Archive for March, 2007
More Fun For Map Lovers
March 24, 2007 9:56 amWhen we read our Bibles, it is so important to remember that these are real stories about real people in real places. They are not myths or legends. So when I learned this week on the ESV blog that a website called OpenBible.Info has “geocoded” the Bible, I was thrilled.
Actually, I have no idea what “geocoding” is, but it sounds cool. Apparently, it has to do with integrating the names of Biblical places with sophisticated map software, such as Google Earth. The result is that you can look at a map of the region and see all the places in a given book. For instance, here is the map from the book of Jonah:
For my geography-challenged friends, the blue stuff in the middle is the Mediterranean Sea. Africa is all brown at the bottom, Italy and Greece are green towards the top, Spain on the top left, and Israel is be just a tad to the right of Joppa.
Isn’t it helpful to see how God told Jonah to go preach to Nineveh, but instead he went down to Joppa and jumped on a ship for Tarshish (the edge of the known world at the time)? Have fun exploring this new toy!
The Treasure Principle Resources
March 23, 2007 8:27 amWe spent the last two weeks reviewing The Treasure Principle as a follow up to Jamie Leach’s message: Proverbs on Money. You can read parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. If you are interested in learning more, I recommend the following resources:
- Eternal Perspective Ministries Website (www.epm.org). Tons of great articles about a wide variety of topics, including money, heaven, ethics, purity, and theology. I’ve added this website to the sidebar under ‘Great Sites’ for your future reference.
- The Treasure Principle, by Randy Alcorn. If you liked the posts, go read the book. That would be time well spent! It’s a very skinny book. You can do it.
- The Treasure Principle Bible Study, by Brian Smith and Randy Alcorn. Many of the discussion questions I provided came from this study guide and companion to The Treasure Principle. Great for family discussions or small groups.
- Money, Possessions, and Eternity, Randy Alcorn. Weighing in at 436 pages, this is your comprehensive go-to. A thorough study of Biblical teaching on… well… money, possessions, and eternity. A must read, and not as hard as you might think.
Thursday Thoughts For Parents: 03/22/07
March 22, 2007 4:17 pm
PARENTS,
I hope the concert Sunday night has prompted renewed discussion about music in your home: it’s place, it’s relative importance, what it looks like to exercise discernment in lyrics and style, and so forth.
This couldn’t be more timely: Bob Kauflin was just interviewed on the New Attitude website. It is outstanding. You’ll notice right away that Bob’s interview is saturated with Scripture. Many young people assume that Scripture doesn’t have much to say about the music they listen to; Bob helps us see that isn’t the case. Consider taking several family dinners in a row to review the verses together and talk about how they influence your musical priorities.
Bob explains why it is so important to keep Scripture central as we think about music:
These Scriptures guide me in how much I listen to music in general, how much I listen to a particular artist or style in particular, how much time I spend looking for new music, etc. Music is a gift from God meant to create fresh affections for God and direct my attention to him. I understand that I’m free to put music in its proper place and enjoy it as a gift from my Creator rather than an idol.
I’m also careful about why I listen to music. Music can exert a powerful influence on our emotions, but I shouldn’t be looking to it as the ultimate object of my emotions. If I expect music to lift my spirits, calm me, make me happy, etc., I might be expecting it to do what the Gospel is supposed to do.
Read the entire interview here, or gain more insight from Bob Kauflin.
The Treasure Principle, Part 6
9:07 amto prepare for our last day.
Matthew Henry
CHAPTER 6: FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS. In this closing chapter, Randy Alcorn brings the book to a close with some helpful summary and an eternal perspective on our giving. I want to highlight just one story he tells:
Alfred Nobel dropped the newspaper and put his head in his hands.
It was 1888. Nobel was a Swedish chemist who made his fortune inventing and producing dynamite. His brother Ludvig had died in France.
But now Alfred’s grief was compounded by dismay. He’d just read an obituary in a French newspaper—not his brother’s obituary, but his! An editor had confused the brothers. The headline read, “The Merchant of Death Is Dead.” Alfred Nobel’s obituary described a man who had gotten rich by helping people kill each other.
