Partners in Proverbs Chapters 22-28

As I’ve been reading through this week’s Proverbs, I am reminded frequently of Pete’s teaching to us on Sunday regarding reading Scripture. He said that too often we go straight to allowing our experiences, or how we feel, to interpret the passage, and that it is a ‘helpful hermeneutic’ to ask what it meant to those it was written to, and the author’s intended meaning, as well. I find as I read these Proverbs, I am very much aware of my little brain! So many of the verses don’t seem to make sense to me, and sometimes I get tripped up by them, running quickly to: “How can this possibly pertain to me?” or “What does this even mean?”

But, as I read, I know I can trust God to give me at least a little nugget to take away, to strengthen me in the journey, and to remind me that He is all I need! I say this to encourage you, dear friends and co-laborers, that we need not be discouraged or condemned about reading Scripture, if you are ever tempted that way, as I can be: that we’re not reading enough, or not getting enough out of it. As we’re faithful to the discipline of sitting at God’s feet, for however long he allows us in our day, He will lovingly give us what we need. He won’t hold back from showing something of Himself to us as we seek to hear from Him in His Word.

Remember, it’s not all about us, and what we can get out of it, is it? It is only God who brings light to what we read, and understanding to our minds, and conviction and application to our hearts; and this is all for His glory alone!

Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;”

When I’m feeling like Winnie the Pooh (you know, the bear who, by his own account is “of very little brain”) I can rest in knowing God has given me the mind I have for this season of my life, and as I pursue wisdom and knowledge through reading His Word, He will help me. I trust He is helping you, too!

Here are the questions for the next few chapters: Partners in Proverb Chapters 29-31

 

What Do You Fear?

What are you afraid of?  We are all afraid of something: some fear death, financial loss, health failures, relational breakdowns, a governmental collapse, terrorism, parenting flops, marriage difficulties, etc.  However, in reality, most of us fear that God has somehow left us alone in this life and we must handle all the burdens of life by ourselves. Often we face the trials as if God wasn’t present or that he doesn’t care about us. We say things like, “I’ve got to figure this out” or “No one understands how I feel.” This kind of response is really a Godless perspective on life.

Reality Check: If we go to scripture, we see that God is far more gracious and loving than we realize or could ever imagine. Read these verses slowly…

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2)

Now, if God is our salvation, why do we fear?  He has loved us so much that he sent his son to die for our sins. So, why do we question his love and care for us? When trials come, why do we run to unbelief and fear?  By God’s grace, let’s continue to sing, even in the darkest moments of life, “I will trust you because you have saved me.” You see, God proves his love for us by saving us and he proves his trustworthiness by redeeming us from the pit – therefore we can trust him and not be afraid.

So, no matter what you are facing. Look to your great savior – trust him – ask him for strength – and sing!

Here is a portion one of my favorite hymns … (written by A. Toplady and edited by Doug Plank)

-Now why this fear and unbelief?

Has not the Father put to grief

His spotless Son for us?

And will the righteous Judge of men

Condemn me for that debt of sin

Now canceled at the cross?

-Be still my soul and know this peace

The merits of your great high priest

Have bought your liberty

Rely then on His precious blood

Don’t fear your banishment from God

Since Jesus sets you free

-Jesus, all my trust is in Your blood

Jesus, You’ve rescued us

Through Your great love

 

1.25 Update

It was only a matter of time. Other than that freak snow storm last fall, the weather has been unseasonably warm. Lots of rain, lots of mud–but no snow. That all changed last Saturday:

The truck in the foreground is dropping off the 5th load (out of 6) of roof decking. The materials were shipped directly to our site from the manufacturer–I believe from somewhere in Oregon. Other than that, there has not been a lot of dramatic progress this past week. The most noticeable is what has gone on below, where the lower level classrooms have begun to be framed:

And the elevator equipment room has been built out of block:

The masons have also brought the front stairwell up to the upper floor level:

And the gas line trenching has been completed. When they were done, they hooked up this machine for a pressure test:

That’s all I’ve got for this week. I’m out for most of the week to VA for a seminary class, so I’ll be missing some of the developments. The plan is to pour the rest of the concrete on the main floor this morning; and Josh Coleman’s guys are supposed to be installing the hardware for the roof timbers this week. Next week they’ll be erected and that will complete the skeleton of the building. It was also be an important step toward getting the roof finished and the building enclosed.

Until next week.

 

…and then there’s this seven-headed beast!

