This video speaks for itself.

The Last Days? Signs of the Times: Increase in Travel

The Bible speaks about the last days in many places and gives numerous signs as to know how to recognize whether you are living in the last days or not. One of the signs is the increase of travel. The prophecy is in the book of Daniel and it is in the middle of the context of the coming Great Tribulation, the resurrection, and the day of judgment. There are other signs mentioned in this passage but I want you to think about travel.

Daniel 12:1-4 (NKJV) “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. ² And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. ³ Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever. ⁴ “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

Look at this video below. The yellow dots are aircraft. It is a 24 hour observation of all of the large aircraft flights in the world, condensed down to about 2 minutes. From space we look like a bee hive of activity. Watch all of the traffic from the US heading for Europe over night and then all of the traffic coming back to the US during the day.

You can download the original high quality source video here http://radar.zhaw.ch/

“Our Father” - The Model Prayer

In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰ Your kingdom come.

Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

¹³ And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power

and the glory forever. Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)

What images or thoughts spring to mind when you hear the word “prayer”?

Did you learn any prayers as a child? What was the earliest one you can remember?

Introduction:

There are a number of names for this prayer “Our Father,” “The Model Prayer,” “The Disciples’ Prayer,” and “The Lord’s Prayer.” I was raised calling it the “Lord’s Prayer” but later came to know that the Lord Jesus never prayed this prayer so that wasn’t a good name for this prayer. He never prayed it because, He was sinless and never needed to ask the Father for forgiveness.

This prayer is so rich, so deep, that a lifetime of reflection could not mine all of the nuggets of truth that is in this amazing prayer. We will try to reach down and get a few nuggets that will hopefully be helpful in everyday living.

How to Study the Bible Note #1: The first rule of studying the Bible is context. If you were to study alligators, you wouldn’t go to the desert, you would go to the swap. There are no alligators, water, turtles, fish, or anything that would help you study an alligator. In order to know about an alligator, you need to know his context – the alligator’s context is the swamp. When you study a passage of Scripture, you look at the context of that particular passage. The context of Scripture is the (a) the passages of scripture that surrounds the Scripture you are studying and (b) the history of the people that was involved.

So begin with Matthew chapter 6. [Chapter six is in the middle of Jesus’ longest sermon called the “Sermon on the Mount” and in it he is discussing what true righteousness is.]

How to Study the Bible Note #2: Ask questions about the passage you are reading. We are not questioning the reliability of the Bible in any way, but trying to understand what is happening. Just like when someone is telling you a story, and you ask, “When did this happen?” “Who was involved?” “How did it happen?” and so on.

Ask: Who? What? When? Where? How?

Questions for Matthew chapter 6

(1) Bible Study Rule:

a. Read the Context – read the passage in light of the surrounding and the whole

b. Ask Questions about the passage

(2) Read Matthew 6:1-15

a. According to Jesus what wrong motivations prompts some individuals to pray? (v5)

b. What name did Jesus call people who pray for show? (v5)

How to Study the Bible Note #3: Word meanings. Meanings of words change and how words are used change over time. When I was in college, there was an older (mid to late 80’s) secretary of the college who helped with the materials for one of the men’s classes – she told the professor one day that this was the “gayest” group of young men she had ever known. Needless to say, the whole class was up in arms immediately, saying “no, we are not!.” Seventy years ago the word “gay” meant happy, not homosexual! Word meaning’s change! If you are reading a book that was written seventy years ago and it said “the man was very gay” – it does not mean the same as a book written in the late 20^th century or early 21^st century. You have to return to the original meaning of that word when it was used.

Here is the original meaning of the word hypocrite:

hypocrite defined. In the days of Jesus, a hypocrite was literally an actor. Hypocrite was not a bad word during the day of Jesus, it meant actor. There were large amphitheater’s and one actor would play numerous roles, so he disappear quickly behind a screen and immediately reappear with a different costume. They had different masks on sticks and the actor would be holding two different masks. When he was ready to play one part, he would put on the one mask, and when he was ready to play another part, he put on a different mask. In doing so, they would pretend to be someone other than who they really were.

So what did Jesus mean when he called these religious leader hypocrites? He said they were a bunch of pretenders, actors – Their religiousness was nothing but an act. You didn’t see who they really were, you just saw their religious face. Jesus talked about what they were really like underneath the religious mask – they were ugly on the inside of their heart and really didn’t follow God on the inside.

