(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Just letting anyone know who might be interested that I am changing my website domain name.  Homeschoolbiblestudies.com will still work after I make the changes, but my site is temporarily down until I can get it all working again. 

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

http://www.chalcedon.edu/articles/article.php?ArticleID=111

Read this and think about how important Christian families raising Christian kids to be Christian adults are.  Wow.

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Well, the last two weeks have been a blur. I was at the Maranatha Bible Camp last week, leading worship, doing lots of video and photography, and generally having a great time with the 5th- 6th grade campers from our Church. Jenette and I have led worship many times with many kids, but these kids really were excited about worshipping God. We were both overwhelmed at just the sheer volume of the kids as we sang "I Belong to a Mighty God." I told Jenette that this camp had some of the most "singin'est" kids we had been around in a long time.

It was truly a blessing and a privilege to be involved with the camp. This week, I finished recording the music and my voice on a practice CD for our VBS program. I have also finished two DVD projects that I needed to finish, and have done many other things that I have already forgotten.

Being at the camp for two weeks in a row reminded me that perhaps one of the greatest enemies of pursuing a relationship with God is the busyness of our culture. At camp, with few distractions and the time to really think about the Lord and His Word, kids really are impacted by how wonderful God is and how powerful His Word is.

Since I have come back from camp and have been busy again doing everything I am supposed to be doing, it has left me with at least a small sense of grief. In my mind, I can see the faces of the kids at camp: worshipping, memorizing the Bible, and carefully listening to Bible teaching. I can also see the same kids coming home and watching incredibly stupid TV shows for hours on end on the Disney Channel. Someone once said that stuff like that was "chewing gum for the eyes." Alas.

I spent some time today talking to one of my dear Christian brothers about grieving over the things that grieve God. Sometimes, it takes time away from the cultural whirlwind to recognize that some mourning might be in order. I think many urban Christians don't want to slow down long enough to grieve.

Someone also said that when it comes to kids, "he who spends the most time wins." Whether its the TV or the friends or the parents, time is the key to teaching kids, training kids, loving kids, and raising them to be a Godly generation. Check out my next post to read an article about why generational Christianity is dying in our world.

Thinking about all this led me to play spades with the boys tonight, even though it was late. We had a great time. Tomorrow we will spend some more time together.

Along all the other stuff going on this week, I have started to remake my website from homeschoolbiblestudies.com to studentbiblestudies.com. Both addresses will still work, but I am trying to appeal to a church youth ministry crowd as well. Plus, I'm not sure that most home schoolers are looking for the type of booklets I am offering. I think that perhaps Churches or parents that are doing some kind of small groups for their teens will find my books most helpful. We'll see.

I did get an order for 8 booklets from Maryland! How exciting that God could use my feeble attempts to write Bible studies for teens to glorify Himself through His Word to kids in Maryland! I've never been to Maryland! This kind of stuff excites me and makes me want to keep this little business going.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Well, the title seems sort of random, and it is, but that's kind of where I'm at tonight.  Poor little Chucky the (un)lucky Ducky died last night.  He didn't get pecked or anything, so I don't really know what happened.  One of the kids gave him a cherry last night - maybe that killed him.  Of course, my tender hearted 7 year old daughter cried when she heard of Chucky's demise.  I have to say, it made me sad as well, partly because we tried so hard to keep him alive. 

Camp for the kids was a great success this last week - it was truly a privilege to minister to over 200 kids and the adults that came with them.  I did a lesson about Daniel 1 - particularly Daniel 1:8: 

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8 ESV)

It is amazing that Daniel and his friends resolved not to defile themselves with the king's food and wine.  It is amazing to me because in this day, we seem to go out of our way to blend in with the culture instead of going against it.  Most Christians today are "thermometers" - they measure the culture and they adjust themselves to it.  Daniel and his friends were "thermostats." They let the standard of God's Word establish their baseline and they challenged the culture to rise up to that standard. 

I wanted to explain to these kids (3rd & 4th graders) what it meant to "defile" yourself.  I really struggled with this because I knew that this was very important, yet needed to be handled in a way the kids could deal with it.  So I talked about how, when I was that age, I wanted to be "cool" and fit in with my friends.  I "defiled" myself by talking the way they did, and I knew it was wrong. As I starting telling the kids how I "dirtied" myself with "dirty" words, I smeared chocolate pudding  all over myself.  I put it all over my shirt, my face, and even dumped the rest of the bowl on my head.

I went on to tell them how we all need the cleansing grace of God through Christ to clean up our dirtiness.  I used a red towel to wipe off my face to symbolize the blood of Christ.