Shaken by this appraisal of his life, Nobel resolved to use his wealth to change his legacy. When he died eight years later, he left more than $9 million to fund awards for people whose work benefited humanity. The awards became known as the Nobel Prizes.
Alfred Nobel had a rare opportunity—to look at the assessment of his life at its end and still have the chance to change it. Before his life was over, Nobel made sure he had invested his wealth in something of lasting value.
Five minutes after we die, we’ll know exactly how we should have lived. But God has given us His Word so we don’t have to wait to die to find out.
Alcorn ends the book by pointing out that “there is one statement of Jesus recorded in Acts that doesn’t appear in the Gospels. Perhaps God added it later so it would stand out:”
“The Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)”
five15 not-so-big meeting Saturday Night!
March 21, 2007 4:59 pmDon’t forget: there is a five15 not-so-big meeting on Saturday. not-so-big meetings are for High School students and their parents.
You know the drill:
- Pizza & Ping-Pong at 5:15pm
- Meeting starts at 6:30pm
See you Saturday night!
Forge A Mind To Engage The World
7:55 am
Think of it as a bootcamp for the brain. This summer, Sovereign Grace Ministries will be hosting The Clash: a week-long worldview camp designed to help young minds to engage the world with a thoroughly biblical perspective. In other words:
If you’re not painfully aware of how bizarre and offensive Christianity is to the secular mindset, then you probably don’t get out of the house enough. It’s impossible (not to mention disobedient) to retreat permanently from settings where your faith in Christ will be radically challenged. You will soon—or you may already—go to a university, a workplace, or a coffee shop where Scripture’s claims elicit confusion, disbelief, or scorn.
Do you know how to love your neighbors by commending Christ to them in an intelligent, winsome, and compelling way? This is what The Clash worldview camp is about.
But it’s about more than that, too. It’s about having a Christ-centered worldview broad and deep and mature enough to encompass the way you think about work, politics, astronomy, and rock ’n roll. It’s about celebrating and exploring the goodness of creation, giving thanks and glory to God for these amazing gifts. Christians are the true heirs of the universe. They should be the deepest thinkers, the most curious explorers, and the shrewdest statesmen. The Triune God doesn’t become irrelevant when you walk out of church or finish your quiet time. In him we live and move and have our being, in our work, play, and study.
I want to encourage our seniors to consider this. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn from some world-class scholars, including our own Jeff Purswell. Here are the details:
When: August 5-11, 2007
Where: Messiah College, Grantham, PAWho: Anyone age 17-20 who’s part of a Sovereign Grace church
Why: To prepare you to bring biblically informed and articulate influence to any sphere of work or life
What to expect: Six hours a day of instruction and discussion focused on…
- Theological foundations of the Christian worldview
- Apologetics
- Interpreting culture from a Christian perspective
- Theology of vocation and education
- Biblical manhood and womanhood
- Centrality of the local church
Interested? Find out more here.
The Treasure Principle, Part 5
March 20, 2007 3:27 pm
“I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all.
But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.”
Martin Luther
CHAPTER 5: GETTING STARTED. In this chapter, Randy Alcorn explains how we get going with giving: through tithing. He elaborates:
The meaning of the word tithe is “a tenth part.” Ten percent was to be given back to God. There were freewill offerings, too, but the 10 percent was mandatory.
There’s no mention of tithing after the Gospels. It’s neither commanded nor rescinded, and there’s heated debate among Christians about whether tithing is still a starting place for giving.
I have mixed feelings on this issue. I detest legalism. I certainly don’t want to try to impose superseded First Covenant restrictions on Christians. Every New Testament example of giving goes far beyond the tithe. However, none falls short of it.
Whether or not the tithe is still the minimumal measure of those firstfruits, I ask myself, Does God expect His New Covenant children to give less or more? Jesus raised the spiritual bar; He never lowered it (Matthew 5:27-28).
The tithe is God’s historical method to get us on the path of giving. In that sense, it can serve as a gateway to the joy of grace giving. It’s unhealthy to view tithing as a place to stop, but it can still be a good place to start.
