Mollycoddle

That's my new favorite word.  I came across it while reading John MacArthur's Worship: The Ultimate Priority.  It was the first time I remember ever seeing the word.  Merriam-Webster defines the noun form of the word as "a pampered or effeminate man or boy."  In its verb form, as MacArthur uses it, it means "to treat with an excessive or absurd degree of indulgence and attention."

For example, MacArthur writes:
"God is glorified, first of all, when we trust Him without vacillating.  Our faith in Him should be implicit.  That doesn't mean we turn off our intellect or decline to think through the implications of what God has revealed; but it does mean that we must refuse to mollycoddle doubt or let it take root in our hearts...Faith is perhaps the most basic form of worship" (Worship, 175-176).

What doubts are you entertaining?  What sins are you indulging in and giving attention to?  Don't mollycoddle!

My friend and fellow pastor, Bryan Laramore, and I once talked about collecting a list of words we would begin using in our vocabularies.  I think mollycoddle just made my list.

June Reading

• I Am A Church Member - Thom Rainer
• Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs - Bruce H. Wilkinson
• It Couldn't Just Happen - Lawrence O. Richards
• The Hardy Boys: The Secret of the Lost Tunnel - Franklin W. Dixon
• The Hardy Boys: The Wailing Siren Mystery - Franklin W. Dixon
• The Power of Prayer - R. A. Torrey

Fiasco in Austin

"If they intend to keep pushing their extreme personal political agenda ahead of the interests of Texas families, I will not back off of my duty to fight on their behalf."  That was a comment by Texas Senator Wendy Davis, as quoted by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Sounds great, huh? Except for the fact that you could turn her own words back on her.  Is she pushing her extreme personal political agenda ahead of the interests of Texas families?  What about those living in her state who disagree with her?  Are they not Texans anymore?

Senator Davis opposed and filibustered a bill that would limit abortions to 20 weeks after conception.  Terminating a life at any point for whatever reason is always terrible.  Choosing to do so to a baby after 20 weeks is barbaric.  Bart Barber sent a Tweet to Senator Davis which said, "It takes a certain kind of person to fight against regulation of abortion in the aftermath of Kermit Gosnell."  Well said.

However, listen to what the Tarrant County Democratic Party chairwoman said after the fiasco in Austin.  Deborah Peoples said, "It was not that it was the right moment, it was actually the right thing to do."  Really?  The right thing to do?  Her sense of right and wrong is backwards.  Her next quote points that out.  Peoples said, "What Davis did was to provide a light in the darkness for many people who needed someone in Texas to speak out for them."  Anyone who has read the Bible, more specifically the New Testament, particularly the Gospel according to John, knows about the contrast of light and darkness.  Jesus is the light who shines into the darkness.  To suggest that Davis' actions is reminiscent of Jesus is indeed backwards.  Woe to those who call evil "good" and call good "evil."

If you're not aware of Tuesdays media circus, all you have to do is look it up. Sources abound the world over.  Governor Rick Perry said it well, "We will not allow the breakdown of decorum and decency to prevent us from doing what the people of this state hired us to do," calling for another session for the lawmakers in Austin.

Ordinary...Extraordinary

How wonderful it is to know Christ doesn't call perfect men.  It doesn't matter who you are or what you have done, Christ wants to come into your life.  He wants you!  He will save you and make you clean.

He'll use you, no matter what your talent might be.  God can use you if you will let Him.  Even if you feel like you have no talent, God can use you.

He won't have us all doing the same thing because we do not all have the same gift.

Jesus calls all sorts of people to follow Him: fishermen, doctors, tax collectors, mechanics, comedians, pilots, secretaries, administrators, teachers, masons, bankers, carpenters, landscapers, weathermen, farmers...ordinary men.  Jesus makes the ordinary extraordinary!

May Reading

The Church Awakening - Charles Swindoll

Blessed

I woke up this morning and started the day by praising God for allowing me 32+ years of life. He has blessed me indeed with family and friends who enrich me with their constant love. I'd like to thank everyone who has made my birthday special today by their birthday wishes, cards, and gifts. I am blessed to call you my friends!

If God allows me 32 or more (or less) years, I pray that my devotion to Christ would continue to grow white-hot, and that my life would be a testimony to His goodness, faithfulness, and glory!

What Is Worship?

What is worship?

Depending on where you're from or what denomination you were brought up in, there are a myriad of responses to that question.

Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror define it as such, "Worship is an active response to God whereby we declare His worth."*  Given that definition, we can draw the following conclusions about what worship is and is not.

• Worship is not passive; worship is participative.
• Worship is not just a mood; worship is a response.
• Worship is not just a feeling; worship is a declaration.
• Worship is not about us; worship is about God.
• Worship is not me-centered; worship is Christ-centered.

Come, now is the time to worship!

*Ronald Allen & Gordon Borror, Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel (Eugene, OR:  Wipf and Stock, 2000), p. 16.

April Reading

1.  The Explicit Gospel - Matt Chandler and Jared Wilson
2.  Radical - David Platt
3.  The Year of Living Like Jesus - Ed Dobson
4.  Follow Me - David Platt
5.  Brothers, We Are Not Professionals - John Piper

A Month with Matthew

This past Sunday, I began preaching through the Gospel of Matthew.  After reading a book by a guy who tried to live like Jesus for a year, I picked up on an idea he had.  He decided to read the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) once a week for a year.  I have decided to do something similar.

Resolved...to read (or listen to) the Gospel of Matthew everyday for one month.

Here are some of the things I can expect:

• I will have a greater understanding of the Kingdom of God.
• I will have memorized much of Matthew.
• I will be much more informed in preaching through Matthew.
• I will be much more informed in teaching the Bible in general.
• I will have a greater understanding of who Jesus is.
• I will have a greater understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

I tell you this not in order to boast or brag, because I have so much to learn.  I feel like I need to do this.  Please pray for me as I seek illumination from God's revelation in His Word.

Were Adam and Eve Married?

Yes.  In Genesis 2:22, Moses tells us, “The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.”  God created Eve and presented her to Adam.  Then in verse 24, we learn, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”  God introduced the couple.  He got them together.  He is the first Father to walk His daughter down the aisle.  (OK, there wasn't an aisle in Eden, but you get the idea.)  He then performed the first wedding.  Moses points out that because God did this with the first couple, each couple after them will be joined together in a marriage relationship, and they “become one flesh.”

Think this is a stretch?  Then why does Jesus also make the same connection in Matthew 19 (see also Mark 10) in the context of marriage and divorce?  All marriages since have been based on that first wedding.

In Ephesians 5:31, Paul quotes the Genesis text also, using marriage as a fitting picture to describe the intimate relationship between Christ and the church.