I love the accuracy and readability of the ESV Translation of the Bible. But regardless of which translation you read/study from, this is good/helpful info on Bible translations. Check it out! http://thevillagechurch.net/sermon/what-bible-translation-does-the-village-recommend/
Here are a few great quotes from a book that we have been going through together in our Tuesday morning men’s Bible study, Kingdom Man.
“A kingdom man is one who visibly demonstrates the comprehensive rule of God underneath the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of his life.” p.14
“To be aligned under God is to consistently make your decisions whether personal or professional, in line with God’s Word.” p. 34
“Achieving greatness means maximizing all that you are destined to be for the glory of God and for the good of others.” p. 44
“Men…if you will simply make the most of where you are, God will do the rest…Never let your limitations limit what God can do with you.” p. 50
“The problem in marriages today isn’t that we have too many women who don’t want to submit. The problem is that we have too many men who don’t want to submit–to the lordship of Jesus Christ.” p. 78
“If you are not willing to be a blessing to others through what God has given you, then why should He consider you as a good candidate for a blessing?” p. 105
“Kingdom success runs much deeper than the width of a wallet, the square footage of a home, or the smiles in a photograph hanging on a wall. Success has to do with fulfilling the reason for being for God’s glory, your good, and the benefit of others.” p. 116
It’s been a great study so far. We’ll pick back up again after spring break, Tuesday, 3/15.
Check out this month’s issue of Grace Bible Fellowship’s Grace Notes at the link below:
Me and 30 of my closest friends at the Mavs game this past Wednesday night!! 25 4th, 5th, & 6th grade boys + 5 great adult leaders (Jason Waligura, Donnie Walton, Jarod Martin, Brandon Jester, & Barret Dupler) & me. We had a great time.
Effective youth ministry has at least 3 components. You have to — 1. PLAY 2. PRAY & 3. PREACH. This night was heavy on the PLAY. Our hope and prayer is that through this fun outing we disarmed these boys toward Christ’s church and built some relationships toward deeper, life on life discipleship.
We’ll be looking at John 9 this Sunday at Grace Bible. And it’s not just a story about a nameless man born blind who regained his sight. It’s more than that. It’s the story of all of us apart from Jesus Christ. It’s my story. I was blind, now I see.
See you Sunday, Fam.
Video of recent Baptisms at Grace Bible, including my 8 year old daughter, Norah (picture below). Special day for our Faith Family AND The Layman Family.
*Thanks to Jason Carney for making this vid!
Our sermon yesterday at Grace Bible was over the WHY of pain and suffering, and how we can view it/deal with it biblically. Below, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams speaks at his wife Ingrid’s memorial service after she died tragically in a car accident last week. Clearly, Mr. Williams has a firm grip on the gospel and serves as an example to us all.
Also, here is a link to a post from Desiring God with deeper insights into the faith and example of Monty Williams:
Weary? We all are, at some level. The short video below and the post that follows by Jared C. Wilson (taken from ESV Men’s Devotional Bible) help us to realize the power of the gospel in the life of weary men.
The gospel breathes life into a man’s weary spirit primarily in three ways:
I think every man carries around some sort of wound, baggage, things that they’ve done, mistakes that they’ve made, sins that they’ve committed. Even if they’ve repented of these things, sometimes they don’t feel forgiven or they feel like they can’t escape from under that shadow.
The gospel comes in and says that what you were does not define you. You are what God says you are in Christ. Understanding the rich truth of justification gives us great freedom from the past.
In the gospel comes the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. We really do have the Spirit working according to the Father’s will to make us more like Christ . We do have the power to obey.
But when we fall short—as we often do—we know that we have the grace to forgive us so that we’re not defined by our worst deeds. We really do have the Spirit’s empowering presence for our present work and effort.
Most men worry about providing for their families and making sure the bottom doesn’t fall out from underneath them. The harsh truth of living in a broken and sinful world is that we have no guarantee of security; Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). We don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
But we do have the guarantee that our hope is secure in the gospel. The hope that we have in Christ is not the same hope that we often refer to in everyday language (e.g., “I hope something good will happen.). Our hope in Christ is a sure hope—a secure hope.
Every man can wake up in the morning with fresh mercies and with the understanding that whatever happens to his bank account or with his family or whatever else, he is united to Christ and therefore he is as secure as Christ himself is.
Jared C. Wilson is the director of content strategy at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and a contributor to the ESV Men’s Devotional Bible.
This post originally appeared at Crossway.org
We’ve recently had a quite a few people join Grace Bible as members. Praise God for that! But with the influx of members and the announcement and welcome of those members sometimes comes the question, WHY CHURCH MEMBERSHIP?
Church membership is something that I have grown in my appreciation of over the years. At our last membership meeting one of our elders explained how 2 years ago, on our annual elder retreat, we looked at Hebrews 13:17 where church leaders are described as keeping watch over souls “as those who will have to give an account.” Our natural response as elders was, who’s souls are we going to give an account for??? The words in Hebrews require us to think about how we determine who is in our scope of responsibility. We didn’t build our whole understanding of church membership around this verse, but it was one of many that informed us and helped us to have a greater appreciation for biblical church membership.
But while we as leaders and as a church have come to value church membership MORE, at the same time, church membership has become LESS valuable in our culture, and among many people who profess Jesus as Savior. Maybe you’ve heard, or maybe even at one time, said, things like:
“I love Jesus. But the church, not so much”
“Membership? Sounds like a private club?”
“I’m a Christian, why would I need to be a member?”
I am a Christian, and I am an avid sports fan. Nothing wrong with that per se. But sports, in the life of a Christian, like anything else, need to be enjoyed biblically–for God’s glory. After all, our charge is straight forward in Scripture, “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1Cor10:31). So how do we play as well as be a fan of sports, for God’s glory? It’s a good question. And one that requires study of Scripture, careful thought, prayer, and a lot of heart checks for the athlete as well as the fan.
Any time I come across good biblical thought and wisdom on this topic, I read it. I need all the help I can get. I found the post at the link below from author, pastor, and fellow avid sports fan, Jared C. Wilson, to be especially helpful. Here’s an excerpt, followed by the link to the entire post:
…when we use sports poorly, for our own glory and our own sake, we not only lose sorely but win poorly. And athletes, whether they’re Christians or not, reflect more the heart of God when they accept responsibility when losing and deflect credit when winning, when they seek the good of their team and the dignity of their opponents, when they do things like give up achievable salaries in order to provide financial advantage for their team in employing more highly skilled players who can benefit the organization. But when an athlete plays only for himself, he loses even if he wins. Many athletes love Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me,” but would that they’d also take Philippians 2:3 to heart: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
ENTIRE POST: FOOTBALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD?