I don't think those kids will ever eat pudding again without thinking about their lesson at camp.  Hopefully they will apply God's truth and follow the example of Daniel.

The kids and I shot off some fireworks tonight - what a great time with some great kids.  I truly pray that they will be Daniel-like "thermostats" in this wicked and decadent culture.

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

http://crosswalk.com/faith/pastors/1403903.html

I just did a lesson at Church a few weeks ago about the Trinity. I thought this posting was interesting and well written. I guess many Christians just don't see what all the fuss is about the Trinity. I think that is because many Christians don't really believe in taking God's Word for what it says. I'll post my lesson when I get back from camp.

I am in charge of our Church Camp for first grade through fourth grade this week. Great fun, but tiring. I am going to do a lesson for them about Daniel 1 - that Daniel and his friends resolved to not defile themselves with the king's food and wine.

Such a simple, yet profound example. They simply chose to honor God and keep themselves pure for His sake and His glory. If Christians today did that - if they applied that example, then surely the name of Christ would be more honored in this culture. I'll write more about the lesson after camp.

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

This morning was a rare morning at Church where I actually was able to hear the sermon.  Most Sundays I am teaching children's church during both services.  Occasionally I schedule others to take over so we can sit in the service. 

This morning BA was preaching about the 10 Commandments - kind of an introduction.  He really stuck to the first two verses of Exodus 20.

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Exodus 20:1-2 ESV

His basic point was that God's grace precedes God's Law.  God delivered the Israelites, then demanded obedience from them.  I thought this was an interesting idea, since many people think that the Old Testament shows the "God of Law" and the New Testament shows the "God of Love."

He also made the point that demanding obedience before offering deliverance is never God's way and only leads to failure.  God provided every possible want or need in the garden before Adam and Eve chose to rebel.  Romans 5 says while we were still God's enemies, Christ died for the ungodly.

This really made me think of so many Christians who want to force Christianity on a culture that really doesn't want to go that direction.  We can't begin with moralizing.  We have to begin with our own sinfulness and God's love for us through Christ. In fact, Jesus' most harsh and condemning words were reserved for the religious leaders of the day who practiced "God's Law" but did not want to be bothered with God's Love and Grace. 

I have been around some homeschoolers who wear their homeschooling like a Pharisaical mantle, demonstrating their great superiority over all the secular schmucks who send their kids to public school.  Oh, I wish they would go away!

As for me and my house, I want to obey and love God not to earn God's favor, but because He first loved me.  I think that there are many people who say they are "Christians" but have never acknowledged that they are sinners - the place to start in order to receive His grace.

BA also said that the 10 Commandments teach us how to love God and love others.  I really like that part.  The more we teach and preach the practical application of God's Truth, the better off we are!  I hope everyone was listening and thinking about ways to apply this great sermon.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14 ESV

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Read the story in my last posting, or check out http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061410.html. Now this is profoundly disturbing, although not that surprising. I truly admire the pluck of Mr. Parker, who has taken a stand for righteous values (I don't know if he is a Christian or not, but there is something that is motivating him.) 

It is sad and disturbing that the vengeance was taken out on a 7 year old boy by other kids.  My stomach churned when I first heard about this.  I hope for his sake that the Parker family would consider homeschooling.  When I heard about this, I couldn't help but think about our little backyard barnyard and Chucky the Lucky Ducky.

Chucky was given to us by a good friend, a Godly public school science teacher who attempted to hatch some duck eggs in his classroom incubator.  During the time of the incubation, one of the ornery kids purposefully cranked up the heat on the machine, and all the eggs were "cooked" except for little Chucky's.

A little background here:  we already had two hens and one duck - the only survivors at our attempts to raise around thirty or so birds in the last two years.  Now the hens don't like anybody.  They have pecked some of the other chicks and ducks mercilessly when they are shut up at night in their little shed.

When we got Chucky, the girls were so happy because our other duck (the kids named her "Pipsqueak" for the funny noises she makes) was lonely and had no duck "friends."  In fact, the night after all of Pipsqueak's "friends" got eaten by some critter or other, the girls cried not for the lost of the many, but for the loneliness of the one.  (It was sweet, but pathetic!)

Well, Chucky started following Pipsqueak around like a baby duck follows her mama.  But when we would put them in the shed at night, poor Chucky kept on getting pecked.  I don't understand chicken sociology too much, but they are very much into a strict social order.  Meaning, the only ones in the club are the ones in the club; everyone else is subject to a pecking.  And so the barnyard "pecking order" is firmly established.

