The Lifelong Discipline of Learning

As our minds focus on Dads and Grads, let us not neglect the need to be lifelong learners in our faith. Remember the words of Christ:

“Love the Lord your God... with all your mind.” -Mark 12:29-30

If we are to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, we must set ourselves towards the discipline of learning. I know what some of you are saying right now, “I HATE READING!” I know some think that it is possible to divorce the fire of zeal from continuing to grow in Christ, but I would warn you about two possible ditches you must avoid. You see Satan doesn’t care which ditch he places you on — the right or the left. He just wants you in a ditch. So here is the warning. First, on the right, there is the ditch of perpetual learning without truly understanding. This principle is best illustrated in 2 Timothy 3:7 which points to those who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Instead of applying, going, and doing for Jesus, these individuals just sit and talk about it, much like philosophy classrooms. This may include interesting or stimulating conversation, but nothing else.

The second ditch to the left is “zeal without knowledge” (Proverbs 19:2). Zeal is the passion and drive to do! Zeal represents burning hearts. This is to be moved on an emotional level only. Yes, the Lord called us to love him with our heart, but he didn’t stop there. We are called to love him with our mind as well. The need here is to apply oneself to diligent study of God’s Word.

It should also be pointed out that just because someone is full of days, doesn’t mean they have knowledge or wisdom. Job 32:9 points out, “The abundant in years may not be wise, nor may elders understand justice.” I once pastored a woman who told me she didn’t need anymore Bible study because she had learned everything she needed to know. I was both shocked and appalled by this statement. I also pitied her. Can we ever get to a point where we know too much about our great love, our Lord Jesus Christ? But oh how sweet to meet a blessed saint who has applied the discipline of study to their lives for decades! Their knowledge and wisdom blesses all they encounter.

we must learn what Christlikeness means and how Jesus wants us to follow Him. We learn this through the Bible, of course, but it involves learning nonetheless.

Those whom the Bible considers wise and intelligent understand this. According to Scripture, “The wise lay up knowledge” and “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge” (Prov. 10:14; 18:15). So the primary measure- ment of wisdom and intelligence is not your IQ or GPA but whether you pursue knowledge, that is, whether you discipline yourself to continue learning the things of God throughout your life.

Intentional Learning

A hunger to learn the Word of God, the ways of God, and the will of God expresses a hunger for God Himself. Those who love God long to be taught about Him and from Him. That doesn’t mean all Christians are to manifest an affinity for learning exactly the same things and in identical ways. But it is true that apathy toward learning the things of God is a mark of those who do not know God.
We are blessed to live in a time when the means of and opportunities for expressing a love for God through learning greatly exceed our ability to take advantage of them. But all these profit little if a person doesn’t pursue them. This is why learning must always be a discipline, for a person can be surrounded by wisdom and knowledge yet live with- out their riches if he or she does not possess the discipline to learn them.

Thus, learning is indeed a gospel driven spiritual discipline; those who are not exerting themselves to learn the things of God will gain spiritual and biblical knowledge only by accident or mere convenience. By contrast, intentional learners will seek to learn the things of God and will do so individually as well as with the church, disciplining them- selves to learn from those who are gifted by God and recognized by the church as teachers.

What Is the Spiritual Disciple of Prayer?

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

-James 4:3 (ESV)

William Carey, (1767-1834) the father of the modern missions movement, once said that “Prayer - secret, fervent, believing prayer – lies at the root of all personal godliness.” But what is prayer? The most basic definition of prayer comes from the HIBD, which states:

                  

“PRAYER:  Dialogue between God and people, especially His covenant partners.”^[1]

I prefer the following definition for a fuller more biblical understanding of what prayer is:

“Prayer—is converse with God; the intercourse of the soul with God, not in contemplation or meditation, but in direct address to him. Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant. It is a “beseeching the Lord” (Ex. 32:11); “pouring out the soul before the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:15); “praying and crying to heaven” (2 Chr. 32:20); “seeking unto God and making supplication” (Job 8:5); “drawing near to God” (Ps. 73:28); “bowing the knees” (Eph. 3:14).”^[2]

