Starting Hebrews…today!

I know we were not supposed to start just yet, but my wife was getting tired of not memorizing anything and so we decided to go ahead and just do a verse a day for right now.

Update concerning website: Now that the dwelling-rich.org overhaul is complete, this site will be shutting down in about a week or so. If you go to you will find that, instead of the old website it is now a blog, which I will have a bit of more flexibility with concerning what we are trying to accomplish. So, just start directing yourselves over to that site. And I would like to thank Andrew Nagy for the switching of domain names. We will have more information concerning his business on the new site.

–Management

Psalm 119 and Spiritual Delight, pt. 1

The point of this post is not to sound “Piper-ish” as in John Piper, rather I was looking at Ps. 119 and began to find verse after verse (over 30) concerning how emotions attached to the word of God.  David (or whoever wrote the Psalm, it is not credited to anyone) is provoked to Hope, Delight, Longing and Joy over the word of God.  He hates everything that goes against the revealed word of God.  His emotion state was bound to the word of God in his life.  Amazing.

In the next post I will actually deliver the verses that talk about the writer’s emotions, but for now, let’s just talk about Delight in the word of God.  Emotions are, in themselves, a neutral thing.  Nothing is wrong with hate…if we hate the right thing.  Nothing is wrong with love…should we love the correct thing.  Slight sidebar, LUST is okay…if directed to your own wife or husband.  A man (by man I mean male or female) should be known not only by what provokes them not only to excitement, delight, joy, longing and so on, but also we disdain, what we hate, what steer clear from and detest.  For example, I love my wife and daughter.  That means that if my wife wanted to divorce me, I would hate it.  If my daughter were molested later in life I would hate it.  If A is opposite of B, then I cannot love both A and B.

The writer of this Psalm, we will just call him David for now, hated falsehood and love the Law of the Lord.  It was his delight.  It was his longing both day and night.  He loved the righteous word of God.  If my little statement of logic above is right, if he loved the word of God, he hated evil.  Loving the word of God is about loving the word of God, but also hating evil.  It is not simple abstaining from evil, but hating the very presence of it.

Thoughts and Ideas

Okay, just had an old friend of mine over from my college days.  He has moved back to town from Louisville, KY. where he was finishing up his MDiv.  I spilled my guts about how my desire is to start a para-church educational ministry.  Basically, the purpose would be to get educational materials into the hands of individual believers, small groups and local churches for no cost or as little cost as possible.

The reason I would like to do this may come off as insulting in the beginning, but that is not my intention in the slightest way.  We need to Reform Christian Education in local churches.  Many Christian are wildly ignorant of theological concepts, church history, how to properly defend their faith and so on.  I believe that all of this is about the word of God dwelling richly within us.  Why?  In Church History we see how powerfully God used the simple means of preaching the word and prayer, in the study of theology we see beautiful and glorious doctrines which can be and should be applied to every day life.  There is not ONE DOCTRINE in the Bible that is not useful for the average person in the church pew.  How do I know?  Simple, the God of the Universe does not waste words.  As far as defending one’s faith, we are talking about being able to adequately state the facts of the Life of Christ, the Resurrection and etc…to those who do not believe in a clear and understandable way.

I do not in anyway hold myself up as the beacon of understanding in these things, and write now I am under obligation by my God, my wife and several brothers in Christ to finish the book I am currently working on concerning the topic of Meditation.  That means that in the coming months I would love to recruit people to help be writers as part of this site.  I will do some searching on my own, but if people have any ideas or desire to jump on board without being sought, by all means.

Jude 4

“For certain people have crept in unnoticed, who were long ago designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.”

I love the word usage throughout Jude.  These people, against whom we must contend for pure doctrine, have crept into the churches.  Already in this letter there is a sense of deceit and deviousness (if that is a word). They crept in unnoticed.  They looked like everyone else.  They, at first, said all the right phrases; they shook all the right hands; they kissed babies and patted the little ones on the head.  They were able to rise to a position of teaching authority, possibly, and that is when the other shoe dropped.  They were unnoticed, but revealed themselves after time as those who pervert God’s grace and deny Christ.  

These people, these false teachers, were long ago designated for condemnation.  Their acts are condemned, as they themselves are condemned.  Why?  They pervert the grace of God into a Fleshly sensuality and deny the Lordship of Christ, our Master and God.  These teachers crept in, unnoticed, and began to teach that God’s grace was a license to go crazy, all the while denying submission to Christ.  It is only logical for these two things to go together.  In order to view the grace of God in such a way you have to, ultimately, deny the right of Christ’s lordship in the life of the Believer, whether we say it out loud or not.  We cannot claim that Christ is Lord over our lives and live as though grace has no power to transform us more and more into the image of Christ.  Yet, these teachers did even worst.  They not only lived in this way, they taught others the same.  Their condemnation was just.