About two weeks ago, I went out one morning to find poor little Chucky on the floor of the shed, covered with blood and gasping for life.  I didn't pick him up, because I thought it wouldn't do any good.  He had violated the order and he paid for it with a pecking.  One way or the other, he wouldn't ever do it again. 

Well, Chucky is still alive, but he is scarred and ugly.  One eye is gone, and his whole head is just one ugly scar.  He is definitely not as cute as he used to be. 

I think the analogies between Chucky and that little boy are profound.  The only solution I had was to separate the poor little duck completely from his evil tormentors.  Think about it.

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

By John-Henry Westen and John Jalsevac

LEXINGTON, Massachusetts, June 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On May 17—the two-year anniversary of same-sex "marriage" in Massachusetts—the first-grade son of a prominent pro-family advocate was dragged and beaten behind the Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington during recess, receiving multiple blows to the chest, stomach, and genital area.

Jacob Parker, the 7-year-old who was attacked, is the son of David Parker.  LifeSiteNews.com readers will recall that David Parker objected to homosexual curriculum in his son's kindergarten class.  At a meeting with the principal of the school last year Parker requested that the school inform him of when homosexual discussions would take place, so he could exclude his son from the activity. The principal refused and Parker said he would not leave until his request was granted. School administration called the police and had Parker charged with trespassing. (see coverage: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/apr/05042910.html)

Brian Camenker the President of MassResistance, a pro-family group, that has worked with Parker to have the rights of parents in Massachusetts respected told LifeSitenews.com that the school system has since continued to refuse to notify parents of such material being presented in class. On April 27, 2006, Parker, his wife, and another family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school system.

LifeSiteNews.com spoke with Mr. Parker about the incident. 

According to Mr. Parker, school authorities determined from an investigation into the assault that the beating was indeed planned and premeditated.

Mr. Parker described the incident at the school saying: "During the recess period, a group of 8-10 kids suddenly surrounded Jacob and grabbed him. He was taken around the corner of the school building out of sight of the patrolling aides, with the taunting and encouragement of other kids. Jacob was then positioned against the wall for what appeared to be a well planned and coordinated assault.”

Parker told LifeSiteNews.com, his son related that one student in particular performed the actual physical assault while, “many children stood, watched silently, and did nothing as the beating commenced.”

Parker added: "The group of kids surrounded Jacob and he was beaten and punched. Then, as he fell to the ground, another child was heard saying to the group of children, 'Now you all can finish him off,' and as he was down on his hands and knees, the beating continued on his back. Then, fortunately, one little girl ran to contact the oblivious playground aides to stop it.

"Four of the attackers were from Jacob's first-grade class; the others were from other classes at Estabrook.

"The teachers' aide apparently determined that since she could not see external bleeding, and since Jacob apparently was not hit in the face, she did not send him to she school nurse."

The family was immediately notified of the incident.

Speaking to LifeSiteNews.com, Parker speculated that the cause of the attack was most likely what he called “displaced aggression.” “If children hear venomous things from their parents, the children do internalize this,” he said.

“I certainly don’t want to vilify the children in this,” he said. “We understand that skirmishes happen on the playground. It’s taking the child around out of view of the aides, and the number of children that stood around watching that concerns us.”

Parker noted that his conflict with the school over homosexuality is well known among the students.  "We are aware that the school administration sent notices home with all the young children concerning the Parker arrest, the 'King and King' incident and the federal lawsuit," he said. “They must know that the children read them.”

He pointed out that the date of the attack--the two year aniversary of same-sex "marriage" in Massachusetts--cannot be a coincidence.

The topic of Parker's beliefs has become so widespread among the students that Jacob says he overheard his fellow classmates ruminating that perhaps their current principle—who has resigned her position to take up a job elsewhere—was leaving the job because of Jacob’s father. Members of the community itself have organized public demonstrations specifically against Parker, in which their children have taken part. One of these demonstrations is pictured on the right and below. (photos courtesy of MassResistance.com) While prominently displayed in the student library are the back issues of the Lexington Minuteman that specifically deal with Parker’s case, for the children to read.

“We’re trying to be patient and tolerant," said Parker when asked if he was considering pulling his son out of the school. "We’re trying to hang on to the notion that the schools are for every child and for everyone. I don’t feel that we should have to leave for an injustice.”

But he added that “There are limits to how much patience we can have. I certainly understand why more and more parents are pulling their children out of public schools.”

Ironically, the school prides itself on its long-time involvement in various "Safe School" programs, which are geared to creating school environments "safe" for students who are homosexual.

