Here is another Bible reading plan that is more challenging but highly recommended. It is a system designed by Prof. Grant Horner and you may find it at www.worshipmatters.com, in a Dec. 29 entry entitled "Why I'm Reading the Bible in Ten Different Places". I came across this one today (Dec. 30) and may decide to use it instead of M'Cheyne's plan.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Read the Bible in 2011
For your joy in Jesus, refreshment in spirit, equipment for battling sin and living fruitful, Christ-magnifying life, growth in God's grace and His gospel, and depth of prayer and intercession (and more!), I encourage you to read through the Scriptures in 2011. There are many excellent Bible reading plans available on line, including many for use with the English Standard Version.
I have used the ESV Study Bible and find it very helpful, and this year I will use the "M'Cheyne Bible Reading Plan" (one I've not followed before). You may find this and nine other plans at the ESV resources website-- www.esv.org/resources/
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas Poem, 2010
Of Christmas Angels in the Gospel of Luke
Adorning our indoor trees and lighted lawn displays
are fancified, winged silhouettes, ashine—
Symbols of God’s angels sent to earth
right on time to speak His glorious praise;
to announce God’s Son Incarnate, sublime—
down from heaven’s throne for his humble birth.
In Herod’s days, an old priest—his name, Zechariah—
Was chosen to serve God in the holy place—
A thrill he’d anticipated for years!
By the incense altar, Zechariah saw
The Lord’s angel looking him right in the face!
Zechariah’s body shook, his frame draped in fear.
The angel spoke, “Don’t be afraid; your prayers God has heard.
Elizabeth, your precious wife, and you
Will have a boy named John, though you’re very old.
Many will rejoice as he works to spread the word
About Messiah, heaven-sent Truth,
To make ready a people, as prophets foretold.”
But Zechariah said, “How shall I know this? We’re old enough to die.”
“I’m Gabriel, I stand in God’s presence,
And He sent me to bring this great news!
Behold you will be silenced until John cries
When he’s born just a few months hence.
This will be fulfilled when the time is due.”
Later Gabriel was sent by God—this angel of great fame—
To Mary, a virgin girl in Galilee,
And Joseph was her man to marry.
“Greetings, God’s favor is with you,” Gabriel’s words came.
She was troubled…What could this be?
The angel helped, “God chose you; don’t be wary.”
“You will be God’s Son’s mother and Jesus will be His name.”
“Wait, I’m a virgin, how can this be?”
“The power of the Most High will come upon you;
Holy will be the newborn child’s name.
Look, old Elizabeth is pregnant, see?”
And Mary said, “I’ll be the Lord’s servant, too.”
In David’s town Mary’s time came and she birthed him--
--Her firstborn son, swaddling him secure,
And bedded him in a cow shed manger,
Because no rooms were vacant in the inn.
Amazing! Heaven’s prince born in a stable poor,
With Mary and Joseph, unaware of future danger.
That night, in close-by hills there were shepherds guarding their flock,
When quiet broke and an angel appeared—
And all around them God’s glory burned bright!
Terrified, the men were frozen with shock!
The angel said, “Behold, you’ve no need to fear.
Good news I bring for all people’s great joy and delight!”
“Unto you is born this day a Savior, there in town,
And He will be called Christ the Lord!
A sign for you is this: A baby you will espy
Lying in an ordinary manger, in swaddling rags wound.”
Suddenly a host of angels joined to praise God and adore,
“Peace among those with whom God is pleased; Glory to Him on high!”
Glorious, fearsome, bright, exotic—angels are awesome!
Some fixate on the mysterious and heavenly.
But let us take care to guard our hearts,
Recalling always and now when Christmas comes,
That angels play supporting roles; Christ’s the One to see!
Yes, Jesus is the Star and angels play smaller parts.
As messengers of heaven’s King, angels set the stage
For the Son who came to earth a man,
To turn many hearts to God their Lord.
