Blessed By Scripture

There is nothing like the blessing that Scripture provides.  This is because it is God's will for us to know His word.  Since the Bible is our authority for faith and living, it ought to bless us when we read it.  Scripture tells us the truth about God, provides assurance to us of things we've learned about God, and gives us hope.  This morning, in one of my devotions, I learned how the song "When We All Get to Heaven" was written.  It was written to help with evangelistic campaigns and work with children at the turn of the 19th century. Below the devotional text was a list of Scriptures.  Using Logos, I highlighted them, and looked them up.  It blessed me, and now I want to share them with you.  Heaven is a reality, and those who belong to Jesus will all gather together there one day.  Scripture gives us the assurance.

Psalm 16:11 ¹¹  You make known to me ^cthe path of life;  in your presence there is ^dfullness of joy;  at your right hand are ^epleasures forevermore.  

Isaiah 35:10 ^{10  h}And the ransomed of the Lord shall return  and come to Zion with singing;  ⁱeverlasting joy shall be upon their heads;  they shall obtain gladness and joy,  and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.  

John 14:2 ² In ^fmy Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that ^gI go to prepare a place for you?² 

John 14:3 ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you ^hto myself, that ⁱwhere I am you may be also. 

1 Corinthians 15:54–57 ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:  ^x“Death is swallowed up in victory.”  ^{55  y}“O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?”  ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^zthe power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, ^awho gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  

You Don't Know What You Don't Know

The Bible says a lot about learning. The most famous passage is Deuteronomy 6:1-9.  I consider it "educational philosophy" of the Bible.  In theological terms, it would be the "discipleship paradigm".  In addition to this, Jesus talked about the importance of teaching/learning as part of His great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) when He said "Teaching them" to obey all that I've commanded.  Discipleship is the mission of the church.  In the Great Commission, you may not know that the only imperative or command is "make disciples", not "go".

When I was in U.S. Army Chaplain School, the commander was fond of saying:  "You don't know what you don't know".  That was a clever way of describing the destructive nature of ignorance.  I experienced that this morning, while surfing the web, I found a youtube video that showed how to make screenshots on my computer, really easily.  In addition, I learned many other amazing functions.  So what?  I've had this computer for 18 mos.  I didn't know I could do any of that.  I was ignorant of its features.

That's permissible, I guess when it comes to technology, but not the word of God.  The Bible gives us the answer to all of humanities' problems in the Person of Christ. Romans 10:16 says that faith comes by hearing.  As I reflect on this, I think of the Scripture that says:  "Taste and See that the Lord is good".

Here's an example of something I learned today about making a screenshot. (quickly)  This is what Bethel's new Facebook page looks like:

And by the way, here's the reference to "taste and see that the Lord is good" Psalm 34:8.

Psalm 25:4 says "Teach Me" May this be our prayer as we come to the word of God.

A New Facebook Page for Bethel

Facebook is a great way to create a presence and connect with friends.

Bethel's Facebook Page

Here is what it will look like when you get to it.

Just like all technology, it's like fire, it can be used for good or evil. Take sound for example.  There is no shortage of churches or preachers who have associated problems in the sound booth with "the devil".  People work really hard to make it all work, those that work with sound and technology are worthy of double honor.

We tried to show a video the past two weeks.  The audio wasn't working. I'm thankful for the "few laborers" who faithfully try to make it happen in church each Sunday. Some days, it just doesn't work.  Here is the video.

We have a new Facebook presence @ Bethel.  We're trying to use technology to help let people know about our great church.  It's certainly not an end in itself.  I wonder what Luther, Arminius, Wesley, or the early Pentecostals might have done with technology.  I know they would share the good news with whoever would listen.  Maybe that's why the power of technology is so useful to the church.

https://www.facebook.com/betheltemple

Check us out, give us a "like".  If you're ever in Ft. Worth on a Sunday, come give us a visit.

A Prayer of Response

Today, at the close of a sermon on 1 Peter 2:1-10, entitled "Growing Up in Christ", after inviting those who did not know Christ to stop struggling and come to Him. (there were no raised hands btw...more later on this)  I asked the congregation to stand and pray this prayer of response.  The minute I put it up I realized I'd not made the font large enough to see, and the font was too narrow to read at a distance.  Nevertheless, the Saints of Bethel read on! After church, a couple of friendly church members teased me about the "readability"....point well taken.  In the spirit of this great church's determination, I offer this prayer slide, with the hope that our hearts will be drawn to the God who has given us so much.

Vice Lists in the New Testament

I was preparing for my sermon this week on 1 Peter 2:1-10. I was reading passage background in the Expositor's Bible Commentary and found this quote that interested me.

Vice lists such as this were common in the ancient world and also in the NT (cf. Mark 7:21–22; Rom 1:29–31; 13:13; 1 Cor 5:10; Gal 5:19–20; 2 Peter 2:10–14; and the appendix to Eric H. Wahlstrom’s New Life in Christ [Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1950], pp. 281–87).

Vice Lists.  I had never thought of the Bible as having Vice lists.  Vices are something believers are supposed to avoid, and of course, that's exactly the point that the biblical writers are trying to make.  There are behaviors that don't fit a Christian.  

In Logos, I learned today that you can highlight any passage in any book that contains Bible verses and it will put those verses into a passage list.  I've done that and wanted to present it here for you to enjoy in your study of vices. (with a view of course of "putting them away"  (1 Peter 2:1)

Vice Lists in NT

1 Peter 2:1	So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.
1 Peter 1:21	who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Mark 7:21–22	21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
Romans 1:29–31	29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Romans 13:13	Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
1 Corinthians 5:10	not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
Galatians 5:19–20	19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
2 Peter 2:10–14	10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!
1 Peter 2:2	Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
1 Peter 1:5	who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:9	obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Corinthians 3:1–4	1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
Hebrews 5:11–14	11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Here are some references in the list that aren't vices, but cross-references to the truths mentioned in Peter.
1 Peter 2:3	if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Psalm 34:8	Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!