More Comedy in Baskeball

Psalms 10 Thoughts

These words have convicted me.

Psalm 10:13

"Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, 'You will not require it.' "

and seperately,

Psalm 14:1a

"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'

They are corrupt, they have commited abominable deeds;"

In my own life, I think recently I have not had a correct fear of God. There have been areas where I do not ponder the consequences of my actions in a heavenly sense.

I do not mean to call into question there are consequences of eternal value for the believer who sins, because we as believers, as those who repent, are saved by the grace of God. But for those who repeatedly do not obey the Word, do not repent, and begin to lose focus of who God is, are those saved? We need to have a consistent mindset of the Christian walk, of who God is, and what He said towards believers.

Back to my personal issue, these verses struck within me as I realized in some areas I have seperated God from my life. It seems like in those areas, I do not think of the consequences. These verses convict me to think about changing things to correct some of these notions.

Psalm 10:16-17

A Basketball Post

People, just a quick note, this is NOT how you play defense.

The Book of Hebrews

This post is a quote from a Martin Luther sermon on the book of Hebrews.

"This is a strong, forcible, noble epistle, preeminently and emphatically teaching the great article of faith concerning the Godhead, or the divinity of Christ. . . Certain it is, no epistle enforces the Scriptures with greater power than does this."
"Now, the object of the epistle is to establish and promote faith in the divinity of Christ, and, as already stated, scarce any portion of the Bible more strongly enforces this article of our creed. We must, therefore, confine to its words and treat it in regular order, item by item."

- Martin Luther, on the book of Hebrews

Long Break

It's been another long break since posting. As you can tell the book reading and study has faltered. No consistency at this moment.
This time you could say the break is a little bit more warranted though.

Superhero Quiz

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 65% Hulk 50% Spider-Man 45% Batman 45% Robin 35% The Flash 35% Iron Man 30% Green Lantern 30% Supergirl 28% Catwoman 25% Wonder Woman 23%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Hmmm.... I agree w/ the description, but it'd be much cooler to be Batman, that's who I thought I was going to be (or is that wishful thinking?) Superman seems so vanilla. . . but maybe that could be me too! His traits might be more noble though. Who are you?

The Necessity of Reading

Something recently reminded me about the importance of reading for the Christian. As I contemplated it more, I recalled reading a chapter in Oswald Sander's "Spiritual Leadership." The following will be some of the nuggets from the chapter, some will encourage, some will be of good help, and some will convict.

I think these really should all apply to all Christians, not just our leaders. In many regards, all Christians should be somewhat equipped to lead, although granted it will be in varying degrees and proper context.

"Spiritual leaders of every generation will have a consuming passion to know the Word of God through diligent study and the illumination of the Holy Spirit." This chapter in Oswald Sander's book is devoted to discussing supplemental reading to the word. He also says, "The leader who intends to grow spiritually and intellectually will be reading constantly." He gives the example of how necessary it is for lawyers and doctors to keep reading to stay on top of their craft, and how the Christian needs this kind of devotion to keep growing and maturing.

"The major cause of the decline in the quality of current Christian reading literature is not intellectual but spiritual. To enjoy a great religious book requires a degree of consecration to God and detachment from the world that few modern Christians have." - A.W. Tozer

Why Read

"Read to refill the wells of inspiration." - Harold Ockenga, who took a suitcase of books on his honeymoon.

"Read not to contradict or confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tested, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." - Bacon

What to Read

"If I had read as many books as other people, I would know as little." - Hobbes, English philosopher

"There's infinite difference between the beauty of holiness and the holiness of beauty. One leads to the highest, loftiest, most Godlike character; the other often - too often - leads to an orgy of sensation." - Samuel Brengle, comparing Tennyson and Browning to Shakespeare, saying some poetry has light and other have light and heat. He urges you to choose the poetry that has moral character and passion, rather than just the passion.

"It is better that we should always tackle something a bit beyond us. We should always aim to read something different - not only the writers with whom we agree, but those with whom we are ready to do battle. And let us not condemn them out of hand because they do not agree with us; their point of view challenges us to examine the truth and to test their views against Scripture. And let us not comment on nor criticize writers of whom we have heard only second-hand, or third-hand, without troubling to read their works for ourselves. . . . Don't be afraid of new ideas - and don't be carried away with them either." - Muriel Ormrod

How to Read

"By reading we learn. By meditating on the themes of our reading we pluck the fruit from the tree of books and add nourishment to our minds and our ministries. Unless our reading includes serious thinking, it is wasted time."

