Discipleship | A People for His Name

Prove the Will of God!

February 25, 2011

Picture a cool fall day in a Midwestern farming community in the year1947. A faithful, young farmer heads out to his fields at the break of day. He notices a slight scratchy feeling in his throat. As he puts in a full day of work, he has a sinking feeling that he is coming down with something. By the middle of the week, he can hardly swallow. Hating to go to a doctor, he tries gargling with a mix of lemon juice, apple cider, vinegar, honey, and one “special” ingredient. His throat, however, keeps on getting worse.

Early the next week, he is barely able to swallow. Reluctantly, he agrees to go see his uncle, who is a doctor. Taking one look inside his mouth, his uncle’s face grows very serious. “Jake, you have a bad case of strep throat.” “I’m giving you a new medicine that I hope will take care of the problem; be sure to finish all the pills.” Jake takes the pills, thanks his uncle, and heads home.

After a few days on the medication, his throat feels so much better. Because the pills were so bitter, and he is feeling better by now, he decides to stop taking the pills. He says to himself, “I am over the problem, and I don’t want to overdo this medicine business.”

Two weeks after stopping the pills, Jake is flat on his back, hardly able to speak. Now, he has a fever and a rash. When his uncle comes and examines him, with tears he grimly informs him that he has rheumatic fever.

For the rest of his life, Jake is a crippled man who no longer can take care of his farm or even himself. The damage to his heart was just too severe for him to do much of anything. He is unable to live out the life that he might have lived had he followed the full prescription given to him.

God has given us His prescription for our sinful condition (Rom. 12). Although we must present ourselves to God, we must not stop with just making a decision to do so. We must go on and live out His will for our lives as He teaches us in Romans 12:1ff.

If we do not fully follow that prescription, we will be crippled and not fulfill His will. God wants us to prove His will for our lives.

In Discipleship, Parables Christian Living, Parable

O How He Loves Us!

February 21, 2011

The song, “Jesus Loves Me,” is a great song and a favorite of many people, especially many children. A few years ago, I wrote new words to be sung to the same tune. “O How He Loves Us!” still communicates that Jesus loves us, but it also communicates additional doctrinal truth. This song exposes people of all ages to key Scriptural ideas and stresses to them that God loved us, loves us, and will love us.

I designed this format for my guitar students so that they could learn the lyrics, the melody, and the chords.
The top line and time signature show how to count out each measure.
The capital letters are the basic guitar chords to play in the key of C when strumming or picking the song.
The numbers take the place of notes on a staff; they show the frets on which to play the melody on the second (B) string of a guitar. (Playing these same frets on either the first string or the sixth string transposes the melody to the key of F.)
William B. Bradbury produced the original tune from which I generated the numbers.
I wrote the words, except for the last part of the chorus, which I slightly modified from the original ending by Anna B. Warner.

In Discipleship, Music Music

Spiritual Warfare Parable

February 20, 2011

You are returning to your home out in the country from a weekend trip with your wife. Your cell phones are dead because you forgot your chargers at home. When you are a few miles away from your home, you see thick, black smoke coming from the direction of your home.

You rush home to find police cars and fire trucks on your property. The police prevent you from going to the house. From a safe distance, you watch what little is left of your home burn completely to the ground. Soon, you learn that the mutilated bodies of all your pets have been found in your swimming pool.

Shortly thereafter, the police inform you that they found the bodies of three security guards out in the woods behind your home. You inform them that you had four security guards. A few minutes later, they find the fourth one. Though he had been shot four times, he managed to survive by playing dead. Just before he finally dies, he informs the police that some gang members are responsible for what happened and that they have stolen your brand new Hummer and ransacked your home before setting it on fire.

Immediately, your thoughts turn to your three girls, whom you left for the weekend with your parents. You rush off to their home, a mile down the road. You pound on the door, but no one answers. Finally, in desperation, you break a window and get in the house. To your great horror, you find the lifeless bodies of your parents out back on their deck.

Frantically, you begin to search for your girls. You search everywhere, but you are unable to find your eight, ten, and twelve-year old daughters. In desperation, you head for the church that you pastor, which is three blocks down the road.

You arrive there and find the police at the church. You explain who you are and the chief with great sorrow explains that during a youth activity just a few hours ago, lightning struck during a storm that suddenly became violent and killed your three daughters as they were running toward the church to escape the storm.

As the pastor of a large, rural church in California that has taken a strong stand for Christ, how will you cope? Will you vow to spend the rest of your life to find those gang members and see that they get what they deserve? What will you make of the lightning? Will you abandon your faith in the midst of such horrific suffering?

Or, will you bow in worship: “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD’” (Job. 1:20-21).

And, will you think aright about what those gang members have done and about the lightning that killed your daughters? “Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.’ So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD. . . . A messenger came to Job and said, ‘The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you’” (Job. 1:14-19).

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

In Discipleship, Parables Parable, Spiritual Warfare

Model Prayer Handout

February 18, 2011

When His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, Jesus gave them the Model Prayer. He commanded them to pray in that manner continually. The Model Prayer played a role in my life even before my salvation. Several years before I was saved, I attended religious services with some friends on a fairly regular basis on Saturdays. In each service, the highlight for me was when we would sing a somewhat shortened version of the Model Prayer. Although I was not a believer, I always felt something drawing me when I would sing those words.

A few years later, because of my reading some books about the Bible, I was praying the Model Prayer on a regular basis for several weeks even though I was not saved yet. At some point while I was doing so, I was saved.

