My Daily Pause

While job hunting I’ve noticed that monster.com has used the catch phrase “Your calling is calling.” It is somewhat of a hobby of mine to find the Biblical principal that a successful enterprise based their business model on (whether they know it or not). As Christians we can leverage our faith in God’s plan by building a life around the examples He has given us in His word.

Take for example Esther, and the opportunity she seized to save her people from destruction by performing a risky action. Her cousin Mordecai had asked her to plead with the king to cancel an order to exterminate the Jews living under his rule. She was afraid to do so because to appear before the king without being summoned was punishable by death. Mordecai responds in Esther 4:14 with what I consider the thesis statement of the book of Esther:

“…and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

In other words, “Your calling is calling”

Put another way, wasn’t Esther saved or put into a prominent position to serve others? Esther is convicted by this statement and ultimately saves the Jews. We have another example of “Our calling is calling” in the context of being saved so we can serve others in Mark 1:30-31:

30But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her. 31And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

Notice that Simon’s mother-in-law immediately got up and began taking care of the group gathered at their house after Jesus healed her. If we are to live by the examples the Scripture gives us, then serving others so that they too may be saved should be one of the cornerstones of our lives. Didn’t Jesus do the same for us?

That the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. –  2 Timothy 3:17

Biblepalooza

As I write this, I am still fresh from a Bible reading experience I wanted to share with you.

At my church, we have been experimenting with extended Bible reading sessions. We call it Biblepalooza because we totally go for it and read through large portions of the Bible in one sitting. So far we have met twice and read large portions of Scripture as a group. Several of the men take turns reading aloud while the rest of the group follows along. Since the main goal of this site is to develop Bible reading skills and habits, I have given a lot of thought to the impact this has had on the participants and some tweaks I would recommend to another group that wants to try it.

Length of Session

By extended session, I mean we read for hours at a time. The first time we started around 6 on a Friday evening and read until after 1 am. The reading included Luke, Acts, Hebrews and selections from Daniel, Psalm 119 and Isaiah 53. The second time (today) we read through the Minor Prophets (Hosea – Malachi) and it took a little less than four hours.

I know you think I’m going to say that the shorter session was better. It was easier for sure, but in all the important ways, the longer session was the better one.

There is something about God’s word that just doesn’t happen with short, bite sized daily devotional readings. When complete books of the Bible are read at a time, without comment, without stopping, in context – it moves you! I want to think that the followers of this site are veracious Bible readers, but when was the last time you sat and read an entire book in one sitting? When comparing the shorter session today with the previous one – I was left wanting more. Once we got going, I was entirely focused and hearing each and every word. I wasn’t ready to stop so soon once I reached that state of mind.

It only makes sense – most people who read novels for fun, read for hours at a time. It would be difficult to follow a murder mystery in 10 minute sessions.

Bible Version

I know everyone has a favorite version, but it is very important to choose one version and everyone use it for this exercise. That state of mind I was just talking about above is very fragile and disappears when the reader’s text doesn’t agree with yours. We had this happen in both of our sessions and I noticed the restlessness of the group almost immediately. I was lucky enough to have a matching version loaded in my Kindle both times, but not so for everyone. We used the NKJV and had very good results from it in terms of the ability of the readers to read aloud smoothly and crisply.

Comments and Section Headings

Be sure to make this a pure reading session of God’s word. The NKJV and others have introductions to each book, section headings, and other such distractions, but they are not part of the Bible. When doing a Bible study these tools are fine. When doing a straight reading these things are intrusions on the Spirit’s communication to us.

Commentary by the readers is tempting, especially among the experienced Bible teachers. It is in our nature to make sure your students are getting what they are being taught. I promise you there is no need for it in a session like this. When totally immersed in the purity of God’s word, comments from outside of it are nothing short of abrasive. Once again, it is definitely a distraction to that special state of mind.

As we do more sessions, I’ll add to this write-up any new thoughts or ideas I have, but don’t wait on that. Get started and plan your own reading soon!

1 Corinthians 7 gives a general outline of how marriage works by God’s rules along with some good advice by Paul.

The Proverbs writer gave us the blueprint for the kind of woman to look for and to be. The “Proverbs 31 Woman” is the backbone of her family and Christian men would do well to look for her.

The Good Wife

¹⁰ It is hard to find a good wife,
because she is worth more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband trusts her completely.
With her, he has everything he needs.
¹² She does him good and not harm
for as long as she lives.
¹³ She looks for wool and flax
and likes to work with her hands.
¹⁴ She is like a trader’s ship,
bringing food from far away.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still dark
and prepares food for her family
and feeds her servant girls.
¹⁶ She inspects a field and buys it.
With money she earned, she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She does her work with energy,
and her arms are strong.
¹⁸ She knows that what she makes is good.
Her lamp burns late into the night.
¹⁹ She makes thread with her hands
and weaves her own cloth.
²⁰ She welcomes the poor
and helps the needy.
²¹ She does not worry about her family when it snows,
because they all have fine clothes to keep them warm.
²² She makes coverings for herself;
her clothes are made of linen and other expensive material.
²³ Her husband is known at the city meetings,
where he makes decisions as one of the leaders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen clothes and sells them
and provides belts to the merchants.
²⁵ She is strong and is respected by the people.
She looks forward to the future with joy.
²⁶ She speaks wise words
and teaches others to be kind.
²⁷ She watches over her family
and never wastes her time.
²⁸ Her children speak well of her.
Her husband also praises her,
²⁹ saying, “There are many fine women,
but you are better than all of them.”
³⁰ Charm can fool you, and beauty can trick you,
but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.
³¹ Give her the reward she has earned;
she should be praised in public for what she has done.– Proverbs 31:10-31 NCV

Sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage is sin.

Straight. Gay. Whatever.

I tell you this because you need to know. It’s not because I hate you. It’s just because I love you enough to try and convince you before it’s too late.

I’m going to keep reminding you that God will turn his back on you if you keep doing these things. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 1:18-32 – Go ahead, read these. I’ll wait)

Even if you call me names for telling you, it doesn’t change what God said about it.

Of course, it doesn’t even matter how I feel about it – In the end it is between you and God.

There is a way back though. You can start by fleeing that lifestyle. (1 Corinthians 6:11-20)

The current trend in the world is for educated people to look down at those who teach the gospel. However, Paul was a student in Tarsus, a widely respected university, and even spent time “at the feet” of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3).

In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, we see Paul snub the “excellency of speech or wisdom” in favor of the pure and simple Gospel. In fact even though he quotes a number of learned men in his letters (Aratus in Acts 17:28, Epimenides in Titus 1:12, Menander in 1 Corinthians 15:33), He considered that rubbish compared to the gospel.

If we are to follow the Apostles example (Philippians 4:9), we cannot be discouraged by “educated” folks, but depend on the testimony of God. Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 1:1 insinuates that the gospel didn’t depend on the conformity to the philosophy of the Greeks nor on the eloquence of its preachers. It depends only on God and he confirmed it with miracles.