Parker asked, "Isn't the school supposed to be addressing safety and preventing bullying and violence? Or are such programs only focused on children with homosexual parents? You can be certain that if this happened to a child with homosexual parents more would be made of this and that 'lessons' teaching tolerance and diversity of homosexual behavior normalization would be forced upon the young children."

The school and larger community are deeply divided over the Parker's stand against pro-homosexual indoctrination.  A group has been formed in Lexington to counter Parker's efforts.  The 'Lexington Cares' group maintains an anti-Parker website and has conducted anti-Parker letter writing campaigns and demonstrations. 

Calls to Estabrook school were not returned by press time.

To express your concern to Estabrook school contact:

Estabrook School
117 Grove Street
Lexington, MA
02420 USA

Email Principal Joni Jay: jjay@sch.ci.lexington.ma.us

Phone: (781)861-2520 
Fax: (781)862-5610 

Story URL:  http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061410.html

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

I am distressed at the recent number of Christian writers and popular speakers who are convinced that they need to compel us to "love ourselves" before we can love others.  One popular author wrote:

Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself. That last part about loving yourself is commonly overlooked. It's generally thought that self-love is a given, but this is not the case at all, especially for Christians. Most Christians I know, myself included, are so steeped in guilt that it is impossible for them to love themselves.  http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/devarchive.aspx?ARCHIVEID=1656

 

I think I understand what he was trying to get at, but the bottom line is that Scripture must be interpreted with Scripture.  Although many love to use Jesus words (out of context) in Matthew 22 as in the example above, Jesus also said this:

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?  (Matthew 16:24-26 ESV)

I could blog all night long and not say it any better than Jesus.  He said clearly that in order to come after him (to love him with all our heart...) we have to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him.  If we don't quite understand, we need only to look at the Lord Himself, who willingly gave up the glories of heaven in exchange for the muck and filth of sinful people. 

The reason why "it's generally thought that self-love is a given" is because...it is a given!  Jesus said we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  We are to care for them, help them, and meet their needs just like we would do for ourselves without even thinking too much about it.

I would turn the last statement in the quote above totally around.  Most Christians I know, myself included, are so steeped in self-love that it is impossible for them to acknowledge their guilt before God.  Get me to love myself and look to my own needs first?  That's easy.  Get me to deny myself and follow God's plan for my life instead of my own?  That's much, much harder.

I tell my boys almost every single day (and my girls too, as they are now getting old enough to understand), "it's not about you."  I have to tell myself every day, "it's not about you."

I think that you cannot qualify to be a God honoring dad if you put your own selfish desires over the needs of others, including your own family.  I know several so called "Christian" dads who skipped out on their wives and kids because, they said, "God wants me to be happy."  There's not too many people on this planet that I would just love to kick really hard, but those guys are on the short list. 

Maybe we should spend more time reading and applying God's truth in our families instead of listening to all the feel-good psychobabble.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:4-8 ESV)

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17 ESV

Last night I was completely drained from doing video editing all day long for some missionaries who are doing video presentations at our church camp.  My head was still swimming with everything about Laos. The boys and I have kind of a tradition of doing "guy stuff" on Monday nights.  It was a beautiful night, so we all stayed outside and the girls caught fireflies while the boys were whacking them out of the air with their lightsabers.  It made a really impressive "sparkling" effect.  It gave me my second wind.  I greatly enjoyed watching the kids (girls catching, boys killing) interact with the fireflies. 

Anyway, after we came inside and I put the girls to bed, (Jenette was out with her lady friends!) the boys and I played a game of spades.  At about 12:30 AM or so, I had a sudden realization and shared it with the boys. I said, "you know, we wouldn't be able to do this every Monday night if you guys went to public school."  Jason looked at me with his funny look as he pondered my statement.  Jon went on gloating about his and Joel's imminent victory in the card game, and Joel, the oldest and most analytical, said, "that's right, we wouldn't." 

Joel continued (he is the source of most information for the other boys): "if we went to school, we would have to get up very early to catch the bus on Tuesday, so we wouldn't ever stay up late on Monday night."

Perspective comes to kids in the most interesting times and ways. Mine came in realizing that I wouldn't be able to share these times with the boys without the blessing of homeschooling. 

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. - Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

In the process of getting my CDL license so I could drive our Church bus, I found myself in the bus yard of our local school system.  I was grateful that the school system was willing to be a testing/training facility for me to drive a church bus, but I couldn't help but consider the situation.

