What I'm Reading

For Personal Study:

• The Gospel of John (especially the 7 "I AM's," for my Wednesday night sermons)
• John: That You May Believe Preaching the Word commmentary by R. Kent Hughes
• Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective by Andreas J. Kostenberger
• Reflections on the Gospel of John by Leon Morris
• Gospel and Kingdom: A Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament by Graeme Goldsworthy (thanks Steve!)
• According to Plan: The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible by Graeme Goldsworthy

For School:

• The Bible, specifically the books of the Prophets
• Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Prophets by J. Gordon McConville
• Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament by LaSor, Hubbard, and Bush

For Fun:

• Know Your God: The Doctrine of God in the Pentateuch by Linleigh J. Roberts
• Betrayed! by Stan Telchin (the story of a Jewish family coming to faith in Christ

With My Kids:

• A Year With Your Children in the Bible by Jim Cromarty
• Ten Girls Who Changed the World by Irene Howat

With My Wife:

• God's Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible by Vaughn Roberts (Soon)

They're all pretty good.

Grace and peace,

David

Well, Here's A Post

Well, since it's been July since anyone posted here, I thought I'd add something:

Yesterday at Cracker Barrel I got the "peg game" down to one peg! Not once, not twice, but THREE times baby!

The board says if you do that you're a genius. So, now it's confirmed.

Grace and peace,
David

JAMES 1:2-12

Introduction: James is writing this letter to the 'twelve tribes scattered abroad'. We should understand this to mean, primarily those Christian Jews who had been scattered because of persecution that arose around the time of the martyrdom of Stephen, and secondarily, all Jews everywhere who had been dispersed into all the earth. Since those present at Pentecost who had believed had probably returned home by now and continued their worship in the synagogues, this letter goes out to them as a comfort in their individual persecutions as well.
In these verses James tells these Christians to count their trials as their joy, since trials were the testing of their faith, the testing of their faith produces patience, and patience produces maturity and eventually perfection as they will receive the crown of life promised to those who love God.
I. Joy In Suffering vv. 2-4 Matt. 5:10-12

A. Regard trials as your Joy

1. The Command
2. What Is Joy?

B. How Can Trials Produce This Joy?

1. Know That Trials Test Your Faith
2. Know That Testing Produces Patience (Endurance)
3. Know That Patience Brings Us To Completion
Heb. 7:5-9, 12:1-4

II. Wisdom In Uncertainty v. 5 Romans 8:28

A. God Gives Wisdom Freely
B. God Gives Wisdom Graciously

III. Certainty In Prayer vv. 6-8

A. Ask In Faith (knowing that God will not withhold anything from His children that will bring them to completion)
B. Without Doubting

1. The Doubter Is Carried Along By Every Trial
2. Will Not Receive Anything From God

C. In Singleness Of Mind

1. With An Eye To The Goal
2. Not Pulled In Different Directions

IV. Contentment in Circumstances vv. 9-11

A. The Poor Should Boast In Their Exalted Position In Christ
B. The Rich Should Boast In The Reproach Of The World
C. Riches Fade And The One Who Trusts In Them Will Fade With Them

V. Faithfulness In Temptations v. 12

A. The Joy Of Faithfulness
B. The Approval Of Faith 1 Peter 1:6-9
C. The Reward Of Love For God

Conclusion: Count your trials as joy, because your trials prepare you to see God, the hope of eternity.

A Forward Look

Friends,

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am looking forward to worshipping our Lord and Saviour this Sunday at WBBC!

Jeremy – I am looking forward to getting into the book of James. It is such a practical book, and I am asking the Lord for a period of growth in Him as you teach through this book. I am very excited to see what the Lord will do during the next few weeks.

Pastor Steve – I am looking forward to Hosea chapter 4. I am asking the Lord to challenge me and my commitment to Him during your message Sunday morning. I expect I will have some repenting to do once it is all over! I am praying that God gives you what WBBC needs as you preach this sobering chapter of His Word.

Charlie – I am really looking forward to getting back into Acts. I hated being out last Sunday night, and I know I missed some good exposition from this exciting book! I am enjoying this series immensely and learning a lot.

I thank God that He led my family to WBBC! We are so happy to there. God has used you 3 men to teach me so much the past 6-7 months. The teaching and preaching ministry of WBBC is a blessing. I feel like the Lord will continue to add to the church (in His timing) so that more people will be blessed through the solid, biblical and theological teaching and preaching there. God bless you all and I truly am looking forward to Sunday!

Question

How do you feel about the American flag being inside the church building?

And what about 4th of July "special" Sundays?

Last year I sat through a Sunday morning service that was more patriotic than some of the celebrations we had in the service. Every song sung was an "American classic," such as "America the Beautiful," or, (I could not believe it), that song by Lee Greenwood, what is it called? "Proud to be an American"? The only "Christian" song was "Onward Christian Soldiers," which is actually a Unitarian song I believe. All of us veterans were called on to stand for a round of applause and the American flag was draped all over the sanctuary. I thought it was terrible.