Questions continued:

c. Where do hypocrites prefer to do their praying? (v5)

d. What type of reward will religious showmanship bring? (v5)

e. How did Jesus command His followers to pray (v6)

f. Where did Jesus suggest we talk to God? (v6)

g. What type of reward will humility in prayer bring (v6)

h. What did Jesus say about repetitive or long windy prayers? (v7)

How to Study the Bible Note #4: God is a God of order and not confusion. From the beginning of creation, we see God bring order not chaos. Satan creates chaos, not God. God’s Word is very very very orderly. Did I say it was “very” orderly! The order within Scripture is very clear the vast majority of the times.

Notice this prayer, the first half of it is all ABOUT GOD and the second half of the prayer is ABOUT US. That is pretty awesome. God wants us first of all to be focused on Him and then on our needs. Most of the time we bring our list of wants (not necessarily needs) to God.

1. ABOUT GOD

Our Father in heaven (v9)

A. APPROACH God as your Heavenly Father: What should be our attitude toward God? We should approach God as our Heavenly Father.

• What are different ways people view God?

No matter how good your earthly father was, God is so much better than him. Many people think of their bad experiences with their earthly father and say God is like he was. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is good, loving, caring, and merciful.

• How do children approach their parents?

God’ wants us to approach him as a little child. Jesus taught about coming to Him as a little child in Matthew 18:1-5

Matthew 18:1-5 (NKJV) 1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

• Little children are humble not prideful
• Little children are dependent upon someone else to take care of their basic needs
• Little children love purely – love without expecting something in return.
• Little children are believing and trusting
• Little children are under their parents authority
• Little children are learners – they are receptive to what they are taught.
• Little children are accepting –
• Little children model the type of faith we need to become a child of God – child-like faith. God want us to be His children - This is how you can become a child of God. We are not born into this world automatically a child of God.

John 1:12 (NKJV) “But as many as received Him [Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Hallowed be Your name.

B. ADORATION for God should be on our lips. God is Holy, and He is nothing like this world. He is totally other. When we ackloweldge God’s holiness we are revering His perfection and high standard of morality. When we ask for his name to be kept holy, we don’t want his name profaned. We want our family name to be kept sacred and not dishonored.

‘Your kingdom come.

C. ALLEGIANCE to the Kingdom of God should flow from our hearts. What should our attitude be toward God’s Kingdom and will? Simply this means our first loyalty is to God. He is the One we serve first and foremost. Not only do we state our allegiance when we voice “Your Kingdom come” but we also state our desire for God’s rule upon this earth. God has promised throughout the Bible that there is coming a day when He will setup His reign and rule on this earth through His Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This will not be accomplished through any means of man, but only by God Himself. The Kingdom of God is the reign and rule of Christ.

Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

D. AGREEMENT with God’s perfect will. When we say “Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven,” we are saying to God that we want His perfect will to be done in this world – this means that we want everyone to obey God’s Word and follow Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives. God’s will is perfectly obeyed in Heaven and we want it to be perfectly obeyed on earth. This begins in our own lives. It is easy to point to others where His will is not being obeyed, but He wants us to begin in our hearts.

Some say, God’s commands are hard to follow. Here is what Jesus taught.

John 14:15 (NIV) ““If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

1 John 5:3-4 (NIV) “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

2. ABOUT US

‘Give us this day our daily bread. (v11)

A. PETITIONS – This is where we ask for ourselves. What should be our attitude toward life’s necessities? When we pray “Give us this day our daily bread” we are acknowledging God as our Provider. God is the One who provides for our needs and not ourselves. He gives us abilities, skills, and health to be able to work and earn a living and this in no way conflicts with this prayer. We also recognize that there are those who are less fortunate than us, and we should be merciful and help them as we can. Simply we are saying, God you are my provider, everything I get from you is a gift, I am very thankful for it, and I need you to provide for my needs today – not all my wants, but my needs.

Have you ever wondered if asking for something for yourself is wrong? I have come across many people who say… I don’t ask for anything for myself… I just ask for others.

Jesus taught us that we should ask God for things for ourselves. There are some things you just have to ask God for – otherwise you will never receive it. Actually Jesus gave us a list of things we should ask God for daily! God actually wants you to bring these requests to Him every day!

