David jeremiah is about two thirds through his "handwriting On the Wall" series on Turning Point which focuses on the Book of Daniel.
The broadcasts of Monday March 30 and Tuesday the 31st focus on an interesting part of Daniel, namely the first part of Chapter 9 where Daniel prays. By examining these verses, Jeremiah points out, we can learn on how to pray and what the real purpose of prayer is -- it is the glory of God and asking him on how we may play a part in it.
The prayer may be found in Daniel 9, verses 4 through 19.
To hear the broadcasts, go to this page
Turning Point (Dr. David Jeremiah) - Broadcast Archives
and look for the broadcasts labeled "God's People and Prayer."
I particularly am moved towards verse 9
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup Daniel 9
which reads
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against
him.
It is interesting in how Daniel approaches the subject of why God should hear his request to return the Isrealites back to Jerusalem beginning at verse 17:
"Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O
cLord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.
18
Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that
bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because
of your great mercy.
Verses from the NIV.
Some have suggested that Daniel's prayer was unnecessary as God had already preordained the Jews returning to Isreal. Rev. Adrian Dieleman, Pastor, Trinity United Reformed Church, Visalia, Ca
preached this
Sermon on Daniel 919which further expands on the purpose of prayer. This too makes for good reading.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Seeking Salvation From an Earthly King: It didn't work then so why should it Now?
The Israelites had it all: a perfect ruler in God himself and, if they chose to submit and obey his commandments, he guaranteed to protect them and make them prosperous. . Yet, they did not appreciate what they had but sought a better life, much as we do, from an earthly ruler demanding from judge Samuel (1 sam 8) an earthly king.
Before granting their wish, however, God had this warning (and does it not sound much like what we are facing today in seeking salvation from government by asking it to fulfill our needs):
Here is NIv's presentation of 1 Samuel, Chapter 8, verses 10-20:
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup I sam 8;
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a
king. 11
He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your
sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front
of his chariots.
12
Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and
others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons
of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them
to his attendants.
15
He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials
and attendants.
16
Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18
When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen,
and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king
over us. 20
Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out
before us and fight our battles."
Does the above sound somewhat abstract? Well, let me hit you between the eyes, so to speak, with The Message Bible presentation of verses 1018 from I Samuel 8
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup I sam 8;
So Samuel told them, delivered God's warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, "This
is the way the kind of king you're talking about operates. He'll take your sons and
make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and
squadrons. He'll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and
others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury.
He'll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He'll conscript
your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends.
He'll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize
workers and best animals he'll take for his own use. He'll lay a tax on your flocks
and you'll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation
because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don't expect
God to answer."
And today our trust in the things of man, rather than that of God, costs us even more -- and yet we ask more and more from government and other man-made entities believing that somehow they can make things better. Can they make things better other than on the surface? Well, we know the answer to that, but we still ask and demand.
Obviously, we haven't learned from history. We, slowly but surely, have to learn the same lessons the Israelites discovered as we move on in our daily readings.
Before granting their wish, however, God had this warning (and does it not sound much like what we are facing today in seeking salvation from government by asking it to fulfill our needs):
Here is NIv's presentation of 1 Samuel, Chapter 8, verses 10-20:
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup I sam 8;
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a
king. 11
He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your
sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front
of his chariots.
12
Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and
others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons
of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them
to his attendants.
15
He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials
and attendants.
16
Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
18
When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen,
and the LORD will not answer you in that day."
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king
over us. 20
Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out
before us and fight our battles."
Does the above sound somewhat abstract? Well, let me hit you between the eyes, so to speak, with The Message Bible presentation of verses 1018 from I Samuel 8
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup I sam 8;
So Samuel told them, delivered God's warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, "This
is the way the kind of king you're talking about operates. He'll take your sons and
make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and
squadrons. He'll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and
others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury.
He'll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He'll conscript
your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends.
He'll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize
workers and best animals he'll take for his own use. He'll lay a tax on your flocks
and you'll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation
because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don't expect
God to answer."
And today our trust in the things of man, rather than that of God, costs us even more -- and yet we ask more and more from government and other man-made entities believing that somehow they can make things better. Can they make things better other than on the surface? Well, we know the answer to that, but we still ask and demand.
Obviously, we haven't learned from history. We, slowly but surely, have to learn the same lessons the Israelites discovered as we move on in our daily readings.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sunday School Audio Presentations from Thomas Constable
Today's reading in
http://bdmsmith.wordpress.com/
is 1 Samuel, chapters 1 and 2. Samuel, as we soon will discover, is a transition book in the Old Testament as the Jews reject God as their King in asking for an earthly ruler much as other nations.
In
Dr Constable's Introduction to his notes,
we are directed to a page of
MP3 Audio Bible Study Lessons
which Constable delivered to a Sunday school class
he teaches. Included are lessons on
1 Samuel
and
2 Samuel.
I just listened to the first presentation in the 1 Samuel Sunday School series and see why his seminary students consider him to be a topnotch instructor.
It is also gracious of him, along with Chuck Smith, to make so much high quality material available free for the download.
http://bdmsmith.wordpress.com/
is 1 Samuel, chapters 1 and 2. Samuel, as we soon will discover, is a transition book in the Old Testament as the Jews reject God as their King in asking for an earthly ruler much as other nations.