As a homeschool dad, I have seen that big yellow bus (that is very difficult to parallel park, I discovered) go right by our house and keep on going many, many days.  I have often wondered about the kids on the bus and what they would learn and experience at school on those days.

Sometimes, when I see the yellow bus, I think about why we started homeschooling our oldest about seven years ago.  We really started because we wanted to.  We weren't opposed to the public schools, we just really wanted to teach him at home.  Now we see the obvious problems with public schools, but we really homeschool still because we want to.  We want to control the content.  We want to be in charge of our own family schedule (those buses come early in the morning!) We want to spend time with the kids.  We want them to be able to learn at their own pace and not be accelerated or decelerated by a group.

I know many people accuse homeschool families of thinking that they are "better than everyone else."  Unfortunately, there are some homeschool Pharisees who face that accusation for good reason.  I think most Christian homeschool moms and dads we know humbly that they have a great thing going and they wouldn't trade it for anything. 

While at the school bus office, I saw an artsy, cutesy sign on the wall in a "country" motif (no doubt bought at one of those lame craft shows) that said something like, "If kids didn't go to school every day, then insane asylums would be filled with moms."  Sigh.   The sad thing is that some of those very nice people at the school bus office probably really believe that rubbish.  I know if my wife had seen that sign, she would have said, "I'm so sure!"

While I was there, waiting for hours to take my tests, I had lots of time to think.  Some in the homeschool community might thing I was in the dragon's lair, or at least in the dragon's bus barn.  But the real dragon is so much more complex than that.  The real dragon only needs the self seeking hearts of people to transport them from godliness to worldliness.  It's a short trip. 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5  For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ...

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

A few months ago I posted this story on one of my other blogs - its worth recycling, I think.

I was trying to decide what we should do.  It was about 10:00 PM, and the kids were already in bed, but a very intense, tornadic storm was heading directly toward us.  We could have hid in the closet or even our skanky little cellar, but I didn't really like either idea.

The TV reports were coming in about 3 inch hail, and it made me cringe to think of our van being trashed by hail. The path of the tornado was heading just north of us, but close enough to make me know that it was time to jump in the closet or get out of dodge.

So I hastily decided that by driving just a few miles south, we would be out of the path of the storm and away from the hail. I told the boys (who were still awake and already scared since they had heard the sirens) we were leaving. They leaped from their beds with great joy and scattered to the van like rabbits.

I gave Jason the keys and told him to go unlock the van, while I started trying to wake the girls. Jenette had already taken Jenna out to the van, so I started by waking up Jordan. She gradually woke up (at this point I realized I should have done all this ten minutes sooner!), and after leisurely using the bathroom, dawdled out to the van.

Then I started trying to pick up Jewel, but I realized that she had wet the bed and she was completely soaked. She was totally asleep, so I just tried to strip her down as fast as I could.

We were going so fast that I picked her up, grabbed a clean blanket, and rushed her out to the van. Jenette was very surprised to see the poor cold little naked thing! Then I ran back in, grabbed Joy, and ran out to the van carrying her under my arm like a football, (she squealed every time I took a stride) and threw her in.

As we were rushing away from the storm's onslaught, it occurred to me that people in the area most likely had little else on their minds. We didn't have any problems or any damage at all, but it made me realize that when imminent danger is upon you, all other considerations are small. We left the lights on, the doors unlocked, and the poor dog still in her cage.

In doing my ministry to families, I wish more families would see the imminent danger of the godless popular culture. Instead of rushing out of danger, even so called "Christian" families are more like the scene in Independence Day where all the partiers are on top of the building looking up at the spaceships, saying, "cool" and "awesome" until the destruction rays started blasting them into oblivion.

The tornado of culture creates a wide swath of destruction to children and families, but instead of getting out of dodge, so many people I know are driving their families right into the hook echo. Sigh.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:14-15

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v24/i3/eisegesis.asp

What a great, great article.  Every Christian should read this.  Every homeschool family should understand this concept and apply to their study of the Bible!

jc

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

Wisdom, Knowledge, and understanding come from His MOUTH.

God is infinitely smarter that we are, yet He chose to give us His infinite wisdom through a specific delivery method: speaking in a language we could understand. Now God does not literally have a “mouth” with physical lips and teeth and a tongue like we do, but the point is that God’s truth was spoken so that we could hear it, understand it, and apply it.