• God wants to provide for His children’s physical needs. See Matthew 7:9-11
• God wants to provide for His children’s spiritual needs. See Luke 11:11-13

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (v12)

B. PARDON - This is where we ask for forgiveness. Many people believe God can’t forgive them and some think that God will not forgive them because of things they have done, but God says something different. Just what is a debt? In the Bible sin is described as a debt we owe God. It is such a large debt that we cannot pay it back to God. Jesus told a story about a man who had a debt he could not pay (see Matthew 18:23-27).

We have to come to God for forgiveness, no one else can forgive sins, except God.

Our forgiveness come through the shed blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) “In Him [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”

What should our attitude be toward those who have wronged us? God forgives us as we forgive those who have wronged us. Our forgiveness is conditional upon our forgiving those who has sinned against us. Look at what Jesus said right after the prayer (remember context).

Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV) “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Ouch!!!! I like what Mark Twain said. “It is not what I don’t understand about the Bible that bothers me, but what I do understand!”

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (v13)

C. PROTECTION from ourselves and the evil one. When you pray “And do not lead us into temptation” you are praying that God would protect you from your own self. Yes, yourself. We need protection from ourselves. Have you ever made a wrong decision, had a wrong attitude, gotten a wrong idea about someone/something that has brought you grief? I sure have. Our own sinful lusts and desires drive us at times, and we need God’s power to control them. That is why we pray this. We don’t have enough self-control, we must have God’s help and protection from even ourselves.

God does not cause us to be tempted (see James 1:12-15) but we are tempted when our desires are not under control. Satan will tempt us with sin in seeking to destroy us. God will test us with obedience to determine the depth and integrity of our commitment to Him.

Everyone is tempted in the same ways, but the Bible says that God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to stand (see 1 Corinthians 10:12-13). God will provide a way of escape from every temptation.

When we pray “but deliver us from evil” we are acknowledging we need God’s protection from the evil one, Satan, the devil, his demonic army, and all who are in allegiance with him. Satan is real, no matter what some of the so called “educated” would like to believe. Only God is capable of protecting us from evil. We call out to Him in prayer asking Him to protect us.

John 10:10 Jesus taught “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

1 Peter 5:8-9 Peter taught “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’

D. PRAISE - When you pray “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever” you are praising God for all that He is and all that He is going to do. This statement is a heart’s desire for God to be glorified more than anyone or anything. We begin in praise to God and end with praise to God. It is a statement that says we are looking forward to Christ’s reign and rule upon this earth. God is great and He is good - He deserves our praise.

Amen

Amen is a simply word that means “so be it.” This is a term of conculsion and you are saying this is exactly how I believe and want it to be.

We just took 32 men to the Johnny Hunt Men’s Conference at FBC Woodstock, Ga.  It was an absolutely outstanding conference.  Some of the men who went were apprehensive – “are they going to be hugging & crying” – No this was a men’s conference not a women’s get in touch with your feelings conference.

Jesus was a man’s man, not some sissy boy with bunch of feminine sissy boys following him around.  These were men and they were men’s men. Most churches have girly music singing love songs to Jesus which just turn off guys.  I like lots of electric guitar and guitar solos.  I like the sound, but the only place where you really hear it today is in secular rock and some Christian bands.  Most of today’s young men were brought up listening to this kind of music – They really don’t get into the love songs to Jesus.

Pastor Steve Folmar preached an excellent message (Sermon Feb. 8, 2009) on men and being the right kind of father – a father who emulates and imitates God the Father’s character and actions toward his children.

Mark Driscoll has a lot of good things to say about church and about men in church.  Check out the following video.

To Eat Shrimp or Not to Eat Shrimp? That is the question.

Do we need to keep the Old Testament Dietary Laws and Festivals?

Billy Stevens

January 27, 2009

Some of us have run into a strange teaching today, that says you shouldn’t eat anything but what the Jews ate and that means no pork or shellfish (shrimp, crawfish). Can you imagine the problem with this in South Louisiana? After reading this, if you are convicted that you shouldn’t eat pork, shrimp, crabs, or crawfish then when someone gives you some shrimp – you can bring it to my house. You can be more spiritual than me, I’ll just take the shrimp and crawfish so you won’t be tempted. Really I don’t mind helping you. J

You say, this subject doesn’t apply to me. Sure it does! Have you ever come across anyone who says you need to have Jesus plus something else for salvation? Sure you have. Some believe you need Jesus plus tongues, or Jesus plus works, or Jesus plus sacraments, etc. The same principle applies here. See Righteousness only comes through faith alone in Jesus Christ by God’s grace upon your life and nothing else.