In
Dr Constable's Introduction to his notes,
we are directed to a page of
MP3 Audio Bible Study Lessons
which Constable delivered to a Sunday school class
he teaches. Included are lessons on
1 Samuel
and
2 Samuel.
I just listened to the first presentation in the 1 Samuel Sunday School series and see why his seminary students consider him to be a topnotch instructor.
It is also gracious of him, along with Chuck Smith, to make so much high quality material available free for the download.
Dr Constable's Bible Study Notes
I was having a difficult time in relating Judges 17-21 (Friday's Bible reading) to the whole scheme of things.
So I first turned to
Pastor Chuck's Library
and found a Chuck Smith sermon on those 5 chapters from Judges .
I supplemented this with
Dr. Constable's Bible Study Notes and Commentary.
this latter resource, introduced to us by an assistant pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria who studied under Constable, come from DR Thomas L. Constable of the Dallas Theological Seminary. Written over a 25-year period, they provide commentary on all 66 books of the Bible, and contain
about 7,000 pages of material.
"Dr. Constable's Notes, also known as expository notes to Dr. Constable's seminary students, are intended
to help you to better understand the Bible.
This online version of Dr. Constable's Notes is available for anyone with Internet
access. The latest editions of all 66 books, accessed below on links to the Notes'
.pdf files, can be used for reading, studying, writing papers, quoting, teaching
a class or Bible study, etc."
For those seeking to do further research, these offer plenty of bibliographic references to boot. I am guessing that many a minister has used these in putting together a Sunday sermon.
.
So I first turned to
Pastor Chuck's Library
and found a Chuck Smith sermon on those 5 chapters from Judges .
I supplemented this with
Dr. Constable's Bible Study Notes and Commentary.
this latter resource, introduced to us by an assistant pastor at Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria who studied under Constable, come from DR Thomas L. Constable of the Dallas Theological Seminary. Written over a 25-year period, they provide commentary on all 66 books of the Bible, and contain
about 7,000 pages of material.
"Dr. Constable's Notes, also known as expository notes to Dr. Constable's seminary students, are intended
to help you to better understand the Bible.
This online version of Dr. Constable's Notes is available for anyone with Internet
access. The latest editions of all 66 books, accessed below on links to the Notes'
.pdf files, can be used for reading, studying, writing papers, quoting, teaching
a class or Bible study, etc."
For those seeking to do further research, these offer plenty of bibliographic references to boot. I am guessing that many a minister has used these in putting together a Sunday sermon.
.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Weekly Bible Readings Updated
Bruce Smith has now updated
Bruce’s Chronological Bible Project
for the week of March 22 through 28.
My guess as where to begin the week was on target. Today, Wednesday, we switch to Ruth chapters 1 to 4 before returning to Judges 13 on Thursday.
Bruce’s Chronological Bible Project
for the week of March 22 through 28.
My guess as where to begin the week was on target. Today, Wednesday, we switch to Ruth chapters 1 to 4 before returning to Judges 13 on Thursday.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Readings for the Week and a Bible Overview Series from FBC Huntsville
No reading plan yet posted in
Bruce’s Chronological Bible Project
for this week.
Therefore, what I have decided to do is use an old rule thumb I heard 25 or so years back. To read the Bible in a year, read 3 chapters a day, 5 on Sunday -- 23 chapters in a week.
So far, this week I have done 9 chapters beginning with Judges 4 and going through Judges 12.
A reminder note that
Pastor Chuck's Library
offers several hundred full pulpit presentations discussing the Bible beginning at Genesis and running through Revelation.
Looking for something a bit shorter!
Another source of sermons covering the Bible books from the beginning to the end comes from
First Baptist Church Huntsville, Alabama in their
Foundations
Bible 101
series from late 2005 and early 2006.
In 21 sermons, beginning with "The Creation and the Flood" through the Book of Revelation, the listener is given an overview of the Bible.
"
Bruce’s Chronological Bible Project
for this week.
Therefore, what I have decided to do is use an old rule thumb I heard 25 or so years back. To read the Bible in a year, read 3 chapters a day, 5 on Sunday -- 23 chapters in a week.
So far, this week I have done 9 chapters beginning with Judges 4 and going through Judges 12.
A reminder note that
Pastor Chuck's Library
offers several hundred full pulpit presentations discussing the Bible beginning at Genesis and running through Revelation.
Looking for something a bit shorter!
Another source of sermons covering the Bible books from the beginning to the end comes from
First Baptist Church Huntsville, Alabama in their
Foundations
Bible 101
series from late 2005 and early 2006.
In 21 sermons, beginning with "The Creation and the Flood" through the Book of Revelation, the listener is given an overview of the Bible.
"
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Calvinism: One of Ten Ideas Changing the World Right NowIn its recent piece
In its recent piece
What's Next - 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now - TIME
Time, the Weekly News Magazine,
lists Calvinism as number 3.
This link
3. The New Calvinism - 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now - TIME
will take you to the page of specific interest.
The mention is likely spurred by Rick Warren's inclusion at President Obama's inauguration. Note also that July 10th will mark John Calvin's 500th birthday which should shed yet more spotlighting of Calvinism specificly and Christianity in general.
What's Next - 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now - TIME
Time, the Weekly News Magazine,
lists Calvinism as number 3.
This link
3. The New Calvinism - 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now - TIME
will take you to the page of specific interest.
The mention is likely spurred by Rick Warren's inclusion at President Obama's inauguration. Note also that July 10th will mark John Calvin's 500th birthday which should shed yet more spotlighting of Calvinism specificly and Christianity in general.
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