New Thru 30 - Day 24 - 1 & 2 Timothy

Paul seemed to think that the most important thing young Timothy could do as he settled into ministry was focus his time and energy on teaching the Word and maintaining the purity church's doctrine.

The words "teach/teaching" are used 16 times in these 2 letters.

There are 6 times where Paul talks about "doctrine/sound words".

What's Paul's reasoning for all of this?

2 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths."

Teaching is for the body of Christ so that we don't abandon the faith. I can resonate well with the 4th stanza of the hymn"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" as it says, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;"

Do you feel that tendency to leave God? One the safeguards God has in place the preaching and teaching of the Word on a regular basis. Make sure you're here every week to hear the Word of God!!!

New Thru 30 - Day 23 - 1 & 2 Thess, Titus

A Personal Request from Your Pastor

I have a prayer request to ask of you that comes out of today's reading. In 1 Thess. 1:5 Paul is writing about the time when the gospel first came to the Thessalonians. In that verse he says, "...our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction."

I think so much preaching is nothing but preaching in word only. The Bible is opened and some verses are read and the preacher speaks for 30 minutes telling the meaning of the text, throwing in some stories, etc.

But there's no power in the preaching, there's no Holy Spirit in the preaching, and there's no conviction in the preaching (either on behalf of the preacher or of the hearers).

So, here's my prayer request...Will you beg the mercies of God in my life as I prepare and preach, that the preaching of the Word here at First Baptist would never be only in word, but would always be with power and with the Spirit and with conviction?

Pray that for me and pray that with me as I pray it for myself, and may God be glorified in his church.

New Thru 30 - Day 22 - Eph & Col

The book of Ephesians is evenly divided into two parts: doctrinal (1-3) and practical (4-6)

In the doctrinal section Paul covers topics like predestination, salvation by grace alone, unity of the body of Christ, and the mystery of the gospel.

In the practical section Paul strings the metaphor of "walking" through his message.

In Eph. 4:1 (beginning of the practical section) Paul writes, "I...urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called" and then he goes on to describe what that looks like in verses 2-3.

How else does Paul describe our walk?

In Eph. 4:17 he tells us that we are not to walk in the futility of the mind (you need to think right and fill your mind with the right things.)

In Eph. 5:2 he says that we are to walk in love...actually the same kind of love with which Christ loved us.

In Eph. 5:8 we are told to walk as children of light, meaning that the way we live is to be pleasing to God and to be open for all to see that we live with integrity.

In Eph. 5:15 Paul says that we should be careful to make sure that we walk in wisdom.

So, how's your walk with Christ?

• walking worthy of the gospel???
• thinking right???
• loving at all times???
• living a pleasing life before God with integrity???
• being wise???

It's a daunting list, but you can do it in Jesus. He gives the power. Trust him for your walk today!!!

New Thru 30 - Days 17-20 - I'm Out of Pocket

Hey folks...our baby is coming Wednesday morning/afternoon, so I won't be writing the blog for the rest of this week. I promise I'll be right there with you in reading the Scripture, but I won't have a blog for you.

See you back here on the blog on Monday, day 21 of NT30.

Blessings...

Pastor Mark

New Thru 30 - Day 16 - Romans 9-16

What an awesome section of Scripture you had for today's reading. Chapters 9-11 can be very difficult to interpret. Then, starting with chapter 12, you get the practical outworking of our justification in everyday life.

I want to key in on one verse...Romans 14:13, "Let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother."

This is the third time in chapter 14 that Paul has written about passing judgment on other people (verses 4, 10, 13). So, what's the point of verse 13? You could summarize it this way...

Quit looking at everybody else and make sure you're living right!!!

The first part of the verse talks about not passing judgment on others. Paul immediately follows that up by telling us to put the focus on ourselves in making sure that we are living the way we are supposed to.

Isn't this our age old problem??? We want to look at other people's mistakes and judge them while we completely ignore the way we're living. That's not acceptable. Our job is to tend to the way we live and let God take care of the way other people live.

New Thru 30 - Day 15 - Romans 1-8

If you're reading this post and you're up to date with your reading guide then you've made it halfway!!! Way to go; keep it up.

So we made it out of the narrative literature and into the epistles today.

John Piper title his sermon series on the book of Romans "The Greatest Letter Ever Written." I agree.

Buried in this treasure chest we call Romans is the following verse: "Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" (Rom. 2:4)

I know I've written and spoken a lot about repentance lately, but I just feel the need for it personally as God is dealing with me. As I read the Bible more and more, I am seeing that repentance is a bigger and bigger theme. I don't want to ever come to the place where I presume on God's kindness and forbearance and patience.

Hasn't God been good to you??? I'm not talking about the fact that you have lots of money and live in a land of freedom, etc...

I mean hasn't he been good to you in that he hasn't destroyed you for your sin?

