Scroll to bottom after photo for mini-library suggestions of books on grace.
What are these incomparable riches of God’s grace?
First, Christ Jesus.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7).
As we are saved, we step from dead flesh to life eternal. From enemy sinner to forgiven friend. From object of wrath to recipient of grace.
He is GREAT!!
He manifested Himself as man, servant, no less, so that He could live a life full of the same temptations we experience, can you imagine that? “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18)
GRACE!!
As our High Priest, when we confess to Him, He understands! Thoroughly, bodily, intimately. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15).
GRACE!!
Another example of the incomparable riches of His grace is “The Promise of the Holy Spirit” –“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39).
We are given the grace of Spirit within us and as a result have eternal security of our salvation all the days of our life. Incomparable grace!
“He set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 1:22)
What is to come is MORE GRACE!!
When you think of Jesus and what He has done for us and continues to do, don’t you just get weak in the knees? Doesn’t your heart faint with love? He saved us so that He could shower us with His grace. “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5:10) He is the God of all grace, and He chose to shower us with the riches of that incomparable grace.
Don’t forget to remind each other of these things. Encourage one another. Repeat your testimonies. Share verses, laugh with joy at our Great Savior, who is of all Grace. All is well because Christ Jesus has risen and dwells in His heaven. All of us in Him are testimonies of His grace, and that is all joy.
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Some Suggestions for Books on Grace:
Fundamentals of the Faith: 13 Lessons to Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus Christ, foreword by John MacArthur
John Bunyan and the Grace of Fearing God, Joel R. Beeke
The Glory of Grace, Lewis Allen
Christian Freedom (Grace Essentials), Samuel Bolton
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners: A Brief Relation of the Exceeding Mercy of God in Christ to His Poor Servant John Bunyan, John Bunyan
All of Grace: An Earnest Word with Those Who Are Seeking Salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ, C. H. Spurgeon
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, Mark Vroegop
Grace Transforming, Philip Graham Ryken
The Grace of Repentance, Sinclair B. Ferguson
Grace Defined and Defended: What a 400-Year-Old Confession Teaches Us about Sin, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God, Kevin DeYoung
Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God’s Unfailing Love, Jerry Bridges
Person: Wah, the church hurt me. Me: So? P: Well, I’m HURT! Me: So? P: You monster, I’m in pain! Me: So? P: I hate the church because it’s full of hateful people like you. I’m leaving.
It hurts to be betrayed by your pastor. I know, it happened to me long ago, twice. It hurts deeply and in a way that other abuses don’t even touch, because they are just of the body, but pastoral or church wounds split the spirit.
At the same time, we cannot indulge the forever ‘hurt’ person in church. There is a point where empathy or compassion or hurt goes too far.
But before we continue, I make the explicit point that this essay is not about ‘shooting the wounded’ as Chuck Girard famously sang in 1983. It’s about learning to regulate our emotions, and it’s about spotting the emotional manipulators who claim the church hurt them, but refuse to either repent or forgive.
Educators in other eras considered the training of their pupils’ sentiments as a chief part of their employ. As opposed to merely making sure they knew their multiplication table and English grammar, education sought to train students to hate what is hateful and love what is lovely. They taught how to discriminate the good from the bad and then respond appropriately.
This society has become an emotional free-for-all where some who express any emotion use that as a justification for their abhorrent or destructive behavior. The emotionally immature or unrestrained emotionalism person expects sympathy or affirmation for their behavior connected to that emotion. Controlling one’s emotions seems like an antiquated or even destructive teaching these days. I assure you it isn’t.
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In fact, we are commanded by God to feel certain things at certain times. Here are just a few examples from Morse, again from his article Emotions Make Terrible Gods:
Does God expect us to train our feelings? It appears that he does. He commands them. God commands obedience “from the heart” (Romans 6:17) — the vessel we often judge as ungovernable. He, unlike the mother, tells us what to fear and what not to fear (Luke 12:4–5); what we must and must not delight in (Philippians 4:4); what we must abhor (Romans 12:9); that we must never be anxious (Philippians 4:6); and how we can and cannot be angry (Ephesians 4:26).
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I’m not talking about suppressing emotions, but for the Christian to be aware of two facts:
Emotions lie
Christians must not act FROM emotions
We DO feel Anger, empathy, fear, joy, sadness, anxiety, right? I also include hurt in the list. Feeling put-upon, wounded, misjudged, all those contribute to the umbrella of ‘hurt’. It is a true thing that people have been hurt by the church.
Steve Nichols at Ligonier, however, explains that there is a difference between emotions and emotionalism.
There is a difference between emotion and emotionalism.
When you get into emotionalism, the barometer for what is true or what is real becomes how I feel about it. So if I feel excited about this, this thing is good. If I don’t feel excited about this, this thing is bad. We can even judge doctrine that way and begin to ask, “How does this make me feel?” or, “How does a biblical book make me feel?” and judge its value to our life and our Christian walk based on that.
Emotions are real and of course God knows this. He knows we are fragile, dumb sheep. The Spirit has inspired many verses about how to handle the wounded.
Galatians 6:1 says Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well.