Revelation makes for some interesting conversations among believers. Sitting around the table there’s the:

• Pre-tribulational Premillenialists
• Mid-tribulational Premillenialists
• Post-tribulational Premillenialists
• Historical Premillenialists
• Postmillenialists
• Amillennialists

Say that list fast ten times.

With all the fascinating interpretive scholarship that goes into each of these views on Revelation and the end-times, the only scholarship that matters in the end is the kind that finds Jesus Christ at the absolute center of the apocalyptic landscape. The opening words of Revelation, “The revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) ought to signal to us the serious Christ-centeredness of the words, imagery, numbers and symbols about to be shared in the chapters ahead.

The downfall of much of the scholarship that can be found in much of today’s popular end-times theologizing is wherever people forget the final result that the Author intended in the first place: to make Jesus Christ known, loved and feared (and perseveringly so!). Revelation at every point is that strikingly simple in its interpretive focus.

All the believer must know as we live in these end-times is driven home time and again in Revelation: the need for single-hearted, persevering devotion to the Savior that views him as worth suffering, even dying for. Every symbol, number and scene set before us delivers to the Christian one reason after another to fear God and love Christ more, and in the wise words of Dory the forgetful fish (from the movie, “Finding Nemo”), to: “just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming, just keep swimming.“

[My extra 2 cents: as an Amillenialist, I don't believe I miss out on the meat of the Apostle John's vision and burden for the churches by neglecting to understand which world leaders are found on which head of whatever beast in Revelation. I also don't think I miss out by forgetting to nail down current events and world happenings with specific symbols found in the pages of the Bible's apocalyptic sections. Rather, I have found such freedom to rest in the plainer interpretations of what once terrified me as a young believer.]

 

Monday News

The East Lancaster Care Group Presents “One Evening for One Mission” at Laurel Inn the Hollow on Friday February 17^th.

With the foundation poured and the walls going up soon we need to stay faithful to our One Mission goals and those of us at the East Lancaster Care Group want to help out and ask you to join us on the night of February 17^th.   We are thankful to Pepper and Diane Goslin for opening their Bed & Breakfast for a banquet and John Hamilton for a performance that is sure to make a delightful evening. $50 will get a gourmet meal for two at The Cottage, 47 Snyder Hollow Road, New Providence, PA 17560, but we have a limited amount of seating so contact Richard Sawyers @ Richard.sawyers@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Second-hand Clothing and Book Drive: Members of our church, Donovan and Heather Drew, will be moving to South Africa soon as missionaries see their newsletter. A second-hand clothing and book drive has been organized to benefit their ministry there. For details on what donated items would be helpful, please see description below. Items may be dropped off at the Crossway Church property on Saturday, February 18, from 8am to noon, and Sunday, February 19, from 12:15pm to 3pm.

Instructions for donations:

Please pack donated items in boxes. List everything in each box (eg: 2 t-shirts, 1 pair jeans, etc) on a sheet of paper and place the list inside the box, on top of your donated items (so it’s the first thing we’ll see when we open the box). In order to make it on time for the shipment, all mailed-in donated items must arrive at the above address by February 29. Any items which arrive after that will be donated to the local Salvation Army.

Donated Items that would be helpful to us:

Clothing, blankets, and backpacks: We’re looking for good quality second-hand clothing, blankets, and backpacks – without holes, fraying, or evident stains, and with any zippers/ buttons/ clips/ elastic/ velcro still intact and functional. We can use clothing from infant through adult XL sizes (please no XXL or larger), and both casual and formal clothing.

Maternity clothing is also helpful, as are good quality shoes (including soccer cleats) up to US size 12 (please no larger). South African winters can get quite cold, so thick sweaters, scarves, and beanies are appreciated, but since snow is very rare snow jackets, snow boots, and other snow attire are not helpful. Please do not donate second-hand socks or underwear.

Blankets may be anything from infant blankets to full-sized adult blankets, and we can use sleeping bags too.

Backpacks should be fitting for their intended use (for students to carry their school supplies) – very large hiking backpacks are not helpful.

