Digging Deeper

I finally took the plunge and ordered an ESV Journaling Bible. For the last couple of months I've been writing short notes on my Palm as I read on that. Frankly, I really don't like reading on it that well. I also find that I don't want to write much with that interface. I think two months was a pretty fair try. Note that I did get the tuscan style rather than the base black. I wonder if I'll get any comments made about it. I just know that everyone else has the basic black.

Speaking of journaling, Amanda's Aunt Claudia got me a Moleskine journal. This is telling me that I do need to get back into journaling. After all, that's what the thing is for. Another point on that is someone in my small group spoke well of it and how much he enjoys it. I have tried to use this blog as an online journal, but I don't think it's quite the same. I don't write out too many prayers here either. I may start journaling for some of my prayer time.

Hope has started giving everyone verses to look up through the week. They print this on the back of the sermon notes insert and call it "Digging Deeper." This past week's sermon was on James 1:21-27. Today's topic asked why the tongue is so important. Check out Prov 10:19; Prov 15:2-4; Prov 18:21; Prov 21:23; Jas 3:5-8; 1 Pet 3:10 (really digging that mouse-over, aren't you?). It's really encouraging to see that Hope is pushing us to grow deeper. We're also being encouraged to bring our bibles to church. That should be obvious, but I think we've become lazy with the verses on the big screen. I plan to bring my new journaling bible so I can take notes in there too. It might help me to stay more engaged.

Obeying the Call

I noticed something in my devotional reading this morning. Check this out from 1Sa 22:19 --

1 Samuel 22:19 ESV
(19) And Nob, the city of the priests, he put to the sword; both man and woman, child and infant, ox, donkey and sheep, he put to the sword.

If you've read Samuel you know that Saul got into trouble because he previously did not obey God's command to eradicate a city:

1 Samuel 15:14-29 ESV
(14) And Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?"
(15) Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction."
(16) Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night." And he said to him, "Speak."
(17) And Samuel said, "Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel.
(18) And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, 'Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'
(19) Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?"
(20) And Saul said to Samuel, "I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
(21) But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal."
(22) And Samuel said, "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
(23) For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king."
(24) Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
(25) Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the LORD."
(26) And Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel."
(27) As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
(28) And Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.
(29) And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret."

I find it somewhat fascinating that Saul was willing to kill everyone in his own wrath, but was not willing to do it when God commanded it. I think about how this applies to my life. I'm pretty thorough about things that I want to do. Am I so thorough when I am doing what God calls me to do? How serious am I about obedience?

What is Love

My daily reading has taken me to everyone's favorite wedding passage. It is always sobering to go through 1Cor 13. However, I think that it, like every other passage, must be taken in context. It really was not meant to be an example at weddings. It was really meant to explain how we are to use the spiritual gifts.

I don't claim to have 1Cor 13 down perfectly in my marriage. Off the top of my head, I know I'm not always patient or kind. I know that I often do not believe all things or hope all things. However, I think I'm even more convicted in how I express my spiritual gifting. I don't want to be a jerk for Jesus.

One of My Fears

I don't have too many fears in life. I suppose I get anxious about how I'm going to feed my family when I change careers. I think about how we're going to save money for Noah's college (Lily is OK) or how we will buy a new vehicle when the time comes. However, these are all temporal things and I think that God will take care of us to meet our needs.

No, my fear has a much longer scope:
Luk 13:22-30 ESV2
(22) He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.
(23) And someone said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them,
(24) "Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
(25) When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us,' then he will answer you, 'I do not know where you come from.'
(26) Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'
(27) But he will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!'
(28) In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.
(29) And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
(30) And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

I think about where my heart is. I want to get closer to God. However, I also know how fickle it is. I see how easily I am distracted when I work from home. Sometimes I surf good stuff and other times not so good. I don't feel like I fall back into porn, but I do know that I walk the line. This is not good.

The reason it scares me is that it shows me that my heart is not fully given over to Jesus. There are parts of my flesh that war. I suppose I'll write on this more when I get to Romans 7. I don't want to let the accusations of the enemy get me down though. I don't really think that I will be shut out of heaven. Yet there are always some doubts...

Don't Look Back!

Luk 9:61-62 ESV
(61) Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home."
(62) Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

This passage also reminds me of:

2Pe 2:20-22 ESV
(20) For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
(21) For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
(22) What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."