Hebrews 1:1-2 says 1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, …

We are living in the last days – and in these last days God has spoken to us through His Son Jesus. How do we know what God has spoken through Jesus? We need to know all the red words in the book – and all the others as well, because Jesus confirmed the truth and sufficiency of the Old Testament in the Gospels. Peter and Paul and the other New Testament writers confirmed the truth and sufficiency of the entire Bible when they wrote, and they testified that God himself breathed into or inspired the writings of the Bible. (See 2 Timothy 3:16 – All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for…)

So God’s specific method of delivering His Wisdom to sinful man was human LANGUAGE, compiled by the Apostles and the prophets into a collection of books we now call the Bible. Frail humans like Moses and David and Matthew and Mark took their pens and wrote the words –each adding their own style and experiences, but all of it guided and inspired in its truth, accuracy, completeness, power, and sufficiency by the mouth of God.

Please meditate on this Proverb: God has given it to us, and he has given it to us by the way that we can most easily ACCESS it: he has spoken it in understandable human language. God could have kept his wisdom to himself! Or He could have delivered it in some unintelligible code, but He didn’t. And how powerful is that today, two thousand years after Jesus walked this earth, that we have God’s wisdom, knowledge, and understanding presented to us in the most effective communication device ever – a book in a language we can understand.

Books are great because, once they are printed, books don’t change. Books don’t walk away (unless someone takes them for a walk!). Books might get a little faded and torn up, but you can replace your copy. Books are handy to take anywhere. Books don’t need sleep, and they don’t have expensive parts to replace. Books don’t have to be fed, they don’t need batteries, and praise God they don’t need anything from Microsoft.

But there is a problem with books, especially the Bible. It’s really a problem with us, not the Bible itself. The problem is MISINTERPRETATION.

I am convinced that the single most important issue that the Church needs to address today is how to interpret the Bible correctly. One church says that the Bible means this – the other church says the Bible means that. Nearly every disagreement between churches and denominations is in some way related to the interpretation of the Bible.

The Bible is the most widely read, most misunderstood, book that there is. And I think there is really one main reason for that:

The main reason God’s Word is so misunderstood is that we want to put our words in God’s mouth, instead of letting His mouth speak His wisdom, His knowledge and His understanding to us. The key is that it is given to us by the Lord from His mouth. Don’t you hate it when someone puts words in your mouth? When they make it sound like you said something that you would never say? Unfortunately, we spend an awful lot of time and energy putting words into the Lord’s mouth. We need to let the Lord say what He wants to say instead of forcing a preconceived opinion onto the Bible.

The difference is basically reading an idea “into” the Bible, verses reading an idea “out” of the Bible. Putting words into the Lord’s mouth is called “EISEGESIS” – reading into the Bible what we already think beforehand. Allowing God to speak what He wants from His Word is called “EXEGESIS” – reading out of the Bible what it says. We want to preach and teach exegetically – our church is committed to interpreting the Bible this way.

Ken Ham on his Answers In Genesis.org website has an excellent article about the difference between “eisegesis” – reading into the Scripture man’s fallible ideas, verses “exegesis” – reading out of the Scripture what God wants to say.

His article has some great illustrations. Eisegesis – putting words in the mouth of God - looks at Genesis one (and the rest of the Bible) with a marker, ready to mark out what you don’t like. The Hebrew word for “day,” “Yom,” cannot mean “day,” because everyone knows that the earth is millions and millions of years old. That is “reading into” the Scripture a human bias. That is putting words in the mouth of God that He never intended to say.

Exegesis – “reading out of” looks at Genesis one with a magnifying glass. It is an honest, humble approach. We look at the Hebrew word “Yom,” and we find out it means, guess what, “Day.” But we look at the grammar and the style of literature and by honestly studying God’s Word, we “find that whenever yôm (day) is qualified by a number or the phrase evening and morning, it always means an ordinary day. Thus, critically looking at the text and then reading out of Scripture, one cannot come to any other conclusion except that these days were ordinary (24-hour) days.” –Ken Ham

Ken Ham says in his article that…”Understanding the difference between ‘eisegesis’ and ‘exegesis’ is really the KEY to the effectiveness of the church in today’s culture. “ I totally agree with that statement. All over this country and the world, Christians are being taught to interpret their Bibles by throwing out the highlighter and grabbing the black marker – saying “this can’t be true” because we are foolish enough to attempt to put words in the mouth of God. How effective are churches going to be working off of human wisdom?

But when we train Christians to properly listen to the mouth of God speak what He wants to say, we as a whole body have the discernment to judge the theories and ideas of fallible, sinful, treacherous humans like ourselves in light of what the Scripture clearly says. Like Mark Twain said, “it’s not the parts of the Bible that I don’t understand that bother me, it’s the parts of the Bible that I DO understand that bother me.”