What about saying the pledge of allegiance to the flag during VBS? Is it okay if you also say the pledge to the "Christian" flag? And to the Bible? It makes me uneasy. Most Christians I've asked can't tell me where the Christian flag came from or why churches "pledge" to it. From my research, it was created by one man, whose family receives a royalty from each one bought. If I am wrong on that, please correct me. But, I still don't like it.

There is a certain Baptist church in Lenoir City, TN, that flies the American flag, the Tennessee flag, and the Christian flag. The church is correctly flying the American flag according to protocol - as the tallest flag - signifying that it receives the highest allegiance. What signal is sent by that, if only implicitly? Does America receive our greatest allegiance or does Christ?

I'm not even sure that a casket in church should have the flag draped over it - and I'm entitled to have one on mine.

What do y'all think?

Blogs?

Could this possibly be applicable to the majority of the blogs out there?

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Acts 17:21

Grace and peace

JAMES 1:1

Introduction: The letter of James is only a letter by name. It is really more of a sermon. In this sermon, James calls for joy in suffering, persevering faith, the pursuit of wisdom, reception of the Word, pure religion, submission to the law of Christ, faith that works, taming of the tongue, intimacy with God, repentance of sins, patience, and prayers of faith. With such an eclectic mix of themes, it is hard to follow James thoughts at times, but through careful study and prayer we can find our way through this important letter, and reach the end of the means, the salvation of our souls which is the result of receiving the Word. Let's follow James' advice and ask God for wisdom so that we may rightly discern what the Spirit says to the churches.
I. Authorship

A. Which James?

1. The father of Judas Acts 1:13 and Luke 6:16
2. The son of Alphaeus Acts 1:13 and Luke 6:15
3. The son of Zebedee and brother of John martyred around a. d. 44
4. The half-brother of Jesus, leader of the Jerusalem church

B. Early Life
Matthew 13:55, John 7:1-5, I Corinthians 15:1-9
C. Position
Acts 12:17, 15:13-21, Galatians 1:19, 2:9, 12

II. Date

A. James martyred around A. D. 62
B. Before Jerusalem Council Around A. D. 49-50 Acts 15
C. After Stephen's Martyrdom around A. D. 35 Acts 6, 7
D. Paul's preaching around A. D. 36

1. James and Paul agreed on justification
2. James probably interacts with a distortion of Paul's preaching, not recognizing it's origin
3. James' position is complimentary to what Paul taught

E. 44-48 a. d.

III. Recipients

A. Eschatological Nature Of The Term, 'The Twelve Tribes'

1. The Assyrian captivity and remnant of the ten northern tribes
2. The restoration of Israel
3. Two fulfillments

a. A literal fulfillment Romans 11:25-27
b. A fulfillment in the Church represented by the twelve Apostles and the 144,000 in Revelation 7:3-8 and 14:1-5

B. The 'Diaspora'
C. Unbelieving Jews?

IV. Jesus and James

A. A servant of the Lord Jesus Christ
B. Jesus is King
C. Jesus the new lawgiver
D. Parallels between James and the Sermon on the Mount

Conclusion: The author of the letter is James, the brother of Jesus and 'Pastor' or the Jerusalem church. The letter is probably the earliest Christian writing included in the canon. As it's early date suggests, the main audience are believing Jews who had come to faith in Christ in Jerusalem, and then had both returned home after Pentecost, and had been scattered out away from Palestine because of persecution. These early Jewish Christians probably continued to attend their synagogues where they would come into contact with unbelievers. This letter would have been read among those assemblies. James' letter then served two purposes. First, to exhort believing Jews to persevere in their faith and obedience to the 'perfect law of liberty', and second, to call unbelieving Jews to faith in Christ, the new lawgiver, and repentance of their sins.

David, you wrote:

First, the exclusive claim of Christ as the only Way will bring further persecution upon the true church. The current worldview cannot tolerate such a claim.

I agree completely. And the fact that you distinguish "the true church" from modern Christianity is pertinent. May we all be reminded of what "leaders" of the "church" are saying here in America:

LARRY KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?

JOEL OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.

CNN Transcripts

Don't you just love the end result of Arminian Theology (universalism)?

Silliness and Babble

Steve said it well the other night - persecution is coming, and for many is already here.

Two things I see:

First, the exclusive claim of Christ as the only Way will bring further persecution upon the true church. The current worldview cannot tolerate such a claim.

Second, Islam seeks to destroy us. "Radical" Islam does not truly exist. When you see what the world calls "radical" Islam, you're actually just seeing Islam as it is where it is the majority. I have been to Muslim countries and I have walked their streets and talked to the people. It was fascinating to visit, but I certainly do not want to live under their rule.

And what do we do?

Much of the church has fallen far down Spurgeon's "Down-Grade" to the point where it's doubtful they could ever come back. They have made themselves irrelevant. Meanwhile, much of the Reformed (of which I am part and which I do love) church spends much of its energy debating everything under the sun with each other. It reminds me of the story of the ancient church leaders debating Mariology while the Muslim armies bore down on them.

Meanwhile, the world around us grows more hostile, and much of it is being burned.

In Christ Alone,
David