My current read: Ashamed of the Gospel by John McArthur.
In reference to: Charles Spurgeon and the down-grade controversy.
Some quotes (so far): “It [current minstry philosophy] caters to people whose first love is themselves and who care not for God – unless they can have Him without disrupting their selfish lifestyles. Promise such people a religion that will allow them to be comfortable in their materialism and self-love, and they will respond in droves.”
2 Timothy 4:2-4 – “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
“The preaching of the Word must be the very heart of our ministry philosophy.”
“Real success is not getting results at any cost. It is not prosperity, power, prominence, popularity, or any of the other worldly notions of success. Real success is doing the will of God regardless of the consequences.”
SDG,
Lisa
The message yesterday reminded me of a book I read a little over a year ago – How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian by Don Whitney.
BTW, after listening to the sermon recommended in my last post, go back to Sermon Audio and look up all the sermons by Paul Washer. Be sure to listen to the 2 part, The Beatitudes – Clothed in Christ. Excellent.
SDG,
Lisa
Greetings from Me and My House,
Most of the time I use the Bible alone for meditation and my daily quiet time with God (“devotions”). I feel no one should get between me and the Spirit of God. I am far more interested in learning from the Spirit and the Word and God working directly in my life, than reading about what others think of a passage.
The above forms the majority of my life in God alone, but I do also learn from great heroes of the faith, and other faithful pilgrims just passing through this world. We learn from teachers, but we are not their followers. We are not with them 24/7 as we are to be with our Lord. They just help point us to Him.
As mentioned in Dec., my dh and I have begun a study of Jesus’ commands. We are now 1/4 of the way through. This year long study has given us a weekly passage to meditate upon and daily encouragement and illustrations to read. We are greatly enjoying it, and others have joined in also.
It is through meditation on and observing the Word that we will have “good success” in life (Josh 1:8). And Psalm 1 :1-3 says the one that meditates in God’s Word day and night is blessed. It is the one diligent in truly learning God’s Word, in His heart and spirit, not just mind – one who truly meditates in God’s Word – who is blessed and successful. It is the one who has forsaken the things of this world to learn and follow the ways of the One who made him and all things, that is blessed with the sweet fellowship of his Maker and Redeemer and who grows to be more like Him. Lord, continue to make me that one.
SDG,
Lisa
A quote from an article by James Nickel on his website,
“In the Bible, salt is connected to the covenantal sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13). Adding salt to sacrifices meant that the sacrifices, in themselves, were unsavory. Salt, as the season of grace (cf. Colossians 4:6) – the unmerited favor of God – makes the sacrifices pleasing and acceptable; i.e., “savory” to God.
Through and by God’s redemptive grace given to the undeserving sinner, God requires the redeemed to present themselves to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2). Salt for the life of the believer is the preservative power of fidelity and purpose of heart to be true to covenant. In this requirement to be faithful, we are kept faithful by the power of God (I Peter 1:5). ”
The article is on Salt and the Marriage covenant, but the above quote is worth contemplating on in itself also.
SDG,
Lisa
Greetings from Me and My House,
“Whatever resistance we see today offered by almost all the world to the progress of the truth, we must not doubt that our Lord will come at last to break through all the undertakings of men and make a passage for His Word. Let us hope boldly, then, more than we can understand; He will still surpass our opinion and our hope.”
Does this quote ring true to you? Our world is certainly doing its best to resist God’s truth. However this quote is from around 400 years ago, when God’s Word was largely unavailable to the people, and Reformers were working to get it available to common people in their own languages. This quote is from John Calvin.
I just received my new Geneva Bible, originally published in 1599. The Geneva Bible was the first complete English Bible translated from the original languages and intended to make God’s Word available to all the people. It was the first Bible to number chapters and verses to make finding Scriptures easier. And it was the first “study Bible”, with notes, annotations, cross references, etc.
This is the Bible of Liberty. It was the Bible brought to America by the Pilgrims. “The marginal notes of the Geneva Bible present a systematic Biblical worldview centered on the Sovereignty of God over all of His creation including churches and kings.” “Thus did the Geneva Bible begin the unstoppable march to liberty in England, Scotland, and America.” “Today, these theological “marginalia” might seem rudimentary or innocuous, but when they were systematically taught from Scripture and applied to life, as was done in the commentary in the Geneva Bile, entire nations and societies were transformed.” “Because of its revolutionary format and features, the Geneva Bible became the foundation for what we call group Bible study, and was a catalyst for the acceptance of the liberating doctrine of the ‘priesthood of all believers.’”
The Geneva Bible was even the catalyst for the most popular English translation of all time, the King James Version. King James, for obvious reasons, did not like the Geneva Bible with its bringing out that kings are under God’s rule, so he commissioned another Bible translation, without notes.