Of Galatians 6:1 Barnes’ Notes says, “we should be tender while we are firm; forgiving while we set our faces against evil; prayerful while we rebuke; and compassionate when we are compelled to inflict on others the discipline of the church.“
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Romans 12:15 says, Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 of the person who caused sorrow, Sufficient for such a person is this punishment which was imposed by the majority, 7so that on the other hand, you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a person might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
Church SHOULD be a sanctuary for all who enter, a place of emotional maturity to help the wounded, the sinning, the grieving, the hurt, the joyful, the anxious…but I know that oftentimes it isn’t.
Alternately, there are true churches that are a sanctuary but contain congregants who feel wounded in some way (perhaps they underwent appropriate discipline, or whose husband had a moral failure and the wife feels it wasn’t properly addressed, or any number of feelings of anger, disappointment, or hurt.) In many cases the feelings of hurt the person are not helpful – or even genuine.
It’s a dilemma, this person says the church hurt them and that person says the church hurt them, but one is genuine and one is a manipulator.
Did you know that in between 1 and 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote another, more “severe” letter? That letter is not part of the canon, apparently the Spirit did not wish to preserve that epistle for all time. However we know Paul wrote it and we know why. As RC Sproul said in his essay Paul’s Severe Letter to the Corinthians,
The Apostle tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:23 that he did not come to Corinth because he wanted to spare them. As 1:24–2:4 makes clear, Paul’s unplanned visit to Corinth to deal with problems there after writing 1 Corinthians was quite painful for both the Apostle and the church there. We do not know what happened during that meeting, but it was so difficult that the Apostle did not believe another visit would be fruitful, at least not before there had been some move toward reconciliation. Paul had enacted some kind of church discipline during that “painful visit,” the congregation had not responded well, and hard feelings existed on all sides. Thus, Paul did not return so that he would not exacerbate tensions.
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The Corinthian church was a mess. There were sins, wounds, hurts, bitterness, apathy, unbiblical tolerance, and more. At one point, Paul asked them if they wanted him to come to them with gentleness, or a rod.
What do you desire? That I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness? (1 Corinthians 4:21).
Here, Paul is demonstrating that a pastor has a diversity of approaches in his handling of truculent congregants. He, or the other leaders, carefully consider which to employ, when. The gentle touch or the rod? Both are appropriate. It is NOT unloving to handle a self-identifying wounded congregant with a rod. Sometimes it’s necessary if they have crossed the boundary into destructive behavior. It is then the behavior, not the hurt, must be addressed.
When a congregant feels that the church hurt them, there is no set timetable for a person to move on from that hurt. Some wounded folks forgive quicker, others take longer. So how do we reconcile dealing with true hurt and false hurt? Or know when it’s been long enough? A few ways.
One is obvious- they refuse even a gentle rebuke, reject correction, refuse even to come to the table to talk about it. In that case it becomes clear they WANT to remain in the hurt mode and not reconcile or heal.
Secondly, we know they have crossed the line from feeling hurt and disappointed, to bitterness and more destructive emotions, when they begin to gossip or slander. If they gossip about their issue that ‘hurt’ them, blaming and shaming others, you know that their heart has become entrenched in an emotion that is not of God, but one that is damaging to themselves, the people around them, and to the church’s reputation.
In a recent case of a leader who was revealed to be an adulterous hypocrite, a woman on Twitter/X had been a former member of that leader’s church. She claimed to have been ‘hurt’ by that church and left it. She never said if she was (rightly) excommunicated or if she was genuinely hurt by bad practices. But she had much to say about the goings at that church on during the scandal. Because she was no longer a member there, the information she posted was second-hand leaks from present members; so, gossip. After reading numerous negative and slanderous tweets of hers, I gently chided her for her slander of the elders, but the admonition fell on deaf ears. She continued to slander because she had been ‘hurt’, feeling justified and righteous to do so. This is wrong.
A smaller category of wounded women are the abuse divas. They’re a smaller category but are louder than any other. They claim to have been sexually harassed or even sexually abused by leadership and have ‘triumphed’ over their wounds by becoming “church sexual abuse survivors.” Others say they are “spiritual abuse survivors”.
Yet, constant obsessing over past wounds is not triumphing over anything, least of all over one’s emotions. Constant harping on what ‘they did to me’ is the opposite of forgiveness and moving on. These women are a clutch of menacing ravens hovering darkly over the church, shrieking their ‘story’ to all who dare to glance even momentarily toward their gloom.
This bunch is easy to spot. They are constantly negative, have nothing good to say about the church, and boast of their departure from it, even gloating in their own deconstruction. They cannot and will not regulate their emotions toward anything healthier or even toward what is commanded.
I understand hurt. Trust me, I understand abuse. I also can detect narcissistic ‘poor me, I’m hurt’ woundedness. I have little tolerance for the latter. Why?
Jesus was rejected by his own people, betrayed, scourged, crucified. Paul was beaten, falsely arrested, rejected. Sinners sin. Sinners populate churches. You’ll get hurt. Life hurts. Why? Sin. It happens.
Peter speaks of not being surprised when the fiery trial comes upon them, as if it was a strange thing. He was speaking of persecution there but why should we be surprised when any trial comes upon us? It would be ordained by God and for our good, even though it may feel horrific at the time. This is why we must put aside feeling blame against the church and trust Jesus.
If a person is in an unsafe situation in the church, of course, she should leave and seek help. Remember, I’m talking about when people claim the CHURCH hurt them, not wounds they bring to the church from prior to salvation or hurts that occur outside the church from their personal life.