They prepared Jesus’ mother to turn life’s page
And give life to Him, the Son of Man,
Whose body would be shattered and life-blood outpoured.
So let us join the angel-ranks and serve our Lord with praise,
Using all our life to magnify our King and…
“Hail the heav’n born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings, ris’n with healing in His wings!
Mild He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.
Hark the Rocky Family (sings and speaks and lives), ‘Glory to the newborn King.”
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
God's Only Begotten Son, Born of a Virgin
Must We Believe the Virgin Birth?
In one of his columns for The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof once pointed to belief in the Virgin Birth as evidence that conservative Christians are "less intellectual." Are we saddled with an untenable doctrine? Is belief in the Virgin Birth really necessary?
Kristof is absolutely aghast that so many Americans believe in the Virgin Birth….
read moreTuesday, December 21, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Incarnate Son, Heaven's Missionary to the world, blesses His Word, mission, and missionaries! Does this article remind you of an RBBC missionary family and people group?
Published on Challies Dot Com (http://www.challies.com)
God's Greatest Gifts
By Tim
Created 12/15/2010 - 8:59am
Gracious Father,
One of the great promises of heaven, a promise that I long to see fulfilled, is that what gets old and tired in this world will always remain new and fresh and exciting in the world to come. Niagara Falls will send chills down my spine every time I see it; the Grand Canyon will cause me to gasp in delight, not just once but for all of eternity; the night sky will move me to praise you for your greatness each and every time I look up. Nothing will get tiring, nothing will get old, nothing will be just the same time after time after time.
What is it that causes us to grow weary of things that are good and even things that are so very good? How could we build up such hardness, such spiritual resistance to your greatest gifts?
You called Adam to name each of the animals, and paraded them in front of him one by one. He saw two of this animal, two of that, two of another, and through it all realized that there was no helper fit for him. He could not have been lonely, living there in that perfect world. And yet he realized that he was incomplete. You caused him to fall into a deep sleep and there, when he awoke, standing before him, was the perfect complement to him, the perfect mate. In wonder he exclaimed, "This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." He praised you for your marvelous provision.
But then Adam sinned. He allowed his wife to lead him astray, he fell for the deception of the devil. And when you called to him he turned on that woman, he turned on that gift and said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." He turned on that gift, hated it, and in that moment hated the one who gave it.
Your Son called Peter to be one of his disciples. Jesus simply said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." And Peter followed. For several years he followed, walking in the steps of the man who claimed to be the Messiah. He followed him all the way to Jerusalem, even proclaiming, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
But then danger came. Suddenly that Savior did not seem so mighty. And when the people said to Peter, "You were with Jesus of Nazareth," he cursed and swore "I do not know the man!" He turned on that gift, hated it, and in that moment hated the one who gave it.
Why are we like this? Why do we marvel at something for a time and then grow weary of it, grow complacent toward it and even come to despise it? How do good gifts become old and tired gifts?
Father, I learned recently that you have seen fit to take your Word to some of your children, to some of my brothers and sisters who live almost a world away from me. Until recently the Kimyal Tribe in Papua, Indonesia have had only a portion of the New Testament available in their language. They loved that Word, they memorized it, they fed upon it. But like Adam after he named the animals and saw no helper fit for him, they knew that what they had was incomplete. But now, Lord, now you have given them the entire New Testament, all four gospels in which they can read about the life of your Son, Acts which allows them to study the earliest days of the earliest church, all those epistles in which your apostles tell us how we are to live in this world for your glory, those pastoral letters that will encourage the men in church leadership to hold fast the precious deposit that has been given them, and Revelation which beautifully describes that which is to come.
Their joy is remarkable. They overflow with it. They weep with the emotion of holding in their hands your precious Word. They throw a feast in an attempt to give back of the firstfruits. They dance and celebrate and act like this is the greatest thing that has ever happened to any of them. And that may just be the case. They have been waiting for two thousand years to hear from you. And now at last, in your perfect timing, you are speaking to them in their own language. And oh, how they rejoice.