It is a dangerous thing to be a teacher in the Church of God.  Why?  Your doctrine and your life influence other people all the time, whether we want it to or not.  James said that not many of his readers (nor us who read so many years later) should be quick to become teachers.  It is a dangerous “profession” as God will deal harshly with those who lead His flock astray and do harm to His Son’s Bride…whether on purpose or by accident from not knowing the word. 

God, give us teachers in accordance with Your will and Your word throughout our churches in America.  May a watered down and un-inspired version of Your grace and power be removed, and may true grace take hold in Your congregations.  Your Son is Lord, and Lord over all…make us to live like it, Father. 

Jude 3

(Decided to do meditations through Jude instead of praying through Jude.)

“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you our common salvation, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.”

There comes a time, indeed, for fellowship. We cannot deny the admonition of the New Testament to come together as the local church and fellowship with one another in Truth and Grace and Love. There are times to discuss glorious theologies and wrestle with theological issues concerning the millinium, the nature between the “soul” and the “spirit” and so on. Yet, there comes a time for war and such a time is all around us even now. There are “non-essentials” to discuss, but the very bases of the faith once for all delivered to the saints is under attack by those in the Word of Faith Movement, those who, like Oprah, take Christian terms and rape them of their true meaning and so many others.

Along with this we see in this verse the implicit need to know the foundational truths of the Christian faith. For how does one contend, how does one fight for what they do not know? We cannot contend in ignorance, thus there must be a foundational knowledge, a foundational understanding of essential Christian doctrines. We must contend for the life of Christ as presented in the Gospels, the inerrant nature of the word of God, the nature of the Triune God and other blessed doctrines found in the word. Failure to do so will lead us into times of vast darkness and spiritual apathy. The true faith once for all delivered to the saints is only, in a human sense, only one generation away from being lost to the world.

Is this not what happened in the days of the Judges? The book states that the generation who was to conquer the land passed away and that the new generation did not know the Lord, nor what the Lord had done for the people of Israel. What happened next was the logical consequence of their ignorance as learn throughout the rest of the book. Only a sliver of faithful witness remained throughout all the Israelites. If we do not struggle for, contend for, fight for the essentials of the Christian faith it can be lost to us. What we do not contend for we will most likely lose.

God, as we see hordes of false teachers and false prophets on the some of the most center stages of Christianity in America, please help us to contend for the true faith delivered by Your called Prophets and Apostles. May we not shrink back from teaching that which is sound doctrine to one another and teh chilren in our homes and churches. It seems that darker days are coming still, Heavenly Father, and contending for Biblical Truth becomes less and less politically correct. In the midst of this remind us that we are to enter into the Kingdom through many trials and tribulations. If Truth is worth singing about and preaching about it is Truth that is worth contending for in our day.

Epistle of Jude

While we are waiting for Phil, Katie and I to begin our time in Hebrews, I am going to be “praying through the Epistle of Jude starting tomorrow morning.  Memorization and Meditation feeds into every other spiritual discipline.  Memorization should lead us into Meditation upon what we just memorized.  Meditation, drinking deeply and deliberately from God’s word, should lead us into prayer.  Even a small book such as Jude can bring us to God upon our knees, as we see needs in out own lives, in the life of our family and the life of our local church.

We are doing Jude because:

1.  It is a small book and will be easier to go through before we start in Hebrew
2.  It focuses on God’s disdain for false teachers.  Don’t think that God has disdain for anyone?  Read through the Jude twice in today and see the anger dripping from the mouth of God through Jude.  The majority of the epistle is divine anger and the promise of divine wrath
3.  Lastly, if I can show people that this is possible to do through a rarely read book such as Jude, people may be able to get the idea that this would be powerful through well known books such as the Gospels or Romans or well known Old Testament books.

See ya tomorrow.

Meditation

I am in the process of writing my second book, which is on Meditation (as the title of this post implies).  This book, in my mind at least, is long overdue and I wish that I had written this one first, but, oh well.  I believe that Meditation is an untapped power source for many believers, which is why I am writing this book.

I have no desire to write something that is already flooding the market.  If I ever write a third book it will probably not be on Prayer, how far down most of the American church has gone or the Sovereignty of God.  I am writing a book on Meditation because I have, personally, not seen a good Bible-based book on Meditation.  Maybe my third book will be on a Bible Perspective on Healings!  LOL!  Yet another book you do not see too much of these days.

Discipline

This post is not about tooting my own horn, or patting myself on the back. What I am about to say I say because God has allowed me a great deal of discipline recently in regards to His word, and I praise Him for it.

