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Fathers, Bring Them Up: A Devotional

8/18/2017

 
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Picture by Deedra Levy
So...as I've written previously that the change of a culture starts at home, here is what I do, in part, to actually fulfill my obligation, of raising up my girls in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4), as God gives me grace and strength (Rom. 11:36).

​Of course, you need to know that this is a very 
flexible schedule. The times can be altered for sure. Also, please don't imagine any of these activities as perfect little sessions. ​​They are not. It's organized chaos with orderly discipline installed as necessary (to the best of my ability as God gives me grace).

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​To Be King of Israel Is to Be King of the World

12/21/2016

 
Around this time of year, I often wonder what Zechariah was thinking when he was offering up prayers in the temple on that day when Gabriel appeared to him (Lk 1:11).

​He was a righteous Levite, and served as priest in the temple. I think it's safe to assume he knew the Scriptures. Namely that one day:
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  • A seed of Eve would arise and crush the serpent (Gen. 3:15)
  • The seed would be a descendent of Abraham (Gen. 12:3)
  • The seed would be a ruler from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10)
  • The seed would be a son of David (2 Sam. 7:13).
  • The seed would be the son of God (Ps. 110:1ff)
  • The seed would be the very presence of God (Isa. 7:14).
  • The seed would not only rule Israel but the whole world (Ps. 2:8, 10-12)
  • The seed would not only redeem those in Israel, but also those from the whole world (Gen. 12:3, Isa. 49:6; Dan. 7:14)

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My Joy in Christmas

12/21/2015

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The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
- John 1:5
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Clifton Mill - Clifton, OH
I, like many, truly do love this time of year. Not only is it a time when you typically talk to and/or visit family more often than usual, but it is a great time for experiencing joy in giving gifts to others (and I'll admit - I take great joy in receiving gifts as well).

Of course, all Christians know the true meaning of Christmas, and what it is that we're actually celebrating - the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And what could be more joyous than that?
There's not a whole lot! I mean, on the one hand we could say the resurrection of our Lord from the dead. That's certainly a joyous occasion (as well as Good Friday, where He paid the penalty for our sins).

But neither of those could have happened unless he did the truly remarkable thing of becoming one of us; or, as John records it: "the Word became flesh" (Jn. 1:14).

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Remembering a Hero of the Faith

9/17/2015

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Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen (Sep. 17, 1948 - Dec. 11, 1995)
The Bible tells us to remember those who spoke the Word of God to us, to "consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith" (Heb. 13:7).

As today marks what would have been the 67th birthday of Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen, it seems a great day to consider his way of life and imitate his faith.

While not many within the evangelical church are aware of who he is, as a church we are still benefiting from his work in the ministry during his short time here - specifically in  his work in Christian apologetics, philosophy, and ethics.
The phrase "presuppositional apologetics" might be lost on many in the church, but its method and use has continued to increase in popularity even today. Dr. Bahnsen didn't develop the method but learned it from Dr. Cornelius Van Til. He did, however, give teeth to it, as demonstrated remarkably in his formal debate ("The Great Debate: Does God Exist?") with Gordon Stein and other debates.

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The Resurrection Power of Jesus Christ

4/2/2015

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This coming Sunday churches around the world will be celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ!

In reality, we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday (and probably actually every day); but this coming Sunday marks the calculated anniversary of the event. Accordingly, my thoughts are drawn to what the resurrection means. 

Part of what I've learned is that when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord we are also celebrating - that is, enjoying and glorying in -  the resurrection of our own selves by His amazing and wonderful grace and power.
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What do I mean by that?
 
I mean that Christ's resurrection is so powerful that He not only was Himself raised from the dead, but that He uses this same power to bring forth from the dead all whom He chooses, and that this same power is constantly at work within us who call upon Him as Lord.


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The Good Samaritan Revisited

2/5/2015

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Most people (even many non-Christians) are familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan.

I think the typical take away of the parable falls along the lines of:
  • Be kind to people
  • Be kind to strangers
  • Help those in need
  • Have mercy on others
  • Show compassion in your daily lives

I know that for as long as I can remember, I myself certainly understood the lesson to be something along those lines.