"Master those books you have. Read them thoroughly. Bathe in them until they saturate you. Read and reread them, masticate and digest them. Let them go into your very own self. Peruse a good book several times and make notes and analyses of it. A student will find that his mental constitution is more affected by one book thoroughly mastered than by twenty books he has merely skimmed. Little learning and much pride comes of hasty reading. Some men are disabled from thinking by their putting meditation away for the sake of much reading. In reading let your motto be "much, not many." - Charles Spurgeon

"Canon Yates advised that every good book needs three readings. The first should be rapid and continuous, to give your mind an overview and to associate the book's material with your own previous knowledge. The second reading should be careful and paced. Take notes and think. then after an interval of time, a third reading should be like the first. Write a brief analysis of the book on the inside of the back cover. Thus will the book make a solid imprint on your memory."

Rules to make Reading Worthwhile and Profitable

(All taken from Spiritual Leadership)

• What you intend to quickly forget, spend little time reading. The habit of reading and forgetting only builds the habit or forgetting other important matters.
• Use the same discrimination in choosing books as in choosing friends.
• Read with pencil and notebook in hand. Unless your memory is unusably retentive, much gained from reading is lost in a day. Develop a system of note-taking. It will greatly help the memory.
• Pass no word until its meaning is known.
• Vary your reading to keep your mind out of a rut. Variety is as refreshing to the mind as it is to the body.

Quotes taken from Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

The Pursuit of Holiness - Purpose

This is the first take on the purpose of "The Pursuit of Holiness" by Jerry Bridges. It is primarily derived from the Preface, so it may restate some of the facts of an earlier post.

I would say the author's purpose is the workings of holiness in a Christian's life, at the most basic level. In the preface, the author addresses problems of incorrect beliefs and practices that a Christian probably has experienced in their walk concerning holiness. The author states that our 2 root problems are the reluctance of OUR responsibility and an incorrect view of the differences in OUR responsibility and GOD's responsibility. A key phrase could him describing holiness as a joint venture with God and the Christian. He will explain how this phrase works out throughout the book. Notice the emphasis that something is required from both parties.

We'll start with this. Through out the book, I will revisit & we will see how this holds up after 17 chapters. The root level of the book could change from the intention stated here.

I have noticed already that the author has built upon the basic understanding of holiness by adding different layers of what it should mean and how it works.

PH Ch 2: The Holiness of God

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.' " - 1 Peter 1:15-16

Has your holiness become water-down or relevant? Related to culture or what other Christians are doing? Jerry Bridges uses this chapter to reshape and refocus what our view of holiness is, and what our views of God's holiness should be. The 1 Peter verses are such great verses to set the tone for the chapter, but he also helps unpack it and explain what the magnitude of the verses mean for us.

God knows what is right, does what is right, is free from evil, AND always consistent with this nature. 1 John 1:5 - "God is light; in Him there is no darkness." Knowing these truths is for our good, it can give us comfort to know we have a just God, who will always be fair.

What do these truths means to us? First, adoration and praise. Exodus 15:11. Secondly, we need to carry out the command in 1 Peter 1:15-16, being holy because God expects our character to be as such.

A good point that the author makes in the second half of the chapter is that God hates sin. He makes this relevant to us by saying the more we grow in holiness, the more we should hate sin also. "We may trifle with our sins or excuse them, but God hates them." He really cuts to the heart, with what might be one of the key sentences in the chapter: "Hatred of sin as sin, not just as something disquieting or defeating to ourselves, but as displeasing to God, lies at the root of all true holiness."

One note, is that I wished he developed the role of Christ in this chapter a little more. He notes "Granted, the love of God to us through Jesus Christ should be our primary motivation to holiness. But a motivation prompted by God's hatred of sin and His consequent judgment on it is no less biblical." I agree with this chapter and quote, and that it plays a part as a facet of the gospel and the Christians walk, but standing alone, it is tinged with works-based faith. I believe further chapters will help explain the role of grace and Christ, so it probably will be cleared up then.

All to often we take the freedom and grace of Christ, and turn it into a warrant to overlook attributes in our character and excuse some of our sins. This chapter helps refocus the holiness of God and His hatred of sin.

PH Ch. 1: Holiness Is For You

In this chapter, the author states the basic importance and necessity of being holy. He diagnoses a few reasons as to why we don't notice this holiness or our struggles with being holy in our lives.

Here's the authors definition for holiness:"To be holy is to be morally blameless. It is to be seperated from sin and, therefore, consecrated to God." A great Scripture reference for the idea is Ephesians 4:22-24.

As Christians, we are expected to live a holy life. "Sin shall not be our master," says Romans 6:14a.

Next, the author states 3 problem areas in our struggles with sin:

1) "Our attitude toward sin is more self-centered than God-centered."

