WILL YOU TRAIN WITH ME? – Dec. 29th

I have not failed; I just have not succeeded, yet.

That is my mantra for Romans 8. I have been endeavoring for three years to memorize all of Romans 8. While it has been slow going with lots of stops and re-starts, I am still at it. I have 15 verses down with only 24 to go. This may be a decade long process, which isn’t that bad of a prospect.

I read an article by Jon Bloom at Desiring God entitled Ten Reasons to Memorize Big Chunks of the Bible. The article reminded me of the goal I posted nearly three years ago. The ten reasons are all valid for my experience with Romans 8 so I thought I would re-blog my own post.
Everyone has areas where they do not excel. I don’t excel in memorizing big chunks of the Bible.

However, there is great benefit to enduring through less than success. We should not train only in the areas of our strengths. I made the goal of memorizing Romans 8 because I know that is a weakness. I picked this goal for the purpose of training for godliness and I probably have gotten more benefit from my slow, grinding application than the person who banged it out in a month.

So, I continue; I have not failed. I just haven’t succeeded, yet.

A DEVOTED LIFE

“Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7b-8

I posted this flyer on my personal Facebook site yesterday, with the glib comment, “Anyone want to join me?”

Later that evening, I was suffering in my basement on my bicycle.  I was listening to a John Piper sermon on my iPod as I pedaled to nowhere.  His teaching turned my mind to 1 Timothy 4:7-8 and the immensely valuable task of training for godliness.  I was pedaling furiously doing the futile task of converting energy into friction/heat for the specific purpose of conditioning my body.  Yet, there is no aspect of training for godliness that has a comparable futility to it – training for godliness is of value in every way.

I considered why I had…

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THE “FIRST THANKSGIVING” WE’VE FORGOTTEN

I recently stumbled upon Robert McKenzie’s blog and have really been enjoying it. He is a professor and chair of the Department of History at Wheaton College. I hope you will enjoy his perspective as much as I have.

Faith and History

Tomorrow families all across America will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, and some, at least, will link what they are doing to the Pilgrims’ celebration on the coast of Massachusetts in 1621. Although frequently embellished and sometimes caricatured, the story of the Pilgrims’ “First Thanksgiving” is rich with insight and inspiration. The Pilgrims were human, which means that they bore the imprint of the Fall with all its attendant sinful consequences: they were ethnocentric, sometimes judgmental and intolerant, prone to bickering, and tempted by mammon. They were also people of remarkable faith and fortitude—common folk of average abilities and below-average means who risked everything in the interest of their families and their community of faith.

The Pilgrims’ trial began with their voyage on the Mayflower, a 65-day-long ordeal in which 102 men, women, and children crossed the stormy Atlantic in a space the size of a city bus. Following that…

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Lifter of My Soul

Tim Bell is a hymn writer and poet that I just stumbled across and wanted to share.

FREE KINDLE BOOK (Nov. 10th)

I have been following Jason Ladd for some time.  I just wanted to pass along this notice of his book launch with free Kindle download.  I haven’t read his book but I just downloaded it and I’m looking forward to a good read.  ~JD

Book Launch Day for One of the Few!

Let me just cut to the chase. Today is Launch Day for One of the Few! Get it double-free. FREE Kindle download November 10-12 FREE audiobook for FIGHTER FAITH (blog) subscribers Spend your Veterans Day telling a veteran all the ways they can get his book free. One of the Few is a Mari

Source: Book Launch Day for One of the Few!

Not My Works

Practical Advice on Bible Reading from J.C. Ryle

Schreiberspace

Have you ever wanted to make it a point to read the Bible on a regular basis, but just weren’t sure how to go about it? If that describes you, here is some practical advice for you from J.C. Ryle’s book, Practical Religion (p.122-125):

1. Start today. Just get started, and worry about figuring out the perfect way to do it later. You can always change how you go about it as you go. Ryle writes,

   “The way to do a thing is to do it, and the way to read the Bible is actually to read it. It is not meaning, or wishing, or resolving, or intending, or thinking about it, which will advance you one step. You must positively read.” (p.122)

2. “Read the Bible with an earnest desire to understand it.” Don’t just set a certain number of pages as your goal. Make it your aim to learn and understand what…

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The Gift of Memory

From the Inside Out

 

“There it is, Mom, “ Steve remarked, as he pointed to a little white house in the middle of a city block. “That’s where we lived when I was growing up.”

“Oh, yes,” she replied. But did Mom really remember?

We were on an excursion through Columbus, Ohio, taking Steve’s mother past the landmarks of her life. Alzheimer’s disease had already stolen away much of her vibrancy and warmth, and, of course, her memory.

 

Steve drove by West High School and continued his commentary. “That’s where we all went to school, you, Dad, Karen, and me. You were the very first homecoming queen.  How about that?  No wonder Dad asked you out.”

She murmured assent to Steve’s comments, but added nothing of her own.

 

We drove past the brick ranch they built out in the country in 1966. Horses used to reside beyond the back fence. Just…

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HOLD FAST – Jan. 15

HOLD FAST, my friends, to what is of first importance:
“That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scripture, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” 1 Cor. 15:3-8

A DEVOTED LIFE

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8:31-32

I don’t think that my adventurous spirit is sufficient enough to have sought to be a sailor in the era of the great sailing ships.   I am awed by those sailors who would leave the safety of land to venture into the unknown of the sea with only the sky as a guide and the wind to propel them.  My minimum requirements for such an adventure are engines, GPS and a satellite phone.

I fully respect the courage of those sailors.  They were on their own.  Their entire security was within the oak timbers and cloth sails of their vessel.  There was no rescue from the Coast Guard if you were washed over.  Their ship was their…

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“MADONNA’S BABY” – June 11

My Bible reading plan took me through Job 21 today. My meditation returned me to familiar questions on vs. 7-8 and then I realized that I had written on these verses before. Therefore, I thought that I would share what a young me was able to remind my older self of.

A DEVOTED LIFE

“Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power?  Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes.”  Job 21:7-8

A little more than a decade and a half ago, my wife and I were without children.  This was not by choice.  We had been hoping to be what so many couples seemed to just become.  Yet, the gift of a child remained a mere dream.  Our friends and family would decide to have a baby and a couple months later they were pregnant.  We waited.  We watched the world growing around us and we waited.  Our waiting involved doctors, schedules, temperatures, medication, procedures, and prayer.

My wife and I were on a cycle induced emotional roller-coaster.  We received an unwanted answer to our prayers every month.  The optimism of getting the science right was always ground away in the reality of the elusiveness of life. …

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“INFINITESIMALLY KNOWN” – June 20

A DEVOTED LIFE

“Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,…” Job 14:5

Every man and woman has been born and all will die. 

It is God who knits a person together in their mother’s womb.

It is God who determines when their time on this earth is complete. 

His hand directs cells to grow into His image.

His hand tells them to send us back to dust.

Our Lord knows us at a level beyond our self-knowledge.  He knows our inner-workings.  He knows our molecules.  He knows the building blocks of our very form.  He knows our DNA.  He knows me personally not because we were never introduced and He is good with names.  He knows my face because He instructed my DNA to grow in its shape with the nose, mouth, and eyes that…

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