"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
Independent Baptist Missionary to the Philippines (Taguig City) sent by Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Brogue, PA
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Consider the love of God God's Love is Holy
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
Monday, May 29, 2006
Consider the love of God God's Love Is Universal
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
A personal note: When I go soulwinning, I still get nervous knocking on doors. I constantly remind myself of this great verse. Somehow, I find such comfort and strength in this verse when I realize that God wants people saved, and His ordained way of accomplishing this task is through my obedience to His will.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Key Verse
As evidenced by this great "parabola" of Scripture (2:6-11), Christ provides for us an example of true, godly humility and oneness of mind with God the Father. After doing a little bit of personal study in the book of Philippians, at least for me at this time, Phil. 2:5 appears to be the central thought, the 'key verse,' that corresponds to every unit in this precious Pauline epistle.
There are several methods of Bible Study. I for one have highly benefited learning how to study using what is called a "Synthetic chart." I would guess the method could be called the synthetic Bible study method. The word 'synthetic' means "the composition or combination of parts or elements so as to form a whole" (Miriam-Webster). The basic idea of this method of Bible study is to examine a passage, or a book and deducing from that its various components as well as providing from the observation the point or the key verse that relates to the whole. It is basically observation (of course I should add 'spiritual observation'). I would like to go into greater details of this and other methods but that really is not point of this thread, perhaps I will elaborate on this topic some time in the future.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
A rather simple reminder
Part of the reason Paul wrote this epistle is to give an update of his condition to the Philippian church. Verse 12 is a great reminder to us that no matter what hardships we may be facing, God could use us to further the Gospel. The word 'rather' seems to suggest a reverse in what one could expect. Paul could have chosen the easier route of shutting up, and resigning the ministry. He could have allowed the lies (btw both within and without the church) to eat him up spiritually and embitter him. Rather than destroying his faith, message and testimony, Paul's imprisonment and hardships made his Gospel witness shine even brighter in a dark world of sin.
Dear Christian, don't give up the good fight of faith.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Think on these things (part 6)
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Phil. 4:8)
Think on these things (part 5)
Every Christian is to exhibit elements of virtue and praise in his life. Virtue means 'moral excellence' (Thayer). It's not just doing things right, but rather doing right things in the right way. I am a firm believer in rehearsals and practice simply because they help ensure of doing things excellently. A common mistake among Christendom is this attitude that things done for Jesus does not have to be 'excellent.' If we look at God for an example, He gave us His best, He gave us His only begotten Son. When we seek to serve the Lord, we ought to give back to God what is our best. We ought to strive for moral excellence. The Bible does teach us to add to our faith, virtue (see 2 Peter 1:5). God desires us to immediately add to our faith that which is morally excellent, and He certainly deserves that.
Another common mistake is to think that so long as "Jesus" is tacked to a thing, that regardless of the base, lewd, sordid quality of that thing, that that perhaps becomes acceptable. And so in the music industry we have what is labeled as "Christian" Contemporary Music. BUT this is not moral and certainly not 'excellent' since it violates Scriptural principles of separation. On the other hand, you can listen to a completely secular classical music piece by a potentially unregenerated composer such as Mozart or a Chopin and they still demonstrate music that is virtuous. Dr. Sargeant in his Systematic Theology book said: "Secular does not mean worldy." What an observation! and how true that is.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Think on these things (part 4)
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Phil. 4:8)
Pure means clean. If our thoughts are pure, then it only follows that our actions will be pure. The point about thinking on these things is to put them into practice (v.9 "Those things...do..."). Every Christian is called to purity. We are to love God and others out of a pure heart (1 Tim. 1:5). We are to present the Gospel with a pure conscience (1 Tim. 3:9). We are to keep ourselves pure, understanding that we can potentially be participating in other's sin (2 Tim. 1:3).
"Whatsoever things are lovely." The world thinks of loveliness as being soft and some kind emotion that generates warm fuzzies. However the Bible defines for us what love really is, this helps us understand from a Biblical perspective what then is lovely. In John 14:15 Jesus said: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." True love is doing what God says to do. Therefore if we are to think and act on things that are lovely, then we must run our decisions through the Word of God. Love that is void of obedience is not lovely. God is interested in aesthetics. Somehow, there is a stupid philosophy that says things done for God does not have to be the best. I disagree. I think God is worthy of our finest service all the time. Doing our dead level best, in clothing, in singing, in music, in giving, in preaching, in teaching, in reading the Bible, in witnessing, ought to stem from a heart that truly thinks on things lovely.
"Good report" means reputable (Strong) or sounding well (Thayer). When God finished his creative work, He evaluated it and pronounced them 'good.' We ought to do or to practice virtues in our lives that can bring others to an appriciation of our God. We must constantly be on our guard to proctect our reputation before a fallen world, lest the name of our God be evil spoken of. What a priveledge it is to be called a "Christian." I remember reading a Spurgeon sermon, where Spurgeon said in essence, we should not worry about our Lord Jesus since He will never betray us, rather we should worry that our lives may betray the Lord Jesus we say we serve.
Friday, May 19, 2006
On a more personal note...
I got lots of Oliver Greene books for 25 cents a piece, some were 50 cents, but I won't complain. I also got a book by Walter Wilson (with his signature in it, WOW!), Jay Adams, Howard Vos, JC Penny, Mortimer Adler, J Sidlow Baxter, and Theodore Epp. There were only two tables designated "Religion" and swarms of people swiftly picking up books as if they were going out of style. There were even some boxes of books for sale underneath the tables that we rummaged through. I did get 'shooed' by an oriental woman under the table because I was snooping in her box...LOL! she was under the table calculating her books when I accidentally started to rummage through her choosen books (I could have had a Renald Showers book - errr!). Opps, my bad.
I must have gone up and down at least five times in each table to ensure that I was not missing out on anything. All in all it was a book-hunting adventureous afternoon!
Think on these things (part 3)
The word 'honest' in this verse carries the idea of 'honorable' (Strong) or 'venerable' (Thayer). This word is translated 'grave' in 1 Timothy 3:8, 11; Titus 2:2. Many professing Christians attend church in an attitude that is casual rather than 'grave.' They view God as a 'buddy.' Church is a social club. Some throw a swimming party when observing baptism (by this I mean: they would back-flip some candidate into the water if so requested). I read of a church and restaurant merge called "Holy Macaroni." I believe they still try to hold services there, but folks could just sit and relax, enjoy a meal, as well as a church service, of course "no one is going to force Christianity" on anyone. How casual, how irreverent, how opposite of 'things honest.'
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Think on these things (part 2)
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Phil. 4:8)
Monday, May 15, 2006
Think on these things (part 1)
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Phil. 4:8)
Friday, May 12, 2006
Moses' Song (יהוה)
Recognizing who God is and submission to Him will result in having a meaningful and fruitful life. Moses has come to the end of his life, although he was barred from entering into Canaan, he did not allow God's punishment to embitter his spirit. Moses rather declares to the Israelites the greatness and steadfastness of the LORD, and the one responsibility they had, and we do as well, is found in the latter part of verse 3 "...ascribe ye greatness unto our God." This could very well be every living creature's purpose: to ascribe greatness unto our God.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Abounding Love
Monday, May 8, 2006
Moses
"And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel." (Deut. 34:10-12)
I heard a preacher say: "To a large extent we are responsible for the kind of sermon which is preached at our funeral." And how true that is.
Saturday, May 6, 2006
Fellowship
Friday, May 5, 2006
Bread from Heaven in the Wilderness of Sin
"Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you;" (Exo. 16:4a)