"We are more concerned about our own 'victory' over sin than we are about the fact that our sins grieve the heart of God. We cannot tolerate failure in our struggle with sin chiefly because we are success-oriented, not because we know it is offensive to God."
"W.S. Plumer said, 'We never see sin aright until we see it as against God. . . All sin is against God in this sense: that it is His law that is broken, His authority that is despised' "

2) "We have misunderstood 'living by faith' to mean that no effort at holiness is required on our part."

J.C. Ryles says: "Is it wise to proclaim in so bald, naked, and unqualified a way as many do, that the holiness of converted people is by faith only, and not at all by personal exertion? . . . Faith in Christ is the root of all holiness . . . no well-instructed Christian will ever think of denying. But surely the Scriptures teach us that in following holiness the true Christian needs personal exertion and work as well as faith."

We have responsibility in our walk in faithfulness towards holiness.

3) "We do not take sin seriously."

In this chapter, the author has diagnosed that we are willing to categorize sins into ones that are unacceptable and ones that we tolerate a bit. We think of some sin as wrong but still ok to do. They become more tolerated & allowable, rather than offensive to God.

Very challenging points to what holiness and sin mean in our lives. The next chapter will look into the holiness of God, where our basis of holiness is established.

** UPDATE **

Summary - In this chapter, the author describes holiness as being expected, essential, and a basic element in a Christian's walk with God, but the focus of the chapter is why holiness is not currently experienced as well as it should. So in essence, after giving a brief overview and definition of holiness, he focuses on the obstacles of holiness, or the problems in our incorrect thoughts regarding holiness in the first chapter. In the second chapter, he gives further detail to the definition of and what holiness should be.

Book Reading Now: The Pursuit of Holiness

Over the past 2 weeks, I have started reading "The Pursuit of Holiness" by Jerry Bridges. It has been a challenging book, show the need of the Christians exert themselves to be holy. We have our strength in Christ, but often do not invest our own lifestyle and choices in things that are Christ-like, b/c we think it's already been handled.

I am going to attempt to journal the chapters and what insight I have received from them. Lots of quotes, but I will also challenge myself to summarize so that I know the material I am journalling.

The Pursuit of Holiness - Jerry Bridges

Preface

The author starts with an example of a farmer. The farmer plows, sows seed, fertilizes the field, all trying to grow a crop for harvest. But he is utterly dependent on forces outside himself. God is the one who provides rain & sunshine, causes the seed to grow, along with much more to allow the seed to grow to crops ready for harvest. He relates this example to the similarity of the joint venture of God and man in our holiness.

"No one can attain any degree of holiness without God working in his life, but just as surely no one will attain it without effort on his own part."

We must think about our responsiblity in holiness. 1) "We are simply reluctant to face up to our responsibility." We like to 'leave in God's hand's'. 2) "We do not understand the proper distinction between God's provision and our own responsibility for holiness."

This does an excellent job setting the tone for the book. He tries to relate these points more specifically, I've already noticed in the next few chapters I have already read. I know this is one of the reasons I choose this book, I don't take holiness as MY responsibility also as often as I should.

He closes drawing 2 observations about the word pursuit. 1) It will require dilligence and effort. 2) It will be a continual task, in this case a lifelong task.

The Only Teacher - Chapter One

A friend gave me the book "With Christ in the School of Prayer" by Andrew Murray. It has been encouraging to read, and pick up off and on through the year. Here's some excerpts from the 1st chapter:

"And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, 'Lord, teach us to pray.' " - Luke 11:1

Prayer is a fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One. The powers of the eternal world have been placed at prayer's disposal.
It is to prayer that God has given the right to take hold of Him and His strength. It is on prayer that the promises wait for their fulfillment, the Kingdom waits for its coming, and the glory of God waits for its full revelation.
Nothing delights Him more than to find those whom He can take with Him into the Father's presence, clothing them with power to pray down God's blessing to those around them, training them to be His fellow-workers in the intercession by which the Kingdom is to be revealed on earth.
By His Holy Spirit He has access to our hearts and teaches us to pray by showing us the sin that hinders the prayer, or by giving us assurance that we please God.
What do you think my beloved fellow-disciples? As we meditate on the words He spoke on earth, let us yield ourselves to His teaching the fullest confidence that with such a Teacher, we will make progress. Let us take time not only to meditate, but to pray, to sit at the foot of the throne and be trained for the work of intercession.

Lord, teach us to pray.