Jesus underwent the greatest hurt and betrayal of all time. He triumphed over that evil and all evil so that He could save His own and bring them to healing at His throne. Jesus is the great Healer!
Keep your eyes on Jesus. He loves you and will wipe those tears on the Day. But He must be worshiped no matter how you feel or no matter how you’ve been ‘hurt.’ We have to be undaunted. Blaming ‘religion’ for our hurts is in effect, blaming Jesus! No, no! There is no one more unjustly hurt on this earth than the sinless, holy God-Man who came to save us but was killed by his own ‘religion’, but a religion that He said had been perverted into something evil.
We need to think of God’s definitions of love, goodness, and justice. God’s commands for our emotions. The wisdom of acknowledging our emotions while not succumbing to emotionalism. The church contains sinners and sometimes their sinful behavior may hurt you. But the sweetness of healing at His throne from all hurts, even those foisted upon you from the church, is found in Him.
Isaiah 53:5, But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 61:1-3; The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord anointed me To bring good news to the humble; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim release to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The cloak of praise instead of a disheartened spirit. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified
Psalm 147:3; He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.
Halloween is coming, a holiday that is impossible to ignore when you work in a public elementary school among the youngest of students, as I do. I have an abounding abhorrence to Halloween.
As a child, my particular dislikes involved costumes, makeup, mascots, noise, and chaos; so being among ALL of that was a trial for me. I also didn’t like approaching homes and talking to people. So, ditto. But I loved candy and running around outside with friends. Being allowed out after dark was thrilling too.
As a Christian adult, promoting a night of evil and buying into satan’s lies perplexes me. Some churches forgo the evening entirely and do nothing regarding a “Fall Festival” or “Harvest Fest,” while others change the name of their event from Halloween to ‘Hallelujah Fest’ and invite the community in for hot dogs and games as a Gospel outreach. I’ve wrestled with both sides of the argument: I hate satan…I love outreach.
However, since it is a question of Christian liberty, I try to do all as unto the Lord and not cause anyone to stumble, so I remain silent about my decisions and simply helped where I could and then bowed out where my conscience came in. Make your decisions thoughtfully and prayerfully, and remember not to become prideful about whatever you decide.
Here are a few balanced essays discussing the question of Christians celebrating Halloween.
Speaking of evil spirits, here is a terrific essay on demonology from Answers in Genesis. In American culture we are so sanitized, so scientific, such a high-falutin’ advanced First World country that even Christians find mention of demons or evil spirits distasteful. The subtle or not-so-subtle undercurrent to such discussions even in church is “Haven’t we gone beyond that?” Well, no. And certainly satan has not, either.
The opposite problem holds true as well. Churches, especially ones that are starting to absorb Charismatic doctrines, tend to attribute every negative thing to satan, as if he was hiding behind every tree and was the evil force behind everything from spilling your coffee to the paper cut on your finger. When the fact is, our own flesh is usually the cause of of our sins. Our flesh is always with us and our lusts are more normally the cause of sinning than demons are.
Here is a biblical view of satan in an excellent article by noted scholar C. Fred Dickason. Professor Dickason served on the faculty of the Moody Bible Institute for thirty-four years and is known as a biblical expert on angelology and demonology. It is hard to find a balanced and not nutty article on demonology! He presents the truth of satan’s influence, extent, and limits, while focusing on the grace of God and the hope we have in Jesus. I recommend the article.
Demons on a leash at Answers in Genesis by C. Fred Dickason Demons are alive and active today, but we can rest in the reality of our Father’s gracious and powerful control.
He examines the following topics in the article:
Biblical Perspective on Satan’s Role Demons Through the Ages Demonic Activity in the World Demonic Opposition to Believers The Time of Satan’s Fall (and refuting the popular ‘Gap Theory’) God’s Provision in Our Battle God’s Sovereign Control Our Authority in the Battle
As Halloween approaches evil is increasingly on the mind of the pagans and even the Christians. Our eyes are assaulted by movie posters lauding the latest graphic depiction of the underworld. Our eyes avert from the neighbor’s brutal yard artdepicting scenes of evil, all in “celebration” of Halloween.
Our sensibilities may be assaulted by seeing yet another child absorbed into dallying with the occult, or simply enduring the abounding sin that Halloween seems to loose. Yet we take heart. Jesus has overcome the world.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33). And the evil within it.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. (2 Corinthians 2:14)
He made a spectacle of those unholy angels AKA demons in His triumph of the cross!
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Colossians 2:15)
Studying the natural history of the Bible is a good thing to do. Plants, places, and animals are constantly mentioned in God’s Word. Processes such as wine-making and agricultural endeavors like threshing and irrigating are mentioned too. Knowing what the references mean helps deepen our understanding of such verses when we study them. For example in Psalm 21:1, it is stated,
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
This is a vivid metaphor that anyone can understand. But knowing that in ancient times and even today, Egyptian farmers by the Nile dig complicated channels in the earth and board the source of each one, and by lifting a certain board at any given time they could precisely direct the channel to a row of crops as they will. Now you have an even more clear picture of the metaphor. (More here)
Or this regarding passing under the rod. In Ezekiel 20:37 it says,
And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
which Jamieson/Fausset/Brown’s Commentary says,
pass under the rod—metaphor from a shepherd who makes his sheep pass under his rod in counting them (Le 27:32; Jer 33:13).