What about the person who says you need to kept the Old Testament dietary laws and festivals? Why should you keep them? They say you would be more righteous and that God would be more pleased with your walk of faith. Some would actually say that you are not saved if you don’t keep the laws – others would just say you are being disobedient to the God’s Word! Really? Simple answer, that is not true. Lets think about it and see what those in the Bible had to say about this question.

What does Logic say? Be consistent, if you say you are supposed to keep one, then you need to keep them all. If someone says you have to eat or not eat certain things to be considered righteous by God, then they need to keep the whole law – not just part of it. Just read Leviticus and see the list of laws like not trimming their beards, not doing anything on the Sabbath (Friday evening through Saturday evening), and keeping all the festivals. God didn’t want the Jews to even mix fibers they were wearing which means it would be unrighteous for me to wear my iron free slacks (Lev. 19:19). These who believe this way have to be consistent in their interpretation and application.

Is there any book in the Bible that explains this problem? Yes there is. The book of Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul to a church in the country of Galatia. Some of them were Jews and others were Gentiles, but they had all come to know Jesus through faith and declared themselves as His followers. But something happened along the way and some Judaizers/Pharisees (super legalistic ritualistic Jewish religious leaders) came in and caused them to believe they needed to keep the Jewish dietary laws. Read and reread all of Galatians to get the picture.

Even the Apostle Peter (Cephas) and Barnabas were drawn into this trap. Peter had been eating with the Gentiles until this group showed up and then he shunned the Gentile believers to eat kosher food with these legalistic “believers”. (Gal. 2:11-16). Then the Apostle Paul showed up and found out what Peter was doing, and how the Jewish believers were treating the Gentile believers as second class Christians because they were not keeping the Jewish dietary laws. Paul went ballistic on Peter because Peter was sinning against these Gentile believers. Yep, the first “pope” was a dirty rotten sinner like the rest of humanity.

Galatians 2:11-16 (NASB95) But when Cephas [Apostle Peter] came to Antioch, I [Apostle Paul] opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? 15 “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; 16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

They were trying to become righteous (justified) by keeping these special laws and doing certain rituals. Paul clearly says, no one is justified by the works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus. Peter’s sin was that of hypocrisy – pretending to be more righteous than someone else because he was doing these “righteous” things. Hogwash, Paul said.

Righteousness never came through obeying the laws. The Old Testament laws pointed us to the fact that humanity is not holy and God is holy. It reveals our separation from Him and His awesome otherness from humanity. Righteousness comes to a person by God’s grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ and nothing else.

Paul was livid because this issue had already been discussed with Peter. Peter cannot claim ignorance because Paul says in Galatians 2:1-10 that he went to Jerusalem to discuss this issue with the other apostles. Acts 15 tells the story about what happened in this meeting. Read Acts 15.

What did the Jerusalem Council say in Acts 15? The Apostle Paul had been teaching that salvation is by grace through faith alone in Jesus and it caused a problem with some of the Pharisees. Some of these legalistic “believers” said you have to believe in Jesus and keep the Jewish laws (like circumcision). So Paul came to Jerusalem and all of the apostles got together to discuss the doctrine of salvation. (How a person is cleansed and forgiven from their sins and made righteous before God.) Acts 15 tells us this story. The JEWISH apostles came to the conclusion that God has provided salvation to the Gentiles just like the Jews. The Gentiles (all non-jews) could be saved from their sins by grace through faith in Jesus alone. They concluded that the Gentiles did not need to keep the Jewish laws but they should abstain from offensive cultural things, like things offered to idols, from things strangled, and meat with blood in it. All of these would have greatly offended a Jew who kept the ceremonial law. Jews would have never accepted anything from someone who practiced these things. Also it would have been offensive to new Jewish believers consciences who did not fully understand Gods’ grace. The Gentile believers were also to abstain from all sexual immorality for obvious reasons. (Acts 15:28-29) You need to read all of Acts 15 to get the picture of what happened.

Peter was even more guilty because he had been given a special vision from Jesus about this very issue. In Acts 10 after the resurrection and ascension the Lord Jesus gave Peter a vision and gave him some instructions. Peter was instructed that the food he had been taught was not acceptable to eat was now acceptable, but there was a greater meaning. The Gentiles were now not to be called or considered unclean. There is nothing (food, rituals, status, race) that should be in the way of someone hearing about God’s love for them in Jesus Christ. You need to read Acts 10 to understand this and the hinge verse is Acts 10:15 (and the hunting verse is 13.)

