Showing posts with label bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bible. Show all posts
Monday, January 31, 2011
Admiration
There are many people that I admire. Each of those people have had a tremendous impact on my life. Some of those folks have had a personal impact on my, challenging me to better myself personally. There are others who have challenged me to be a better minister. My father-in-law, Dan Wooldridge, is the pastor of Crestview Baptist Church in Georgetown, Texas. I admire Dan for many reasons. He was my pastor for 10 years in Kingsville. He has been a spiritual and ministry mentor. Not to mention, he is the father of my wonderful wife of the past 12 years. I say all of this to say that he has never stopped learning. Dan has been a pastor since he was 19 years old (today is his birthday by the way). In all of that time of studying and preaching the Bible, he has never lost his love for learning. Over the weekend, he told me of an upcoming sermon series that he was preaching from the Song of Solomon. He confessed that he had never preached through the book (not a surprise considering the content). What he said next did not so much shock or surprise me, but revealed to me the freshness of God's Word. He was excited to preach from this seldom preached from book. When I saw him later in the day, there was a commentary on the Song of Solomon in his hand. Here is a man that I thought knew everything there was to know about the Bible who was still studying more. I admire that. It has challenged me to bring my very best every time I speak the Word. It has challenged me to spend ample time not just adequate time in preparation. It reminds me that no matter how many times I have read or studied a passage, there is always something new to learn. We can never know it all. When we become life long students of God's word we are truly crashing into life. Dan Wooldridge is a life crasher. Crash On!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Delight in This
"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2
What brings delight to your heart? For all of us, it is something different. My wife had our third child 2 weeks ago. I delight in being able to hold that little baby girl and enjoy her innocence, her purity, her beauty. I delight in being able to wrestle with my two young sons. I delight in the beauty of my bride. I delight in the rumble of a motorcycle as it rolls down a two-lane country road. I delight in a big bowl of homemade ice cream in the summer time. There are many things I delight in. The Psalmist says that the delight of the blessed man is found in the word of God. How true. God's word is the thing that breathes life into us so that we may delight in the other things of life. Have you ever noticed how many undelightful people there are in the world. I wonder if that is directly proportional to the number of people who don't know Jesus. It could be, until we look at the number of people who claim to be Christ-followers who are just as undelightful. The word of God is our delight, but it only brings delight if we allow it time to do so. Notice the Pslamist says that he delights in the word because he meditates on it. Meditation has gotten a bad wrap. It has too much Eastern influence and not enough Biblical influence. To meditate on the word of God is to empty your mind of everything else, fill it again with the word and then think about that word deeply and without distraction. Meditating on God's word means to drink deeply from the streams of living water that flow from the pages of Scripture. There is a word that I intentionally skipped over until now. That word is law. The blessed man is to meditate on the law of God. We live under grace, but that is not to say that we are to forsake the law. When we meditate on the law of God it makes us appreciate grace all the more. The law makes us aware of our sin and inability to keep the whole law. Because we are unable to keep the whole law, God infused grace to us through Jesus Christ. It is important for us to search the law, the Old Testament to gain a greater appreciation for grace. The Psalmists final word on meditation says that it is to happen both day and night. Our meditation is not to be relegated to the "quiet time" but is to go with us throughout the day. Much like Paul says we are to pray without ceasing, we are to meditate on God's word unceasingly. Isn't it interesting who prayer and meditation on the word go hand in hand? I hope that you will delight in the word and work of God today as you crash into life.
What brings delight to your heart? For all of us, it is something different. My wife had our third child 2 weeks ago. I delight in being able to hold that little baby girl and enjoy her innocence, her purity, her beauty. I delight in being able to wrestle with my two young sons. I delight in the beauty of my bride. I delight in the rumble of a motorcycle as it rolls down a two-lane country road. I delight in a big bowl of homemade ice cream in the summer time. There are many things I delight in. The Psalmist says that the delight of the blessed man is found in the word of God. How true. God's word is the thing that breathes life into us so that we may delight in the other things of life. Have you ever noticed how many undelightful people there are in the world. I wonder if that is directly proportional to the number of people who don't know Jesus. It could be, until we look at the number of people who claim to be Christ-followers who are just as undelightful. The word of God is our delight, but it only brings delight if we allow it time to do so. Notice the Pslamist says that he delights in the word because he meditates on it. Meditation has gotten a bad wrap. It has too much Eastern influence and not enough Biblical influence. To meditate on the word of God is to empty your mind of everything else, fill it again with the word and then think about that word deeply and without distraction. Meditating on God's word means to drink deeply from the streams of living water that flow from the pages of Scripture. There is a word that I intentionally skipped over until now. That word is law. The blessed man is to meditate on the law of God. We live under grace, but that is not to say that we are to forsake the law. When we meditate on the law of God it makes us appreciate grace all the more. The law makes us aware of our sin and inability to keep the whole law. Because we are unable to keep the whole law, God infused grace to us through Jesus Christ. It is important for us to search the law, the Old Testament to gain a greater appreciation for grace. The Psalmists final word on meditation says that it is to happen both day and night. Our meditation is not to be relegated to the "quiet time" but is to go with us throughout the day. Much like Paul says we are to pray without ceasing, we are to meditate on God's word unceasingly. Isn't it interesting who prayer and meditation on the word go hand in hand? I hope that you will delight in the word and work of God today as you crash into life.
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