We don’t change the meaning of Scripture based on cultural whims – the meaning of Scripture should be changing cultural whims as Christians fulfill their calling to be salt and light in a wicked world. We don’t adjust the truth of God’s Word – it adjusts us. In fact, you could even go so far to say, that we don’t even interpret the Scripture, but the Scripture INTERPRETS us.

We need to understand that there is only one “meaning” of Scripture – that is what the author intended to say. (It is from the Lord’s mouth, not mine, or anyone else’s!) Any other meaning than the author’s meaning is wrong. The ultimate author is the Lord, and His meaning is the right one. We need to constantly analyze our study of Scripture to make sure our thinking and our methodology is correct. Maybe you have heard this question: “What does this Scripture mean to you?” That question should be banned in our study of Scripture because it leads us to put words in God’s mouth that He did not intend.

Instead we should ask, “What is the author trying to say here? And a good follow up question would be, “How does this Scripture apply to your life?” A great thing to remember in studying Scripture is, “Am I getting the AIM – the AUTHOR’S INTENDED MEANING? Or am I putting words into God’s mouth?”

Now someone might say, “Are we not supposed to listen to preaching and teaching of the Bible?” Well, God’s Word tells us that we need to listen to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word – in fact, we as a church need to seriously grow in our commitment to studying the Bible.

Growing in our knowledge and understanding of the Bible is not an option for the maturing Christian. We use the authority of God’s Word to preach - not our own authority. God’s Word gives us the wisdom to give to other people.

I am nothing by myself, just like everyone else. I am a wretched sinner, saved by God’s grace alone, through my active, living faith. The authority to preach or teach lies in the Word of God itself spoken from the mouth of God. My job as a teacher is to accurately present to you the whole counsel of God. Your job as church members and listeners is not to sit there and be sleeping sheep, but to be active participants – to realize that the wolf is always about looking for some sleeping sheep to munch on.

As a church body, we need to seriously commit ourselves to be like the Bereans in Acts 17. In Acts 17, Paul preaches the gospel in Thessalonica, and then gets run out of town by a very irate mob. He then goes to preach in Berea, and listen to what the Scripture says about the Bereans in Acts 17:11:

11Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Now please chew on this for a second. If the Bereans were commended and encouraged for daily searching the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true, how much more so should we be daily searching the Scriptures if some "schmoe" like me is preaching? How much more should we daily search the Scriptures to see if what the TV and radio preachers are saying is true? How much more should we daily search the Scriptures to make sure we are not putting our words in His mouth?

Paul was an Apostle with a capital "A." Paul wrote most of the New Testament. Paul took the gospel to the entire world of His day. Paul is undoubtedly the greatest pastor, missionary, preacher, scholar, writer, and teacher in Christian history other than Jesus himself- and the Bereans are COMMENDED for digging in their Bibles and checking Him out. They weren’t prideful and arrogant about it – they had a noble character – they received it with great eagerness.

That word translated “examined” in Acts 17:11 means much more than mere reading. They carefully investigated the Scriptures – it is the same word used when a judge is INVESTIGATING a case before Him. What I wouldn’t give to hear the conversations they must have had. Can you imagine them? Staying up all night long talking and arguing about these things – and then coming back the next day to Paul. Can you imagine Paul having to preach to these guys? Talk about a smart crowd! They were not going to be deceived – they had a Godly discernment and they knew their Bibles.

Guess what they found out? They found out that Paul was right! They found out that Paul was right because Paul was proclaiming God’s Wisdom spoken from God’s mouth and not Paul’s own opinions. They did not wait to be spoon fed – they were active participants in the learning process.

Where do you go for your answers? Life is a difficult, messy business. God’s Word is fully sufficient to deal with the tough issues in every day life.

(Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." ESV)

The Lord GIVES wisdom.

The Bible repeatedly states that God Himself is the source, the origin, and the creator of everything that is true and right and wise. Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding do not originate with humans, but with God. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:19-20

19For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? …. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Even the greatest foolishness of God (if there could even be such a thing) is much greater and much wiser than the greatest, wisest thing man could ever come up with. We think that in this day and age that our technology is going to solve every problem. We foolishly believe that we are smarter than God. The passage in 1 Corinthians goes on to say that the ultimate expression of the wisdom and power of God is Christ himself, and the PREACHING of the gospel message – is the ultimate in foolishness to the world. Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are from the Lord, not from us.