Acts 10:10-15 (NASB95) But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance; 11 and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, 12 and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. 13 A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” 15 Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

What did Jesus say? Jesus was a Jew who knew that the food a person ate did not make them unclean (unrighteous). Jesus began the revelation to the disciples that what makes a person righteous it not from outside (clothes, rituals, certain food, etc.) but it was all about what was going on inside a person’s heart.

Matthew 15:17-20 (ESV) Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

Conclusion? Even the Apostle Peter could get drawn off into a wrong practice and so can you and I if we are not careful. Peter had walked with Jesus for 3 1/2 years and still missed understanding grace.  If Peter can miss it then the most educated can miss it and you and I can miss it at times. Peer pressure, new and great teachings, and a zealous desire to do what is “right” can even lead to making wrong practices in our life. What does or does not make you righteous? Eating certain foods and not eating other foods, speaking in tongues, not speaking in tongues, circumcision nor not being circumcised, communion, the sacraments, not eating meat on Fridays, even saying your prayers five times a day does not make you righteous. It can make you a hypocrite. What makes you righteous? Only faith in Jesus Christ that He is Lord of your life and Savior of your life.

Ezer Confused?

Billy Stevens – January 26, 2009

Here are the questions I have received about Ezer (pronounced “e-zear”): How come I have never heard about this before? Just what does an ezer do? Are the women supposed to be the “boss” since they are the ezer? Help me my head hurts. The word ezer is the word for helper in Genesis 2:18. The interpretation of this word affects the whole world around you, whether you believe it or not. What can it affect? How about your marriage, children, church, workplace, etc. There are three primary interpretations of this word and all are controversial depending on which camp you are in.

Look at the verse:

‘Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone;  I will make him a helper [ezer] suitable for him.”’
Genesis 2:18 (NASB95)

or in the Hebrew ezer (1598a) rz<[e (±¢zer) is highlighted in blue)

Ezer simply means “help.” It and its derivatives are used around 80 times in the Bible. Sometimes it speaks of a woman helping a man, a man helping another man, God helping an individual, and God helping the nation Israel especially in times of war.

Here is the definition from the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament.

“¢zer 1. Help, support, helper. (ASV, RSV similar except in Psa 89:19 [H 20] where the RSV reads n¢zer and hence translates “crown.”) While this word designates assistance, it is more frequently used in a concrete sense to designate the assistant. (Cf. Gen 2:18, 20 where Eve is created to be Adam’s help[er].) As to the source of the help, this word is generally used to designate divine aid, particularly in Psalms (Cf. Psa 121:1, 2) where it includes both material and spiritual assistance.” (TDOT)

The three camps are thus:

A. Authoritarian - the woman is a doormat and is to be absolutely subservient to the man in any and everything. She has no voice, no input, and no choice in her life.

B. Egalitarian – There are no difference in roles or responsibilities regarding men and women. They can hold any position and do anything the other can do with the exception of certain biological functions (men can’t have babies, etc.). This position holds that God has not ordained the man to be the spiritual leader of the home. They also carry it further to believe, the woman is the absolute crowning achievement of God’s creation, since God made her last and speaks more about the creation of woman than the man. This position leads to no difference in roles and responsibilities in the church, like women senior pastors. Some of these even go so far as declaring that God is a woman, since the woman was the “crowning” achievement in God’s creation.

C. Complimentarian – the woman compliments the husband. Where the man is lacking the woman is not. There are specific God given roles and responsibilities for each. The man has the God given responsibility to be the spiritual leader of the home. He did not ordain that position for the woman. The woman is given the role of nurturing mother and loving helpmate. The man is not to dominate the woman but to lovingly lead her and the family in the ways of God. She is to willingly submit to his loving leadership. This position holds that man/woman are the crowning achievement of God’s creation. Marriage is to picture the love of God for His people. Together, a redeemed husband and a redeemed wife display the image of God in its fullness. They absolutely compliment each other. It is a faith relationship.  It takes courage and faith in God for the man to lead.  It takes just as much faith and courage for woman to follow as it does for the man to lead.

Which is the most Biblical? It would take me ten pages to give you the detailed answer, but someone else has already done the detail work for us. The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is a website and academic journal created for the purpose of countering false doctrines. The council members and board of reference reads like a who’s who of the best evangelical leaders this country has ever seen.

