Grandson
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Psalm 127:3
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday Thoughts
True Greatness Defined
"Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
~ Matthew 11:11
"Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." ~ Matthew 11:11
In all of the human greatness of John, personal character, privileged calling, powerful culmination in human history, you take all of that human greatness and human status and historical value, all that he is born of women, all that he is in physical perception and he doesn't come up to the least person who is in God's spiritual Kingdom. Do you see? Great truth. You know what true greatness is? When all is said, true greatness isn't being like John the Baptist, that's beneath true greatness. That's earthly greatness. True greatness is being in God's Kingdom. That's true greatness.
Our Father, we hear the echo of the words of our Lord in Matthew 18, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven." Father, may we know that all of these marks of human greatness are fine, and may we know that they're especially wonderful when they are doubly endowed by the presence of the Holy Spirit as in the case of John. But that the greatest greatness is not which... that which is ours humanly, but that which is ours divinely as we become citizens of your eternal Kingdom. And may we know that to be a little child, to be the very least in Your Kingdom is to be the greatest. The John of Your Kingdom was greater than the John born of women, as great as he was. May we be those who are truly great because we know You. Amen. ~ John MacArthur
"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;" ~ Matthew 18:4-5
Our Father, we hear the echo of the words of our Lord in Matthew 18, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven." Father, may we know that all of these marks of human greatness are fine, and may we know that they're especially wonderful when they are doubly endowed by the presence of the Holy Spirit as in the case of John. But that the greatest greatness is not which... that which is ours humanly, but that which is ours divinely as we become citizens of your eternal Kingdom. And may we know that to be a little child, to be the very least in Your Kingdom is to be the greatest. The John of Your Kingdom was greater than the John born of women, as great as he was. May we be those who are truly great because we know You. Amen. ~ John MacArthur
"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;" ~ Matthew 18:4-5
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Happy Birthday Tony!! October 14
Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You...
I love you and I hope you enjoy your new television!!
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Monday, October 12, 2009
Fall Weekend Road Warriors
Saturday night freezing at the UT vs Colorado game in Austin!!
Sunday morning teaching five year olds in Houston.
Why we nap on Sunday afternoon ...
and why we have been driving back no matter how late the game for the past 10 years...
and why we have been teaching for the last 27 years...
The opportunity to partner with faithful parents in laying the foundation of the love of Christ which will one day lead to a personal relationship with their Lord and Savior!
"And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them." Mark 10:13-16
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thursday Thoughts
Today in Bible study we covered Matthew 8, 9, 10. There is so much there that I hope to simply whet your appetite to read for yourselves in chapters 8 and 9 just who Jesus is. In those two chapters the power of the King is revealed and so much more. We see the Messiah’s compassion, His authority, His sovereignty, and His fulfillment of prophecy. And then in chapter 10 we find the ambassadors of the King, His disciples and their instruction. I thought John MacArthur did a nice job in establishing the first hallmark of discipleship found in chapter 10. And I wanted to include the following because it reminded me of someone who deserves remembering…
The 10th chapter in total is our Lord's preparation and sending of the twelve, and so it is in the context of the training of the twelve that He gives this general teaching about discipleship. He starts out for example in chapter 10 with just the twelve, and then the chapter begins to telescope, and it telescopes outward until finally it embraces all men in all times, in all places who will name the name of Jesus Christ. It starts with the twelve and even names them. But it begins to move outward, and I think the key is verse 23, the end of the verse mentions, "till the Son of man be come." In other words it talks about the second coming, and that is the key to seeing this instruction as pressing all the way through all time until Jesus comes again. Some of what He says in the first 23 verses is explicitly to the twelve, some of it begins to reach beyond them, some of it is explicitly for that time and that place, and some of it begins to reach beyond, but by the time you hit verse 24 it is a full-orbed general instruction on the matter of being a genuine disciple. He uses general terms such as, the disciple, or the servant, or whosoever, or he that, and He says, he that, he that, he that over and over, it could be any he, any whosoever, anyone who calls himself a servant or a follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ.
And so in a sense then we're looking at something that was for them and for us, what a marvelous thing that the Lord should have such a clear word on discipleship that it embraces all people in all time and all places. This is the genius of Scripture, it knows no limitation as to date, it touches us as profoundly as it touched them in their own lifetime.
Now basically speaking it is written to a disciple, verse 24, and a servant of the Lord. That would be anyone who follows Jesus Christ.
Anyone who lines up to go after Jesus Christ. Anyone who decides that he wants to belong to Christ. Now having said that, it is important that we learn the marks of a disciple so we can tell the true from the false, right? And what are they? Well the hallmark is in verse 24 and 28. "The disciple is not above his teacher, the servant is not above his lord. It is enough," in other words it is sufficient, "for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord." And you remember we talked about Luke 8:40 where it says, and when a disciple is fully matured he will be like his teacher.
The goal then of a true disciple is Christ likeness, that's the basic hallmark. First John 2:6, "If we say we abide in him then we ought to walk as he walked." In other words if you say you are a Christian it ought to be manifest in the way you live, right? And if it isn't then you're not very convincing, and you may not be a Christian at all.
This is the message of the Scripture, I'm absolutely appalled at how many people miss this message. But the Scripture is inevitably saying, you say you follow Christ then show me your Christ likeness. Is His character manifest in you? It has to be if you're genuine, it has to be. For you are in the process of becoming like your Lord, it doesn't mean that there aren't some lapses, oh there are. There are times when we fail but there is a flow and a pattern of Christ likeness, there.