Tithing isn’t the ceiling of giving; it’s the floor.
Alcorn answers some commons questions and objections about tithing: “What if I can’t afford to tithe?” “Give now or give later?” “Tithe on the net or the gross?” “What about setting money aside for our kids’ inheritance?” These are excellent questions to which Alcorn has provided excellent answers. Read the book if you want to know more. These truths lead to the last Treasure Principle Key:
TREASURE PRINCIPLE KEY #6
God prospers me not to raise my standard of living,
but to raise my standard of giving.
When God provides more money, we often think, This is a blessing. Well, yes, but it would be just as scriptural to think, This is a test.
We’re called God’s servants, and we’re told it’s required of us that we “prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). We don’t own the store. We just work here! God distributes wealth unevenly not because He loves some of His children more than others, but so His children can distribute it to their brothers and sisters on His behalf.
Are you eager to plant God’s money in the field of a world that needs Christ? Does the thought of giving to what will count for eternity make your spine tingle? Does storying up treasures in heaven make your heart leap?
Godspell @ CLC
8:50 amCheck it out: Covenant Life’s Youth Ministry—10:31—is performing Godspell:
There are these people.
Everyday individuals.
The kind you might meet on your daily commute.
They are going places, doing things, living life.
They are like you.
There is this Man.
He is different.
He befriends the people.
He gives joy, peace, life.
He is God’s Son.
One of the most popular musical theater shows of all time, GODSPELL is a colorful and dynamic presentation of the Gospel based on the biblical account of Matthew.
GODSPELL uses fun-loving techniques, such as, clowning, pantomime, charades, acrobatics, and vaudeville to tell the story of Jesus Christ.
Tickets: Adults $6 and Students $4. You can place a “will call” order online by clicking here, or purchase your tickets at the door.
WCR/John Reilly Band/Voice
March 18, 2007 11:13 pmSo, did y’all enjoy the show?
Rock It Out
2:13 pm
Today, some of us had lunch with West Coast Revival (boy, was it fun having them lead worship for us this morning!). It was great — they told us their story of how they arrived where they are now and what they’re learned about being Christians, about being a band, and about being a Christian band.
They had some great things to say. Their thoughts are instructive whether you have a garage band or—like me—aren’t very musical at all. Here are the highlights:
- Qualification is more important than musical quality. Remember the 3 C’s: character, craftsmanship, and church service. (Actually, they said customer service, but they got it from one of their bosses, who is a businessman. I’m changing it for us.) Character is the most important: love the Lord with heart, soul, mind, and strength! If you don’t have this, you don’t have nothing.
- It takes a church. God confirms calling through other people. Do you think that God is leading you to be a part of a band? Get confirmation from your parents and pastors. Be humble and get their input: will this be good for your soul? How do you walk it out? Opportunity ≠confirmation. Opportunity means it’s time to pray and trust God, not automatically rush forward.
- Pride is perilous. Your temptation is always going to be to pride. Aaron: “Wherever I go, there I am.” Beware pride because it has ruined so many bands in the past. Come ready to be humble and ready to work through stuff with your bandmates. Be humble and serve others.
- Rock the house. Jamming with your buddies is essential. If you are a musician, you have been given a gift. You need to steward that gift by playing with others, growing in your skill and creativity.
- Witness matters. If/When you play a concert, how you conduct yourself counts. Whether or not your lyrics are explicitly Christian, it needs to be evident that you love the Savior. I would also suggest that band members study 1 Corinthians 1-2 carefully and figure out what it means to to embrace the worldy folly of divine wisdom, the gospel. Don’t sacrifice the message to the medium.
- You are what you write. Are you a songwriter? Your sons reveal something about you: who you are and what you’re passionate about. Remember Luke 6:43-45. Don’t assume that the themes of your music are disconnected from the themes of your heart. The same is true for what you listen to. Screamo in, screamo out.
Remember: Ticket sales start at 5:30, doors open at 6, concert starts at 6:30. See you tonight.
