jroelive

In my reading of 1Thessalonians this morning I found something I had not noticed before, and if I had noticed it before it profoundly influenced me like no other time. It is found in verse five of chapter one…

…our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

Here I notice four things regarding the gospel that was delivered by Paul to the church in Thessalonica.

First, their message of the gospel (who Jesus was, is and will be; what Jesus did, does and will do) was delivered in word.
It has been a popular saying now for many years that Christians should always “tell of the love of Jesus but only use words when necessary.” I think this was linked back to Mother Teresa, but regardless, it’s limited in its helpfulness to those who have yet to hear of Jesus Christ.
If we only perform in front of others and simply hope that they “get” Jesus, understand their sinfulness and God’s holiness just by our actions, we are being disobedient. We must share with others the truth of Jesus Christ! If we only do good things for sick people we only make them feel good for a few minutes—at best! We have the cure for the soul-sickness of the world—the gospel of Jesus Christ. Share it! Tell of it—so often! The gospel came to the church in “word.”

Second, their message of the gospel was given in power.
As Christ-Followers, we must have the power of God in our lives—saturating the words we share with others. This was apparently a very distinct power that accompanied the words of the gospel that was shared by Paul and his gospel posse. We must seek the Lord for this power to be with us, in our lives as we share His message of hope to the dying, dark world that we are all called to love and share the gospel with. May we all be found begging God for His distinct power to guide and fill us and our message as we obey Him in sharing it with those around us—whether at work, in our neighborhoods or in our Christian gatherings.

Third, their message of the gospel was given in the Holy Spirit.
This is where it gets crazy! Unless the words we share are packed full of the Holy Spirit, they will not just be power-less, they will be utterly confusing and not at all life-giving. On our own we cannot manufacture this divine influence. We must pray for God to supernaturally deliver the words of the gospel that we share with others to—not just the mind—but to the very center of their heart/soul. When the gospel can penetrate the heart, the person will be convinced. When the gospel merely penetrates the mind, the person will desire more evidence or information. May we each spend much of our day in prayer asking for the Holy Spirit to be involved—empowering—all we do and say!

Fourth, their message of the gospel was given with full conviction.
Here again, we see that as we share the goodness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must have God’s help in the effectiveness of sharing the message. It is only God who can work in the soul of mankind. It is only God that can convince the heart of a dead man to begin to come alive. It is only God who can truly change the heart of man beyond that of simple behavior modification. Our message must ring true to the mind and the heart of our audience. Only God can allow our message of hope in Christ to make sense to the hearers. May we pray much for God to work in the hearts and minds of the people we are led to share the gospel to!

May God do what only He can do as we are busy doing the things that we can do!

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeremy

admin Christian Life, Study Tools, The Gospel Bible study, Jesus, The Gospel

The growing Christian has a “busy shovel” and uses it to dig deep into God’s Truth.
It is such a THRILL to not sit back in apathy and take the Word flippantly, but to aggressively seek to plummet the depths of God’s wondrous mind and heart that are found in His Word.

Go for it!
Don’t settle!!!

This is what true life is about.
Read the Word with aggression.
Read the Word with passion.
Read the Word panting for breath and with sweat on your brow.
Work for the deep truths of Scripture.

Oh man, when you do this…the Word becomes magnificent—so NOT boring! You begin to read it not only with better clarity but in full color—with grandeur. I pray that the Holy Spirit pulls your soul to the depths of His Word during your study of it.

Go for it…start TODAY!

admin Christian Life, Prayer, Study Tools Bible study, Prayer, Treasure

This year I am committing to a few things that I hope and pray will make me a better and more faithful Christ-Follower, husband, father, church planter and friend.

With new year’s resolutions, I try not to set myself up for failure. I aspire to things that are achievable with diligence, beneficial to my soul and those around me and practical in nature. So, here are my resolutions:

Resolution #1

Read the Bible in it’s entirety–the New Testament and Psalms both twice.
As I do this (here is the unique part of this resolution) I will journal my thoughts, questions and commentary in the margins of the ESV Journaling Bible and then keep this for my oldest son, J.J.
I will save this for a special occasion (e.g., graduation, wedding, etc.) and then give it to him. It will be something that only I can do and no money can purchase this anywhere. I hope to do this for each of my three children. Ideally, I will do this in a new Bible each year.
Also I plan to do the same with Banner of Truth’s “The Valley of Vision.”