As the shepherd bunked down nightly, he would count each sheep to ensure they were all collected. As each one passed under his rod entering the sheepfold he would count them. Knowing these things could develop into a deeper study of agricultural practices in order to provide background context for scripture study, or simply knowing a little bit about what the rod or the channels of water helps provide a better understanding of the verse.
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There are many animals in the Bible either used in fact or referred to as symbols (like the ant in Proverbs 6:6). Donkeys are an animal mentioned frequently and used as beasts of burden to carry goods or people.
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. (Genesis 22:3)
Donkeys were part of the Law.
If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. (Exodus 23:4)
Jesus’ Triumphal entry was on the back of a donkey. John 12:14 records, And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
Initially, people who could afford them rode donkeys, such as Judges. (Judges 5:10). After that time, though, horses were imported, and high officials enjoyed riding white horses more than donkeys so they left the donkeys to the poorer folk. When Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey it was demonstrating his humility and meekness.
Donkeys were a beast of burden used frequently as the preferred animal because they were stoic and patient, and tended to panic less easily than horses. Physically,
Donkeys’ feet have a number of differences, including being more elastic, narrower in shape, and more upright than a horse’s. Donkeys can be prone to developing very long hooves as they do not chip and breakaway as a horse’s would do. The donkey’s digestive system is considerably more efficient than that of a similar sized pony. … Donkeys in general have a very efficient walking pace and to be honest, in most situations it is easier to walk at the donkeys pace rather than try and make them go at ours. (source)
A boy and his donkey. This is in the town of Papallacta, high in the Andes. The type of saddle has been in use since Incan times. EPrata photo
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9).
PS: There is actually no Bible verse that says Mary rode a donkey on her way to Bethlehem with Joseph. More on that in an upcoming blog!
Often as a new year approaches, people start thinking about their New Year’s resolutions. Many of those resolutions are vows to take better care of our bodies, by eating well or losing weight or exercising more.
But do we ever resolve to take care of our mind?
Christianity is a religion of the mind. We have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16). The Spirit transforms us by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:2). The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace, as Romans 8:6 says. Mark reminds us in verse 12:30 that we must ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
Start looking in the New Testament and the Psalms and Proverbs for the ‘mind’ and you may be surprised at how many times it’s mentioned.
The Internet was commercialized and came into widespread use in the US by 1995 or so, making the generation in their 30s now the first generation to live post-Internet. The rest of us, like me in my 60s, have used some version of the Internet for most of my adult life. I’ve been an Amazon customer since 1997. My final email address was established in 1998 and it has remained the same ever since.
As the Internet grows, our mind diminishes. You might think I am overstating the case, but the Internet, while having many boons and pluses, has served to make our thinking more shallow. 21st century media has pummeled our minds and not in a good way. We listen in sound bites and read in tweet-length script. Yet the two greatest books ever written, the Bible and The Pilgrim’s Progress, are old.
The Bible has a variety of literature within it, many genres, difficult concepts, and is a demanding read. It requires study.
Pilgrims’ Progress by John Bunyan is the single best selling English language book in the world, after the Bible. It was written in 1678 and uses antiquated language. Even if you read a modernized version, it is a book that even still, demands the reader’s attention and requires lengthy thought.
Our minds are being trained away from that kind of reading. The kind of thinking we are commanded to do in the Bible is the opposite, it’s the kind of reading that edifies us. Not to mention reading the ancients and the Puritans are, every day, getting out of reach because they demand attention spans that nearly don’t exist any more.
I myself do not read as much as I’m used to.
I write essays that range from 500 words to 2000 words. I remember the first time on the blog a reader commented “TLDR”. I had to look it up. It stands for ‘Too Long, Didn’t Read.’ I was irked and shocked. 2000 words is only about 4 single spaced pages long.
I’m speaking to myself here, not just you. As I get older and I come home from a busy day of work, all I want to do is make a cup of tea, sit down, watch a comedy, then go to bed. I have to work at keeping the energy up so that I can have a clear mind to absorb Christian classics and other great material.
I’m fairly aghast at myself, because reading didn’t used to be this hard. But now I’m nearing 65, and my mind is balking at difficult material. Reading Moby Dick a few summers ago was hard. I was surprised at how hard. My mind is a terrible thing to waste.
I don’t want to waste it. It’s the mind of Christ.
I feel it’s important to keep our mind active and our creativity up. When we spend time in the creative side of our mind different things happen. Here are a few resources along these lines:
The famous opening sentence of Moby Dick, so short and provocative, is welcoming and familiar to the 21st century reader, who is accustomed to snappy prose with short sentences and lots of white space. A few sentences later in Melville’s masterpiece we get a sentence that’s more representative of the novel to come. In just a bit I’m going to quote that sentence, and insist that you read it.
My own personal reading challenge was to read these classics:
Sense & Sensibility By Jane Austen
It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
The Running Man Stephen King
The Machine Stops, E.M. Forster
The Decameron, Boccaccio
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
I did read end up reading Heart of Darkness, Running Man, Can’t Happen Here, and The Machine Stops. I didn’t like Can’t Happen Here and I quit in the middle.
The Classics Spin is an activity from an online book club devoted to the classics. Readers list the top 20 classics they would like to read, sometimes the game is along the lines of a theme (Shakespeare challenge, Really Huge Book challenge) and other times not. They pick a number at random and you read that book. Since the Club is a community, the Admins of the site say,
We know it can be hard to stay on track and enthused about your Spin Book for the whole journey. We plan to provide support and encouragement to all our CC Spinners via twitter, fb, instagram and goodreads. We hope you can join us in cheering everyone on to finish another fabulous classics reading experience!