In the above passage, we have to ask what does it mean to ask “rightly” as opposed to “wrongly?” It would appear it boils down to a matter of transformed passions. What use is it to speak to God and ask Him for things that grieve Him or will not be for your benefit. In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God’s thoughts after Him. Right and real prayer will mean to desire the things God desires, to love the things God loves, to will the things God wills. Gradually, we are taught to see our lives and others from God’s point of view. Prayer must be the main business of our lives. In Mark 1:35, we see Jesus getting up in the morning before the day, going out to a lonely place and praying.  King David’s desire for God broke the self-indulgent chains of sleep. And when the apostles are tempted to invest their time and energy into other important and necessary tasks, they determined to give themselves over continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). Even Martin Luther the reformer once said, “I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.”  John Wesley stated that “God does nothing but in answer to prayer,” and he went on to back it up by his conviction of devoting two hours daily to the sacred exercise.  So let’s make it our discipline, our intention to spend daily time with God in the most wonderful privileges of existence, speaking to our Lord and Savior.  If you have not already, carve out at least 10 minutes a day to speak to God in prayer and build that time up.  If you don’t have at least that much time to devote to prayer, you need to reconsider the priorities of your calendar.  Pray for our church to be ever increasing in faithfulness to the Great Commandments and the Great Commission.

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^[1]Randy Hatchett, “Prayer,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1320.

^[2] M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

Why Commit Yourself to the Disciple of Daily Bible Intake?

But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
from the mouth of God.’” -Matthew 4:4

In the passage above, Jesus points something out to us that should be a common practice among
believers. The practice of feasting on the Word of God. The statement Jesus makes is to the devil as he is tempted to turn stones to bread. This highlights our need to feast on the Word of God regularly. It is a commitment we should make before the day starts. You would be surprised by the benefits of feasting daily on the bread of life. Let me give you several things regular Bible intake will do for your life:

1. Make you wise for salvation.

Have you ever wondered at times, “Am I really a Believer? Do I have saving faith?” The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy about his faith. He mentioned that Timothy had known the Scriptures from childhood and that they were, “Able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). If you don’t know precisely what you believe, the best place to begin is to spend a year reading the Bible for yourself. Cultural Christianity and modern media quote the same ten verses time and again. Why not dig a little deeper and take the time to reflect upon the entire message? There is nothing lost by spending a year reading the Bible, and there is much to gain.

2. Grow Your Relationship with God.

All relationships take time to build. Friends plan times to get together and catch up. Spouses reconnect on date nights. Church members chat over pot-lucks or in-home Bible studies. Building a fellowship with others takes time. If we want to grow a friendship with God, we need time in His presence for that relationship to flourish. Reading the Bible daily allows us the opportunity to get to know God. What does God care about? How does God respond to what he cares about? Whom does God love?

3. Help You fight Temptation.

We all struggle with sin in many ways. The Bible offers stories of imperfect people: liars, adulterers,
murderers, and idolaters. We are told that these stories were written for our benefit. Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. The Bible illuminates our tendency towards sin, as well as prepares us to fight it. The word of God acts as a sword against the attacks of the devil (Eph. 6:17). The Psalmist tells us, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11).

4. Nourish Your Soul.

Psalm 1 tells us the man who delights in the law of the Lord is like a “tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in seasons, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” Isaiah 55 compares time with the Lord to a feast in which he can delight our souls in the richest of fare. Jesus told us that abiding in Him was more necessary than food or water. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (See John 15). However, in Christ, we can do all things (Philippians 4:13). The most important gift you can give yourself in the coming years is time with Jesus.

Why makes a movie like Avengers: Endgame a good film?

Over the weekend I saw the last installment of Avengers Endgame broke the box-office raking in 1.2 billion dollar on its opening weekend. If you have not seen it nor the movie before, stop here spoiler alert! While there were a couple of scenes, I didn’t care for, the counseling scene with captain America affirming the man dating other men and the feminism push with Captain Marvel and the other “super girls.” I didn’t care for these scenes, because I feel they push agendas and add no value to the overall storyline. I did appreciate that these were rather short. Anyway, let me now shift to what I did like.

The movie was emotionally riveting, and the parts of the story that made it really good were the borrowed themes from biblical narrative either intentionally or not. Let me show you what I mean.

• Dr. Strange is a profit. The profits in the OT times foretold of God’s plan. His plan to save man from their sins. God knew there was only one way to save humanity, and so did Dr. Strange. He looks into all possible futures and sees only one option. He tells Tony there was only one way and we are in the end game now.

• The theme of self-sacrifice we see this from the character black widow. The Bible makes it very clear that the way of salvation calls for self-sacrifice. See Matthew 10:39.

• The brokenness of Thor's effort falling short. Thor didn't take out Thanos in the Infinity Wars, he went for the chest instead of the head and paid the price for it. In a similar, we all get to the point of brokenness where realize we are not enough on our own works and deeds. How we react to it is key, we can either become like Thor: Drink, become fat, and play video games. Or we can embrace Christ in our brokenness. 

