An Example

Last week, Aaron introduced a new series on this blog about hermeneutics. It is still coming.

Today, however, I want to write about a verse that God has been convicting me about over the past few weeks. It is something I still struggle with, so I say this humbly… yet with deep conviction. It is a command that if obediently applied in the lives of young people around the country, would result in a remarkable change unto the glory of God in families and churches around the world!

Biblical hermeneutics requires faithful application. Without obedience to God’s Word, accurate interpretation is useless, devoid of meaning. I pray that this post will more clearly underscore the critical need of Biblical hermeneutics. Without it, there is no proper application; without it, we drift away from obedience to God.

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” - 1 Timothy 4:12 (KJV)

Let no man despise thy youth. Paul is speaking here to Timothy, his son in the faith. Timothy is a younger man - much younger than Paul. But Paul does not give Timothy an excuse to act in an ungodly manner because of his age. Quite to the opposite, Paul exhorts him to “Let no many despise thy youth."

But be thou an example of the believers. As younger men and women, we must be an example of the believers. God commands us to be example to the world of what a follower of Almighty God is, and an example to those who are younger in the faith of what a mature and growing Christian is.

In word. See Ephesians 4:29 – our speech is to edify. In Matthew 12:36, Jesus warns “That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”

In conversation. This is a 17^th-century word that signifies a person’s whole life. Not just their words, but also their actions. See Colossians 3:23-24.

In charity. We know in our heads what Matthew 22:37-40 says, but do we truly love God with all of our hearts? Do we have any competing affections? Do we love our neighbor as ourselves… literally? With a 1 Corinthians 13 love? The apostle John gives a strong exhortation to love in 1 John 4:8 – “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

In spirit. God is still doing a work in my heart to make me totally consumed with Jesus Christ. That my joy may be in Him. That I may live in Him, abide in Him, and glory in Him. This is what our spirit must be.

In faith. Our faith – is it growing? Do we beg the Lord to “increase our faith”, like the disciples did? I recently heard a man speak about how we can spend an hour watching TV, but it is difficult for us to spend an hour in prayer. We can spend a day with a friend, but not a day with Jesus. Why? Are we “constant in prayer”, as the Bible commands?

In purity. This is huge. Not only physical purity, but also emotional, and spiritual. It is a single-mindedness, understood as walking down the narrow road, picking up our cross and following our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Again, do we have competing affections?

We have a grave responsibility. It is sobering to realize that God requires us – young men and women - to be an example of the believers, that unbelievers may not be given a cause to blaspheme the name of Jesus.

Will you be an example?

Hermeneutics - How to Read the Bible Correctly - New Series

"What do you think that verse means?"

"What does this verse mean to you?"

"What do you believe about this verse?"

Many Christians, when studying the Bible, often ask these questions, trying to determine what the Bible means. But is this truly how we are supposed to understand the Bible?

In the modern "Christian" church we have developed such a warped view of scripture with many heresies, false doctrines, and other forms of aberrant theology, it is evident that we have truly lost an understanding of how to read the Bible rightly.

In the next couple months Noah and I, and our newest blogger, Anthony will be discussing, how the modern church has lost proper biblical hermeneutics, and we are going to lay out, how to lead the Bible correctly.

Quotes of Past Preachers

Once or twice a week until Noah is back posting full time. I will be posting short (or long) quotes from older Preachers like Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer, and the like.

This quote if from Charles Spurgeon.

Coming Back

I just wanted to let anybody who still might look at this blog that we will be starting this blog back with regular posts very soon. I have been extremely busy with school. And Noah has been unable to post. With school I could not keep this blog going alone. I will be posting brief updates for the next couple of months and Noah will be back posting in mid July. I'm not sure when the podcasts will be back, it takes quite a bit of time to record and edit a podcast.

More to come soon.

A Cry For Our Nation

Many Christians upon hearing that Obama had become our new president, were shaken, fearful, depressed and discouraged. My prayer through this election is that we as a nation learn something and that we as Christians do as well.

For many years we've been watching our nation disintegrate as we allowed more and more evil into our country. With the passage of laws, homosexuality and abortion became legal. And with activist groups and others, we saw these evils become tolerated, then accepted, and now almost celebrated. Our country has grown more and more evil in other areas as well. Over 50% of our nation declares itself to be addicted to pornography. And these are just the ones who are willing to admit it. Our country has moved away from true christian values, and has instead chosen to satisfy the lusts of their hearts. As these things have taken place, the country has moved farther and farther to the left politically. We have become more accepting of liberal policies. As I look upon these developments that have taken place in the USA I can't help but think, "Do we deserve God's wrath? Do we deserve his judgment?" I think the answer is and overwhelming yes. My cry for this nation is that we fall to our knees in repentance. If God is going to judge this nation, we must learn what he wants to show us. We must repent of our sins and cry out for mercy.