Identify areas of weakness and read books to strengthen yourself there. This may be weakness of knowledge, weakness of character, or weakness of understanding. If you have too low a view of God, read The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul. If you are struggling with parenting, read Gospel-Powered Parenting by William Farley. If you struggle with making decisions, read Decisions, Decisions by Dave Swavely. If you don’t know where you are weak, read a book on humility. Whatever your weakness, there is almost definitely a book that answers it specifically and well.
–You will be forced to cease from incessant activity and think –You will receive a historical perspective on current problems and spot present day blindspots –You will have some of your questions answered and confront other questions you hadn’t even thought of –You will be able to practically apply Paul’s command to think upon “wholesome” things
Do you like Bible journaling, sketching things that Bible reading or Christian classics bring to mind? I’m a visual person too. I see all these magnificently illustrated journals and theologically rich blogs and I get intimidated and when I’m intimidated I quit before I start. So if you’re like me, scared of generating huge or fabulous content, write one sentence or sketch one quick scene. Everyone can do that. Even me! Here are two ‘challenges’ along those lines-
The Sketchbook Challenge is a daily draw where you draw, paint, or sketch one quick scene from your day that stands out to you. I think this is a good way to both practice your skills and keep the creativity going. You can adapt this to a quick sketch of a Bible visual. Whatever helps the brain keep flowing!
Gretchen Rubin wanted to enhance her writing skills, and all writers know that to be a good writer you need to write every day. But she worked and had kids. Busy! So she developed the one-sentence journal. Gretchen says
Instead, each day, I write one sentence (well, actually, I type on the computer) about what happened that day to me, the Big Man and the girls.
She suggests that you can even do a one-sentence journal on a particular topic, your day at work, your divorce, a catastrophic event. In like manner, you can keep a one-sentence journal of your spiritual reactions or insights as you read the Bible or a Christian classic. By the end of the year you’ll have 365 sentences or around 15-20 pages.
Let this be the year you spent 21 days developing a new habit (some say that is how long it takes, others say that it takes longer, but I stick with the 3 weeks because it’s not as intimidating). Read, write, draw, whatever kind of activity you know enhances your mind is the one.
Let’s train and protect our bodies, but also let’s take care of the mind.
What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. (1 Corinthians 14:15).
Jesus promised us trials in this world, but He followed that promise with a reminder, He has overcome the world. (John 16:32-33). There are many reasons we undergo trials. Sometimes it’s to count it all joy that we are participating in the trials Jesus underwent. Sometimes it’s because the testing we receive through a trial helps us discern the will of God. (Romans 12:2). Trials produce endurance (James 1:2-4). Testing and trials prove our faith. (1 Peter 1:6-7).
We live on a battlefield, and it isn’t even our home turf we are fighting for. Our home is in heaven, we are strangers and aliens here. Satan wants to subdue us, break us, entice us into a snare and immobilize us. We are warned to remain vigilant (1 Peter 5:8, Matthew 26:41). So we fight, relentlessly, constantly.
1 Corinthians 16:13 says, Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
The Lord didn’t leave us defenseless. He gave us armor. We are outfitted from head to toe, and we hold a mighty sword.
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, (Ephesians 6:18)
The sword is specifically the word of God. It is the only offensive weapon in the Christian’s armor. The helmet, breastplate, shield, belt, and shoes are defensive.
The sword mentioned in the verse is not a broadsword. It is a sharp dagger, which all soldiers had at hand.
What happens though is that a Christian may be vigilant for a while, and then he lays down his sword (which is the scripture). He is sitting at the campfire, mending his shoes or polishing his breastplate. The vigilant soldier keeps the sword handy for taking up when the battle heats up again. But some lay it down in the grass, and wander a bit away, looking for daisies to pick, or to follow a butterfly. They wander farther and farther, and then suddenly the battle heats up and they are caught without their only offensive weapon! They go back to try and find it but weeds have sprung up and hidden the sword.
Matthew Henry says,
Those who would prove themselves to have true grace, must aim at all grace; and put on the whole armour of God, which he prepares and bestows. The Christian armour is made to be worn; and there is no putting off our armour till we have done our warfare, and finished our course. (Matthew Henry)
Don’t let too many days go by without reading the Word. When Jesus was tempted by the Devil, He countered with the word. And the fact that the Ephesians verse distinguishes between the two types of swords, the broadsword v. the dagger and specifically used the word for dagger in this case, means that the the Christian is to wield it with precision. Jesus knew exactly which scriptures to use in reply to the devil. A Christian who knows some scripture but not many isn’t going to be an effective soldier nor a good witness.
There is no armor specified for the back, but only for the front of the body; implying that we must never turn our back to the foe (Lu 9:62); our only safety is in resisting ceaselessly (Mt 4:11; Jas 4:7). Jamieson Fausset Brown)
Is your Bible in the weeds, metaphorically? Or is it by your side, in your heart, on your mind? Be a good soldier, and have your offensive weapon ready when trials come. They will come. Jesus promised it. And He always keeps His promises.