• Tony Stark is a Christ-like figure. Going from the most selfish avenger to the one who performs the most selfless act. He knew that snapping his fingers would rid the universe of all time from Thanos and his evil. Remember Thanos was going to dust all of the universe and make it over the way he wanted it. A “grateful” universe who would see him as God-like.

• Thanos is Satan. His real intention comes through in the final showdown at the end. He was going to tear the universe apart and rebuild it into a “grateful” one that worshipped him like a God. Sound like anyone else you know?

• Nebula plays the part of Judas and illustrates a biblical theme of "the old man vs. the new man." Even though it was really herself from years It remains, she betrays the mission to save those who are dusted. The good news is she faces her former self, shows she has been transformed and dispatches her old self. While a bit more dramatic, it is clear that her "old" self is put to death a new self remains. This illustrates the biblical concept of the "old man" vs. the "new man" in Romans 6:4-6. Before she was a slave to Thanos and his bidding, but now she is free.

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What Should We Pray For?

I was in middle school playing basketball for the Fall Branch Cardinals. Before every game, the coach would ask one of our players to pray. The prayer was always the same, it was the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13. I don’t know that it was terrible, but it was a tradition we did. After some time, it began to feel like a prayer rut to me. Have you ever felt like your prayer life was in a rut?

Remember that prayer is a powerful weapon that God gave us as a gift. In fact, Pastor John Piper says this about prayer, “Prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom. God is more like a general in Command Central than a butler waiting to bring you another pillow in the den.” Of course, God is a Father, Lover, Friend, Physician, Shepherd, Helper, King, Savior, Lord, and Counselor. But let us not forget we live in a fallen world where we constantly are battling three enemies, our flesh, the devil, and the world. So, if we are to have maximum faithfulness in prayer, we must examine the content of the prayer. 

Before we look at what should be in our prayers let’s remember what shouldn’t be in our prayers, James 4:1-4 reminds and instructs us not to ask a thing to spend it solely on our selfish pleasures.  If you were to survey the prayers of the Bible that God answered you would find various patterns. The main pattern, where God answers the most prayers, concern the advance of His divine work and His Kingdom. An example of the main pattern would be Moses’ prayer for the nation advancing work through the desert (see Exodus 32:9-14). Fewer of the Bible prayers could be considered personal, like Hannah’s prayer for a son (see 1 Samuel 1:9-11). One interesting observation about would be that personal prayers do not contradict the nature and purpose of the divine work, but instead usually enhanced God’s work. For example, Hannah’s prayer produced Samuel, who holds a pivotal figure in Israel’s history (1 Sam. 1:10-20). Try this in your own prayer life. Keep a log of your prayers over a specific period. Dr. T.W. Hunt kept such a long, and he found that seven-ninths of his own answer’s prayers were primarily concerned with the advance of the kingdom work of God, and only two-ninths were personal. Hunt goes on to say, “all of the answered personal requests in some significant way accomplished a divine work that helped others and made a contribution to God’s work in the church.”[1]  Here are a few more items the early church prayed for:

•    Pray that God would exalt His name in the World. (Matt. 6:9)

•    Pray that God would extend his kingdom in the world. (Matt. 6:10)

•    Pray that God would save unbelievers. (Rom. 10:1)

•    Pray for boldness in proclamation/preaching. (Eph. 6:18-19, Acts 4:29)

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[1]Hunt, T.W., The Doctrine of Prayer. (Nashville: The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1986), 75.

When Should We Confess Sins Publicly?

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”-James 5:16

While many of us may feel conflicted anytime a public confession of sin happens, the word commands confession in verses like James 5:16. The question emerges, when does the confession of sin need to take place publicly in a local body? James reminds us that we all stumble in many ways (James 3:1). Also, while the Bible teaches that all sins are equal before God (James 2:10), the consequence of sins are not equal in this world. For example, the sin we engage in the sin of hate, it is known by God and us but perhaps by no one else. If we shoot and kill the person we hate, what follows in the church and community will be much different. Both sins are ugly, and Jesus calls them both murder (Matthew 5:21-22), but the consequences and scope of what follows differ significantly in this world. 