Today God’s Word is readily available in miriads of English translations, yet we still see the resistance of the world to the progress of the truth. Yet, along with Calvin, we can be assured that God will “break through all the undertakings of men and make a passage for His Word”. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand forever.” (Isa. 40:8) It will not return to Him void. It will accomplish what He pleases. (Isa. 55:11) Perhaps it will please Him to once more utilize this Bible of Liberty, with the Reformers systematic presentation of a Biblical worldview, to bring Liberty to many through His Truth that makes men free.
SDG,
Lisa
(Quotes taken from Marshall Foster’s article, “The History and Impact of the Geneva Bible”, in The1599 Geneva Bible, published by Tolle Lege Press, 2006.)
Greetings from Me and My House,
Oh, the Cross. I’ve heard comments saying, “If Jesus was killed by a machine gun, would we really wear them around our necks?” I know many would choose to focus on just the life that Jesus lived as a good example for us to follow, but without the Cross we are nothing more than another moralistic religion, seeking and failing to live as “good people”; focusing on the deeds we do, not the hearts we have.
Yes, I glory in the Cross of Jesus the Messiah! It is the Cross and Christ’s finished work there, that tore the veil between me (you, and every other human) and the Father. It was the Cross that made possible the exchange of my (and your…) sin for Jesus’ righteousness.
The Cross is what makes Christianity, and living it, possible. It enables us to live and enjoy a Cross-Centered Life, which just happens to be the title of a short, easy to read, but great book by CJ Mahaney. It can be read quickly, making it super for reading over and over – which I recommend.
Check out Reid Ferguson’s non-review recommendation of it. This is the only thing I’ve read at his site so far, so not vouching for any other page there – yet. It only mentions one very minor point I’d disagree on (ministry gifts as listed in Eph. 4:11), and I really like the way Adrian Warnick describes them (I am digressing, but here’s Adrian’s descriptions).
“A Pastor loves Christians
A Teacher loves books
An Evangelist loves non-Christians
A Prophet loves God
An Apostle loves the Church”
Or read Tim Challies review, of The Cross-Centered Life, where he says among other things, that “Mahaney calls the Christian to look only and always at the cross, and to find there the power to live a life that is pleasing to God.” and “He provides practical guidance on living each day so that it is centered on the cross.”
Have a blessed Lord’s Day! and consider getting The Cross-Centered Life, or CJ’s newest book (which I haven’t read yet) Living the Cross Centered Life, which blends The Cross Centered Life with his Christ Our Mediator, to read on our next Lord’s Day.
At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @Me and My House
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Greetings from Me and My House,
I hope you all had a “Blessed Incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, Day” (think about it – “Christmas”) and a triumphant entry to the New Year.
If you don’t have a Bible Reading Plan I encourage you to begin one. It is a great way to begin the New Year, with a plan to read God’s Word completely through, during the year. It is important to read the Bible, completely and in context (as opposed to haphazardly, here a little, there a little). There are many plans you can follow. A very easy one is to read about 3 chapters a day (5 on the Lord’s Day/Sabbath).
One we are enjoying following is a bit different. It prescribes reading from both the Old and New Testaments everyday, and takes you through the whole Bible completely once, and the New Testament and Psalms twice in the year. The layout of it divides the readings into Family and Individual readings, so half the chapters will be read by yourself, and the other half as part of your daily Family Altar time (I hope you are doing this too.)
One great thing about this schedule is that the whole family (and perhaps your whole church, if they do such) is reading the same chapters each day and you can all discuss them at any time. It is a great way to bring spiritual unity in growth, in the family and the church.
This schedule was arranged by Robert Murray M‘Cheyne, who lived in the early 1800’s. It is/was recommended by Ravi Zacharias, Charles Spurgeon and John Stott, among many others.
Here’s a link to a site where you can download/print the schedule. (There are many others, but I like the format of this one – legal size, folds to brochure to fit in Bible, large enough to read easily.) Look under Daily Bible Reading and click on pdf file:
www.mountzion.org/see.html
(Put M’Cheyne Bible into a google search and you will come up with many others, some interactive online versions.)
And here’s a link to a website where you can download free Bible Reader software for reading the Bible on your Palm (or other) handheld, and M’Cheyne reading schedule that you can check off the chapters as you read them. Click on your type of handheld on the left to get the download page for Bible Reader.
www.olivetree.com/download/
Then click on this page to choose a bible version to download. Several are free. KJV is $5.00.
www.olivetree.com/store/catalog/Products-p-1-c-259.html
Then click on this page, on Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s Schedule to download his reading schedule:
www.olivetree.com/handheld/BibleReadMe/
You can also download many other books (many for free) to read on your Palm with Bible Reader. But that’s another topic for another day.
For today, start a systematic reading of the Bible itself – for a Blessed New Year!
At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ministries
Discipleship for Life!
http://me-and-my-house.org
Blogging here and there – but without my blogging software until my other computer is back up, so forget the html coding until then.
Check out this great blog posted yesterday by Nicholas Jackson of Reform America.
Jesus is My Homeboy?
By Nicholas Jackson
At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa
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