However, the more I think of it in terms of the theological context in which Luke was writing and the redemptive story the Bible portrays overall, I've recently seen this text from a different perspective.
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It's simply not about just loving your neighbor. When we see what the parable is really calling for we'll see that it's loving our neighbor in a very overwhelmingly inconvenient way. Then when we dig deeper into realizing who the characters are in the parable we realize that the neighbors whom we are to love are in fact our greatest enemies. After all that we ought to shutter in fear if we are really called to go and do likewise, especially given why we are called to do so.


But, oh the bliss, mercifully this fear drives us to our knees in turning to the Lord Jesus Christ who Himself can both save us from not being Good Samaritans and also empower us to be Good Samaritans to His glory.

Care to revisit the parable with me?


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LoL - The Lord Over Life Laughs Out Loud

1/9/2015

 
He who sits in the heavens laughs...
-Psalm 2:4
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It's been a little over a year since I first launched this site. With this anniversary-of-sorts I'm pleased to have a long-desired facelift(1) to the homepage and facebook profile for this venue that makes up a part of my ministry to the body of Christ.

The main thrust of this ministry is to advocate or to teach to the body of Christ that God's Word is applicable in all areas of life, whether personal, social, political, or anything else. God has standards for every area of life. And He works through His children to accomplish those changes (Phil. 2:13).

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is Lord not just over the church (Eph. 1:22-23), but also society (Ps. 2) - and that He has concern not just for our salvation and prayer life but also for our life when it comes to interpersonal relationships, education, work, leisure time, entertainment, social obligations, political activity, and all the rest.

To all of the world (the elect and the reprobate) He is the supreme ruler and the most sovereign potentate (Ps.2:1-12; Dan. 4:34-35), to whom everyone (whether believer or not) owes allegiance, submission, and glory (Ps. 66:1-4; Dan. 6:25-27, 7:13-14).  To the redeemed community He is not only Savior from our sinful nature in all of these things (Rom. 3:21-26, 4:1-8, 5:1ff), but He is also Lord over our new nature in all of these things (Rom. 6:1, 6; Eph. 4:17-24).

He is more than Lord in our spiritual lives, and He is more than Lord to only the redeemed community.

To put it simply - He is Lord over all people, over all time, over all of life.

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The Lord Jesus Christ in the Psalms, Chapter 1

10/8/2014

 
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In Scripture we are told that all of God's Word ultimately points us to Jesus Christ (Lk. 24:27, 44). This is done not only by way of showing us His example (Phil. 2:5ff; 1 Pet. 2:21), but also by encouraging us and exhorting us that in all things we are to lean fully on Him for our strength and salvation (Mt. 11:28-29; Jn. 15:4-5; 1 Cor. 1:30-31; 2 Cor. 12:9-10).

The Psalms are no exception to this rule of faith.(1)
 In these writings we have a wealth of insight not only in seeing the Lord as our great example - the author and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2) - but also as seeing Him as our only Savior from our sin (Acts 4:12).(2)

With that in mind, I think it's helpful to study the Psalms to see how they relate to our gracious Lord and Savior. And what better place to start than Psalm 1?

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We Don't Give Ourselves Enough Attention

8/8/2014

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Narcissus, by Caravaggio
Have you ever thought you could glorify God more by giving more attention to yourself?

Now I may be wrong
. (That's probably a safe way to start this post.)

But in the Christian community, in all our efforts to glorify God, sometimes I wonder if we're not giving ourselves enough attention.

Of course, in understanding what it means to give ourselves more attention, I don't mean it the way our culture probably does. Interpreted in that light, the phrase "we don't give ourselves enough attention" means something like "we need to take a break and just relax" or "we need to do something for ourselves once in a while" or "we need to give ourselves a treat, or pamper ourselves a little bit from time to time" etc, etc.
Indeed, in that context, I have hardly any agreement.

But I do think giving ourselves sufficient attention (in a Biblical sense) is lacking at times - at least in my own life I can personally testify to that. But what does that mean?

Could you really learn to love Jesus more by focusing on yourself?

What is a Biblical reason to give more attention to myself - for all of us to give more attention to ourselves?

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Who Is a Teacher Among You?

6/19/2014

 
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers...
-James 3:1
This is, I'm sure, a familiar text to any who are reading this. Whether it is or not though I encourage you to read James 3:1-4:12 to become familiar with this passage in its entirety.