As I ponder the state of the country I can't help but think, well, these in this country are non-Christians, we cannot expect them to act like Christians. Those who are carnal will act like they are carnal. Only through the blood of Jesus can these things be washed away. Only through the blood of Jesus saving individuals can these things change. So my mind turns to the church. What has happened to the church? Is the church even more guilty than the world? After all the world is only acting as the world always does, sinfully. In fact it is impossible for the world to act with any Christian virtue. So I look back at what the church has become over the past years.

What is the church supposed to be? It is supposed to be people who have been saved by Christ felowshipping together, growing together, reaching a lost world, and serving our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. What have we become? Nothing but a mirror image of the world. (Please note that I am not saying that every church is like this, but many are.) What do "so called Christians" do, they go to the same movies, they watch the same TV shows, they want the world's fun. Instead of being in the world but not of it, the church today is in the world and of the world. With the rise of the seeker sensitive movement we saw church become what it was not supposed to be. It was done for the world, and sadly it became like the world. As this movement took hold more and more false converts were "made" in the church. And it went downhill from there. Now in the church the divorce rate is just as high as in the world. The number of people who view pornography is just as high, It is even high among pastors. The church also contributed to this fall with the breakup of the family. Every member of thew family was split into different groups. The family didn't worship as a whole they worshiped separately. This also bled into the home as more and more families failed to worship and learn together at home. Fathers gave the responsibility of training to the Sunday school pastor and the youth "pastor". And these have failed miserably at teaching the children and training them. Church has become nothing but a fun fest for children, and even for adults. Even today the emergent church is taking on the postmodern mindset of the world and has embraced the world's philosophies wholeheartedly.

Even in this election many Christians for the first time voted for a pro-abortion candidate in John McCain. Even Christians have abandoned the principles that once guided our voting. We have placed our trust in politicians instead of God.

As I look back at the church's recent history I can't help but think that we have lost the most important part of our faith, THE GOSPEL. And as we lost sight of the gospel we, lost the battle. We became like the world and our nation collapsed. As we prepare for an Obama presidency, let us think of one thing, and one thing only, THE GOSPEL. Let us fight and strive for it, let it motivate us, let it encourage us, and let it form the very essence of who we are. Let us look to Christ for comfort, hope, and council. Let us trust in him, not only for our salvation, but for every part of our lives. Let us as a church get on our knees and repent of the evil we have done. Let us return to the principles of our Christian faith, as God judges this nation. And above all let us love the gospel, protect the gospel, and spread the gospel, because that is the ONLY thing that is going to save the church, our nation, and the world.





P.S. I am sorry we have not posted in a long time. Noah has not been able to post, and I have been extremely busy with school.

Sermon Video Clip - Voddie Baucham

I love this clip from Voddie Baucham about God's sovereignty in the world. It is very powerful.





By the way. I am sorry I have not posted in a while. I have been very busy. I will try to post my next post on "The Word Became Flesh" by next week.

The Word Became Flesh Part 1

John 1:1-5; 14: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

What is the greatest miracle? It is an intriguing question. When Jesus lived on this earth, He performed many miracles. From healing the of the sick to creating wine from water, Christ displayed His power and substantiated His claim that he was the Messiah. But what is the greatest miracle? Surprisingly it is not any of those performed by Jesus while He was on earth. No it is not even the new birth that he causes in sinners dead in trespasses of sins, as great a miracle that is. No, the miracle which surpasses all others is contained in this in this one phrase from John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh".


When I study the Bible, I like to understand the context of the verse, and the first five verses of the book of John provide an excellent background to this amazing event. Verses 1 and 2 state who Jesus is. He is the eternal Word, who is coequal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The apsotle John states explicitly that Jesus Christ is God and has existed forever. But this also makes it very clear that Jesus is a separate and distinct member of the trinity, thus dispelling any arguments from modalists, who claim that there is one God with three manifestations, not persons. In verse three John clearly states that Jesus is the creator of all things. Many people have the misunderstanding that it was God the Father who created the earth. In reality, Jesus Christ, our savior, was also our creator. This becomes extremely powerful when we understand verse 14. Just as a side issue, it is also very interesting that when man was created, the Old Testament makes it clear that it was the work of all three members of the trinity, Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

"In him was life". I love this phrase, because it absolutely demolishes the idea of evolution, that life can come from non-life. Clearly Jesus alone can clearly give life to anything, life can not, "just happen".

Now let's take a close look at verse 14. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,". This phrase states the greatest miracle that was ever accomplished in the history of time. Nothing else can compare to what is stated in that phrase. Of all the miracles that are recoded in the Bible God, in the person of Jesus Christ, became flesh and dwelt among us. That Jesus Christ, the eternal Word became flesh without losing any of his divinity is undoubtedly the most awesome event recorded in the Bible. And to think John describes it in one phrase, "The Word became flesh."