Lord Jesus! Enroll my name among those who confess that they don't know how to pray as they should, and who especially ask You for a course of teaching in prayer. Lord! Teach me to be patient in Your school, so that You will have time to train me. I am ignorant of the wonderful privilege and power of prayer, of the need for the Holy Spirit to be the spirit of prayer. Lead me to forget the thoughts of what I think I know, and make me kneel before You in true teachableness and poverty of spirit.
Fill me, Lord, with the confidence that with You for my Teacher, I will learn to pray

Goals to Concentrate from Philippians 1

This week, our discipleship group meet, and after discussing Philippians 1, along with the commentary from D.A. Carson's Basics for Believers, we came up with some goals together to mature spiritually.

Here the are:

1. Quality Time in the Word
2. Meaningful Prayer
3. Dependence on God
4. Intentional Opportunities Sharing the Gospel
5. Discipline with Time / Less Selfish with Time

Readings and Thoughts from Today

This was a part of my reading for today. It was a good humbling passage to rejoice in. Sometimes being humbled can bring a breath of fresh air. In this world, our 'priorities' can be so skewed to filling our "desires" and "needs" that it can start to get away from us. These things are never fulfilling as Christ and the Word can be. We, I, need the prayer of belief in the Word, and that is supercedes any faith of what joy can be found in this barren world, as compared to His promises.

Matthew 20:25-28

25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

More A.W. Tozer

God is God, always, only, fully God, and can never be other than He is.

The Justice of God

Our Father, we love Thee for Thy justice. We acknowledge that Thy judgments are ture and righteous altogether. Thy justice upholds the order of the universe and guarantees the safety of al who put their turst in Thee. We live because Thou are just - and merciful. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, righteous in all Thy ways and holy in all Thy works. Amen.

The Mercy of God

Holy Father, Thy wisdom excites our admiration, Thy power fills us with fear, Thy omnipresence turns every spot of earth into holy ground; but how shall we thank Thee enough for Thy mercy which comes down to the lowest part of our need to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and for the spirit of heaviness a garment of praise? We bless and magnify Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

- A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy

Good Friday - 1533

text - John 19:13-30

Today we are considering the events of the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we confess in the creed, "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord... who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried." Christians really should have the suffering and death of Christ always in mind an on their lips every day. However, this day is especially devoted to considering and preaching about Christ's suffering, in order that we realize all that happened to Christ on this day, namely, in the Garden, at the house of the high priest, Caiaphas, in the judgment hall before Pontius Pilate, and on the cross. Under God's gracious guidance we shall speak of these events at some length.

In recording the events of the suffering of Christ, the Evangelists always repeat these words, "These things happened so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled," for everything that Christ suffered happened in accord with Holy Scripture. For that reason the Evangelists not only record the events of Christ's suffering, but also repeat, "This happened that Scripture might be fulfilled." As though they wish to say, Ask the prophets about it; they will tell you why Christ suffered. Great and severe is His suffering, His martyrdom, and the cross; but great also is His love, compassion, ardor, and all-encompassing grace toward us, in that the devout Lord and Saviour with His suffering and death fulfilled the Scriptures for our sake.


And that is the paramount significance of the passion, that we realize and consider how Christ suffered in obedience to His heavenly Father and in our behalf to benefit us, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. It is well that we consider the true price of the redemption with which Christ redeemed us. It was not the exodus form Egypt. The redemption is nothing temporal, but rather, eternal, from sin, death, and hell. It is also well to consider the price paid for our sins, namely, that Christ did not pay gold or material goods, but rather His body and life, Himself the offering for our sins, as St. Paul exults (Gal 1:4, Eph 5:2, Titus 2:14). At the same time one should bear in mind what great agony He suffered for us and how excruciating it was for Him; how His sweat was as great drops of blood; how He was mocked, crowned with thorns, spit upon, scourged, nailed to the cross, and pierced for our sake. But this is the greatest and noblest consideration, that Christ had to suffer in order that He might fulfill the Scriptures.

We should diligently ponder all this, in order that we might not only recognize the greatness of the redemption, the price and the martyrdom, but also discern the love and good will toward us; how deeply concerned He is about us, and how His great heart, love, and compassion motivated Him to give Himself for us. That is why we should lovingly esteem both Him who suffered such martyrdom for us and also the heavenly Father who ordained this and placed this martyrdom upon Him. Such love should generate within us the realization of His goodwill toward us which prompted His voluntary martyrdom and suffering in our behalf.

What should our response be when God's Son is given for our sakes and endures sin, death, and hell? Should we not respond, My Lord Jesus Christ suffered for me; therefore, n return, I will love Him, gladly preach, hear, and believe His Word, be obedient to, and follow Him. If we do not do this, we are a thousand times more malicious than the people of the world.