I've often heard this specific passage (Jas. 3:1) used as a proof text to warn against teaching false doctrine and the penalty that God will exact on those who promote such views.

To be clear, I believe the Bible speaks to that very issue. One need only consult 1 Corinthians 3:5-15 and the surrounding context for an indication of the judgment on saved brothers in Christ for false teachings. This fits very well with what James said concerning the fact that "we who teach will be judged with greater strictness" (Jas. 3:1). As for judgment concerning false teachings from those who are not saved, Peter speaks very clearly as well (2 Pet. 2:1, 21).

Certainly we ought to take those passages into careful consideration before embarking on the task of teaching within the church. For they too are the word of God.
Meeting of doctors at the university of Paris. From a medieval manuscript.
However, I do not believe that the judgment for teaching false doctrines is what James is himself concerned about in this passage.


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The Proverbs 31 Woman...(My Wife)

6/12/2014

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Mary Calvert

My wife is a wonder to me.

An amazing, beautiful wonder.

While I regrettably don’t tell her how much I love and appreciate her nearly as much as I should (something I’m working on), I have to admit that as far as my experience is concerned – if there is a Proverbs 31 woman, it’s my wife.
To be fair, I’m sure there are many husbands out there who feel the same way about their wife (and praise God for that).

While the following will be a commentary on how thankful I am for my own wife and for all the things she’s done in the line of Proverbs 31, it’s also a sort of devotional commentary on the text of Proverbs 31 that I think others might benefit from as well  - so feel free to keep reading even for that aspect.

But in all honesty, the following is truly to let you know that whatever good you see in me, there is an amazing, wonderful wife whom God has provided to me as my helper in this world who is behind it all – to His glory.


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The Joys and Distractions of Book Reviews: An Analogy

4/30/2014

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I love books!

There's no way around it!

So much knowledge, wisdom, and insight from some of the greatest teachers of the world!

Especially when they pertain to building us up in the faith, how can they not be a necessary part of the Christian life?
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And truly, they are! Paul says to us concerning the importance of the written word: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction..." (Rom. 15:4). Likewise, when he was in prison and needed comfort, encouragement, and strength, what did he so strongly request that Timothy bring him, but written wisdom: "bring...the books, and above all the parchments" (2 Tim. 4:13).(1)

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The Merciful Irony of God

4/20/2014

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"He is not here, for he has risen..."
-Matthew 28:6
Empty Tomb
The Garden Tomb; Jerusalem, Israel
Those are indeed among the most beautiful words ever uttered in the history of the world.

Jesus Christ, the only truly innocent man who ever walked the fallen earth (1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:14-15), was illegally tried (Mk. 14:55-59), wrongfully condemned (Mk. 15:14), brutally killed (Isa. 52:14; Jn. 19:16-18), and then buried in a tomb not his own (Isa. 53:9; Lk. 23:50-53).

Though "he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil...they put him to death by hanging him on a tree" (Acts 10:38, 39).

They crucified the Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8).
They killed the Author of Life (Acts 3:15).

And had the history of Jesus of Nazareth ended there, all hope for salvation would be lost to this world of sinners (1 Cor. 15:16-19).

Thankfully we know too well it does not end there.
He was given a charge from His Father; and as the perfect Son He obeyed it completely both to lay down His life and also take it back up again (Jn. 10:17-18). This He did, so that He would lose nothing that the Father has given Him (Jn. 6:39) and that all those who look on the Son and believe in Him should have eternal life (Jn. 6:40).

Praise God that "He is not here [in the tomb], for he has risen..." (Mt. 28:6)! He has risen indeed!

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Why I Want to Be Your Pastor (and some reasons why you may not want me)

7/25/2013

 
This post was written in April, 2016. It is published with an earlier date because it was meant only for an audience of those in search of a pastoral candidate. This is the best way for me to have it visible to that audience without requiring a secret password.
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If I say, “I will not mention him,
        or speak any more in his name,”
    there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
        shut up in my bones,
    and I am weary with holding it in,
        and I cannot.
- Jeremiah 20:9
To be sure, being a pastor is a calling and special gifting from God (Eph. 4:11). It's one for which I've felt for 15 years now and has yet to be fulfilled in His providence.

You may be thinking that I should have given up at this point. Surely if God wanted me to be a pastor he would have brought it to pass by now, right?

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