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Coffee Break – 04.16.2018

Your Monday Dose Of Inspiration

On this day in history: In 1900, the first book of postage stamps was issued. The two-cent stamps were available in books of 12, 24 and 48 stamps. In 1922, Annie Oakley shot 100 clay targets in a row, to set a women’s record. And in 1972, Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon. It was the fifth manned moon landing.

Coffee Break

Today Is National Bean Counter Day!
Give your tax preparer a big “Thank You!”

3 Alternatives To Using A Keurig Coffee Maker – I bought one. I am ashamed to admit it, but I did. It lasted a few months and then I gave it away. It was a complete disappointment. There are better ways to make coffee.

Eight Unique Ozarks Legends – Have you ever heard of the Blue Man? Or the Joplin Spooklight? Or the Albino Farm? These are all legends heard in the Ozarks, and I heard them all growing up in this region. This article lists several of the more famous ones, and provides links for further reading. Check it out!

TerraGenesis – I recently discovered a strategy game that I really enjoy that allows you to terraform and colonize the planets in our solar system and beyond. I’m hooked for the moment and am thoroughly enjoying it.

Jupiter – Based on the link above about the game TerraGenesis, I decided to colonize one of Jupiter’s moons. So here’s a video of Jupiter to whet your appetite.

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Memorize Scripture: Psalm 119:41-44

Hiding God’s Word In Our Hearts

The next three strophes of Psalm 119 are centered around finding God in his Word. We will spend several weeks looking at these verse, beginning with the first half of the stanza “waw,” in verses 41-44. You can see it here:

Psalm 119:41-44

The first of these three stanzas is all about God’s love, and the psalmist starts right off with that thought in verse 41. He will also end with that thought in verses 47 and 48, which we will look at next week.

What may be surprising to some readers is that this is the first time the psalmist has addressed God’s love in Psalm 119. What many consider to be the greatest of all of God’s attributes has been largely ignored to this point. Now, however, he jumps right in and speaks of the unfailing nature of that love.

This is also the first mention of God’s salvation in Psalm 119. To be sure, the author has implied it a few times, but here he specifically speaks of God’s promise to save.

Those two concepts go hand in hand however, so it is not surprising that they appear together here. God’s salvation of mankind, of you and me, is entirely dependent upon his love for mankind, and for you and me. The evidence of his love for us is that he saves us, and perhaps it is best stated in 1 John 3:16: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.”

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Book Review – The Man He Never Was by James L. Rubart

The Man He Never Was by James L. RubartHave you ever read a book that resonated so closely to your own life that you wondered if the author was watching your life? That’s kind of how I felt while reading James Rubart’s book, The Man He Never Was. This book hit pretty close to home, and brought some truths to light that I need to stop and think about in a little more depth.

The book is about a former NFL star, Toren Daniels, who suddenly reappears after being missing for eight months. Where he has been and what has happened to him is a mystery, but one thing is clear. His deepest struggle, his ability to control his anger, is gone. He is a new man, it seems.

But the search to find just how this has happened is what this book is all about. And it is a fascinating story. Even though it is fiction, it grabbed me and pulled me into the light of some truths that I haven’t quite grasped in such a way before. One of those truths is this: No matter what my sin may be, anger and rage in Toren Daniel’s case, there is no way any of my own efforts are going to be able to fix it. Sin can only be eradicated by the sacrifice that was made for that purpose; it can only be conquered by Jesus.

The second truth I need to dig into a bit deeper is the idea of my dual nature. Jesus died for my sin, and my sinful nature has been put to death. But the good side of me? That’s been put to death as well. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Both side of my nature, the good and the bad, have to die so that Christ can live in and through me. Because even my best efforts at good aren’t good enough.

Your Prayers Are Needed

Our family has experienced several large obstacles over the past few months. Some of these you know about, such as the death of my grandmother and the struggle to find what is causing one of my daughters to feel sick all the time. Other obstacles we have not shared very publicly, and it is sufficient to say that there are some issues that have brought a load of stress upon our family. I cannot say more about these at the moment, other than to ask you to pray.

Even when things seem bleak and difficult, we can know that God is right there with us, and he has things in his control, whether we can see it or not. To that end, I would ask you to pray for us as we walk these paths. Here are a few thoughts on how you can join us in prayer:

Pray for strength.
Pray that we can trust God through it all.
Pray for his guidance to be evident.
Pray that our stress and worry can be lessened.

Thanks for lifting my family up.

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The Epitome Of Love

The Message Of 1 John 3:16

Since January, I have been preaching from various 3:16 passages throughout the Bible. It seems there are several significant passages that fall on this marker, and it has been an interesting series of sermons as we have looked at several of them so far. On Easter Sunday, we looked at 1 John 3:16, and saw the epitome of love explained.

The Epitome Of Love

John writes this in the first of three short epistles that bear his name:

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. This passage teaches us about the love of Jesus, about his sacrifice, and what our response should be.

There are a few different things that we can see in this brief description of love. The first thing John shows us is an explanation of what love is. He defines it as an action. Throughout the New Testament, there are four words used that are translated into English as the word “love”: storge, affectionate love, or family love; phileo, which is brotherly love; eros, romantic or passionate love; and agape, unconditional, selfless love. And what John does here is show us that the selfless love of God is seen as an action. Jesus willingly laid down his life for us, showing us the fullest explanation of just what it means to love.

In this explanation, we also see an example to follow. Jesus leads us to display love in the same way. He doesn’t expect us to follow just something he has told us to do, without doing it himself. No, he exemplifies love by taking the initiative and leading the way for us to follow. Jesus displayed love in action: he served others, he showed compassion and mercy, he offered forgiveness and grace, he loved.