Making Sense of the Bible

This Sunday we start a new message series on "Making Sense of the Bible." This series is preceded by a huge postcard mailing inviting our community to Suncrest. Here's a sneak peak of what you will see this Sunday. It's our Theme video.

Yeah God

I have two great things to write about.

One is directly related to reading the Bible. I talked to a person who has committed to reading the Bible since the beginning of the year. Her comments so far was that she can't get enough. She got to the end of Genesis and she said she felt like it was a cliff hanger or something because she wanted more!! That's so awesome to hear about people discovering God's Word.

The second is indirectly related to reading the bible. My friend and running partner, Don Book, (who committed to reading the Bible this year) is going to be baptized this Sunday. It will be such an honor to participate in his declaration of faith. Don does not make this decision lightly. He has been praying about it, considering it and reading for some time now. I am so excited.

Yeah God!!

To those who have ears to hear...

I am sitting here on my day off with my coffee in hand reading my One Year Bible (NLT version). I love my day off because I feel like I have so much more time just to linger in God's Word over a fresh cup of joe. It doesn't always work that way, but today thankfully it is.

Today I read a passage that I have always liked, yet it serves as a warning.

"Anyone with hears to hear should listen and understand."

Matthew 13:9

In this passage Jesus basically says that you have to desire the Word of God to understand it. Quoting from the book of Isaiah Jesus said,

"For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes - so they cannot see...and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them."

Matthew 13:15

This passage serves as a promise and a warning for me. If I desire to understand God's Word, I will. He will give me understanding. I am thinking hear of myself and so many who have struggled with understanding parts of the Bible. I am also taught that if my heart is not soft (prepared to listen, open to God's instruction) then I won't understand.

This all means that I have to intentionally prepare myself to read God's Word. Sometimes I do well at this. Other times I rush in without much preparation in prayer. Most of the times for me it just means pausing to pray, "Lord, I'm listening" both before and during.


May you have ears to hear.

Hope for the Helpless

My reading in the Psalms has reminded me of God's compassion for those who are hurting, His desire to instill hope in the hopeless, to give a voice to the voiceless and help the helpless. Here is just one recent reading:

"Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people no longer terrify them."

Psalm 10:17-18

This is just a short passage that is echoed in so many different places. God cares for those who are hurting. This includes widows, orphans, the poor, those who have injustice done against them, single moms and those who have experienced devastation. I have already shared a little of my trip to Louisiana. It was an incredible experience that I hope in some small part did help. We were able to get a house back to a stage where one family could move back in, so that was a definite praise. Here's a quick photo/video recap:

My prayer and desire is that my heartbeat would beat to the

rhythm

of God's and I would care for the helpless like He does, not just once a year, but daily.

Peace,

doug

Still going...

Okay, so it's not the most exciting title but I think it captures what is going on with my reading as well as a few of you I talked to. I so appreciate a few of you touching base with me in person if even just to say "still going." That is great!!

With the busyness of this past week I experienced something that is common when implementing the habit of reading Scripture. It has the potential to become something I push through instead of pausing to reflect. Reading scripture is not like other reading. It has to be approached prayerfully with time to reflect. Now reflection can and should take place throughout the day following your reading but it should also take place during the reading. If something grabs your attention, don't feel the pressure to finish so much that you don't pause to consider what God is telling you.

May God bless you this week as you seek to truly listen. AND may I just carve out the time to pause.

Let me hear from you on how things are going. Has anything grabbed you? Any Scriptures jumping off the page as if God wrote them just for you? Let's hear it.

doug

The first week

My first week of 2007 was spent in Louisiana working with a team from Suncrest to help rebuild two homes. It was an awesome experience. Getting one particular house to a stage where the family could move in after 16 months was amazing. To the left is a picture of me (after spraying a house) and my good friend Michael, construction leader of our team. You may wonder from the picture if I got any paint on the walls.

Being away from home and my routine presented a few challenges to getting into the Bible. That might sound odd since I was on a mission's trip, but just being in a strange place on a different schedule made it a little tougher. But I was able to keep up with it even though one night I read two days worth. It was well worth it and provided spiritual energy where I was lacking physical.

How did your first week go? Let me know by commenting. Getting a blogger account is fast and easy. I know for many this is something you have done before. For others, it is brand new. For all of us, it will be a great experience.

Blessings,

Doug