They have a position paper on Egalatarian verses the Complimentarian position. The first half of the paper is devoted to the Egalatarian and the second half the Complimentarian position. It is not difficult reading but the paper is about 12 pages. Remember when reading these position type papers, every word means something. Words are carefully chosen by both sides to explain their position. So check it out at this link:

Click here for  “Summaries of the Egalitarian and Complementarian Positions on the Role of Women in the Home and in Christian Ministry”

So what do we believe? Simply the Egalatarian view is not exegesis but an exercise in eisegesis where the interpreter is reading his/her view into the Scripture passage and forming a non-Biblical interpretation.   Proper interpretation principles (exegesis) allow the Bible to speak for itself, without telling the Bible what they believe it should say.

I and my wife (of her own accord and free will) agree and adhere to the Complimentarian view.  You can ask her or just read her website and you can tell what she believes.  It is the one view that makes for a peace filled home and a very God honoring home.  Biblically it brings God the most glory and honors the intent of God to display Himself through the marriage relationship.

What do Southern Baptist’s believe?

The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a statement about the Family in 2000. It is a good statement. I believe it accurately reflects a proper interpretation of Scripture and the heart of God. Here it is. Do I agree with everything the Southern Baptist hold to be true and practices, not at all. But this is a very accurate statement of Biblical intent.

“God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.

Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.

The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.”

Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.

You can read more about this at http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp

Emotional & Spiritual Healing from the Psalms

Dr. Billy Stevens

December 11, 2008

Is there healing in the Psalms? Absolutely! The psalms are men crying out to God in ecstatic praise or weeping before God with great pain. The Psalms are basically King David’s prayer journal. Most of them are by him. There are prayers and praises of rejoicing and lament. Some of the Psalms will shock you at how blatantly honest the psalmist is with God. At times he is venting all of his anger, frustration, fears and pain to God.

But we always see the hand of God, God’s greatness, and His love on behalf for his people. When you read the psalms you will see God healing the heart of the psalmist, strengthening his faith, answering his prayers, and God getting all the glory. Notice what the writer (psalmist) of the psalms does in many of these:

Dumping on God

He carried all of his problems to God and rehearsed it all before God, telling God how bad his situation was. Every act of injustice is described for God. He comes absolutely clean. Sometimes even with anger toward God wondering why He allowed some things to happen. There is total honesty with God – nothing is withheld. God wouldn’t have it any other way. These Psalms are examples for us to follow. God knows every thought that comes across our mind and knows those that have become part of our thinking – the good, the bad, and the ugly. He is not surprised. He wants us to be honest with him.

So the psalmist comes clean with God about all of his feelings, and when most of us would quit with our pity-party and self-torture of reliving the pain, he takes this conversation with God to another level. Listen to these Psalms and you will hear all of the pain but then in the next breath you will notice a change. His focus begins to change from his problems to the Solution, God Almighty.

A Change of Focus

The psalmist’s focus moves from his problem to the Solution, God Almighty. His eyes glance upward, he begins to stare at Lord, and then he reveals in the greatness of the Lord God Almighty. At times he recounts the great acts of God and the great things God has done for His people. Other times he talks about the great character of God. Then he gets specific and recounts what great things God has done in his life.

All the time the psalmist is doing this, you hear something happening in his heart, you can hear it in his voice. The words of the page come to life and you hear him getting stronger, you hear him rising up from defeat, you hear him lifting up his head because of the Great God he serves. Hope is rising in his heart. Faith is growing. He is being filled with the love of God and his love for God is growing immeasurably. And then…

A Cry is Heard

And then something new happens in the Psalm. A cry is heard. A prayer that is from the deepest part of the Psalmist’s heart. Unhindered completely. Unbridled. Uninhibited. Without any reservations. A cry that has no concern for anyone that might hear him for blocks away. A cry that is pure and evidently powerful.

The psalmist cries out to God in utter dependence and desperation of God. The cries of sorrow and mourning have given way to the cry of dependence, deliverance, and desperation for God to move just as He has done so many times before. It is the sound of faith. The cry of faith in the all powerful, all knowing, and all present God Almighty. Utter and absolute faith and dependence upon Jesus – a total denial of self, self’s abilities, and even absolute denial of personal scheming. An pure cry of faith, relinquishing all of self and self-will to God.