So the first thing is that we are called to be like Him, that is the meaning of discipleship. So when somebody comes along and says as J.p. Murray of Trinity College Dublin once said, "I am a Christian but inoffensively so." What do you mean by that? Well I mean that I don't want it to interfere with anything. Then that's not what Christianity is. There is this basic Biblical principle that if you follow Jesus Christ, you will be becoming more and more like Him.
Again, there is much more to discipleship in Chapter 10 but I am stopping here because I want to remember someone who was a disciple for Christ. You may ask me how I know and I know because of the fruits of her life. I want to introduce you to Sarah Sullivan, a young woman who recently went home to be with the Lord. I have never met her but as a sister in Christ had the privilege to pray for her, her husband and newborn. Even in death, her life in Christ has the ability to change lives.
The 10th chapter in total is our Lord's preparation and sending of the twelve, and so it is in the context of the training of the twelve that He gives this general teaching about discipleship. He starts out for example in chapter 10 with just the twelve, and then the chapter begins to telescope, and it telescopes outward until finally it embraces all men in all times, in all places who will name the name of Jesus Christ. It starts with the twelve and even names them. But it begins to move outward, and I think the key is verse 23, the end of the verse mentions, "till the Son of man be come." In other words it talks about the second coming, and that is the key to seeing this instruction as pressing all the way through all time until Jesus comes again. Some of what He says in the first 23 verses is explicitly to the twelve, some of it begins to reach beyond them, some of it is explicitly for that time and that place, and some of it begins to reach beyond, but by the time you hit verse 24 it is a full-orbed general instruction on the matter of being a genuine disciple. He uses general terms such as, the disciple, or the servant, or whosoever, or he that, and He says, he that, he that, he that over and over, it could be any he, any whosoever, anyone who calls himself a servant or a follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ.
And so in a sense then we're looking at something that was for them and for us, what a marvelous thing that the Lord should have such a clear word on discipleship that it embraces all people in all time and all places. This is the genius of Scripture, it knows no limitation as to date, it touches us as profoundly as it touched them in their own lifetime.
Now basically speaking it is written to a disciple, verse 24, and a servant of the Lord. That would be anyone who follows Jesus Christ.
Anyone who lines up to go after Jesus Christ. Anyone who decides that he wants to belong to Christ. Now having said that, it is important that we learn the marks of a disciple so we can tell the true from the false, right? And what are they? Well the hallmark is in verse 24 and 28. "The disciple is not above his teacher, the servant is not above his lord. It is enough," in other words it is sufficient, "for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord." And you remember we talked about Luke 8:40 where it says, and when a disciple is fully matured he will be like his teacher.
The goal then of a true disciple is Christ likeness, that's the basic hallmark. First John 2:6, "If we say we abide in him then we ought to walk as he walked." In other words if you say you are a Christian it ought to be manifest in the way you live, right? And if it isn't then you're not very convincing, and you may not be a Christian at all.
This is the message of the Scripture, I'm absolutely appalled at how many people miss this message. But the Scripture is inevitably saying, you say you follow Christ then show me your Christ likeness. Is His character manifest in you? It has to be if you're genuine, it has to be. For you are in the process of becoming like your Lord, it doesn't mean that there aren't some lapses, oh there are. There are times when we fail but there is a flow and a pattern of Christ likeness, there.
So the first thing is that we are called to be like Him, that is the meaning of discipleship. So when somebody comes along and says as J.p. Murray of Trinity College Dublin once said, "I am a Christian but inoffensively so." What do you mean by that? Well I mean that I don't want it to interfere with anything. Then that's not what Christianity is. There is this basic Biblical principle that if you follow Jesus Christ, you will be becoming more and more like Him.
Again, there is much more to discipleship in Chapter 10 but I am stopping here because I want to remember someone who was a disciple for Christ. You may ask me how I know and I know because of the fruits of her life. I want to introduce you to Sarah Sullivan, a young woman who recently went home to be with the Lord. I have never met her but as a sister in Christ had the privilege to pray for her, her husband and newborn. Even in death, her life in Christ has the ability to change lives.
http://bandssullivan.blogspot.com/2009/09/happy-birthday-sara.html
"the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." 1John 2:6
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Trenton's Road Trip
Meet one of my granddogs - Trenton.
He was my first granddog and one of the sweetest. Recently, he went to visit his other grandparents in Iowa and his parents shared a few pics of his trip.
I hope you enjoy...
"Are we there yet?" "My seatbelt was on!"
"If you can't run with the 'big dogs' get off the couch!"
"Dog butt?! Do I see a dog butt?! Thought I saw a dog butt!!!"
"I love the city!"
"Curse you Red Baron...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."
“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me."Jeremiah 27:5
Saturday, October 3, 2009
All Dressed Up...
And no game to play!!
Honestly, this picture was shared with me by my daughter-in-love, Jamie, and I was so impressed with how it turned out I had to share. It is of Josh and his dog, Trent, taken downstairs in their University of Texas inspired gameroom. Texas does have a bye week this weekend! :(
Honestly, this picture was shared with me by my daughter-in-love, Jamie, and I was so impressed with how it turned out I had to share. It is of Josh and his dog, Trent, taken downstairs in their University of Texas inspired gameroom. Texas does have a bye week this weekend! :(
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
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