Tag Archives: 2 Timothy

Bible study: looking at the scriptures for guidance

Posted on July 11, 2017 by | Comments Off on Bible study: looking at the scriptures for guidance

Bible study Bible study. Just those two words mean so many different things to Christians everywhere. For some, this is what happens at the mid-week service or maybe even Sunday evening. Others prefer studying the Bible on Sunday morning as the preacher reads it. Both of these groups rarely read the Bible outside a church setting. Therefore, within their life, their Christian faith remains weak. Little spiritual change has happened since they received Christ as their Savior. Bible study is an ongoing process for God’s children to learn directly from the Holy Spirit.

The New Testament Principle

For those who have read my sharing from the beginning, you know that 2006 was when I received Jesus as my Savior. It was not John 3:16 or Ephesians 2:8 that drew me to the Lord. It was this verse written by the apostle Paul: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Being in graduate school, I prided myself in my ability to study documents relating to foreign policy. The Lord challenged my pride by bringing me to a point where I wanted to study the Bible for myself. It was through serious Biblical inquiry – Bible study – where the Lord led me to salvation.

What Bible study is not

This sounds pretty funny for the topic the Lord has laid on my heart. But before I share the importance of Bible study, I feel led to share what Bible study isn’t. Bible study is not a function of the church. Yes, we have men’s and women’s Bible studies, mid-week Bible studies, and so forth. But these are not where the bulk of learning is to come from. The bulk of our learning about the Lord Jesus Christ happens in our own daily personal devotions and Bible study.

Bible studies cannot be clouded by other tasks. It’s not something we do as we are waiting on our doctor or for the mechanic to finish. It isn’t to be something we do to pass the time while waiting. Bible study is just that – studying the Bible as you would study materials that are job related or as a school subject is studied. The focus shouldn’t be the songs

What Bible study should be

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he is writing that Timothy needs to personally study the scriptures. At that time, the only scriptures that were written down and easily accessible were select books of the Old Testament and the letters he had written for the apostle Paul. This guidance was not written in a letter to the Christians in Corinth or Ephesus, but to a young man named Timotheus. Paul’s desire was for Timothy to know the scriptures as well as any tradesman knows his craft. Imagine the difference Christians could make in their homes and communities if they knew their faith as well as they know what their employer expects while they are on the job!

Compare personal Bible study to the method used to teach a musical instrument. Yes, the technique is taught in the weekly lesson. The instructor uses the weekly appointment to fine-tune the techniques, to introduce more challenging content, and to measure progress of the student. But it is the daily practice at home where knowledge and talents are developed. This is the perfect picture of what our Bible studies are to be. We participate in the studies at church as a means to fine-tune our faith. But it is in our daily Bible reading where we are taught about our faith.

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Posted in Bible Study, Chrisitian Philosophy, Discipleship

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Church health: be a part of the recovery and protection

Posted on February 20, 2017 by | Comments Off on Church health: be a part of the recovery and protection

church

Church attendance was low yesterday. Maybe it’s been low for a while but you’ve just noticed it. The church where I attend also had low attendance. We had a couple of Sunday School classes where no members were even there – not even the teacher! Maybe you really noticed it in the Sunday morning worship service. The local church is diseased; already it is showing several symptoms that should concern us greatly. While living in Louisiana, I heard an old country preacher describe this as “church rot.”

Church rot: the dangerous progression

Church rot begins slowly. Normally we are unaware of it starting. We can see the final results of church rot  – church buildings sit empty, its doors closed forever. The building remains as a testimony of what was once an important part of the community. Maybe your church isn’t to that point yet.  Maybe yours is experiencing low attendance for Sunday School and Sunday morning worship. It seems like the excitement and energy has gone out of the worship time. These are all signs of the onset of church rot.

I am convinced that church rot begins so slowly that many are unaware of what is going on. Every church has its occasional Sunday where things seem a bit off. When these types of Sundays become the normal, rot has set in.