As I read this, I can't help but think of how I am tempted by my past life. There are times when I still want to look at women online. There are times when I want to eat just for the sake of eating. There are times when I don't feel like getting out of bed to exercise. There are times when I want to use the coarse language of my past.

These passages tell me that I had better not look back. Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt. Whether you take that literally or figuratively I think it's pretty clear that looking back was not a good idea. I want to keep pressing on toward the goal.

So back to the plow...

Giving Life

I have a coworker who is a very serious Christian and is also very much into working out. He is probably in his late 40s or early 50s and is in fantastic shape. I remember seeing him at one of our office blood drives and he was chatting with one of the volunteers from the Bank. He said that he used to give blood regularly, but he doesn't want to disrupt his workouts now. I thought that was kind of selfish at the time and I still do.

I had a very bad experience giving blood when I worked at Lakewood Hospital. I wasn't hydrated, I was tired, and I just wasn't prepared. I ended up passing out, which is about the worst I think I've ever felt. It took 9/11 for me to donate again. Now I do it fairly regularly, but not as often as the American Red Cross would like.

Why don't I do it more often? It's inconvenient and it messes up my running and lifting schedule. So I'm giving a pint today. After I do it I figure that I will do it more often, but I never do. This is something I need to spend some time thinking about.

Caddyshack Theology

Remember the scene in "Caddyshack" when Carl has a pitchfork in some kid’s throat as he tells his story about traveling around the world? He finishes with this:

So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey,
how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says,
"Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will
receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

I think that we often look at our Christian walk like that. We think, "I accepted Christ as my personal Savior which means that I’m going to heaven when I die. So I got that goin’ for me…which is nice." However, if that doesn’t affect how we live our lives then what does that really mean? It just means that we wanted to purchase fire insurance rather than actually making Jesus the Lord of our lives.

Check out this story about the Christian life as a race. I got it from Parchment and Pen, which is a blog I really like. Enjoy!

In a town of boredom called Mundane, there was a great announcement. It was the announcement of a race. A great race that all could enter. A race that would rescue them from boredom. Most people did not believe that such an event would be held in Mundane so they scoffed. Others immediately prepared with great enthusiasm and joy.
Both the scoffers and the enthusiasts arrived at the appointed place on the day of the race. The scoffers sat and watched while the others prepared to run by stretching and making sure their shoes were tied. They lined up looking ahead with the intensity, fear, and excitement that accompanied such an event.
The gun sounded and off they went. Yet something very curious and unexplainable happened. They all stopped running after they had passed the starting line. Not only this, but they acted very peculiar. One person fell on his knees crying, thanking God that he crossed the starting line. Others gave each other high fives and hugs shouting, “Hooray, we are now race runners, we are now race runners.” Some shook hands and congratulated each other. One group relaxed and complemented one another on how well they crossed the starting line. Five or six others all gathered together and formed a prayer circle. They prayed that others would cross the starting line as they had.
Many others wanted to experience this joy so they decided to start the race as well. They were immediately stopped by the well-wishers who had started before them. They decided to stay as well. After a few days, there were people handing out pamphlets along with a certificate to all those who crossed the starting line. The pamphlet told them that once they had started the race they were guaranteed to finish. The certificate was to recognize their achievement in finishing the race even before they finished.
After a month or so, there were so many who had crossed the starting line that they decided to build a town right there. They called this town “Starting Line.”
The spectators were confused. “I thought a race had to be finished,” they said to one another. They interviewed the people of Starting Line. “Why did you start the race and not continue?” they would ask. This made the people of Starting Line very uncomfortable. They would immediately show their certificate saying that they were guaranteed to finish. When people would encourage them to run the rest of the race, they would be ridiculed for not trusting God. They were called legalists and were accused of trusting too much in their own ability to finish the race.
Finally, many in the crowd became fed up with those in Starting Line and began to run the race without them.

Still Funky

I can't quite put my finger on the reason, but I'm in a bit of a funk. My quiet times are fine. I'm actually almost ahead in my schoolwork, though I will feel better when I finish diagramming my passage in Greek. The family is healthy. Work is going pretty well, though of course I could do more.

I think that I'm just going through a dry season. This tells me that it is vital to keep up the pursuit.