This is a different kind of cry. The single cry that rings the bells of Heaven. The cry that arrests the heart of God. The cry that says, God you must help, for without You, all is lost. The cry of one of God’s children that causes our Heavenly Father to come running to intervene for His beloved child. That is the kind of cry that moves the heart of God.

The Peace and Presence of God

Then God rises and comes to His child to intervene in power. The first place where God moves is in the heart of His child. The Prince of Peace brings inner peace to the child of God. The peace of God begins ruling in the psalmist heart and you can tell by his tone, something has happened deep within him.

The peace of God is an inner knowledge knowing that God is up to something and you need to wait for Him to accomplish all that He is doing, no matter how long it takes.

“My soul, wait silently for God alone,

For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense; I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;

The rock of my strength,

And my refuge, is in God.”

Psalm 62:5-7 (NKJV)

The blessed place of being in the center of God’s will. The blessed place of knowing the peace of God – those without Jesus cannot understand it and don’t have it until they trust Jesus as Savior and Lord of their lives. Everything may be swirling around the psalmist hundreds of miles per hour like that of a hurricane, but he is in the eye of the storm. The psalmist is with Jesus and has gotten His attention, and Jesus is stepping up to speak peace to the storm. Some of the greatest storms that Jesus stills are those inside our minds and hearts. And if that was the only storm that Jesus stills, then that is enough. But many times the psalmist is not only delivered from the internal storm but also the actual storm on the outside.

Then God Moves!

Sometimes the psalms describes how God came to help the psalmist. Other times it just says what God did. But nonetheless, Sovereign God moves in power on behalf of His child. There is something about the desperate cry of a broken child of God that moves the heart of God to great action that brings Him great glory.

Many of these Psalms are not lament or mourning to God about the bad things going on in the psalmist’s life, but praises. Yes, they are actually the psalmist’s prayer and praise journal and his praise to God for what God has done for him. All because he cried out to God!

Over and over again you see the psalmist saying, “Then You O’ God…” and he describes what God did. God becomes the Hero of the song. The Hero rescues you from and/or through the pain, injustice, and suffering. Jesus intervenes in your life and where He is life enters, things change, and God’s power is revealed. As Jesus said, “the things that are impossible with men are possible with God.” and this statement becomes a reality in your life not just words on a page. You now know the power and might of the Lord God Almighty.

The psalmist has been on this amazing journey with God. Now he is changed. He is not the same person he was before. He now knows God in a much more real and experiential way. He has experienced God’s presence, power, and peace in the middle of hell on earth.

How Can You Get in on the Action?

First, get in the Psalms. Saturate your life with them. Begin reading them through one by one. Get a blank notebook, it doesn’t have to be fancy, a dollar store notebook is fine. Don’t wait for things to be perfect to begin this journey.

Read each one with a purpose. Look for (a) the psalmist’s problems, (b) how he describes the Greatness of God and the great things God has done, (c.) how he waited upon God, and (d) his cry to God for Him to intervene.

Do Like the Psalmist.

(1) Tell God everything – your pain, broken expectation, betrayal, hurt, anger, frustration. He knows it all anyway. He knows you and loves you anyway. He is our loving Heavenly Father who gave His only Son Jesus to die for the world’s sins. You are the object of His love. Spend time with Him telling God everything. (some of the many examples of this are found in Psalm 38, 55, 68, 69 and many more). Get alone with God. Get a in a quiet place, and a time where you can tell God everything without worrying about who hears you. Pour your heart out to God.

(2) Marvel at God’s Greatness. Make a list of those great things God has done in your life. Recount your journey with God and all the times you have called out to Him and what He did for you. Recount His faithfulness to you.

(3) Cry out to God for His Intervention in your situation. Read the psalms and see how the psalmist cried out to God. Look at him and listen to his cry.

Psalm 4:1 “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.”

Psalm 51:17 (NKJV) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”

Psalm 34:18 (NKJV) “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”

(4) Wait on Lord, like in Psalms 62. Waiting is not being a spiritual couch potato. To wait upon the Lord is to have an expectant faith in Jesus to move on your behalf at some point in the future. But you are determined to hold on to Him no matter how long it takes or what happens along the way. Your focus is on Jesus, not the situation or even new wrinkles in the situation. You are waiting on Him to handle it completely.

God may deliver you from your problems and change the situation completely, or He may choose to deliver you through your problems by being with you every step along the way. You need to be ready and willing to accept what His will is and how He wants to handle the situation and how He wants you to handle yourself.