I weep to see them celebrate. I weep with joy for them. I am grateful to you on their behalf, grateful to the ones whose long labor of love translated that Bible. But I also weep with shame and sorrow for me. How can my heart have grown so cold to your Word when these people, your children in the Kimyal tribe, are just now receiving those words for the first time? How could I grow so hardened to the gift you've given me? I sit in an office surrounded by Bibles—I can count 7 without even turning my head and I know there are many more downstairs and a whole box in the basement. And I say, "I'm tired. I don't feel like it. It all feels the same. It just doesn't seem exciting today." My dancing has turned into mourning, my celebrating into complaining.
Father, I need you to renew my love for your Word. I need you to keep my heart from growing cold toward your greatest gifts. I need you to keep me from looking to my wife and seeing only those things I think she isn't, only those things she doesn't do; I need you to keep me from denying you, perhaps not in my words but too often in my actions, in the orientation of my heart. And I need you to keep me from being complacent toward your Word, from assuming that I know enough about it, from regarding it as a chore rather than an honor, a responsibility rather than a delight. Stir my heart as you've stirred the hearts of so many of your people when they read your Words for the very first time. And let even this remind me of the greater joy that is to come on that great day when you wipe away my tears of sorrow, when you take away every ugly complacency.
As they say in the Kimyal language:
Al weig buna' ag bulamlange
"To him who sits on the throne,
ab Domba Me ab se,
sig aga meibna' ab,
gibna' ab, bebnag ab, migib ab,
unum-unum se ulamla.
and to the Lamb, be blessing
and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."
To the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Spirit be glory for ever and ever. Amen!
Note: Here is the pastor's prayer upon receiving the New Testament:
The month that you had set, the day that you had set, has come to pass today. Oh my Father, my Father, the Promise that you gave Simeon that he would see Jesus Christ and hold Him in his arms before he died. I also have been waiting under that same promise, O God. You looked at all the different languages and chose which ones will be put into Your Word. You thought that we should see Your Word in our language. Today, the day you had chosen for this to be fulfilled, has come to pass. You have placed it here in our land. And for all this, O God, I give You praise.
Spiritual Zombies, They Are All Around Us
| Please read this powerful post form Russell Moore, and pray for and carry the gospel to "zombies" you know. | |
| Zombies and the Gospel Source: russellmoore.com | |
Monday, December 6, 2010
Pray for Your Pastors and Teachers Please
Please pray for your pastors and teachers. Pray for us when we are "on a roll" and when we are struggling and always! Your help in this way is crucial. Upheld by the prayers of his people
Source: thegospelcoalition.org
The Prince of Peace
With His life's blood (thank God for the Incarnation of our Savior!) Jesus purchased peace with God and the peace of God for all His people. Therefore, we have rest in Him. What a great, sweet thought that is! I love one of the hymns Pastor Carey Dean led us in on Dec. 5 (the second Sunday of Advent) as together we prepared to receive Christ this Christmas time, focusing on our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Here is that hymn:
Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting
Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid my gaze upon Thee, and Thy beauty fills my soul.
For by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.
Refrain:
Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
O, how great Thy loving kindness, vaster, broader than the sea!
O, how marvelous Thy goodness, lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise, and have made it mine.
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings, meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings: Thine is love indeed!
Ever lift Thy face upon me as I work and wait for Thee;
Resting;neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory, sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting, fill me with Thy grace.
Amen.
Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting
Jesus, I am resting, resting, in the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid my gaze upon Thee, and Thy beauty fills my soul.
For by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.
Refrain:
Jesus, I am resting, resting,
In the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Thy loving heart.
O, how great Thy loving kindness, vaster, broader than the sea!
O, how marvelous Thy goodness, lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise, and have made it mine.
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings, meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings: Thine is love indeed!
Ever lift Thy face upon me as I work and wait for Thee;
Resting;neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory, sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting, fill me with Thy grace.
Amen.
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