The Last Day of 2009

I have been out of high school almost 21 years. It has taken me that long to get my Master's degree (May 2010). What a lot of wasted time. Although I did not surrender to the ministry until April 2005, I was being called a long time before that. The year 2010 may see changes for my family. My wife will complete her PhD and we may be moving. If we are in the Dallas area, or within driving distance, I will begin work on mine. My oldest son Eli will enter High school, and my youngest son Ethan will be in the first grade. Friday nights beginning in September will be spent watching the band and then the football game. (That will be a switch for me) I pray that my family will have more devotional time in 2010, that we will be more committed to God as a family, and that our Christian education is enhanced by the church that we attend. I pray that God will lead me to a church to serve. I pray that my youngest son will begin to realize who Jesus is, and what he has done for him. I pray that my oldest son will be more attentive to his Christian walk and see that God, church and dad are not the enemy. Eli has had a tough year, and I pray that this new year is better for him.

Can't Keep My Dog in the Fence

My son has a 10 month old female boxer. Her name is Izzy. she is the sweetest dog, but I can not get her to stay in the yard. She can jump the fence with no problem. I have built a pen in the yard, tried an electric fence and a tie down. None of them have worked. I have a shock collar on her now and I am watching her out of the window. I hate the shock collar, but we are going to lose her. Isn't it a good thing that we can not be lost to God once we have accepted his free gift of salvation. He has given us the boundary of His word to keep us fenced in, and yet we jump the fence and roam around where we can get into trouble. God does not have a shock collar, but if his ear is inclined to us as Peter writes in the 1st book of Peter, then he knows when his children are tearing up the neighbor's trash, much like Izzy. My prayer today is that I will stay where God wants me to stay and not jump the fence.

Wow

I said I was not going to be lax this time in blogging. But I had to finish the semester (1 more semester and I will have my Master's) and the holidays have been wonderful but hectic. I have been studying a lot of Paul's writings to the churches, and have noticed that Paul did give his opinions on certain subjects. Paul makes statements similar to "I speak for myself on this matter and not the Lord". I found such an instance today in I Corinthians. I was at the hospital with my wife's family as her grandmother was being attended to, and thought this phrase peculiar by Paul while studying the bible in the waitng room. Should we adhere to Paul's opinion on matters? This is something that I will seek more evidence on, and as always, pray on the matter.

What hinders prayer?

While performing research for a school project on prayer, I was introduced to a book called How to Pray by R.A. Torrey. Although the book was written more than a century ago, the information in the book is relevant to the life of a Believer today. The first hinderance that Torrey writes of is the hinderance of selfishness. Torrey states on page 66 of the book, "A selfish purpose in prayer robs of power." I had never thought of this subject in this manner. How selfish are we as believers in our prayers? Do we long for what God can give us, or do we long for what God can do through us? What is the purpose of our prayers? Is the purpose to receive for us, or to receive to give to others? When Jesus prayed before his crucifixion, he prayed for his workers and those that were left behind. He prayed for himself, but in that he was doing the will of the Father that had sent him. He wanted the work that he had started and the workers that had been faithful to realize their full potential in God's will. Maybe this is what our prayers should be about.

Where is this world headed?

This world is headed for an end. Sometimes I wish that I knew the day that the world would end. 99% of the time, I am glad that I do not know. As a sinner saved by the grace of God, I sin. I wonder how I would be if I knew when Jesus was coming back. What does the bible say about his subject? 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.Matthew 24:36 KJV. This verse is in the middle of Jesus speaking privately to his disciples on the mount of Olives. He was speaking to them about the end times and about when the Son of God, himself would return to the earth to gather the believers together and take them up with him. I have chosen this verse to study today because I was challenged to find the meaning of this verse. I do not speak Greek, but I do have the same Greek dictionaries that many of preachers have. The Greek word for day in this verse is "hemera". This means "of the last day of this present age, the day Christ will return from heaven, raise the dead, hold the final judgement and perfect his kingdon". The Greek word used here for hour is "hora". It means "a certain definite timeor season fixed by natural law returning with the revolving year, any definite time point of time or moment". If one were to study this subject and choose a month and a year and state that it is the only logical time for Christ to return, and then say with assurance that if not that month and year then no later than the next year, that is date setting. In effect the person has set the date of the 31st day of December of the next year. That is a definite set date. Explain it any other way and it is still against this verse in Matthew. It is amazing that people who are learned people can hear this rhetoric from a colleague and still think that the colleague is just giving a studied interpretation to the end times. No man knows the time or day. This means even if they have Dr. in front of their name, they are wrong. It is amazing that young ministers are taught to stand for what they believe and then when one does, he is told that he is a young minister looking for recognition. One can say that one is teaching heresy without calling the person a heretic. The person may be misinformed or may have studied the subject beyond biblical comprehension. Whatever the reason, we know that Jesus is coming soon. According to this verse, only God knows when this is going to be.