Damascus, the first city mentioned in the Bible and the oldest continually lived in city in the world. Babylon, majestic city of Mesopotamia, and from whence comes great evil. Rome, dubbed itself the Eternal City, city of Paul’s jailing end demise, and city that will learn who the REAL eternal city is. Jerusalem, the Holy City, where God placed His name and where He will dwell. All dominant cities of the Bible and all worth a look that my meager blog essays that really cannot do justice to. Great Cities of the Bible series is linked below.
Let’s add another city to the four I’ve mentioned and wrote about. Maybe not as large. Maybe not as well known. But it was the city where Jesus chose to establish most of His ministry, performed miracles, taught in the synagogue, and more.
Capernaum was on the north end of the sea of Galilee. It is about 30 miles from the birth town of Jesus, Nazareth. The city calls itself today “The City of Jesus” and that is not far off. The Gospel writers refer to it as Jesus’ “own city”. In Matthew 9:1 it reads, Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee and came to His own city. Jesus settled in Capernaum, says Matthew 4:13, after He left Nazareth.
Unlike Nazareth which was a backwater, Capernaum was bustling. It was a Roman Tax Center (hence Levi/Matthew’s life there.) The city was the center of fishing and trade. The city of Magdala 6 miles down the coast was in fact much larger than Capernaum, but critically, Capernaum connected to Damascus by road. A milestone found by excavators reads The Emperor Caesar of the divine … showing that Rome considered Capernaum to be a strategic post.
Capernaum was an important fishing town.
When Capernaum is mentioned in the New Testament, it is often in conjunction with the Sea of Galilee (Matt 4:13–22; 8:5–24, Mark 1:16–21; John 6:17, 24).
Though Peter and his brother Andrew were originally from Bethsaida, they were seasoned fishermen by the time Jesus came. The brothers had lived in Capernaum a long time. It is also likely that James and John who were also fishermen, lived in Capernaum also. And we know that Matthew was living there, since he worked the tax post for Rome.
Life in Capernaum
Though there were always tensions between Gentiles and Jews, tensions were much less in Capernaum. It seems that the two groups lived more harmoniously than elsewhere. We see that the centurion highly regarded his slave, but the slave was ill and about to die. The Centurion sent some Jewish elders to Jesus asking them to ask Jesus to heal his slave. The elders did so, approaching Jesus and saying the centurion is ‘worthy’.
“When they came to Jesus, they strongly urged Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” (Luke 7:4-5)
Photo of synagogue in Capernaum. From Google street view, photo by Jess Alejo
Jesus taught in and around Capernaum for a period of his public ministry. He taught many times in the synagogue. He proclaimed Himself to be “the living bread that came down from heaven” there.(John 6:26–59)
Capernaum in the Gospels: source Logos 9.
Sadly, though Capernaum was Jesus ‘own city’, and despite the teaching, preaching, ministering and miracles done there, along with Chorazin and Bethsaida, Jesus cursed Capernaum.
And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. (Matthew 11:23).
Such is the fate of all who reject the Saving King.
Poetry by Kay Cude. Used with permission. Right click on image to open larger in new tab. Or read the text below. Artist’s statement:
I keep returning to our (me!!) needing to “remember” God’s promises and provision. GOD THE I AM is the only fortress in Whom we find a righteous protector, defender and provider. He is the only place of eternal refuge from the world’s continuing tragedies and chaos. He is the stronghold Who is and Who will provide peace, wisdom, understanding, instruction and endurance.
FACING FEAR: IN THE MIDST OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE As waves of fear rolled nearer still, as deep its swell approached us nigh; our hearts near failed as we cried out, “O Lord, Your servants rescue now!” And crashed the waves of terror strong, our lives at risk — we knew death’s tide; yet stilled our hearts Your Glorious Word and on we clung and Truth prevailed.
As deep and dark, as depth of brine, we battled ‘gainst the foe’s onslaught; its torrents fierce as bounding main, — with cruelest rage this foe can slay. Yet in Your Will, O Saviour ours, Salvation’s Light’s our mighty Ark; afloat we stay midst evil’s gale, for You prevail within its rage.
Afloat we ride with knowledge sure, we look ahead with strength not ours; Endurance meets us Face-to-face, ’tis You our Strength our sure Bulwark, The fears we face — our spirit’s gain, makes strong we resolute of heart, to live God’s Will through providence — and triumph through His Will’s Intent. ~kay cude, October 1, 2017
OUR FORTRESS PREVAILS Refer to Psalm 46. FEAR NOT, GOD IS OUR ETERNAL REFUGE AND STRENGTH. “We will not fear, for God hath willed His Truth to triumph through us; The body they may kill. God’s Truth abideth still, His Kingdom is FOREVER.” ~Martin Luther
IT IS the grace of God through His unfathomable mercy through the power of His predetermined love that urges us to remain and stand in His will concerning providence! WHAT THEN
IS IT that assails our thoughts with such unrelenting vengeance that can tempt us into overbearing fear when trials overtake us?
IT IS not remembering His Word — that He is Sovereign over all circumstances and issues we will encounter during our lives, during our service to, for and through Him…
Allie Beth Stuckey published a book that’s out this week, called Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion. The book is making waves and causing a hearty discussion on social media.