We need to study the passion of Christ, in order that we might remember that it happened for our good and for our eternal benefit. I must have regard for His bloody sweat, His agony, and His crucifixion, and say, That is my help, my strength, my life, my joy. All this happened for our sakes and for our benefit. We must believe this and thank Him form the bottom of our hearts. Whoever does that and views the suffering of Christ in this way is a Christian.

He has shown us great kindness and we should never forget it, but always thank Him and find comfort for ourselves, confessing, His pain is my comfort; His wounds, my healing; His punishment, my redemption; His death, my life. No one can preach it sufficiently; no one can be sufficiently amazed that so great a person came from heaven, stepped into our place, and suffered death for us. We have been visited graciously and redeemed with a great price. We should hold firmly to our Saviour and sacred Head, Jesus Christ, who for our sins was crucified and died. To this end may the gracious God help us. Amen.

excerpts from Martin Luther sermon

The Immutability of God

Change and change are busy in our little world of nature and men, but in Thee we find no variableness nor shadow of turning. We rest in Thee without fear or doubt and face our tomorrows without anxiety. Amen

To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself.

"All that God is He has always been, and all that He has been and is He will ever be." Nothing that God has ever said about Himself will be modified; nothing the inspired prophets and apostles have said about Him will be rescinded. His immutability guarantees this.

The immutability of God appears in its most perfect beauty when viewed against the mutability of men. In God no change is possible; in men change is impossible to escape.

And all things as they change proclaim
The Lord eternally the same.

- Charles Wesley

In this world where men forget, change their attitude as their private interests dictate, and revise their opinions for the slightest cause, is it not a source of wondrous strength to know that the God with whom we have to do changes not? That His attitude toward us now is the same as it was in eternity past and will be in eternity to come?

What peace it brings to the Christian's heart to realize that our Heavenly Father never differs from Himself. In coming to Him at any time we need not wonder whether we shall find Him in a receptive mood. He is always receptive to misery and need, as well as to love and faith. He does not keep office hours nor set aside periods when He will see no one. Neither does He change His mind about anything. Today, this moment, He feels toward His creatures, toward babies, toward the sick, the fallen , the sinful, exactly as He did when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for mankind.

Fountain of being! Source of Good!
Immutable Thou dost remain!
Nor can the shadow of a change
Obscure the glories of Thy reign.

Earth may with all her powers dissolve,
If such the great Creator will;
But Thou for ever art the same,
I AM is Thy memorial still.

From Walker's Collection

from A.W. Tozer - The Knowledge of the Holy

Never Changing God

God does not change! That is great news to us, leaning upon the Rock. Here is a quote from A.W. Tozer about the immutability of God, who he can't and doesn't change. More to follow.

"For a moral being to change it would be necessary that the change be in on of three directions. He must go from better to worse or from worse to better; or, granted that the moral quality remain stable, he must change within himself, as from immature to mature or from one order of being to another. It should be clear that God can move in none of these directions. His perfections forever rule out any such possibility.
God cannot change for the better. Since He is perfectly holy, He has never been less holy than He is now and can never by holier than He is and has always been. Neither can God change for the worse. Any deterioration within the unspeakably holy nature of God is impossible. Indeed I believe it even to think of such a thing, for the moment we attempt to do so, the object about which we are thinking is no longer God but something else and someone less than He. The one of whom we are thinking may be a great and awesome creature, but because he is creature he cannot be the self-existent Creator.
As there can be no mutation in the moral character of God, so there can be none with the divine essence. The being of God is unique in the only proper meaning of that word; that is, His being is other than and different from all other beings. We have seen how God differs from creatures in being self-existent, self-sufficient, and eternal. By virtue of these attributes God is God and not some other being. One who can suffer any slightest degree of change is neither self-existent, self-sufficient, nor eternal, and so is not God."

from "The Knowledge of the Holy" A.W. Tozer

"My Personal DNA"

Reserved Analyst

This is my "Personal DNA" from a personality test on internet. It was very interesting. I think some of my Biblical views of depravity affected my empathy and trust in others. Maybe I do need to grow in those, but I also think that my base beliefs of the incorrectness of "everybody is honest" and "everybody is good" might affect that a little bit in the test.

Pierced by the Word - a prayer

Oh, how we love Your Word, Father!
It is precious beyond all earthly treasures.
Incline our hearts to this Word,
and break our bondage to other things.
Let us see wonders in it.
Pierce through our soul and waken spiritual life.
Confirm the marrow of our faith and make us real,
through and through. Forbid that we would be false to Your
faithfulness, and make us mighty in the Spirit.
Through Christ, we pray. Amen.