Resolution #2

Spend more time in extended sessions of prayer–listening more to the still, quite voice of the Spirit.
My soul longs for this but my schedule tries to kill this. I must do this.
As a part of this I want to learn more of the Holy Spirit and His work in my life.

Resolution #3

Be more intentional with my family time. I have grown so much in this area of my life. I cherish being a husband and a father. It is the coolest hobby in the world. Who knew that fatherhood could be (and must be) more fun than snowboarding, hunting, basketball or football?!?! I love it!
Well, here is detail for this resolution. I want to spend more quality time with my extended family this year. After seeing two grandparents admitted to nursing homes last week, Jill and I are experiencing the brevity of life. Our loved ones will not be here with us forever. So, I plan to capitalize on my family moments more this year than ever before.

Thanks for reading.
Grace and Peace.

admin Christian Life, Study Tools Bible study, Family, Prayer

I try to read from Banner of Truth’s “The Valley of Vision” every day. It is a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions from several centuries ago. I came across this one today and just had to pass it along to you. Wow! This really blessed me.

THE GREAT GOD
O Fountain of all good,
Destroy in me every lofty thought,
Break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds.
Annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness,
Implant in me true lowliness of spirit,
Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,
Open in me a fount of penitential tears,
Break me, then bind me up;
Thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling for my God;
Then can the Father take up his abode in me,
Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch,
Then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace;
O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God,
inhabit me, a temple consecrated to your glory.
When you are present, evil cannot abide;
In your fellowship is fullness of joy,
Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience,
By thy side no fears disturb,
no apprehensions banish rest of mind,
With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance;
Make me meet, though repentance, for thine indwelling.
Nothing exceeds thy power,
Nothing is too great for thee to do,
Nothing too good for thee to give.
Infinite is thy might, boundless thy love,
limitless thy grace, glorious thy saving name.
Let angels sing for sinners repenting, prodigals restored,
backsliders reclaimed, Satan’s captives released,
blind eyes opened, broken hearts bound up,
the despondent cheered, the self-righteous striped,
the formalist drive from a refuge of lies,
the ignorant enlightened,
and saints built up in their holy faith.
I ask great things of a great God.

I pray that this encourages you as well.
Grace and Peace.

admin Christian Life, Study Tools Bible study, Prayer, resource

MY STORY — I have never been one to be excited about Bible study software of any kind. I have always used the hardcopy, printed editions of study helps and commentaries. These large, multivolume works have taken up shelf space in my study/office for at least 13 years. Going to study for my sermon at a coffee shop or a park was next to impossible. Well, unless I stuffed my bag so full of books that the zipper began to pray!

Needless to say, the Logos Scholar’s Library: Gold has changed the way I study, where I study and the results of my studying. Every time I sit down to study using this software, I am simply amazed with what an excellent resource I have.

THE INSTALL — I was attending a conference last year and was blessed with the opportunity to have my very own copy of this amazing software. At the time I was new to the Apple/Mac world and had no idea how to install this fine work. I shared this with the Logos Team and they took my MacBook and installed the product during one of the conference sessions. I was good to go! I could now begin learning this program. They gave me links to several video tutorials explaining how to use Logos. The Logos Team recommended me to watch these videos as I begin to learn Logos so that I could see just how extensive the software really is—so I could learn to use all the tools it offers.

I understand that everyone who purchases this software will not have the privilege of having the Logos Team install the program for him or her. However, the customer support at Logos is unlike any other. You will be shocked by their knowledge, kindness and patience. They really love their customers. Everyone at Logos has a mandate to provide the best customer service in the universe. So much so, that Logos’ CEO/President has repeatedly made it publicly clear that if the Logos Team of nearly 200 can’t make you happy, he will personally address your concerns himself! They even ask you (and expect you) to email them your suggestions and feedback; which they actually read!  The Logos Team also have recently developed a community forum where many of their staff members engage in the discussion. They received the perfect 5 out of 5 stars award from Google Shopping, and ranked in the Top 5 Rated Websites at Reseller Ratings out of nearly 20,000 stores and 360,000+ reviews. They thrive on serving their customers!

