Knowing the God of the Gospel

How To Read The Bible One of my spiritual heroes is Howard Hendricks, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary.  Although he is a brilliant teacher, he constantly sticks to the basics of inductive Bible study and never tires of teaching it and training others to study the Bible for themselves.  His book, Living by the Book, covers these basics of inductive Bible Study.   The Basic Principle of Biblical Interpretation :   Seek the plain, natural, intended meaning of the text.   What did the original author intend for his original audience to understand, and therefore what is implied for Christians today. As we seek to interpret the Bible, we go through a three step process:   1.   Observation 2.   Interpretation 3. Application 1. Observation What does this passage say?   A.. What is the context of the passage? B.   Who is writing/speaking and to whom?   What is their rel

UNSTUCK! I recently heard a radio spot by a man named Dr. Arnie Cole, who is CEO of Back to the Bible.  He has done a lot of research on spiritual growth and Christian maturity.  In his research, he has studied thousands of people in churches and finds that a large number of people in church behave in exactly the same manner as people in the world who are non-Christian.  This is probably not a complete surprise to most people.  But here is what he said that I find so fascinating... He said that people that read their Bibles are often people with behavior similar to the world.  As he studied people in churches that were truly transformed spiritually, hearing from God, actively obeying and living life differently than the world's values, there was one defining practice that separated them from other people.  The defining practice that gave them a distinctive life as a Christian was the practice of "reflection" on their Bible reading.  People in churches that read the

Upending your spiritual apple cart  Occasionally we come across a circumstance that sort of upends the apple cart of our comfort and self protective mechanisms.   Missions trips can have that effect on us.  When I took my first missions trip to Mexico in the 80's, I was profoundly struck by the economic needs that are so great, and it was humbling to see people working so hard just to scratch out a meager subsistence.  It upset my  paradigm of what I think I deserve and it challenged me to rethink about what it means to live sacrificially.  Books can have that effect on our lives too.   One of the books that has had an "upend the apple cart" dynamic on small groups that I have led is the book "Radical", by David Platt.   The cover of the book features the symbol of the American dream, a house, that is turned upside down.  To put it bluntly, this book challenges our American Christianity as too comfortable and pushes the reader to evaluate what it means to

Living Inside God's Circle of Blessing On Sunday morning, my wife Brenda and I taught Sunday School together.  Here at Monona Oaks, we are going through the Desiring God Sunday School curriculum and teaching through the Ten Commandments this summer.  Brenda and I were in charge of teaching the 5th Commandment, honoring your father and mother.  Tedd Tripp, in his book Shepherding a Child's Heart, makes the great observation that as parents we are not seeking to shape our kids behavior, but shape our kids hearts.  We have no power to change our kids hearts, but we can use the transforming power of the Gospel to let God change our kids hearts.   The goal of parenting is to help our kids love God more deeply and help them understand the deep love of God.  Parents are placed by God in the line of authority between kids and God.  For a child to obey their parents, in turn they are also obeying God.  The 5th Commandment says that when kids obey, it goes well with them and they

Trophies of God's grace This past weekend, trophies were in the news a lot because of the NBA championships and other sporting events. When the NBA trophy was temporarily misplaced after the NBA championship game, LaBron James went on a desperate search to find the trophy and bring it to the locker room for the celebration.  A trophy is special, it is treasured, it is put on display to be admired and viewed.  Paul describes the gathered church as trophies of God's grace in Christ in the Book of Ephesians. Harold Hoehner in his commentary, introduces the theme of Ephesians as "sinners who deserve nothing but God's wrath but have become trophies of God's grace" through the gracious work of Jesus Christ.  A trophy is something that is displayed prominently and purposely so that others might see it.  It reveals something that has been achieved.   Throughout the Book of Ephesians, Paul talks about the Church as people who are trophies of God's grace and p