Yearly Archives: 2017

WARNING: This may be disgusting. 

I heard a preacher once say that relying on the words of man alone explaining or applying the Bible is like having someone else chew your food before you swallow it.

Gross right?

In a conversation about spiritual development, a dear old saint and I were discussing the helpfulness of Oswald Chambers. But as we talked it became clear that this was the only input she got each day.

Chambers would be, I hope, horrified. 

Human writers, the best of them are nothing more than supplements. And for a vitamin to absorb best, it should be taken with food. 

Another preacher once said, we need to be reading the Bible more than books about the Bible.

Yes, Scripture can be hard to understand sometimes. And human authors – and our clergy – can help. (If your clergy can’t, or won’t… find new clergy.) But if we keep a steady diet of Scripture flowing into our heart and mind, and invest ample time with our Father in prayer, He can use Scripture to explain and illustrate Scripture. 

(I find this Scripture explain Scripture thing happening all the time in the ‘M’Cheyne One Year Reading Plan’. Check it out here  http://bible.com/r/O )

After dinner I take my vitamin. 

After Scripture and prayer, let Chambers inspire. 

Not instead.

Imagine you’re in a boat and are rowing. 🛶 On one side. Using all your strength to row on that one side. What would the result be?

Rowing in circles.

Now this is an oversimplification of the sail-row-drift-sink metaphor, but it’s worth thinking about.

Let’s say that, as I believe, the foundational disciplines of one’s personal discipleship / spiritual development are Bible reading and prayer, those disciplines, in the metaphor, are the oars.

Let’s also say that you find one of those two easier or more natural for you. And on that one you out your focus, to the neglect of the other.

In other words, you’re just 🚣 rowing on one side of the boat. 

And you don’t seem to be making progress. 

See, I talk to people all the time who can’t seem to make any progress and when asked about their disciplines they’re all the same. Undisciplined in the word and/or in prayer. 

There are two oars in the boat. 

So I’m unpacked, laundry done and headed to the library…

for yet more edits on the thesis, maybe the final ones…

Building and maintaining Trust is the key to biblical leadership. Indeed trust can be a greater motivator for those we might lead than fear, power or money. 

Looking to our Father each morning through His word and through prayer in a balanced fellowship with Him reminds us of trust. For He is trustworthy.

Indeed it is in His word that we may be reminded of His greatness. In Scripture we see His trustworthiness. As Amos proclaimed:

“For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!”

‭‭Amos‬ ‭4:13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

http://bible.com/59/amo.4.13.esv

The New York Times once reported that the average user spent fifty minutes a day on Facebook. 
50 minutes.

I hear lots of reasoning for why people don’t have time to read their Bible. Time is usually somewhere in the equation. 

So this morning I timed my Bible reading plan. 

“Oh!” You say. “You read faster than I. That’s not a valid comparison.” 

Nope, I read at the pace of the audio that I listen to as I read along. (The YouVersion has audio built in on numerous versions.)

This post is intended to get my fellow disciples to think about the time they might give God in dwelling in His Scripture

Read on fellow disciple!!! Read on! 

You can do so with ease here. It’s the gold standard M’Cheyne reading plan. 

Maybe just a great Psalm. Today is the 95th day of 2017, check out the amazing Psalm 95!

Make the time y’all! 

I’ll bet all three of you are wondering what’s up with the travelin?

I’m now on the final leg of this journey in Vinnytsia, Ukraine doing a variety of ministry activities including some preaching but mostly teaching, what I’m calling “Biblical Leadership.” It’s a 10 session version of the 20 session version that I taught here last year at the Ukrainian Theological Seminary. It’s a time intensive task but I love teaching these mostly college age kids about life in ministry. 

Of course I’ve been hammering away at the essential nature of the disciplines.

Connecting deeply with the Father must be the source of our leadership.