The same guiding principle applies to the public confession of sin. The scope of repentance must be as broad as the effect of the sin. So we should think of confession of sin through the lenses of the gospel but asking the following questions:

1.    Do we agree with God that what we have done is sin?

o    Simple but important. Many times we do not confess sin privately or publicly because we don’t agree with what the Bible says about our actions. We must overcome this first before we can move forward in forgiveness, healing, covering, and restoration.

2.    What is the scope of the consequences of the sin? 

o    As noted before, the extent of the impacts are they public or private? In 1 Corinthians 5:2, Paul instructs the church to skip the first three steps of the Matthew 18 process and put him out of the church. Why would Paul skip those steps? Because the sin was well known as sin by believers and unbelievers alike, and it was publicly known. The principle emerges here that the sin must be addressed at the scope it is known and affecting others.

3.    Do I understand that confession is a weapon to help me defeat sin?

o    Ephesians 5:11 tells us to expose “unfruitful works of darkness.” God gave us a powerful weapon when he gave us the confession of sin. When we tell others that our actions or thinking were sinful and wrong, the sin's power weakens on us. Make no mistake sin is powerful, and we are all just seconds away from most any kind. We need to battle it with all God has given us.  Not to mention it helps to defeat that same sin in others lives in the body when done publicly.

4.    Following the confession, will my church now join in the covering for the sin?

o    The gospel is always the model for how sin is handled. Once we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us (1 John 1:9). Once God forgives, He separates sin from us and Him as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Romans 4:7 says that our sins are “covered” following forgiveness. Anytime one of our precious saints confesses sin; the right response is for us to do as God does. To cover a sin means we don’t talk about it anymore. We should celebrate their courage and God’s work in their life! We don’t point out their sin anymore to others in the church or outside the church. We unite in grace, truth, and love to help and bless them. Depending on the sin they may have consequences they face with the local law, but as far as we are concerned the blood of Christ covers their sins.

Things I Learned from Pastor Victor “Vic” Wallace & his lovely wife Dorothy “Dot.”

On Sunday morning, January 13, Pastor Vic Wallace preached his last sermon as pastor of Oak Hill Baptist Church in Fall Branch, Tennessee. Beginning in the mid-1950’s, Pastor Wallace began a ministry lasting over six decades of pastoral ministry including Flag Pond, Mosheim, Mountain City, Kingsport, and Fall Branch. One of the longest pastorates was at First Baptist Fall Branch, Tennessee where I met him. His time at Frist Baptist which spanned 1975-1999 & 2003, 25 years in total a rarity today. Pastor Vic lead me to Christ at the age of 12 years old when he presented the gospel clearly to all the children at VBS in the summer of 1993. After he explained it, I asked to speak with him. There in his office, he took me down the Romans Road, and I prayed to receive Christ. He also baptized my mother, father, and sister. Later when I was called to the ministry, he became my father in the ministry (see 1 Timothy 1:1). God used him to help me pick a seminary. I wanted to share the following as things I learned from watching him pastor and serving alongside him:

1.    Love your family.

Loved not only by his church family, but Pastor Vic is also loved by his wife, son, and grandchildren. He showed the ability to balance his responsibilities at home with his duties to the local body. I think he always knew that if he failed at home, he would fail his office as pastor.

2.    Never compromise on the Word of God.

Pastor Vic served through the time our denomination experienced what has been now termed the “Conservative Resurgence.” The “resurgence” boiled down to a battle over biblical inerrancy. From the pulpit, he openly preached the Bible as the Word of God, not simply that the bible contained the word of God! He loved to quote leaders of the resurgence like W. A. Criswell. What a great example to us all.

3.    Love your church family.

While no pastor can be everywhere at once, Pastor Vic made efforts to be there for church members who were experiencing milestones in their lives: births, marriages, sickness, deaths, etc.… He showed the importance of loving people in all seasons of their lives.  He had a way to make you feel like you were the most important person to him.

4.    Love your community & be a soul winner.

He embodied lifestyle evangelism. I remember once, a man he had never met appeared to be having a hard time. He asked him if anyone had ever told him that Jesus loved him. The man replied, “No.” And he said, “On behalf of the pastors and churches in Kingsport, I want to apologize to you for that and tell you that Jesus Loves you!”

5.    Never forget the importance of pastoral ministry.

Vic always held the office of pastor in high esteem, but it was his wife that gave me the analogy which sticks with me today. When I announced my call to ministry, Dot said to me, “Travis, this is a calling and a job that is more important than the presidency of the United States of America.” The Bible tells us that pastors are a gift to the local church, and Pastor Wallace along with his lovely wife, genuinely have been that for all the churches they have served.