Have you ever paused to consider the result of what God creates verses the result of what people create? Sometimes during the fall our family will go out and pick up walnuts. In just a few hours under two or three trees, we can fill up a whole trailer.

We also pick up trash beside the road at times. When we do this, my boys work diligently and with good attitudes, but there isn’t much joy in it. It doesn’t take long to collect a whole trailer load of stinky, disgusting trash in just a small area! As we work, sometimes we talk about littering, laziness, and how gross trash is. We talk about beer and whiskey and driving drunk - we always find more beer cans and bottles than anything else on the road right by our house.

We were doing the same action: picking up a great abundance of stuff off the ground, but there was a key difference between the two: God made the walnuts, and provided a blessing. Humans made the trash, and provided a mess to clean up. That’s the difference between God’s wisdom, and man’s wisdom. James 3:13-15 says:

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.

Where do you find the answers to your questions? Really! Where do you go? Do you go to the Lord – the source of wisdom and walnuts – or to man – the source of treachery and trash?

I want to warn you to stop listening to human wisdom. Human wisdom says we’re all OK – Human wisdom says God’s a great guy – he’s not going to send people to hell. Human wisdom says don’t admonish people for their sin, but just build up their self-esteem. Human wisdom, at its core, is wisdom that is WISE in its own EYES. God’s wisdom is objective and absolute – it is outside of us – God sees us as we really are – desperate sinners in need of grace.

Proverbs 3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

Proverbs 26:12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 28:11 A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.

Now you might be wondering, “Jim, are you saying we shouldn’t ever get advice from anyone? If people are so messed up, how do we know who to LISTEN to?” Here’s the deal: you had better know the worldview of the person you are seeking counsel from. What is your potential counselor’s STARTING point – the source of truth? Does that person get their answers from God’s Word, or from somewhere else?

Does that person have a growing maturing RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ? Isaiah calls Jesus the wonderful counselor. Does that person have the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit in his life? John 14 says the Holy Spirit is our counselor who lives in us and will guide us into all truth.

One of the reasons that God gives His wisdom to people is so that we can SHARE it with others. But we had better make sure we are giving and listening to Godly wisdom instead of worldly wisdom.

Psalm 1:1 says; "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked…"

Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding come from a holy and perfect God, but here is the great part: He chose to give it to us. The Lord gives wisdom. God could have made us to be dumb animals, but He made us in His own image, so that we could learn who he is and have a relationship with Him. God didn’t have to give us anything; He chose to give it to us.

So how exactly does God give His wisdom? Check out the next post for the next reason.

We talk a lot about the truth of Scripture. We talk about the importance of Scripture. We talk about the power and the inspiration of Scripture, but do we really, at the core, believe in the sufficiency of Scripture? Do we really, at the core, practice the sufficiency of Scripture? Do we really rely on the full sufficiency of Scripture in everyday life?  Do you?

I believe this may be the most important question we should ask, and answer appropriately, for Christians living in today’s culture. Do you go first to God’s Word for answers, or do you go elsewhere? I started listing this week all the issues where people elevate Man’s truth over God’s Wisdom, and guess what? The list includes everything.  Christians should take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ – every issue in life needs to be processed Biblically. But tragically, many Christians do not “think like a Christian.” Instead, many of them think like the world.

There are at least three top “worldly thinking” sources of information:

People trust their FEELINGS for answers. If it feels right, then it must be right. If I feel like I can fly like superman, I must be able to. If I feel like I can overcome the forces of gravity, then I must be able to. Feelings are a very treacherous source of answers.

People trust other peoples’ OPINIONS. If Dr. “So and So” said it then it must be right. He’s an expert on the matter. But whose opinion do you value the most? Did you know that there are over 250 different viewpoints on human psychology? Which one is right? Can they all possibly be right?

We also put our trust in SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. If science has proven a certain thing to be true, then we must trust it, right?. Now science is very helpful and certainly has it’s place, but unfortunately, much of what is called science is not based on observation and repeated experiments; much of it is really someone’s opinion and it’s falsely called science.

We've seen these three "sources" played out so much recently in the DaVinci Code hype and the Gospel of Thomas nonsense.  (And those three sources are frequently cited or quoted from "experts" who explain why homeschooling is so terrible!)

I’d like to suggest that we trust in God’s Revelation for our answers. I want to suggest two reasons why we should fully rely on the sufficiency of Scripture in every day life. These two reasons are found in Proverbs 2:6: For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

See the next post for the the first reason:

This is the fourth blog I have started - My first dedicated to Homeschooling and on homeshoolblogger.  This is truly an awesome blogging site. More to come!

jc