That’s good. Stuckey explores the concepts of the current cultural mantras, “love is love”, “trans women are women”, “abortion is health care”, “social justice is justice”, and pointedly, that empathy is not always empathy. Love, justice, empathy are good words, but they can and are appropriated by bad people who use those words to manipulate the people around them, especially Christians. Stuckey wrote in her introduction,
But empathy alone is a terrible guide. It may be part of what inspires us to do good, but it’s just an emotion and, like all emotions, is highly susceptible to manipulation. That’s exactly what’s happening today. Empathy has been hijacked for the purpose of conforming well-intentioned people to particular political agendas. Specifically, it’s been co-opted by the progressive wing of American society to convince people that the progressive position is exclusively the one of kindness and morality. I call it toxic empathy. Source: page xii)
Of course the culture will push back on a Christian re-redefining the words that the progressives have appropriated and redefined. Here we see one reaction-
Mason Mennenga@masonmennenga wrote on Twitter, “if you think empathy is toxic then you’re going to hate this guy named jesus christ“.
According to our own understanding of the word ’empathy’, of course the guy is right. But then again, this is a situation that calls for thought, not knee-jerk reactions such as “Yeah!” then press ‘like’.
The ever wise Ron Henzel @ronhenzel replied to Mennenga, (≠ means ‘does not equal’):
“toxic substance” ≠ “all substances are toxic” “toxic waste” ≠ “all waste is toxic” “toxic relationships” ≠ “all relationships are toxic” “toxic empathy” ≠ “all empathy is toxic“
We must, MUST think things through. Christians are a thinking people, (Philippians 4:8). As Stuckey said, emotions can be manipulated.
Emotions are a part of life. But I bring this to your attention…what were the first emotions seen in the Bible? Shame, guilt, blame. Genesis 3. Satan manipulated Eve’s curiosity into a temptation and we know what happened from there.
Of ‘toxic empathy’, the American writer Flannery O’Connor said,
“If other ages felt less, they saw more, even though they saw with the blind, prophetical, unsentimental eye of faith. In the absence of this faith now, we govern by tenderness. It is a tenderness which, long cut off from the person of Christ, is wrapped in theory. When tenderness is detached from the source of tenderness, its logical outcome is terror. It ends in forced-labor camps and in the fumes of the gas chamber.”
AI explains the quote-
This quote, by Flannery O’Connor, argues that modern society, lacking a strong religious faith, governs itself through a detached “tenderness” that, without the grounding of Christ, ultimately leads to horrific consequences like violence and oppression, symbolized by the gas chambers of concentration camps.
And haven’t we seen that? “Love thy neighbor” was the covid-flu mantra pressuring the populace to ingest untested or unwieldy vaccinations, to close down society against common sense, and to become isolated robots. What happened was the elderly were left to die alone and society’s children were impacted negatively for a generation to come. That’s just one example of how progressives used toxic empathy against the people in their society.
Moving away from toxic empathy to examining toxic zeal, Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a 2 part series on true zeal versus false zeal.
There IS such a thing as false zeal. False Christians who seem so zealous for God are actually not zealous for God. It’s a manufactured zeal cloaking their zeal for themselves, or for satan. See this verse-
Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:1-2).
By this verse we see there is such a thing as a zeal that is not of God. There can be zeal, or fervor, or energy around religious things, but not according to what we know from the Bible. AKA knowledge.
Zeal: great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. Synonyms: passion, fervor, enthusiasm.
They went across the world to make one proselyte, but wound up making him twice the sons of hell they were. (Matthew 23:15). That verse is the example of zeal without knowledge. You can be passionate, you can be busy making disciples, but a false zeal will make disciples who miss the mark completely and will wind up in hell as a son of hell. Zeal, no knowledge.
Beth Moore has been consistently described through the years as “energetic”, “charismatic”, “passionate”. She puts out an energy as zealous for God. But because we know she is a false teacher, her zeal is without knowledge. She is full of emotion but lacks the tether to the Rock via faith.
Question: Can you encourage teachers and preachers, especially in this season when it is hard to speak truth and there is a lot of destructive forces that are trying to take down teachers and preachers?
Answer: “Keep asking the Lord to give you fire in your bones, to teach and preach and communicate the Scriptures so that you can’t keep it to yourself. Ask him for it when it wanes, and it’s going to wane…Nobody just keeps that naturally on their own.“
It’s love for scripture, love for Jesus, that drives the Christian to search the scriptures and then the scriptures fire up that proper zeal.
“Is My word not like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jeremiah 23:29).
You get a ‘fire in the bones’ when you open up the scriptures!
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?(Luke 24:32).
But Moore said it is important that “we’re not just going to the scriptures to prepare a lesson.“
To be fair, she was talking of the teacher having a right relationship with Jesus as one prepares the lesson. I can intuit that she means not apathetic, in prayerful humility, regular church goer, etc But she didn’t say those things. She just muddily talked of the overflow (whatever that means). Consulting the scriptures is primary. But for the false zealer, it’s secondary. Emotions tops the list.
I was struck by what she said and what she did NOT say. Any thinking Christian must think of both- what is said and what is not said. Moore did not say it was crucial for the leader to pray for perseverance in staying in right doctrine. To ask for moral righteousness. Begging to rightly divide the scriptures. Her reply focused on emotion. ‘Fire in the bones’ (whatever that means) was most important to her because, as we know, she is driven by emotion. Zeal misapplied is false. Zeal untethered from the Rock will lead you nowhere good.
False teachers appear to be doing a religious effort, they look like they are on the right track, and part of that appearance is because of their fervent energy.
