Finals

OK, I had a request for a post about finals. However, it's late at night (yes, 8:49 is late for me). I'll keep thinking about it, but while you're waiting here's a little something to make you smile.

written by Jerry Scott and illustrated by Jim Borgman

Reading through the Bible

Our pastor recently spoke of the importance of reading through the Bible. This has been pressed upon me numerous times in life. I know people who read through the Bible every year. I know someone who is reading through at a faster pace to catch up so that he will have read through the Bible once for every year of his Christian life. Another person I know of had an extended time for reading every day and wrote a four month, then two month, then one month plan for reading through the whole Bible. When you read a book like The Pilgrim's Progress, it is amazing how Christian, Faithful, and others speak as if they have the whole Bible memorized. Scriptures are peppered into their speech so often that it's as if they are speaking a language called "Bible." I've tried several times to stay on a "through the year" plan, but I've never made it thus far. However, since it's important not to give up and since there is no Scripture commanding how often we read, I have just kept plowing through and have made it to the end a number of times. Rob recommended reading through the whole Bible once, then the New Testament an extra time, then back to the whole Bible. This plan is working for me, but I don't keep track of how long it takes to get all the way through. Anyway, the point is to find a plan and just do it. Reading through the Bible is something that you will never regret.

Here are some plans. Some are better than others. There are five different plans to choose from offered by BibleYear.com.
Here is a 90 day plan if you are really ambitious.
Bible Gateway has several plans here. They can be read right there at their site, or you can sign up and have them sent to you each day.
Bible Study Tools.com has many plans including a two year plan if you want to take it slower and ease in.
This one is one of my favorites because you read a selection from the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs each day.
Back to the Bible has several plans.
There are many more online.

Here are some helpful hints: Dos and Don'ts for Catching Up, Should you Fall Behind

Praying for your Spouse

Marriage has been on my mind of late. (I wonder why?) Some of you may think the time is far off. The thing is, you don’t know the future or God’s plan. This will end up being the most important person in your life. When you are young and thinking of dating, it can be easy to be distracted with attraction or doing fun stuff together. For a little while, though, spend some time thinking of that person who you’ll be sitting on the front porch with when you are old and gray.

Regardless of how close or far your own wedding date is, my question to you is: Are you praying for your future spouse? God knows who it is and has each day planned until you meet, date, and marry.

If you assume that your future someone is around your age, then they are probably going through the same types of things you are. Pray for them the same way you would pray for yourself.

• Pray for him/her to resist temptation of the devil in its many forms.
• Pray that if God has not yet called him/her to salvation, that the day would come soon.
• Pray that school studies would go well.
• Pray for needed finances to fall into place.
• Pray for times when friends seem far and loneliness is felt.
• Pray for his/her family.
• Pray that he/she would be faithful in church attendance, tithing, and serving the saints.
• Pray that he/she would be faithful in prayer and Scripture reading every day.

As I pray for you this week, I’ll be praying for your future spouse, too.

Redeeming the Time

This morning’s sermon was on Ephesians 5:15–17. Our pastor read Proverbs chapter 9 as well in preparation for the preaching of the Word. It was an excellent tie in with our Proverbs that we’ve been reading. Wisdom calls out with words that will uplift you and lead you safely through life. Folly also calls out to you with words that are somewhat related but lead instead to destruction. This calls us all to question, who are we listening to?

In Ephesians, Paul has been urging us to walk in the manner that we have been called. We are children of the Most High God. Do we show this in our lives? I memorized these verses as a child in the King James. There it says, “Redeeming the time because the days are evil.” These words echo in my mind so often. How am I making choices that show that I am a child of God?

In my teen years, my family would watch an hour long Disney show that was played each Sunday while we ate dinner. Right afterwards would be a Sunday matinee which we would typically watch as well. At some point, I realized that this took up the entire afternoon until evening worship. I stopped watching because I didn’t want that to be the whole Lord’s Day. (That was even before God brought Rob and me to the Doctrines of Grace.)

Am I saying that television is wrong? Any of you who know us know that we watch quite a bit of television and movies around here. So what am I saying? For me, it was about balance and timing. If the entire block between morning worship and evening worship was spent in front of the television, where would my time with the Lord be? We have also taken a page from my dad’s book and keep busy during a number of our shows. I grade papers, knit gifts, or fold laundry.

Another way that I’ve found to apply these verses is thinking about where the wasted time in my week is. I got this idea from Dad as well. He used to memorize Scripture while he was on guard duty in the military. He would pace around his designated route with little verse cards in his pocket. I have ten hours a week that I spend in the car. That is a lot of time. Rob got me the Bible on CD. It is great to be able to listen to my Bible lessons for school or Proverbs or anything. I can use my iPod for sermons or podcasts. Also, I call my parents or school families or anyone.

The sermon was very convicting. I find myself asking, how can I squeeze more out of the time I’ve been given? “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Eph. 5:15-17

Suffering for the Sake of Christ

Recently, I had an opportunity to hear a great deal about the underground Church in a certain country. (I can tell you more in person, but there can be no details put into electronic form or into cyberspace for safety’s sake.) It is my prayer that through some of these stories, it will increase your prayer for the church around the world as well as strengthen your own personal faith in God.

There was a woman who had been arrested for her faith. She was held in a sea shipping container—yes, the big metal containers you see on trucks or ships. She was tortured by her captors each day with the desire that she might recant her faith. Although she faced suffocating heat in the day and tremendous cold at night, she maintained her love for Christ as well as a tender heart. When her main torturer asked her why she would not recant and why she was not bitter towards him and others, she said, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”

A pastor had been in prison for about three months and got an opportunity to be outside for a short time. He was within hearing distance of another cell. A man was calling him by name. The pastor recognized him and asked how he was doing and how long he had been there. The man said he had been there for one year and that it was great. The pastor was shocked and asked what in the world he meant by that. The man said that when he was taken to prison, they took everything from him: his money, his clothes, and even a picture of his family from his wallet. Then he said, “They cannot take the Word of God from me.”

The believers and churches meet secretly for worship. Many read the hymns in a whisper, but this particular pastor leads his church in actually singing the hymns. Some tell him he’s endangering his people, but he says he is obeying God in worship.

Before the persecution, the prosperity gospel (God wants you to be happy, healthy, and rich) was running rampant across this particular country. As soon as the persecution came, those “pastors” fled and left their flocks. (Christ tells us this will happen with false shepherds in John 10:7-13.) You cannot preach prosperity gospel in prison. Persecution has CLEANSED the Church and brought tremendous UNITY.

Hearing these stories and many more like them, it challenges me in my faith. If I was tortured day and night, would I say that the joy of the Lord is my strength? If I were imprisoned, would I have enough Scripture in my heart to keep my grounded and secure in God? Would I worship and sing out loud knowing that I might be arrested? Do I do all I can to cleanse myself spiritually and maintain unity with my fellow believers?