God has placed it around lately a call for discipline and intentional living through the Sunday School class I attend, sermons that I hear on the radio and my own “Quiet Times”. I live, and so do you, in a very undisciplined age of the Church, I believe. Pastor Andrew Davis, in a sermon concerning prayer and meditation, made the observation that we may be the most distracted age of the Church ever. Unfortunately, this will only get worse as multi-media becomes more hi-tech. In fact, as I write this, I have a cell phone on my hip and an ear piece that will allow me to answer said phone without actually having to touch said phone! We have so many gadgets and “what-nots” around us 24/7 that it is no wonder we get so easily distracted today.

However, if we are going to meet with the God of the Universe in a personal and tangible way throughout our short times on this earth, we must be deliberate and intentional about certain things in our lives. With the memorizing that I do and what I have done already and what I want to do, I have a very busy “reading” schedule in the mornings. Basically, throughout a week, I want to do the following: 1. Review, by reading out loud to myself, the four books I have memorized (not including Ephesians). To help me with this I have given each book a day and, in the morning, review that book for that day. 2. As I am done with Ephesians I am now saying it daily for the next two months. This usually happens on the way to work, as I have a little less than a 15 min. drive Monday-Friday. 3. I am starting Hebrews in about 6 weeks and have decided to read through the first two chapters daily to familiarize myself with the text.

All of this means the following has to happen: 1. I have to get up early enough to review a book and read Hebrews 1-2 in the morning. This means that I also have to go to bed early enough to not be dead on my feet the rest of the day. 2. If I am going to recite Ephesians to myself while driving, I need to turn off the radio and simply do it. All of this, along with simply staying on task, can get a little tedious sometimes, no lie.

Yet, when we keep a clear goal in mind we realize that discipline becomes, not simply something to do, but a tool to get to where we desire to be. I do not simply want to review books and memorize and recite and meditate and…and…and…I want to be able to commune with God in a powerful way, through His word, wherever I may be. If His word is going to be in me I must review what I have (as a good steward), recite what I just memorized and read what is coming up. This is not about making God “happy” or wowing Him, but, in a sense, it is all about me. I do this because I want to know God more! Discipline is power.

Next Book…

So, Dwelling Rich is built upon the premise that Memorization and Meditation for the Believer should be ongoing disciplines, constantly pursued throughout the course of one’s pilgrimage.  For this reason, in about 6-7 weeks, I am going to begin memorization the Letter to the Hebrews.  This will be, Lord willing I finish, the sixth book of the New Testament that I will have memorized.  The others are as follows: 1.  Jude, 2.  Colossians. 3. 1 Peter, 4.  1 Thessalonians. 5. Ephesians (which I just finished not too long ago).  Write now I am in the process of saying Ephesians in its entirety once a day for two months.  During this time I am also reading and re-reading the first chapter of Hebrews.  At the beginning of each day (or at least Tuesday-Friday) I am reviewing (reading aloud to myself) the four other books that I have memorized.  God has, throughout this, blessed me with a lot more discipline and perseverance than I personally thought I could ever have.  All praise to Him!

I say all of this to let people know that it is possible.  I am 27 years old, married and have an eleven month old daughter.  I work a 40 hour work week in a warehouse and have a 15-20 minute commute.  I am not a pastor, any type of clergy or full-time church worker.  There are days where I miss doing verses.  There are weeks when I only review one book, and maybe not even that sometimes.  Yet, all-in-all, God has been gracious and faithful as I have set my heart to know the mind of my God, for that is what Scripture is when all is said and done:  The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the revealed mind of God to His people.  I have set my heart to know this, to love this and to teach and preach this where opportunities may be found.

Did Jesus Teach the “Age of Aquarius”?

If you twist anyone’s arm long enough they will tell you what you want to hear. Unfortunately, we have treated the Bible the same way. I was listening to the radio last Tuesday to the Dave Glover Show, a weird and rather miscellaneous show that comes on 97.1 here in Saint Louis. Every Tuesday he has on a Dr. Lench (sp?) who explains paranormal what-nots. This particular segment landed upon Christianity and Christ and he made the following observation: Jesus taught the Age of Aquarius was approaching. How on earth would you get this from the Christian Scriptures, you might ask? Simple…let’s see if we cannot “twist some arms” here:

Luke 22:10: He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a water jar will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters…”

For those of you playing the home edition, there is a reason you get no more context than this. If you read before this or after this the context of the passage sends the good Dr’s theory going the way of the Dodo. If you simply look at this small piece, however, this is where you arrive: Christ is telling His disciples that the Age of Aquarius is coming. How do we know this? Look at the person they are supposed to follow: A man with a water jar! Jesus’ disciples are to follow into the Age of Aquarius! Awesome…unless you look at the rest of the passage, and see that the Good Dr. is nothing more than a “hidden reef” (Jude 12), though he claims to be a believer:

Luke 22:7-12Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” 9 They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” 10 He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters 11 and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” 13 And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

But who needs a silly thing like context anyway, right? In fact, let’s have a contest to see who can twist the Bible’s arm better?…Maybe not.