Warning about the impact of unscriptural teachings

Within the New Testament, there are several warnings about false teachers and teachings. Jesus taught, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15). Paul wrote: As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:9). Well-meaning members can be influenced by those having opinions or teachings contrary to sound doctrine. All a false doctrine needs is little space to grow and fester.

Peter warned of this: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction (2 Peter 2:1). There’s a lot of effort by the apostles warning about those who bring these into the church.  The destructive potential is too great to ignore. Paul wrote to the Galatians: Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (Galatians 5:7-9).

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Posted in Christian Living, Discipleship, Our place within the local church

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Be the champion your church needs

Posted on January 3, 2017 by | Comments Off on Be the champion your church needs

championChampion – what does it mean and are you willing to step up to the challenge? Do you have it takes to be a champion for your church and family? A champion is defined in the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary as a militant advocate or defender or one that does battle for another’s rights or honor. Within the King James Bible there are two ways this concept is used. The first is seen in Samuel and references Goliath, the enemy of God. The second concept, God calls more than our modern definition of champion, and this is a man of valor. In our modern usage of the English language, it is the second concept I will be using.

The challenge put forth to me by the Lord

The Daily Walk, for the most part, is the vehicle the Lord has given me to share my faith and my walk with my Lord and Savior. As a part of this ministry, I’ve shared my struggles with my faith and the ministry where the Lord has called me to serve. The week before Christmas (2016), the Lord began working in my heart. At the center of the struggle were two verses. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin (James 4:17). The second verse is found in the Old Testament. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me (Isaiah 6:8). Within the week of Christmas, two more verses were added to what was already going on in my heart.

At the center of my confusion, the two verses the Lord brought into my mind simply brought everything else into focus. The one that stung the most was: And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). I know the specific ministry the Lord has called me to serve. I also have problems with my past; can our Lord forgive completely? Yes. This has never been the problem and I know I have been forgiven. The problem lies in my own frustration and anger in what I was and the time I wasted pursuing things that have no eternal value. 

Becoming the champion that the Lord needs

The last verse the Lord brought into my heart was one penned by the apostle Paul. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:9). Throughout 2016 many people tried to share with me the simple wisdom of this message – if the Lord has called you to do something, he will bring you to the place you can do it. Those two weeks before Christmas and the week after, the Lord began to show me something about myself that I didn’t know. I had become so fixated on worrying about things I could not change that I missed opportunities to serve Him. God was calling me to be a man of valour – not in the future, but now.

The concept of a man of valour is found forty-two times within the King James Version of the Bible. Thirty-five times, you’ll find the exact phrase, men of valour and seven times, man of valour. According to Biblical mathematics, the number thirty-five refers to hope and seven refers to completeness and spiritual perfection. Both numbers added together, forty-two, refers to the oppression of Israel and the first and second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. What the Lord was working on was my heart and the need for men and women to stand up and become these servants of valour – champions the church needs today.

The men of valour were equipped, willing, and ready for combat

As I began to study what made these men so noteworthy that the Lord inspired them to be recorded as men of valour, several traits became obvious. In 1 Chronicles, the Lord gives us a trait: All these the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their fathers, mighty men of valour, were seventeen thousand and two hundred soldiers, fit to go out for war and battle (1 Chronicles 7:11). These were men who knew, understood, and drilled in the art of war. They knew what it took to win the battle and once committed to battle, would only break off an attack when given orders from their king.

The second trait these men of valour possessed is also found in 1 Chronicles: And their brethren, heads of the house of their fathers, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God (1 Chronicles 9:13). The Hebrew word translated here for able men is the same phrase meaning men of valour (חָ֫יִל – Strongs 2428). These men were ready to do the work that the Lord set before them to do. Within our faith as Christians, we have a lot of things in common with the description given of these men. Our Lord and King has left us a specific set of instructions. We know what He’s asked of us, and we know we have all the equipment we need.

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Posted in My Walk, Our place within the local church, Stewardship

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