MY TRIAL RUN — When I first sat down to try this software out for the first time I knew I must be patient. If you are anything like myself, you resist what you do not know or understand. So, my advice is to watch the tutorials and then be patient—trying your best to learn the way this program works (it will not take long to learn it!). Of course you could simply pull 700 volumes off the shelf every time you study or do what I did for years and only reference my favorite 3 or 4 commentaries for every sermon.

I asked myself this, “3 or 4 tools or 700+?” Yeah, I needed to learn and use Logos.

I quickly realized that Logos Bible Software was actually easy to use! All I had to do was type in a Bible reference, or a topic and click the “Go!” button. The program acts as your personal research assistant. It scanned over 700 titles in a matter of 7 seconds searching for information on the text I was preaching on! It even found songs that related to my passage as well as maps and graphs that I could import into my PowerPoint or Keynote presentations!

After using this for the first time (and every time since) I sit in wonder considering how I ever did serious, in-depth study without it! Basically, I increased the depth of the information within my sermons and decreased the time it took to gather that information. Who doesn’t want that?!?

THE COST — I admit that the $1,379.95 for the Gold edition is a decent amount of cash. However, Logos offers payment plans for some of their products. They are able to work with everyone to make their product as affordable as possible. Also, Logos offers discounts to any degree-seeking student and faculty or staff members. Keep this in perspective; you are receiving over $11,700 worth of print books for about 90% of the price.

I have heard of others selling their hard copies that are now duplicates in order to get back some of the money spent on this product. That also frees up more shelf space in your study—I know I need it!

THE FACTS — Scholar’s Gold is the largest electronic library that Logos has ever assembled. If you want to bypass years of picking out titles one by one and purchasing all those titles at full retail, you can jump to this massive library containing more than 700 titles worth more than $11,700.00 in equivalent print editions in one leap!

The beauty of Scholar’s Library: Gold is that it puts entire bookcases of Bibles and Bible reference titles one mouse-click away. The Logos Team has dedicated years of research and development to bring you a system that combines full features with full automation, creating software that is both powerful and easy to use.

THE LINKS —
Click HERE to read more about Gold or to purchase
Click HERE to see a demo of the product
Click HERE to see the training videos/tutorials I referenced above
Subscribe to their Bible Study magazine
Follow Logos on twitter
Stay up-to-date by reading their blog

Thanks Logos for your hard work and dedication to accurate and detailed Bible study. You have changed the way I study in many ways and changed the depth of the content in my sermons—the people who I serve and preach to thank you as well. THANKS!

admin Christian Life, Study Tools Bible study, resource

How to Read the Bible
written by Ray Ortlund
There are two ways to read the Bible. We can read it as law and threat, or we can read it as promise and assurance.

If we read the Bible as law, every page will feel like God glaring at us: “If you ever . . . .” And since we are all law-breakers at heart, the Bible will crush us. Even the promises will come across as law: “God will bless sinners—well, the ones who deserve it.”

If we read the Bible as promise, every page will be hope from God. It will breathe new life into us. Even the commands will be sweetened with grace: “God will bless sinners—yes, sinners who break these laws.”
Which way of reading of the Bible is correct?

The apostle Paul explains: “The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. . . . God gave it to Abraham by a promise” (Gal 3:17-18).

Here is Paul’s point. If we want to know whether we should read the Bible through the lens of law or promise, we can start reading on page one and see which comes first. And in fact, promise comes first—God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12. The law is a later sidebar, in Exodus 20. The category “promise” is the larger, wraparound framework for everything else.

The deepest message of the Bible is the grace of God for sinners. The Bible presents itself this way. The laws and commands and examples and warnings are all there. Let’s revere them. But we can read them with this as our foremost thought: “Jesus obeyed it all. He died for all my failure. And now he is changing my heart. I can read this page of the Bible with hope in his grace.”

Taken from theResurgence.com

admin Christian Life, Study Tools, The Gospel Acts29, Bible study, Ray Ortlund, The Gospel, Theology

This reading list was emailed to me from my friends at Monergism. Please check it out and get to reading!

admin Study Tools Bible study, Theology

Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. Not only that, but they are also giving away five subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine and a copy of their Bible Study Library software! Enter to win on the Bible Study Magazine Mark Driscoll page, then take a look at all the cool tools they have to take your Bible study to the next level!

admin Study Tools Bible study, Driscoll