The Bible says that satan and his demons masquerade as angels of light. That means behavior, outward appearance. The thinking Christian must look deeper.
Do not fall for toxic empathy. Do not mistake toxic zeal for righteous fervor. Above, all, THINK!
Here in this article What do you think about emotional sensationalism in the modern church? Stephen Nichols of Ligonier says there are valid emotions, but “especially in the American church, we seem to be very susceptible to this. There is a difference between emotion and emotionalism.”
Fall is here, the season I wait for all year. In New England where I’d lived for 46 years, fall was fleeting. Two weeks of vivid leaves and nice temperatures, then after Columbus Day the wind and rain came and washed it all away. You were left with cold, dark, drizzly remainder of fall then struggled all wintr to stay warm, to not drive off the icy road, and to shovel, shovel, shovel.
In Georgia fall lasts longer. The break from summer heat is a joy, and though the leaves are not as vivid, at least you can go outdoors and not freeze while you’re looking at them.
Fall also means the thoughts turn to Reformation Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! It’s a great season. The only struggle I have is to resist turning on the heat. How long can I go? The buffer month between paying for air conditioning and paying for heat is one I like to stretch, paying for nothing. Now, where is my sweatshirt?
Here are some interesting links I’ve rounded up for you this week. Enjoy!
I love thinking about work and God. He gives us work to do and in it we can minister to others, praise Him, and sustain ourselves so we can eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10). I found this short series out of The Master’s Seminary called Thinking Biblically. The series is called Thinking Biblically About Business and Work by Dr. John Beck. Two ten-minute videos help shape our thinking about our vocation, job, or employment. Even if you are not in a job that is personally fulfilling, career-oriented, or even well paying, we still can and do praise God for it, because we don’t just work for the weekend, we work for God.
What did Jacob see? What was this ladder? The guys from G3 have an interesting article about this fascinating scene from the Old Testament:
But the most important part of this vision is not the ladder or even the angels, but the fact that God himself stands at the top of the ladder, as stated in verse 13. This indicates that God is the source of the connection between heaven and earth. He alone is the one who bridges the gap, not human effort or works.
I love language, words, and expressing one’s self in writing. I enjoyed tis to-the-point essay from Cody Libolt on the evolution away from pointed phrases to acceptance of the watered down version. He does a clear job explaining the real meaning behind these phrases and shows what we have lost when we adopt them: Six Bad Catch-phrases Explained
“Discernment Ministries” love ’em or hate ’em, they certainly generate a lot of ink on both sides. I do a lot of discernment (in addition to historical living essays and encouragement). But I do not apologize for doing discernment, nor am I embarrassed. However, there is always the danger of becoming unbalanced. I wrote about that here, especially in reference to eschatology. Eschatological ministries usually tend to go off-center, followed closely by discernment ministries.
In this 55 minute video, Midwest Christian Outreach Inc. led by Don Veinot and Don Henzel with guest Rudolph Boshoff from Ad Lucem Ministries, the men discuss “Guarding the flock was given as instructions to the pastors and elders in the First Century. Jesus warned us to beware of false prophets. All of the New Testament, with the exception of Philemon, addresses heresy and false teachers. Apologetics and defense of the faith are biblical, but all of those were part and parcel of church life with accountability. The call for discernment seems to have birthed a sort of apologetics industrial complex of discernment ministries. But are they servants or cowboys?“
I enjoyed this from Allen Nelson IV, and if you aren’t following him on Twitter why aren’t you?
Ken Ham @aigkenham of Answers in Genesis wrote this on Twitter (X) on but if you do not have Twitter I am posting it here.
Over the 40 years I’ve been involved in the Answers in Genesis ministry, I’ve had many Christians/Christian leaders accuse me of saying a person had to believe in six literal days of creation and a young earth to be saved. Such an accusation is simply not true and can be documented as false from my many talks and articles I’ve written over the years clearly showing I have never equated salvation with believing in a young earth and literal creation days. What my accusers don’t like is the fact I speak with authority on what Genesis clearly says. They want me to allow other views. But there’s only one view, God’s Word as written. Now salvation is conditioned upon faith in Christ, not what a person believes about the age of the earth or days of creation. People respond saying it’s not an important issue then. But, even though it’s not a salvation issue, it’s a very important matter indeed, as it’s one of authority. It’s a biblical authority issue—and that’s a first order issue! They are putting man’s word over God’s Word and making man the authority, not God. Sadly, many pastors and Christian academics have taught generations of young people this. In doing so, they’ve unlocked a door that one can take man’s word over God’s Word. So if you can take millions of years and reinterpret God’s Word, why not take man’s word on marriage and gender and reinterpret God’s Word to allow gay “marriage,” etc. And this is happening. Over the years because so many Christian leaders have compromised God’s Word in Genesis, many have been led to doubt God’s Word, and that doubt leads to compromise and unbelief. We can and should speak with authority on Genesis, just as we can with the rest of Scripture because it is the infallible Word of God! “By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”” (Romans 3:4)
And because the harvest super moon, aurora northern lights, and the visible comet are all in the news, here is more about our fantastic universe that God created and Jesus sustains! Did you know the Red Planet has blue rocks?
If you’re of a mind to delve into UK country life, here is a video from the UK’s magazine Country life showing the world’s most amazing theater. And it’s seaside. AND it’s made by hand by a lady who decided to, well, carve a theater into the Cornish cliffs next to her home.
the-end-time.org 