Weekend Resource: Do you know how to use Bible Study Methods?
Confession from a recovering methods addict
I have long been fascinated with methods. They seem to promise results if you follow steps 1 through 3.
Problem is, they are powerless in and of themselves. Methods can not produce or sustain the hunger required to follow the methods diligently. Methods can not unlock the scriptures in a heart-changing way. Methods can help us gain a sort of knowledge, but not a relationship with Christ. In short, methods alone lack the ability to deliver on their promises. Standing alone, they are a futile means to reaching God.
Am I alone, or have you suffered from the futile methods-addiction as well?
Our hope is not in Bible Study methods.
Our only hope is in the Father, who by His Holy Spirit, teaches us and conforms our hearts by the truth to become more like Jesus Christ. Bible study methods that are divorced from such a hope in the Trinity will fail. Bible study methods are but a means of grace, but never the focus or power of our Christian life.
In light of that, here are 3 ways to use methods:
1. Bible Study Methods ought to be used to aid
Methods can be used to add structure to quiet times. Examples of the methods of other men may inspire us to dedicate ourselves to feeding on God’s Word more consistently. But remember, methods are to be an aid. Don’t use them to make yourself feel guilty for your lack of structure. Don’t force yourself to use a method that does not actually help or fit the learning style God has given you.
2. Bible Study Methods ought to be used by the hungry
Methods can only help if we are already feeling famished in the soul, desiring intimacy with God in His Word. Do not be mistaken, the methods can not produce hunger or desire in our heart. That is God’s work. God will do that work in your heart through prayer and His Word, but He doesn’t require a method for the Holy Spirit to work while you are in the Word.
3. Bible Study Methods ought not to distract us from the Holy Spirit’s work
Don’t get so tangled in the method that you can no longer hear the Holy Spirit say, “Read a little further today,” or “Stop, you need to meditate on that point.”
Don’t get so tangled in the method that you think the method is what teaches you, or that you are teaching yourself. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, teaching us spiritual truths that natural man can not comprehend (1 Cor 2:9-16).
Weekend Resource: AW Pink’s Study methods
In context of all of the above, here are AW Pink’s study methods. Don’t have enough time to follow them yourself? Don’t be discouraged. Instead, let them be a testimony to blessings and faithfulness of God. See the theologian, but also see that his knowledge was not self-concocted, but granted to him by the Holy Spirit from years of faithful study. Bottom line: God will be faithful to reward those who come to Him in His Word. AW Pink is an testimony to that. Focus on the sureness of God’s faithfulness to reward those who seek Him, praying that truth sink will into your heart and draw you to invest time in His Word.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS
Book review: Compelled by Love – by Ed Stetzer
Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living. Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation. Birmingham, Alabama: New Hope Publishing, 2008. 224 pp.
Does your church live in a bubble?
Do not read Compelled by Love if you are looking for “101 ways to love better,” or “7 reasons why you should try harder to love.” You won’t find it. Ed Stetzer, with the help of Philip Nation, starts with the gospel of grace when declaring the truth about love and the church. Christ, not how-to sermons or elbow-grease, is the only solution to the church’s inability to love as we ought. Compelled by Christ’s love, we can step out of the bubble our churches live behind far too often. That’s missional living.
Consider these quotes from the opening chapter:
“The old nature must die so Christ can live in and through us. The change that occurs by Christ’s love is the only path to love as God loves. We cannot by our own strength be loving persons as Christians. We can only become those persons when Christ lives in us. God gives the gracious endowment of the sacrificial life of Christ to indwell us so we might live by faith and not by sight, emotion, or any other earthly power.”
“The way of Jesus is contrary to what we naturally desire. Our fleshly nature refuses to love those we find unworthy. It’s only Christ in us that changes us and makes us see people as God sees them and to live a new life of compassion for both the saved and the lost (see Matthew 22:35-40).”
Stetzer draws from his personal experience as a church planter to provide keen insight. The book is designed for small groups, and each chapter includes a thought-provoking list of discussion questions to spur deeper thinking on what it means to live a missional lifestyle of love towards those around us.
7 Reasons why your church should read Compelled by Love:
1. It is a Christ-centered resource for anyone who wants to grow in love.
2. It reminds us that the bubble the church lives in keeps us from being effectively reaching the lost, because “God is on a mission outside that bubble.”
3. It brings us back to the Father’s heart as the motivation for ministry. “We begin with the knowledge of God because the mission originates with His heart.”
4. It is Bible-saturated, easy to read, and far from dry.
5. It explains the difference between treaty and surrender in our relationship with God, a section worth praying earnestly through.
6. Chapter 7 very likely will rattle your concept of church in regards to relevancy to the culture. It certainly rattled mine.