Remember God has a purpose in every trial. He wants us to become more like Jesus. God wants to change our character. He is more concerned with our character and how we handle the problems of this life, than He is with our comfortability.

This short video is absolutely amazing.  If all you had was a piece of cardboard and you had to write what your life was like before God intervened on one side, and then write what God did on the other – what would you write?  Check it out.

Book Recommendation

The Strategy of Satan: How to Detect and Defeat Him by Warren W. Wiersbe

Wiersbe is a famed author, commentator writer, Bible Scholar, and preach. See here. He is a staple for most pastors because of his conservative, scholarly, yet simple presentation of Biblical texts. Anything by Wiersbe is going to be great.

Purchase on Amazon or ChristianBook.

Here is the Old Cover – here is the new cover.

So whats in it. See the inside details and Table of contents at Amazon here.

Wiersbe seeks to teach us the targets Satan aims at in your life, the weapons he uses to attack you, the purposes that he wants to achieve, and the defenses God has provided for you.

This is a hand book on Christian Living and not chasing a demon behind every bush. This book is solidly Scriptural as just a cursory reading will reveal. Chapter one is about how Satan is the deceiver, how he attacks our minds with lies so we will be ignorant to God’s will. Our weapon is the Word of God. Chapter two is about how Satan is the Destroyer attacking our bodies with suffering so we will be impatient with God’s will but God provides for us His grace to overcome these attacks. Chapter three is about Satan being the Ruler seeking to have rule over our wills by seeking to make us proud and thus independent of God’s Will. But God provides His Holy Spirit so we can overcome this attack of the enemy. Chapter four is about how Satan is the Accuser and how he brings accusations against our heart and conscience. He seeks to bring an indictment against us but our defense is Christ’s Intercession for us. Other chapters include Living by Faith in God, Don’t give Satan a Beachhead, What to wear to the War, Satan’s Army, and Satan and the Home.

You will do well in reading this work. There are hundreds of nuggets of Spiritual wisdom throughout this book. The first one you will come across is in the introduction.

“Remember: you are not fighting for victory, but from victory, for Jesus Christ has already defeated Satan!” page 11.

Colossians 2:15 “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

John 12:31 “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”

Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

The following list of Scriptures can be found at the Navigators website here. The Navigators have an amazing history of providing a wonderful Scripture Memory plan. LIVE THE NEW LIFE
Christ the Center	2 Corinthians 5:17	Galatians 2:20
Obedience to Christ	Romans 12:1	John 14:21
The Word	2 Timothy 3:16	Joshua 1:8
Prayer	John 15:7	Philippians 4:6,7
Fellowship	Matthew 18:20	Hebrews 10:24,25
Witnessing	Matthew 4:19	Romans 1:16
PROCLAIM CHRIST
All Have Sinned	Romans 3:23	Isaiah 53:6
Sin’s Penalty	Romans 6:23	Hebrews 9:27
Christ Paid the Penalty	Romans 5:8	1 Peter 3:18
Salvation is not by Works	Ephesians 2:8,9	Titus 3:5
Must Receive Christ	John 1:12	Revelation 3:20
Assurance of Salvation	1 John 5:13	John 5:24
RELY ON GOD’S RESOURCES
His Spirit	1 Corinthians 3:16	1 Corinthians 2:12
His Strength	Isaiah 41:10	Philippians 4:13
His Faithfulness	Lamentations 3:22,23	Numbers 23:19
His Peace	Isaiah 26:3	1 Peter 5:7
His Provision	Romans 8:32	Philippians 4:19
His Help in Temptation	Hebrews 2:18	Psalms 119:9,11
BE CHRIST’S DISCIPLE
Put Christ First	Matthew 6:33	Luke 9:23
Separate From the World	1 John 2:15,16	Romans 12:2
Be Steadfast	1 Corinthians 15:58	Hebrews 12:3
Serve Others	Mark 10:45	2 Corinthians 4:5
Give Generously	Proverbs 3:9,10	2 Corinthians 9:6,7
Develop World Vision	Acts 1:8	Matthew 28:19,20
GROW IN CHRISTLIKENESS
Love	John 13:34,35	1 John 3:18
Humility	Philippians 2:3,4	1 Peter 5:5,6
Purity	Ephesians 5:3	1 Peter 2:11
Honesty	Leviticus 19:11	Acts 24:16
Faith	Hebrews 11:6	Romans 4:20,21
Good Works	Galatians 6:9,10	Matthew 5:16