Beloved Disciple Study Completed

…His name is called the Word of God.
Revelation 19:13

Last night, my group finished Beth Moore’s Beloved Disciple study focusing on the life and writings of John. It was my first experience leading a Bible study, and God taught me as much through teaching as He did through the study itself. When I think of this study, I will always remember what God taught me about the Logos and rhema (See “Logos and Rhema” in the February 2006 archives.), but just as important is what He taught me about how the Holy Spirit works through the Word. If you are not diligently studying the Word, you are limiting the opportunities for the Spirit to work in and through you.

I have also been overwhelmed by the love and encouragement expressed by the study participants. If any of you are reading this, thank you for your kind words, your enthusiasm, and your faithfulness in your participation. And thank you for the lovely oil lamp you gave me last night as a parting gift of appreciation! (See photo above.) I will treasure it always.

I have been hesitant to study Revelation because, frankly, it makes me uncomfortable. I think one reason is because my eschatological leanings differ from the majority of Christendom and from my denomination in particular. My general feeling about eschatology (the study of last things) is that it is somewhat pointless when we will never be able to figure out what prophetic writings really mean, and there is so much Scripture that is perfectly clear in its teaching. I don’t know about you, but I will spend the rest of my life learning to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).

Preoccupation with last things is a distraction in the body of Christ. Just watch Christian television for five seconds and you will understand what I mean. What we do know is that Jesus is coming back, and that the bride (the church) should be making herself ready (Revelation 19:7). However, instead of making herself ready, she is spending too much time trying to figure out when he is coming back. This is bewildering to me in light of I Thessalonians 5:2: For you yourselves know full well that they day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

But, as usual, I digress. Despite my hesitancy to study Revelation, I truly enjoyed and was blessed by the last three weeks of Beloved Disciple. Rather than concentrating on the potentially controversial aspects of John’s Revelation, Moore examined the general truths that could be gleaned. She is blessed with an imagination that enables her to draw lessons from imagery that I would never come up with. (At least, I don’t think I would. But now that I’ve seen the Spirit work in teaching preparation, there’s no telling what I may come up with in the future.)

When I read Revelation 19:13, …His name is called the Word of God, I experienced something akin to butterflies in my stomach. The Logos again. It’s all about the Logos.

Sola Scriptura

It’s been several weeks since I completed Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace by James Montgomery Boice, but I’m just now making the time to sit down and report on it. As you might guess, my favorite chapter was “Scripture Alone,” referred to as “sola Scriptura” by the Reformers. Following are two of my favorite passages.

The Reformers wanted scripture to stand alone as the church’s true authority. Today, at least in the evangelical church, that is not our chief problem; we assert biblical authority. Rather, our problem is in deciding whether the Bible is sufficient for the church’s life and work. We confess its authority, but we discount its ability to do what is necessary to draw unbelievers to Christ, enable us to grow in godliness, provide direction for our lives, and transform and revitalize society. …in the sixteenth century the battle was against those who wanted to add church traditions to Scripture, but in our day the battle is against those who would have us use worldly means to do God’s work.

Referring to Romans chapter six: Paul’s “method” for sanctification is biblical doctrine. That is, to live as Christians we must know what God has done to us in making us Christians. We must know what has happened, and the only way we can know what has happened is to know the Bible. …This has nothing to do with either a method or an experience. It has everything to do with knowing and living by the sufficient Word of God. Is it not true that one reason we see such immature and even sinful behavior among Christians today is that they have not really been taught what God has done to them and for them when he saved them? And aren’t our churches immature precisely because the pastors are not teaching Bible doctrines?

I thank God that since my conversion I have been in churches that preach Biblical doctrine!

I could sit here and type for the rest of the day and not include everything that I want to share with you. I highly recommend this important book.

Evangelicial Climate Initiative

The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it.
Psalm 24:1

Those of you who know me well are familiar with my granola leanings. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to see an ad for the "Evangelical Climate Initiative" in the most recent issue of Christianity Today (CT). For me, concern for the environment is a stewardship issue, and apparently, there are plenty of belivers out there who agree with me. Please go to the website and read their statement and see the signatories. There's also a list of ways we can help solve the global warming problem: http://www.christiansandclimate.org/action.

My prayer is that Christians who have claimed that there is no global warming problem will examine the evidence for themselves and change their minds. See this editorial from the August 2005 issue of CT.