Books:

The cover and all pages of donated books should be intact (if the dust jacket of a hardcover is missing, that’s fine). Pages can include highlighting and notes from previous readers, but the highlighting and notes should not obscure the text. The following books would be helpful to us:

• Bibles or New Testaments of any English translation except the King James Version (the KJV is too difficult to understand for many people speaking English as a second language)
• Any books by Sovereign Grace Ministries authors
• Any CCEF, New Growth Press, Shepherd Press, or IX Marks books or booklets
• Any books by John Piper, John MacArthur, RC Sproul, Sinclair Ferguson, D.A. Carson, Wayne Grudem, Ken Sande, TedTripp, Paul Tripp, David Powlison, Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever, Wayne Mack, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Tim Chester, Francis Chan, Tim Keller, John Stott, JI Packer, Russell Moore, or Jerry Bridges

Supplies for Muphamuzi Baby Home:

We can use diapers (especially sizes 3 and 4) and baby formula for the Baby Home, as well as a host of small items you can find on our Target baby registry (listed as first name: “Muphamuzi Baby Home”, last name: “Mack”). Target provides free shipping on orders over $50 (perhaps friends could place an order together?).

 

Partners in Proverbs Chapters 15-22

Words can be a tremendous blessing or a tremendous curse in the matter of seconds.  I continually refer to this section of the Proverbs as I battle watching over my tongue.  This morning I read through these seven chapters again and wrote down all the verses that deal with speech, the tongue, or our lips.  When I added them all up, the total came to 49!  I am sure I missed some, and there are still more verses that deal with speech indirectly.  That high number shows me that taming the tongue is a necessary discipline in the Christian walk.  ”The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.  A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.”  Proverbs 15:2, 4.  It also shows me that there are many wrong uses of the tongue that sadly come so naturally to sinful man.  Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” 

I am grateful to God for encouraging words like these: “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” Proverbs 21:21.  That makes what is complicated, simple.  It can be a daunting thought to  gain control where wisdom lacks (where do you begin??), but when I pursue what pleases the Lord (righteousness and kindness), God will bring forth the good fruit I long to have.  In the meantime, tune your ear to wisdom that is calling out, repent where necessary and ask God for the grace to master the straying tongue!  Christ died for our evil deeds and our evil words – and he certainly lacks no power to help us in our pursuit of righteousness.

What stood out to you this past week?

Here are the questions for next week: Partners in Proverbs (Chapters 22-28)

 

Words From A Father To A Son

My friend, Donovan Drew, pointed me to this blog post this week. Blogger and pastor Dr. Rick Holland wrote a 16th birthday letter to his son. I found this profoundly encouraging and helpful. I did some editing to shorten it but the main content is here…

David told Solomon, “Be strong, become a man” (1 Kings 2:2). Paul told his brothers at Corinth, “Act like men” (1 Cor 16:13). Becoming a strong and responsible man is what God desires and expects from you. Being a man involves two things: masculinity and maturity. Masculinity means you know how to act like a man instead of a woman. Maturity means you know how to act like a man instead of a boy. Now is the time, now is your time to be a man.

What I want to help you do is the combination of David’s and Paul’s counsel: Become a man and act like one. I’m here to help and look forward to you helping me as I grow as well.

1. Keep reading your Bible. Remember that it is a supernatural book revealing the living God and will bear supernatural fruit in your life.
2. Make sure you pray. This great God has given you access to Him anytime and about anything.
3. Look for ways to remember the gospel every day. Daily sin should bring daily reminders to enjoy the grace of the cross.
4. Keep loving your Mom. She is the most important woman in your life. And if you look for a wife with her character, you will be exceedingly blessed.
5. Recognize your influence. You have many eyes on you. Your brothers, your friends, and your acquaintances look to you in ways you can’t imagine and won’t always recognize.
6. Be a leader. Find ways in every situation to influence the thinking of others to glorify God.
7. Treat girls like ladies. The way you are learning to treat girls now is setting patterns for life. Open their doors, give them your seat, offer them your jacket, and never let a girl walk to her car alone in the dark.
8. Read good books. The world belongs to those who read. Find out what the people your respect are reading and consume those books.
9. Relax. You don’t have to be “right” about everything. (And, oh yeah, you aren’t.)
10. Be honest. Sometimes telling the truth is painful. But lying has long lasting, destructive consequences.
11. Laugh. Life has funny moments, but never as funny as you. Learn to laugh at yourself.
12. Stay off the couch. Between the TV and video games there is a temptation to waste time you can never regain.
13. Don’t let technology rule you. Don’t become one of those people who are discouraging to talk to because they can’t go long without looking at their smart phones. Stay in the moment when talking to someone in person.
14. Be humble. Let others praise you. Few things are more ugly than self-congratulations.
15. Have fun. This world is full of God-given ways to enjoy yourself. Just do so within the parameters of God’s Word.
16 .Keep talking to your Dad. I treasure the way you confide in me and want my counsel. I’m already needing yours.

Again, you are so far ahead of where I was at your age. The world needs men, men of God. Be that man.