Holy Men of God

Profitable

2 Timothy 3:16 states "For all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness."

We had a representative from the Gideons International come and speak with us today. And our pastor followed him with a message entitled "Profitable," taken from the verse in 2 Timothy that is quoted above. This is a great reminder for all of us that the Word of God is more than a collection of writings that have been carried down for over 2,000 years. It is God's method of revealing Himself in written form. Of course, He revealed Himself completely in Jesus Christ, but it is through the Bible that we can come to know Him 2,000 years later. The Word of God is profitable.

Along with what the Gideon speaker talked about and what the pastor spoke about, our Sunday school class also talked about the importance of being in the Word. We are going through the study "When I Don't Desire God," by John Piper. It is a study on fighting for joy in God. We are to the point to where we are studying strategies to use as we fight for joy. A couple of those strategies are to meditate on Scripture, to memorize Scripture, and to use Scripture to preach to yourself when you are not desiring God the way you know you should. Scripture is vitally important in our walk with Christ. Of course, I am guilty of taking it for granted. There are days in which go by when I don't open up my Bible because of some lame excuse of being too busy or not feeling like it. But we've all got to come to the Bible realizing that it is a wonderful treasure given to us by God for us to experience the treasure of God Himself. I pray that this is what would happen for all of us. Don't take the Word of God for granted. There are people who do not have a copy of the Word to turn to. Take the precious gift God has given to you and treasure it by spending time in it. It is through our time in the Word that our hearts can "taste and see that the Lord is good."

Corrective Tract for the Prosperity Gospel

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:34-36).



This text and image was provided by the Desiring God blog.

"Here I Stand"

On April 17-18, 488 years ago, Martin Luther was called before the Diet of Worms to claim his works as heresy. After making it clear that he would not recant of his stance and beliefs because of his conscience and the Word of God, he boldly declared, "Here I stand, I can do no other." Martin Luther helped bring about a reformation of the church declaring that authority rests in Scripture alone, not in the church or of any one leader of the church. May all of us as God's people stand as boldly before others as we stand firm upon the Word of God.

The Decline and Fall of Christian America

"The Decline and Fall of Christian America." That was the cover story for the April 13th edition of Newsweek. The words were colored red and were shaped in such a way as to form a cross. It was a pretty ominous site, to be sure. It is never a pleasant thing to think about when the country you love so much is turning away from the Judeo-Christian foundation that it was built upon. In fact, it seems as if the past several decades since prayer was taken out of school and then Roe v. Wade has been one defeat after another for evangelical Christians.

One of the quotes from the Newsweek article did concede that Christianity is not dead in America. They wrote, "The Christian God isn't dead. But He's less of a force in U.S. politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory." I have to agree with that statement. The importance people place upon God has definitely decreased, even among those who profess to be Christian. It's one thing to go to church with the family on Sunday, but then another to be living out your faith during the week. We have somehow separated our spiritual lives from our social lives and therefore we are not allowing God to make an impact in our lives in politics or culture.

However, as gloomy as this may seem, I see a ray of hope in this. This is the challenge for the church today! God is giving us new opportunities to allow our lights to shine like never before. We are no longer living in a culture where people believe they are Christian simply because they are an American. Sure, there may still be some people who think that way. But now there are people who actually recognize that they are not Christian believers. It is much easier to share the gospel with someone who knows they are lost than it is with someone who is lost but thinks they are saved. When you shine a flashlight in the middle of the day, you cannot see the effect of its light because of the light of the sun is outshining it. However, when you shine that flashlight in the middle of the darkness, it shines bright for all to see. That's the great opportunity I see for us as Christians today. More and more people are realizing that they are not saved. As a result, there's a great darkness that allows us to shine bright for all people in our nation to see.

The call for us as believers is to return to a proper view of who God is. We can either let the bleak situation get us down (which I have unfortunately been guilty of), or we can trust in the power and the authority of Jesus Christ to carry us through as we boldly proclaim the glory of God to the nations! Let us be obedient to the Great Commission Jesus laid out for us in Matthew 28 and allow God to declare His glory among His people for all to see! What a great day in age to be living as a true follower of Christ Jesus our Lord!

Systematic Theology

Wayne Grudem is a writer and theologian, mostly known for his work "Systematic Theology." He teaches a Sunday School class in which he keeps the outlines from all of his lessons online. I would recommend going to that site and taking a look at all of his lessons. You can visit the Christian Essentials website here where his mp3 lectures and outlines are held.

The Importance of Studying and Loving Little Children

As a children's pastor, I have a special place in my heart for children. Justin Taylor on his blog site, "Between Two Worlds," has an excellent post on the importance of loving little children. It's a good reminder for all of us!

Between Two Worlds: The Importance of Studying and Loving Little Children

The Prosperity Gospel

The prosperity gospel has many dangers that accompany it. That's because it focuses on the gifts of God rather than God Himself. God Himself is what brings us joy, not the things He can give us. If we lost all of our possessions and only Jesus remained, we should still be totally satisfied and joyful. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." I have all my soul needs in Him alone.