Home Schooling

Well, we began our homeschooling journey with our older son, Cameron today. I am looking forward to the challenge and the extra time I get to spend with my son. I pray for God's grace in attempting this endeavor.

Pray for us as we make the necessary transitions for this to work. I know it means extra work for me, but in the end, I believe it will be worth the effort and sacrifice.

Thank you for praying.

Making Disciples

A friend emailed the following to me with the caption "The Test of Successful Ministry":

The measure of how ministry is progressing in your church or fellowship, and the way to evaluate whether you are making progress, is not attendance on Sunday, signed up members, people in small groups, or the size of our budget (as important and valuable as all these things are!). The real test is how successfully you are making disciples who make other disciples. Are we seeing people converted from being dead in their transgressions to being alive in Christ? And once converted, are we seeing them followed-up and established as mature disciples of Jesus? And as they become established, are we training them in knowledge, godliness and skills so that they will in turn make disciples of others?

This is the Great Commission—the making of disciples who obey all that Christ has taught, including the command to make disciples. And this is the touchstone of our faithfulness to Christ's mission in the world, and the sign of a healthy church: whether or not it is making genuine disciple-making disciples of Jesus Christ.

That's how we should evaluate the "success" of our churches.

What do you think?

I would say we have much work to do.

Hold Fast to the Word

This past Sunday, we examined 2 Timothy 1:13.

In that examination, we explored reasons why Paul exhorted Timothy to "hold fast" from 2 Timothy 3 and 4.

Here is reason #1: Hold fast to the word because of our perilous times (2 Timothy 3:1)

Holding fast in perilous times to the word helps us...
1) Turn away from corrupt character (2 Tim. 3:2-4)
2) Keep away from reckless religion (2 Tim. 3:5)
3) Protect us from diabolical deceivers (2 Tim. 3:6-9, 13)
4) Sustain us in persistent persecution (2 Tim. 3:10-12)

We also explored part of reason #2: Hold fast to the word because of its sufficiency for our lives (2 Timothy 3:16)

The word is sufficient in the following areas...
1) Sufficient for salvation (2 Tim. 3:14-15)
2) Sufficient for sanctification (2 Tim. 3:16)

This is where we finished up yesterday.

We plan to pick up here with some review and finish our examination of the reasons this coming Sunday.

With that being said, I have started another blog over at Hold Fast.

The title of this blog has come about because of the gripping of my heart concerning this passage (2 Timothy 1:13-14). This new blog may not get as much attention, but I hope to use it as a journal of sorts as I study the scriptures and their implications for my life personally and the life of the church.

God bless...

Is there any hope?

After teaching through the 10 commandments over the last 13 weeks or so, it is very easy to become discouraged when we see the perfection of God in his holiness revealed in those commandments and then to realize that He requires perfection in us...so, last week we asked the question, "Is there any hope?"

And, the answer: absolutely YES!

Our hope is in Jesus.

Here are 6 reasons from the sermon why Jesus is our hope:

A. Jesus is my hope because He fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law.
Romans 8:1-11
B. Jesus is my hope because He became the curse of the law.
Galatians 3:10-14
C. Jesus is my hope because He satisfied the wrath of God against sinners
Romans 3:21-26
D. Jesus is my hope because He gave me His righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21
E. Jesus is my hope because He is my faithful and merciful high priest
Hebrews 4:14-16
F. Jesus is my hope because He enables me to obey God’s commands
Romans 6:1-14

May your faith be strengthened today by God's grace and Jesus Christ, the hope of glory!

On the Sovereignty of God

I read these two paragraphs in The Peacemaker by Ken Sande in the chapter entitled "Trust in the Lord and Do Good"...

"Nothing is a surprise to God; nothing is a setback to his plans; nothing can thwart his purposes; and nothing is beyond his control. His sovereignty is absolute. Everything that happens is uniquely ordained of God. Sovereignty is a weighty thing to ascribe to the nature and character of God. Yet if he were not sovereign, he would not be God. The Bible is clear that God is in control of everything that happens." (p. 69)

"If examining the sovereignty of God teaches us anything, it teaches us that real satisfaction comes not in understanding God's motives, but in understanding his character, in trusting his promises, and in leaning on him and resting in him as the Sovereign who know what he is doing and does all things well." (p. 69)

Some deep thoughts to ponder on this Thursday morning...

Back from vacation

We are back from our vacation in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. We had a great time just being together as a family. Regular posts should begin again at the beginning of the week.

God bless you all.

For quicker updates, blurbs, and comments on what I'm reading or studying you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

Commandment #10 - Covetousness

Today's message was on Coveting, the 10th commandment.

I made the following two points about the purpose of the commandment being last in the list:
1) It gets at the root heart motivation that underlies the breaking of the other commandments that relate to loving our neighbor
2) It exposes the idol that plagues us all--that is "unchecked desires"

Our desires can go unchecked in at least three ways:
1) the motivation of our desire
2) the direction of our desire
3) the depth or intensity of our desire

Principles to overcome covetousness:
A. Cultivating consistent repentance of our unchecked desires
B. Cultivating contentment in God’s providence
C. Cultivating trust in God’s promises
D. Cultivating reliance on God’s provision
E. Cultivating an open-handed/generous lifestyle
F. Cultivating an eternal perspective
G. Cultivating the reality that Jesus is all we need

Here are some scripture references to meditate upon:
1- Psalm 16:11
2- Psalm 73:25-26
3- Matthew 6:25-34
4- Philippians 4:11-12
5- James 4:1-4
6- Hebrews 13:5-6

You can check out our website for the audio of today's message.

God bless.