Look back at the verse. All of God's kindness, forbearance, and patience is designed for one thing in your life...

Repentance.

Come to him today and repent.

New Thru 30 - Day 13 - Acts 21-28

Today's reading really focused in on Paul as a person and though the reading spans over many years of his life, it all centers in on Paul's trial, imprisonment, journey to Rome, and ministry from the Roman prison.

As I read the end of Acts I was captured by Paul's passion to fulfill his God given mission.

In Acts 21:7-14 we see Paul and his companions as they have arrived in Caesarea. A prophet named Agabus comes and prophesies that the Jews will capture Paul when he goes to Jerusalem. (Paul, like Jesus, was often in conflict with the Jewish religious establishment)

I love the interchange in verses 12-14.

12 - Upon hearing this prophecy Paul's companions begged him not to go to Jerusalem.
13 - Paul proclaims his readiness to be killed for Jesus.
14 - Everybody sees his heart and says, "Let the will of the Lord be done."

Paul loved Jesus more than life itself because Jesus was his life.

New Thru 30 - Day 12 - Acts 11-20

Why do things happen as they do?

We have that question a lot don't we? I was struck by this question as I read today's section from Acts.

In Acts 12:1-5 Herod kills the apostle James and makes plans to kill Peter until the Lord does this miraculous work of sending an angel to rescue Peter from prison (12:6-18).

Peter. James. John. The 3 amigos. The inner circle of disciples. All 3 knew each other before they met Jesus because they were fishing partners, and all 3 received their call to follow Jesus as the same time (Luke 5:9-11).

James is killed by Herod. Peter is saved from Herod's sword by a miraculous intervention from God.

Why does God allow James to die and Peter to live?

Let me first confess I don't have all the answers to these type of questions, but I do get a good clue just one chapter later. In Luke 13 Paul is preaching. In verse 36 he makes this statement, "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers..."

It could be that James, like David, had finished his course and the purpose which God had laid out for him. So, God brought James into his presence.

If we only view these things thru the lens of a human lifespan then they look terrible. But when you add eternity in the presence of Almighty God, with blessings forevermore, then the picture changes.

Oh yeah...Peter's there now also, and has been for close to 2,000 years.

Serve the purpose of your God, trusting him, and then go live forever with him and receive your reward from him.

New Thru 30 - Day 11 - Acts 1-10

Witnesses to the Resurrection

1:22 - "one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection."
2:32 - "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses."
3:15 - "you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses."
5:30, 32 - "The God of our fathers raised Jesus...And we are witnesses to these things"

Do you see a connection???

Are you being a witness to the resurrection of Jesus? If not, start today!

New Thru 30 - Day 10 - John 11-21

There's so much more than we know.

The last verse of the book of John (21:25) says, "Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were everyone of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."

Imagine all that Jesus did during his 3 year ministry. All we get are just a few brief snapshots. Paper was expensive. Writing was a laborious task. There were no printing presses, copy machines, computers, etc. What we have in the gospels is a truly remarkable treasure...but it doesn't even scratch the surface of everything Jesus did.

You truly have a great Savior...far greater than you can imagine.

New Thru 30 - Day 9 - John 1-10

The message that Jesus brought to first century Judaism was radical, and John really makes a point of bringing out the radical message of Jesus.

I love the words of Jesus in John 5:25-29 about the dead coming to life. Jesus says that the dead will hear his voice and come to life (25).

We've all been to a funeral and seen a dead person. Dead people don't hear anything. They're dead. People don't have life in themselves. Life is given to us and then we eventually lose it and we die.

God is different. God has life in himself (26). No one ever gave God life. He has just always existed, and he will never die. That's what it means to be God. In fact, he gives life to people.

Evidently the people were absolutely stunned by this because Jesus had to tell them not to marvel at his teaching about life (28), and then he reinforced the teaching that the time is coming when the dead will hear his voice.

If by his voice God spoke creation into existence, why is it so hard to believe that by his voice he will speak life into dead people? I believe it.

Jesus didn't come to make bad people good. Jesus came to make dead people alive.

New Thru 30 - Day 8 - Luke 15-24

Seeing Jesus

In today's reading we walked thru Luke's presentation of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Luke puts a lot of emphasis on seeing or not seeing Jesus.

The death of Jesus is recorded in Luke 23:44-49. The centurion (47) and the crowds (48) both "saw" Jesus die. The acquaintances of Jesus (49) stood at a distance "watching" him die.

The burial of Jesus is recorded in Luke 23:50-56. The women (55) who watched him die "saw" the tomb and saw how his body was laid in the tomb.

The resurrection of Jesus is recorded in Luke 24:1-12. Peter ran to the tomb when the women told him that Jesus was risen. When he got to the tomb Peter (12) began "looking" in it and he "saw" that Jesus was not there.

The remainder of chapter 24 contains various post resurrection appearances of Jesus. In verse 39 he tells his disciples, "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see."

The death of Jesus was real. The burial of Jesus was real. The resurrection of Jesus was real. The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus were real. We know this because people have seen it all with their eyes and recorded it for us.

Praise God that one day our faith will become sight.

New Thru 30 - Day 6 - Luke 5-14

Leaving Everything

In Luke 5 Jesus calls his first disciples. In 5:1-11 he calls the fisherman Peter, James, and John during one of their fishing trips. In 5:27-32 Jesus calls the tax collector, Levi.

These are ordinary people that Jesus used to do the extraordinary. So, how did it happen?

Check verse 11 and verse 28. They both say the same thing.

The fishermen and the tax collector left everything to follow Jesus. This is important. If our heart's desire is to build ourselves a nice kingdom here on earth and serve Jesus when we get a little spare time, then Jesus won't do much in us.

Jesus is demanding. He demands that we follow him wholeheartedly, not with one eye on him and one eye on maintaining our earthly kingdom.

Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus??? Leave everything. Follow him.

It's worth it.

New Thru 30 - Day 5 - Mark 11-16, Luke 1-4

AND PETER

Today, you read the crucifixion narrative as Mark presents it. One part of the narrative is Peter's denial of Jesus. Jesus had told Peter beforehand that it would happen (Mk. 14:26-31).

You can read the actual account of the denial in Mk. 14:66-72. As you read that passage you can feel the fear in Peter. The words of verse 71 are some of the most heart-breaking in the Bible, "But Peter began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, 'I do not know this man of whom you speak.'"

To invoke a curse on yourself??? To swear??? To tell a boldfaced and shameful lie??? To deny Jesus???

Fast forward to resurrection day (Mark 16:1-8). In verse 7, the angel tells the women who come to the tomb, "But go, tell his disciples and Peter..." The emphasis was on specifically making sure that Peter heard the message b/c Peter needed it more than them all.

Jesus was all about restoring Peter, not beating Peter up. Do you need to hear that from God today? No matter your failures, the message from God is, "I love my children and you..."

Peter went on to be used in a mighty way by God. God can do the same in your life.

New Thru 30 - Day 4 - Mark 1-10

The message of repentance...who's it for???

In Mark 1:14-15, Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee (northern area of Israel). His message is that the kingdom of God is at hand and that people need to repent and believe. Who is his audience? The people of Israel (God's people). The first thing Jesus does is to preach the message of repentance to those who have been "God's nation" for 2,000 years. Repentance is for God's people.

In Mark 6:7-12, Jesus sends out the apostles to preach. If you check the parallel passage in Matt 10:5-15 you will see that Jesus tells them to only go to the people of Israel. So, what is the message that the apostles preach? Mark 6:12, "So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent." Repentance is for God's people.

Of course, repentance is necessary for unbelievers to be saved, but here's our point for the day. Somewhere along the line, somebody developed this idea that repentance is a one-and-done thing. Says who??? Repentance is to be a major part (as in daily) of the life of a believer.

Repentance is for God's people.

New Thru 30 - Day 3 - Matt 21-28

In your reading today Jesus really cranks up the heat.

After entering Jerusalem at the beginning of the week he is to be crucified, Jesus has his authority challenged (21:23-27). After that incident, Jesus just absolutely nails the religious establishment (rest of 21, all of 22 & 23) for their hardened hearts. I want to check out with you today one of the things Jesus says was wrong with the religious establishment.

Look at Matthew 23:23-24.

Those who were part of the religious establishment were really good at tithing. They even tithed part of the mint leaves and other garden herbs (not required in the law). At the same time they had this strict observance of tithing, they neglected more important things like justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

WHY???

I think it comes down to the fact that it is easy to tithe. It's easy to give money. But it is difficult to have mercy on the poor. It's difficult to seek justice for the social outcasts. It is difficult to remain faithful to God on the inside.

Tithing is clean. Drop the money in the plate and you're done. Justice, mercy, and faithfulness are dirty. They will consume your life (not a bad thing).

Are you tithing while ignoring justice, mercy, and faithfulness??? Practice what's hard, not just what's easy.

May the mercy of God dwell richly in you today...

Pastor Mark

Google Video Problems

The posts below are currently not working. Google knows about the problem and is trying to fix it, but so far has not come up with anything. Looks like I'll be posting in text from now on...

Blessings.

New Thru 30 - Day 2 - Matt 11-20

Hey church...what a great reading we had for today. I hope that Jesus is soaking into your life thru this. Blessings...

New Thru 30 - Day 1 - Matt 1-10

Hey church...

I'm gonna blog everyday as we read thru the New Testament together. I'd love for you to leave some comments and interact with me as we do this. First time ever for me...I'm gonna try video blogging.