7. The book provides direction and spurs discussion that will encourage you and your church to prayerfully seek specific ways to lovingly reach the culture around you.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS
Weekend Resource: Guide to the quiet time
Resource: Guide to the quiet time (click to download)
Do you struggle with discipline in your quiet time?
Distractions?
Dryness?
Diligence?
This short booklet covers the problems of discipline, distractions, dryness, and diligence, and offers helpful suggestions for overcoming each.
Download it, print a copy or two, and pass the link along to an accountability partner or group of friends.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS
Proclaiming the gospel: What we learn from casting nets
It was the tenth or so time I had slung the 12-foot net into the waves while fishing where I am vacationing in Florida. As my biceps burned from casting the lead-weighted net into the gulf, the text of Mark 1:16-20 came to life. Indian Shores, Florida, started feeling a lot like Galilee. I could taste a little of how Simon, Andrew, James, and John experienced as they spit sand and mopped sweat.
4 observations on fishing with nets
In the text, the soon-to-be disciples of Jesus Christ (Simon, Andrew, James, and John) teach us about casting nets.
1. Fishermen.
They cast their nets because they were fishermen. Fishermen cast nets, it is just what they do. Notice also that they fished in teams instead of trying to manage boats and nets alone.
2. Fatigue.
They cast nets even with fatigued biceps, wiping sweat from their brows with calloused hands. Casting nets exhausts the body.
3. Failure.
They cast nets even after pulling many empty nets into the boat, shaking their heads and wondering where all the fish went. It is ridiculous to expect a large catch with every cast.
4. Fish.
They cast nets with the goal of catching fish. This involves being in a place where there are fish, and pursing the catch.
4 challenges to the fishermen
1. Proclaim the gospel as a lifestyle, because that is just what disciples do. It is expected that a Christian will witness in the same we that we think “duh!” when told that fishermen fish. Also, work with a team to share the gospel by supporting and encouraging one another to keep fishing. Hold each other accountable. Being a loner is arrogance, not bravery.
2. Persevere in sharing the gospel. When you’ve have a grueling work schedule, proclaim the gospel. Calloused hands belong to those who have pushed on through pain and exhaustion, not to those too self-conscious to try. The marks on Christ’s hands show that He gave His life to the Father’s business. Let our hands show that we are about our Father’s business.
3. When the nets come up empty and we fail to see the results we expected, by all means, analyze the situation and figure out what might have gone wrong. Mend nets. But never let the fear of failure keep you from fishing. The only reason to stop and mend nets is for the purpose of gearing up to try again the next morning at sunrise.
4. Be where the fish are. Sitting on a pew is not fishing. Listening in the pews on Sunday morning may serve to help you mend your net, but go out and engage the lost.
We proclaim the gospel by His power for His glory. Let’s cast our nets.
Can you think of any other elements of fishing with nets that have parallels to proclaiming the gospel? The idea of drawing a net in reminds me of John 6:44. Fish can’t resist the net once drawn up in it. Fish don’t willingly go into nets, they are surprised by them (and we don’t willingly love God first either). The net brings death. I haven’t fully thought out all of that though…
Lastly, a prayer request
I have a prayer request. I spent time casting my nets and fishing Tuesday afternoon with a man named Mark. He was doing some construction work on a beach house nearby and we joined up for the afternoon to fish. Lord willing, this morning (Wednesday) I will be fishing at sunrise with Mark. And I will put some of this to practice and share the gospel. Will you lift Mark and I up in prayer to the Father who alone can change hearts, open eyes, and save sinners?
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS
Pondering faith: 3 questions
The following questions have been on my mind as God has continued to work in my heart to deepen my faith.
1. If faith was stripped out of your life tomorrow, what specifically would change? List them.
2. Do you do anything that requires you to walk by faith (all of life ought to be a walk by faith, but is there any specific action(s) that requires a strong faith in God)? List them.
3. How many times have you been moved by breath-taking stories Christians living by faith to God’s glory, but still have yet to do anything yourself?
Making the lists revealed my heart, intensifying my cry for God’s Spirit to strengthen my faith. It also intensified my prayerful search for ways to exercise my faith.
How do those questions strike you?
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS
The struggle to believe in rebirth
As the movie screen went black, the concluding feeling was one of unsatisfied needs in the characters. The popular movie reflects the hungers in the hearts of the ordinary McDonalds cashier, school kid, tennis coach, and everyone else.
They are starved for truth that brings freedom. The fascination with themes of redemption point to the heart’s longing for the gospel message, the very message the movie can only crudely hint at.
That gospel message has been entrusted to followers of Jesus Christ. God opens eyes to the truth, and chooses to use us to bring His gospel of grace to the lost.
The honest truth: I struggled to believe the power of the gospel.
