Category Archives: Bible

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The Difference Between Evangelism And Discipleship

Have you ever experienced an epiphany? One of those moments where something becomes crystal clear to you like it never has been before? I experienced one of those the other day.

Evangelism Vs. Discipleship

At our staff meeting this week at my church, we had a brief discussion about the differences between discipleship and outreach/evangelism. It was a good conversation, and it sparked some thinking in my mind for the next few days.

The following morning, I posed a question based off of my thoughts on this to a group of men that I meet with weekly. I wanted to gather some additional viewpoints and perspectives. Some of their comments added to my thoughts as well.

I have always differentiated between these two concepts. In my mind, they were two very distinct and different things. Outreach and evangelism is what we do to reach the lost and bring them to Christ. Discipleship, on the other hand, is the process that takes place after one becomes a believer, and conforms us to the image of Christ.

Or at least that is what I have always thought about these two ideas.

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The Sacredness Of The Word

I love words. I think I always have. Words have long been a critical part of my life.

The Written Word

As a result of this love, I also greatly enjoy the tools of the word. I love writing with fountain pens, and have a small collection of pens of all sorts, from vintage fountain pens to specialty pens, to custom made pens. And pencils are fun too. I recently was given a box of special issue Blackwing pencils. Using one of those is like what I imagine writing in Heaven will be like.

I also have a fascination with vintage typewriters. I have a couple of older ones, one from the 40s, and one from the early 60s. These are more display pieces than usable equipment, but I do write the occasional letter or note with one of them.

I journal. I carry a Moleskine journal with me at all times, and I usually have a Field Notes brand notebook or two handy as well. The Field Notes are inspired by the old farmers’ field notebooks of the last fifty years. I have several of those old notebooks as well.

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Dealing With Discrepancies

Reconciling The Two Accounts Of The Sermon On The Mount

The Sermon on the Mount is recorded twice in the New Testament, both in Matthew and in Luke. But the two are significantly different accounts. Have you ever wondered why?

Mountain

This has always bothered me. These two accounts of the Sermon on the Mount have some major differences, too many to simply dismiss.

Matthew records the Sermon on the Mount in three different chapters, chapters 5-7. Luke records his account in a shorter version, in Luke 6. Of the two, most people are more familiar with the Matthew account. And when they get to Luke, the account is similar, yet not the same.

For example, Luke records the Beatitudes, as does Matthew, but Luke’s version is different, including a series of woes that Matthew does not record.

Luke also writes of Jesus’ statements concerning love for our enemies, about judging, and about the wise and foolish builders. But again, there are several key differences between the two gospels.

Why are these two accounts so different?

It is because these are two different sermons.

Wait. What?

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The Enmity Will Come To An End

I have been spending a lot of time recently in the book of Isaiah. Most people seem to be intimidated by this book of prophecy, simply because it is prophecy, and it can be hard to comprehend. But taking the time to understand it is worth it.

Snake

As you get to know this book, you frequently come across little nuggets of Bible knowledge that stun you in their connectedness to the rest of the Bible.

That happened to me this morning.

My favorite passages of Scripture are found in the early chapters of Genesis. I love creation science, and studying the earliest parts of biblical history is one of my favorite things to do.

As you know, the Curse found in Genesis three is where sin entered into the world, and mankind fell. As a result, God pronounces the Curse on Adam and all mankind, on woman and childbirth, and on the serpent. You can see a part of this in Genesis 3:14-15:

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A Beautiful Mess

We are studying through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians at our church right now. Let me tell you, that church was a mess!

Beautiful Mess

A lot of times, I hear people say that they want to get back to the way the church was in the first century. And while the church in the book of Acts is a great model, and definitely something to strive for, the church in Corinth wasn’t living up to that image. In fact, it was pretty messed up.

The believers in the church in Corinth were not behaving as believers should. They were suing each other. They were arguing with each other over petty things. They were disrupting the flow of worship during their services. They were treating others with disregard and disrespect. They were divisive and not living in unity. They were tolerating immoral sexual relationships within their midst. They weren’t tithing. They were no longer preaching the gospel.

They were, simply, a mess.

But as you read Paul’s letter to this new, fledgling, church in Corinth, you see a few things that are stunning in their beauty. And by the end of the letter, it is amazing.

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Reading The Old Testament

Have you ever really taken the time to read through the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament? Have you done so recently?

Bible Study

A lot of the time, when I encourage people to read the Bible, they begin with Genesis. That’s a great place to start, and it has a lot of incredible and foundational history laid out through its pages. Once they finish with Genesis, they move on to Exodus. Again, there is a tremendous amount of history found here.

But then they hit Leviticus and Numbers. These books are filled with tedious information about Jewish feasts and festivals, sacrifices and censuses, the tabernacle and the distribution of the Promised Land.

It is easy to get bogged down and lost in these books, and feel discouraged about continuing to read through the Bible.

I encourage people to not give up. There is a lot of incredible information found in the books of Leviticus and Numbers!

At our church, we are studying through the Bible, one book at a time, during our Wednesday evening programming. We just finished Leviticus and have moved into Numbers. But what we discovered as we studied Leviticus, and are finding as we go through Numbers, has been nothing short of amazing.

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2015 Bible Reading Plans

Spending time in God’s Word is one of the most important aspects of daily spiritual growth. Allowing God’s Word to impact your life will not happen unless you are exposing yourself to it consistently. Bible reading is perhaps the most critical of the spiritual disciplines.

Bible Reading Plan 2015

I’ve written several times in the past about this discipline:

I firmly believe that this is a critical element of our spiritual lives. And it seems to be lacking in a lot of people’s lives. I think, when you experience the many benefits of consistent, daily time spent in God’s Word, you’ll develop a craving for more.

God’s Word truly does change us.