People of the Book

         

Christian are people of the Book. That is to say as believers we believe the Bible is a living Book. Living in that God speaks through his Word and his Spirit works with power from the Word of God, which is contained in the sixty-six books of the Bible. So Christians, those who have come to God through Christ by faith, are people of the Book.

As people of the Book we are a Scripture based movement, for in the Scriptures we find doctrine, direction, guidance, and grace, just to name a few of the benefits. For us, the Book is our lifeline to God and from it our relationship with God is nourished on a daily basis.

The Puritan pastor Thomas Watson, speaking over 200 years ago about the Word of God said, “Come to the Word with a holy appetite and a teachable heart. Sit under the Word attentively, receive it with meekness, and mingle it with faith. Then retain the Word, pray over it, practice it, and speak it to others about it.”

It is the calling of a pastor to be a person of the Book and feed upon the Word of God.  It is the first duty of a pastor to feed the flock by the diligent preaching of the Word of God from the Book. We would call this biblical preaching.

For Puritans like Watson, biblical preaching was not just hinged to Scripture; it quite literally existed inside the Word of God; the text is not the sermon but the sermon is the text. So listening to a sermon was being in the Book. They pondered the rich truths revealed in the Scriptures as a gemologist examines a ruby or a diamond.

We can all learn a great deal from this approach. The Puritans sounded a clarion call, as people of the Book; we should strive to become Word-centered in our faith and its practice. Then all those we touch will know we are people of the Book.

RefRev

Pluck Up

Pluck Up

How do you handle the difficulties of day-to-day life? This is a question I have often asked others and it is a question I often ask myself. After all, life does have its difficult moments, and none of us can expect to be completely spared.

There are difficulties that fall upon us that we cannot control. Yet there are also others that come from poor decisions we have made and these are the ones I am speaking about, the ones we have brought upon ourselves.

Some folks get angry, feeling they deserve a life free of difficulties, and struggle to cope when hard times fall upon them. Others take a more pessimistic view, believing they have somehow been assigned to failure, by a divine presence that cares little about them. Still others seek to place the blame on the perceived callousness of their environment or society as a whole.

Today there is little talk of the fall of mankind and the sinfulness that entered the world at that moment and continues today. We are often tempted to blame the difficulties we create by the choices we make on anything or anyone but ourselves, even God himself. It often seems the act of taking responsibility is not a popular course of action to follow. I believe we have all been guilty of this type of thinking at times.

Stepping up, taking responsibility, and acknowledging our failures is always the right way to go. It is a huge part of our maturing process as Christians. It keeps us balanced and on the straight and narrow path. It reminds me of some of my favorite lines in John Bunyan’s classic book, The Pilgrim’s Progress. As Christian begins his climb up the Hill of Difficulty he recites these words to himself,

“The Hill tho’ high, I covet to ascend,

 The difficulty will not me offend;

 For I perceive the way of life lies here:

 Come, pluck up, Heart, let ‘s neither faint nor fear;

 Better, tho’ difficult the right way to go,

 Than wrong, though easy, where the end is wo.

Pluck up and keep moving, it’s always the right way to go.

RefRev

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship
        Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the
                word "darkness" on the wall of his cell."
                                      -  C.S. Lewis

The ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

     "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
        will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."
                       - Psalm 91:1 (NIV)

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

         "A man's self is his greatest Cross."
                    - Fancois Fenelon

ReformedRev's Quote of the Day

"The Cross is God's truth about us, and therefore it is the only
      power which can make us truthful. When we know
         the Cross, we are no longer afraid of the truth."
                           - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Purpose of Life is a Life of Purpose

As a minister I am often ask this question,"What is the purpose of life?" Recently I was asked this question by a fellow traveler on a flight from Wichita to Atlanta. As it often does, the question began to roll around it my head. Then it starts: is this person looking for a short or long answer? Should I answer from a worldly perspective or a spiritual one? Since I don't really know this person well, do I go with a short pass or do I go deep? As I quickly pondered my possible answers a simple yet profound phrase popped into my head, "The purpose of life is a life of purpose." The phrase itself is not met to be a riddle but truly meaningful when given a bit more thought.

Most folks want to know their lives had purpose and were not lived in vain. All of us seek to leave a meaningful mark on the world and people around us. So living a meaningful life, a life of purpose, is important. Yet we have to believe how we define the word purpose will weigh heavily upon our direction in life and the choices we make. We can be purpose driven but without a clear idea of what our purpose is, the drive will be a frustrating and empty one.

 Purpose is often defined by money and or possessions, the idea of materials success. It can be viewed by others as the gain of responsibility or even power, the position we hold in our jobs or society. The definitions or suggestions for a definition are endless. So I decided to be more direct in answering my fellow traveler's question. A life of purpose is knowing God and doing his will, even if it seems uncomfortable, out of step with society's definition of success, or just plain unpopular. The bottom line comes down to who are we really trying to please. As people we are created in the image of the living God, for his glory not our own, in order that we may come to know him, to worship his fully, and to do his will. Not always the easiest life, but a life of meaning and purpose, guaranteed to leave a mark on this world and the people around us.

It is easy for anyone to question life's purpose especially during difficult times. However, since I believe God is truly active in our lives I often remind myself of this by remembering Psalm 25:4-5, "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me,  for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." So the purpose of life is a life of purpose. In the end, the real question is simply who's purpose?

RefRev