Do you want the honest truth? I have not always believed all men really needed the gospel. I knew I needed salvation, and that the Bible says other men need it. But when I engaged in a conversation with an agnostic on campus, he seemed to be getting along fine without God. He was decently moral. More conscious of poor than I am. Hard working. What did he need God for, other than to avoid hell (which he didn’t believe in)?
What does man need God for? Everything. Even the seemingly moral and compassionate agnostic needs to be set free to serve God and enjoy the relationship. Even if he blindly denies it, the agnostic’s daily existence was a life-size testimony to his inability to satisfy his extreme desires with earthly vanities. The question is not “Does man need God?” The question is, “Does man see his need for a Savior to reconcile him to God?”
Thanks be to our Lord for opening my eyes to the reality of man’s need for the gospel. I may not confidently say that I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16)
Real beliefs change real life: Living like we know there is a way to be born again.
When I really believe that all men need the blood of Jesus Christ to bring them into the relationship they crave, it opens my mouth. There is hope to proclaim. Men can indeed be born again.
Let me close with a quote from Spurgeon:
“…he who really has this high estimate of Jesus will think much of him, and as the thoughts are sure to run over at the mouth, he will talk much of him. Do we so? If Jesus is precious to you, you will not be able to keep your good news to yourself; you will be whispering it into your child’s ear; you will be telling it to your husband; you will be earnestly imparting it to your friend; without the charms of eloquence you will be more than eloquent; your heart will speak, and your eyes will flash as you talk of his sweet love. Every Christian here is either a missionary or an impostor. Recollect that. You either try to spread abroad the kingdom of Christ, or else you do not love him at all. It cannot be that there is a high appreciation of Jesus and a totally silent tongue about him.”
Do you believe the gospel is powerful? Have you ever fought these same struggles? What did God use to bring you to understand your need, and see others’ need in such a real way that it motivates you to verbally proclaim the word of God that brings saving faith to lost men?
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS
Weekend Resource: Rethinking Retirement
Resource: Rethinking Retirement, by John Piper.
Description: “In this challenge to Christians finishing their formal careers in their fifties and sixties, John Piper writes,
I am sixty-two years old—just about the oldest baby boomer. Behind me come 78 million boomers, ages forty-three to sixty-one. Over 10,000 turn sixty every day. What will it mean to live those final years for the glory of Christ? How will we live them in such a way as to show that Christ is our highest Treasure?
John Piper argues that it will mean a radical break with the mindset of our unbelieving peers. Especially a break with the typical dream of retirement.”
Piper’s writing redefines retirement as understood and taught by the world. It is an engaging booklet.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS
12 Bloggers Summarize the Gospel in 10 Words or Less
Demian Farnworth, a man committed to the gospel, just did a post giving the answer from 12 bloggers to the question: What is the gospel, in 10 words or less?
His reasoning: If we can’t sum up the gospel in 10 words or less, we don’t really have a handle on what we believe. The question was a challenge to think clearly and concisely.
Here is a link to the article. One of the 12 answers is from yours truly.
Also check out Demian’s own answer here.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS
The blood is precious
Foreshadowed
Every time the priest’s knife cut the bull’s throat, it was a foreshadowing of Christ. When the veil was pulled back once a year to allow the priest to bring the blood to the mercy seat for the day of atonement, it was a foreshadow of Christ. Everything in the temple pointed to Christ, and so did all of the scriptures (John 5:39).
Christ kept us from God
Even the veil pointed to Christ. The veil that kept us from God. I shied away from that picture at first. Could Christ have actually been keeping us from God?
Yes.
All of history beforehand led to the final moment when Christ made the final sacrifice, Himself. Until Christ was torn for us, man had no free and confident entrance behind the veil. If Jesus avoided the cross, even healing 10 million more paralytics would not bring us closer to experiencing delightful communion behind the veil.
Power unleashed to fulfill
More than 12 legions of battle-ready angels looked on as Christ suffered to fulfill scripture. No wonder the earth quaked and dead men came out of their graves when Jesus was on the cross. Power unseen was ripping through the body of Jesus, tearing the veil as the final blood sacrifice was spread over the mercy seat.
What the danger and delight reveal
The danger and delight of entering God’s presence reveal to us that the blood of Jesus Christ is both powerful and precious. Without it, we are exposed to immeasurable danger, and deprived of unfathomable delight. Covered by it, we confidently draw near to delight in God.
Get lost in an awesome narrative
If God was writing history prior to the cross to point to Christ, then certainly now God is working to point us back to that message and bring it to bear on us today. Life is no more about me than the Bible is. The Bible is about Christ. History is about Christ. Right now is about Christ. Get lost in that narrative instead of choked in a personal agenda that is blind to the glory of our purpose within God’s sovereign plan.
Hebrews 10:19-23
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to blog updates via email or via RSS