Since my salvation, I have prayed the Model Prayer in some form nearly every day. Jesus said to pray this way, and we should heed His command.

Several years ago, I produced a handout based on the Model Prayer that compiles many prayers from Scripture that I have used as I pray in that manner. This handout aligns those prayers with the corresponding statements in the Model Prayer.

In Discipleship Prayer

God's Mercy in His Judgment

February 16, 2011

God fiercely judged Saul for his disobedience. He rejected him from being king (1 Sam. 15:23), rent the kingdom of Israel from him, and gave it to David (15:28). “The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled” him (16:14).

Somehow, Saul’s servants knew that “an evil spirit from God” troubled Saul (16:14). They informed him of that fact and counseled him to seek out a skilled musician whose playing would relieve him of the affliction caused by the evil spirit (16:16). Responding to Saul’s request that his servants provide such a musician for him, one of his servants commended David to him (16:17-18).

The servant’s commendation informed Saul of much more than the fact that David was a skilled musician. The servant ended his six-fold commendation by saying, “The Lord is with him” (16:18). Saul sent for David (16:19-22), and David ministered effectively to him when he was troubled by the spirit: “Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” (16:19-23).

This account is often referenced by Christian musicians in their discussions of the value of good music. Although such use is valid, what the passage teaches about God’s mercy in His judgment is sometimes not fully appreciated. God rightly and fiercely judged Saul for his sinfulness. But, God extended mercy to Saul in His judgment through providing a means for him to be relieved of some of the ill effects of part of that judgment. Had God chosen to do so, He could have prevented Saul from ever learning of an effective remedy for the trouble the evil spirit was causing him.

Furthermore, God did not just allow him to learn of an effective remedy (16:16); He also put a servant among Saul’s servants who informed him of someone who could provide that remedy (16:18-22). Then, God allowed Saul’s request for that one to come to minister to him to be granted, and He allowed the ministry of that person to be effective in relieving him of his trouble (16:23).

As He did for Saul, God extends mercy in His judgment today to many who are suffering directly for their sinfulness. For example, He often allows people who have health problems directly attributable to their own evil behavior to yet learn of and obtain effective treatments that relieve some or all of their suffering.

God’s providing David as a means of relieving Saul of some of his trouble should inspire great appreciation for His mercy in His judgment. Let us praise God that He is the Judge who delights in mercy (Micah 7:18)!

In Interpretation, Music Interpretation

Stress Management Truths from Scripture

February 14, 2011

Proper attention to these truths is essential to our managing stress effectively as Christians:

Proper confession of our own sin: Psalm 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.

Proper response to others who trespass against us: Matthew 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Proper heart state: Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

Proper prayer life: Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Proper thought life: Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Proper ministry by leaders who properly discipline their bodies and bring them into subjection: Eccl. 10:17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Proper reception of the preaching of the Word of God: 1 Cor. 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

Proper response to adversity: Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Proper counsel from friends: Proverbs 27:9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

Proper response to godly counsel: Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

Proper observance of a regular day of rest: Mark 2:27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.

Proper laboring: Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Proper strength: Psalm 19:4 In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which . . . rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

Proper food & water consumption: Isaiah 44:12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

In Discipleship, Health Health

In the Year after Adam

February 10, 2011

Analyzing Genesis 5 using a dating scheme that I have designated as “after Adam” (AA) reveals some fascinating and useful information. Adam lived until 930 AA (5:5). Working with the genealogical information supplied (5:1-18), we learn that Enoch was born in 622 AA. These calculations show that Adam and Enoch were contemporaries for 308 years!

Although it cannot be proved, it is unreasonable to think that Enoch would not have known Adam personally. Over a span of more than three centuries, he surely would have consulted at length at least once with his great, great, great, great grandfather. Because Adam was the first man ever and the only eyewitness to key events (2:7-25), any of his descendants who were wise would have sought him out and learned much from him about the history of the world from the creation of man until their day.

We, therefore, have good grounds to believe that Enoch received eyewitness testimony about the events of the Fall (Genesis 3). In fact, Enoch undoubtedly had far more information about that event than we do. Moreover, Adam was alive for 243 of the 300 years that Enoch walked with God (5:21-22). For more than two centuries, then, Enoch learned from his walk with God and had opportunity to learn also from Adam.

It is worthwhile to ponder how Enoch’s interaction with Adam likely helped shape Enoch into an exemplary man who walked with God. Considering the relevance of that interaction for our understanding rightly the only information that we are given about the nature of Enoch’s prophetic ministry (Jude 14-15) is also worth pondering deeply.

In Discipleship, Interpretation

Reading through the Bible in Greek this year

February 9, 2011

After many years of reading on and off, I finally finished reading through the OT in Greek last year. This year, my goal is to read through the entire Bible in Greek. After 40 days, I have made it through all of Genesis, Exodus 1-13, 1 Samuel 1-13, Job 1-37, Psalms 1-33 and 75, Proverbs 1-16, and Daniel 1-8: 171 chapters done; 1018 to go!

In Biblical Greek, Biblical Languages

Answered prayer!

February 8, 2011

Through the goodness of God mediated through several of His choice servants, I now have this website! I prayed this morning and asked God to work it out for my site to become active soon, and He answered abundantly. I hope to share much useful information through this site in the days ahead. May the Lord use it greatly to advance His kingdom and righteousness.

In Testimony

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