved in some of the behind the scenes workings of schools. One of these areas in which I have gained a new perspective is the drills we must do. You know the kind. Fire drills, tornado drills, intruder lockdowns, zombie apocalypse practice, etc. are all scheduled and planned on our calendar. We then get to surprise the rest of the staff and students and time their reactions. Recently, I was able to help with a tornado drill and it had some interesting results. We had some students outside, one of whom was my daughter, who evidently did not hear the warning or ignored it. I have taken great pleasure in reminding her that she and her class are dead since they never came in and took shelter. I would randomly go by and say, “I see dead people”. All joking aside, why do we waste time on these drills? Because if there is a real emergency , we want to get everyone to safety as quickly as possible. Our times have improved and the little wrinkles we throw at them are easily overcome. Our time practicing now will pay off if we ever have to use these plans in a real emergency.

Our walk for Christ requires training as well. Paul wrote a letter instructing Timothy about this very thing. “Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.” (‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬ AMP). I used the Amplified version to help clarify Paul’s point. The young preacher, Timothy was to diligently study and accurately teach the Bible. Just a few paragraphs later, Paul warns, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (‭II Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭1-4‬ NKJV). Preachers, and all Christians, are to proclaim the word!

Like eager students learning how to duck and cover, we must study, live out, and proclaim God’s word. Sadly, many today are turning from God’s word and looking to society to find their beliefs. Instead of knowing what God says and seeking to live it, many are saying churches need to get with the times. In fact, one such pastor was recently asked about one of the hot topics where Scripture and society clash. His reply was, “”I think culture is already there and the church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense,….” Here is a so called pastor flippantly dismissing God’s word as irrelevant. If the Bible can’t be trusted when it lays out a moral compass for us, how can it be trusted on matters of eternity? It appears we are in those days when many will not endure sound doctrine. We must be even more diligent to know the truth.

Let us not be deceived. Study the word. Proclaim the truth in love.

The 8 Letter Word

2015/01/img_0172.png

Warning! I am about to use an eight letter word which may offend some. In fact, you may insist I wash out my mouth with soap.  This word used to be important to many and widely used, but our feelings about it have changed. Once, it was cherished and used proudly, but now it is used with apologies if at all. What is this dreadful word you ask? The offensive word is, “doctrine”. Come back and finish reading after you recover from passing out….I will wait for you.

Why is this word considered so bad? Just the other day I heard a Christian from another church bragging, “We don’t have doctrine!” It floored me. What they were saying is that they do not believe and teach anything! In their defense, he did hold up a Bible and said, “This is all we need.” I think the problem is a misunderstanding of what doctrine is. I even agree that man made statements of belief with no basis in Scripture is wrong. But the word, doctrine, is a Biblical word, Paul tells Timothy “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (II Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV). In other words. The Bible is good for doctrine. The word doctrine means teachings, and in newer verses it is translated as such.  God’s word is the basis of all we believe and do.  Doctrine is what the word teaches us.

There is no reason to be scared of doctrine! God wants us to teach us how to think and act so that we will “equipped for every good work”.   We need doctrine as well as reproof, correction, and instruction to reach maturity in the faith.

Directions

IMG_0138.PNG

Why is it so hard to follow directions? As a teacher I once gave my 8th grade science students a test and verbally told them to read the whole test before doing anything else. The first line on the test also said in bold font “READ THE ENTIRE TEST BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE!“. I would love to tell you that all 141 students followed my directions. Knowing that the same type of test had been given to them in 6th grade surely guaranteed their success. All day, maybe 5 students followed my directions. How do I know? Because the “questions’ had them doing silly things like walking in a circle, writing their name backwards, singing Happy Birthday, etc. The next to last question instructed them to ignore all other questions, put their name on their paper and sit quietly. I was amazed that they fell for it a second time! I’m glad as adults we have grown out of that! We would never ignore instructions to restart a computer whenever programs aren’t working right. We would never fuss, complain, and get angry before we checked that all cords are connected and restarting the machine which we know is intentionally out to get us. RIGHT!

Why? Why is it we don’t want to follow directions?

In life, instead of just looking foolish, it leads to suffering. Look around at the broken lives, homes, and relationships. Notice the pain and suffering which surround us daily. It all comes from our choices to ignore the directions. Our creator gave us a set of directions for life in His word. When we choose to ignore it and live the way we think is best, we will end up like those students by wasting time and accomplishing little of significance. Living by the Word, brings life in the fullest. Yet we continue to fall for the tricks of the enemy and ignore the directions.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” We have probably read those words many times, yet we keep ignoring it. Maybe we think it is too comp,I ate, or maybe it is to simple to us. We are born with a desire to do things our way. We inherited this tenacity for rebellion from Adam and Eve. They had a perfect home and only one rule. Yet they ignored God’s rule and ate the forbidden fruit. We must break the cycle and get back to living by the directions. Quit second guessing and trying to outsmart the instructor. Follow the instructions set forth in the word of life.

Let’s start following the directions given to us by our loving Father.

%d bloggers like this: