ministry strategy

as per the apostle Paul: (with comments by steve)

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: (a weighty place to be commissioned so DO NOT take these instructions lightly)

preach the word; (gotta know it to preach it)
be ready in season and out of season; (that's pretty much all the time... in fact it IS all the time)
reprove, ("to criticize or correct, especially gently")
rebuke, ("to express sharp, stern disapproval")
and exhort, ("to give urgent advice, recommendations or warnings")
with complete patience and teaching. (thorough, time consuming and costly - don't give up)

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. (this Bible stuff's boring, let's try something else, something more fun and entertaining)

As for you, (denoting contrast)

always be sober-minded, (don't get distracted or muddle headed)
endure suffering, (persevere - don't give up - and yes, this means that there will be suffering, expect it)
do the work of an evangelist, (tell the good news of Christ's life, death and resurrection)
fulfill your ministry." (see instructions above)

2 Timothy 4:1-5

yeah, i love 2 Timothy 2 OR i'm a list guy

breaking down the content of 2 Timothy 2 based on the commands:

• "be strengthened" 2 Timothy 2:1 - yeah, i know, this first command is kind of a strange one in that it looks to something done for us not by us - the grace that strengthens me is outside of me - it is in Christ Jesus... alone
• "entrust" 2 Timothy 2:2 - the generational nature of the gospel message - four of them are mentioned in this verse...
• "share" 2 Timothy 2:3 - not the usual mother to child command to share... a call to share IN SUFFERING! - mindset: soldier, athlete, farmer
• "Think over" 2 Timothy 2:7 - okay, you've made it this far, review the first 6 verses again - the Lord will give you understanding
• "Remember" 2 Timothy 2:8 - Jesus Christ - His resurrection - His descent (from David - the throne is His by right)
• "Remind" 2 Timothy 2:14 - of these things - ie. Jesus' resurrection, His kingship, Paul's imprisonment, the freedom of the word of God, dying and living with Him, enduring and reigning with Him, denial of and by Him, His faithfulness
• "charge" 2 Timothy 2:14 - not to quarrel about words
• "Do your best" 2 Timothy 2:15 - to present yourself to God as one approved - ie. a worker who rightly handles the word of truth
• "avoid" 2 Timothy 2:16 - irreverent babble - it leads people into more and more ungodliness
• "flee" 2 Timothy 2:22 - youthful passions - in order to be a clean vessel, holy and set apart for honorable uses - useful to the master of the house - ready for every good work
• "pursue" 2 Timothy 2:22 - righteousness, faith, love, and peace - with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart - in order to be a clean vessel, holy and set apart for honorable uses - useful to the master of the house - ready for every good work
• "Have nothing to do" 2 Timothy 2:23 - with foolish, ignorant controversies - they breed quarrels - the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness

i always loved how rocky and bullwinkle would give alternate titles for the next episode...

so this blogpost could either be titled: "yes, Hebrews 4:12 is my favorite verse, but don't forget to read Hebrews 4:13 with it" OR "speaking of Matthew 5:3, here's a great quote for a monday morning"

"We cannot bear to acknowledge either the seriousness of our sin and guilt or our utter indebtedness to the cross.... But we cannot escape the embarrassment of standing stark naked before God. It is no use for us to try and cover up like Adam and Eve in the garden. Our attempts at self-justification are as ineffectual as their fig leaves. We have to acknowledge our nakedness, see the divine substitute wearing our filthy rags instead of us, and allow him to clothe us with his own righteousness (cf. Revelation 3:17-18). Nobody has ever put it better than Augustus Toplady in his immortal hymn "Rock of Ages":
Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to your cross I cling;
Naked, come to you for dress;
Helpless, look to you for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die." - John Stott, The Cross of Christ

a missionary psalm

96

Oh, sing to the LORD a new song;

sing to the LORD, all the earth!

Sing to the LORD, bless His name;

tell of His salvation from day to day.

Declare His glory among the nations,

His marvelous works among all peoples!

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;

He is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

but the LORD made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before Him;

strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,

ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name;

bring an offering, and come into His courts!

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness;

tremble before Him, all the earth!

Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!

Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;

He will judge the peoples with equity."

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 

let the field exult, and everything in it!

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

before the LORD, for He comes,

for He comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness,

and the peoples in His faithfulness.

ezekiel, augustine and the poor in spirit

It amazes me how often the various things I read during my time with God tie together, therefore reinforcing what He is teaching me! (He knows I have to hear things more than once to get it.) This morning I read this in Ezekiel 33:10-11:

"And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus have you said: 'Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?"' Say to them, '"As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?"'"

Then I read this prayer in The Confessions:

"Let them turn back, and seek You, for You do not forsake Your creation as they have forsaken their Creator. Let them only turn back, see! there You are in their hearts, in the hearts of all those who confess to You, who fling themselves into Your arms and weep against Your breast after their difficult journey, while You so easily will wipe away their tears. At this they weep the more, yet even their laments are matter for joy, because You Lord, are not some human being of flesh and blood, but the Lord who made them, and now make them anew and comfort them.

 And what of myself: where was I as I sought You? You were straight ahead of me, but I had roamed away from myself and could not find even myself, let alone You!"

All of this while meditating on Matthew 5:6 for camp: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

safe home

with this title, i can go a couple of different directions today (and neither will have to do with baseball)...

1. we've been working on memorizing Psalm 119 this summer, so at lunch time we were practicing. the second section of 8 verses falls under the heading of the Hebrew letter Beth, which means "house" (Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem using one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet to begin the verses of each 8 verse section). Psalm 119:9 which begins the section says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word." the "house" section, "guarding it according to Your word" - sounds like a "safe home" to me ;) (i know, a terrible pun.)

2. but truthfully, the reason why this title came to mind was because after lunch i was singing through several selections from Gadsby's Hymns (which i got from amazon last week - 1156 hymn texts!!!). i came to one by Joseph Hart which reminded me of the way our pastor often closes our evening worship services, "Goodnight, and safe home" (he's from Northern Ireland). the verse reads:

This God is the God we adore;

Our faithful, unchangeable Friend;

Whose love is as large as His power,

And neither knows measure nor end.

'Tis Jesus, the First and the Last,

Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home:

We'll praise Him for all that is past,

And trust Him for all that's to come.

AMEN!

adding my amen!

this morning i read a prayer of Augustine's in The Confessions:

O Lord our God,
grant us to trust in your overshadowing wings:
protect us beneath them and bear us up.
You will carry us as little children,
and even to our grey-headed aged you will carry us still.
When you are our strong security, that is strength indeed,
but when our security is in ourselves, that is but weakness.
Our good abides ever in your keeping,
but in diverting our steps from you we have grown perverse.
Let us turn back to you at last, Lord, that we be not overturned.
Unspoilt, our good abides with you,
for you are yourself our good.
We need not fear to find no home again
because we have fallen away from it;
while we are absent our home falls not to ruins,
for our home is your eternity.

AMEN!!!