Hope in the Gospel

I have been meditating on Colossians 1:1-8. Outside of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ there is no hope! So if people do not hear the message of Christ then their hope will continue to be in things and feelings that will always fail and never completely satisfly like self, others, love, money, grades, fun, etc.  It is much like passengers waiting on a ship that is sunk at sea. They do not know it is sunk so they keep waiting and hoping that it will come in but it never does. This is the kind of hope many have today. It is no wonder people are so miserable and without hope…they are hoping in stuff that can never quench the longing of thei soul.

But the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ brings hope of things eternal. That hope then produces in us a great faith in Jesus Christ and a bountiful love for all the saints. Now this begs the question then: if we have the hope laid up for us in heaven which is the gospel, Jesus,  then why is our faith so weak and our love for one another so little? This hope produced a great faith and love within the saints at Colossae. What is it producing in us? Do we even hope in Christ? Or are we hoping in us?

For all ages people have needed something to hope in…so let’s give them the gospel of Jesus. For it is the only true hope any of us have.

rc

Family Worship…

I just wanted to let those reading know that we are still doing family worship. However, not as frequent as we started. I went to a week long seminar from May 18-23, then two day vacation. My wife was able to get in two gatherings during the week I was gone. If you have three kids you know that is a major accomplishment by yourself. However, since then we have only gathered together twice…

But we will not give up! We had a great time on Monday this week studying through God’s promise to Abraham. Our Scripture memory is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The kids are doing great and really love participating.

rc

Family Worship: Day 5

Day 5 was today, Saturday, May 16. Can I say that family worship was horrible, absolutely horrible tonight? Well if I can’t I just did! Oh man if I had hair I would have pulled it out!

Again, Madeline tried to bring food with her into the living room. This time she began crying and screaming that she wanted the apple. Well after the long day I had of having parking duty in the sun at Caleb’s school function…it was not a good time for her to do that!

So after losing it, I shut the music off and said we were done. After a few seconds to gather myself I took her to the bedroom and tried to explain to her what she did wrong. At this point, I brought Caleb into the bedroom and began reading Exodus 12 with him about the Passover. It was a really good time of just sitting down with him and going over Scripture. He is only six but never to early to start teaching that Christ became the perfect sacrifical lamb for us. We talked about the shedding of the lambs blood and putting it on the doorpost and lintel. He was able to tell me some of the aspects by the time we were finished.

Prayerfully tomorrow night will go better!

Ralph

Family Worship: Day 4

Day 4 was actually Friday night. We enjoyed a good time of singing some new songs. Again the boys were playing their guitars along with the music. Madeline was a little bad. She actually tried to bring food into the living room during to eat while we sang.

Our Bible study time was over “the very sad day.” We talked about Adam and Eve eating of the fruit and how that was disobedience to God. We reviewed how God is the Creator of all things and that he is the Ruler and must be obeyed. We talked about sin and what it meant. I was able to bring into the discussion an incident that happened during the day with Madeline and how she disobeyed me which was against God’s commandments and not God honoring. At the end of our time we talked about the “seed of the woman crushing the head of the serpent.” I was able, in limited fashion, share with them some of the thoughts that go along with Genesis 3:15-16.

Next we spent time to review Scripture memory verses: They were able to quote Matthew 6:9-13 and Psalm 23:1-6…we have been working on those at bed time. So we are going to begin a new set of verses next week.

Remember: keep pressing forward b/c your family is part of your mission field!

Ralph

Family Worship: Day 3

Last night’s time was good! We sang a couple of songs as both the boys “played” their guitars along with the music. Madeline joyfully danced around as we sang.

During our Bible study time we used The Big Picture Story Bible.  We read over and discussed chapter 1 last night. Chapter 1 is the story of creation. We spent some time going over some verses that our kids learned while studying the Baptist Catechism at church: Genesis 1:1 and 1:26. These were the two main points we wanted to discuss tonight: God created all things and that man was made in the image of God.

They really enjoyed the Bible time. They had their own thoughts they wanted to bring into the discussion like: Madeline “God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden” which gave us a chance to talk a little about sin (that is tonight’s reading). Joshua pointed out the animals in the pictures. Caleb made an observation that God created from nothing.

During prayer time we had the kids each pray for their own request. It was great to listen to what they wanted to pray for. Madeline was very long winded and so we had to help her come to an end because Joshua was getting restless.

I am looking forward to tonight when we discuss the very bad day!

Ralph

Family Worship: Day 2

Well, yesterday was not the greatest day! My youngest son, Joshua, woke us up at 2:20 Wednesday morning running a fever. Needless to say it was a long day.

We did not have family worship because on Wednesday we eat about 5:30 and then it is time to get ready for church. We are not sure what to do about Wednesday’s yet. Stay tune for what we decide.

Well I will let you know how day 3 goes tonight!

Ralph

Family Worship: Day 1

This is going to be a series of posts where I document the trials and achievements of the Clements family worship time. This should be interesting!

Several weeks back I bought Donald Whitney’s book: Family Worship: in the Bible, in History and in your Home.  It was a great source of conviction, motivation and encouragement to begin a time of family worship. It has always been my desire but I always seemed to fail. So I replaced it with memorizing Scriptures for prayer at bedtime with my oldest two. This has proven very fruitful with my kids who have now memorized the Lords Prayer and Psalm 23. But something has been missing…family worship time.

Well tonight was our first official Clements family worship! And it rocked! We first put in a cd for music. My son, Caleb (6), played on his guitar as if he were leading us in musical worship. We sang two songs and then we prayed. I had each child share what they would like for me to pray with them about. It was great to hear what they had to say.

After prayer I read part of Jonah 1. We got sidetraced by the phrase “big storm.” Everytime my kids think about hurricane Ike they call it the “big storm.” Of course, in the story it was the storm God brought about on the ship that Jonah was aboard. The kids began to ask questions like, “why did God send the big storm?” or “why did he tear down the tree that fell on our fence?” I had a real opportunity to talk about the sovereignty of God and the sin of men. After our Bible study time we sang a couple of more songs and then dismissed.

The whole time may have taken 15 minutes but it was well worth the effort. So if you have been like me in the past and have felt that you cannot do family worship then this is just a brief reminder that…yes, you can! And dad’s we should. The responsibility of the spiritual health of our family lies on the shoulders of the man of the house. It is time we take our God ordained role seriously.

This is an accountability thread as well. I pray that all who read this will stay on my about keeping up with it. I think I am going to start doing the Baptist Catechism beginning tomorrow. Let me know what you guys are doing. I pray this has been an encouragement to all of you to start or continue your time of family worship!

Ralph

“Also” of Genesis 4

Genesis 4:4 reads “And Abel, on his part ALSO brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And Yahweh had regard for Abel and for his offering.”

Why “also”? The text prior to this tells us that “Cain brought an offering to Yahweh of the fruit of the ground.” But what it does not say is if that offering was “of the firstlings.” But the “also” of verse 4 seems to indicate that Cain’s offering was the first fruits as well. Furthermore, Yahweh had regard for Abel, not simply because of his offering but because Abel was obedient unto the Lord. Abel brought his offering from the heart…a cheerful giver! But Cain did not! Thus, Abel’s offering was “better.” (Heb. 11:4)

I have always heard this preached that Cain did not bring his first fruits. But is that really what the text says or am I truly missing the point or do other texts say contrary to what I have argued?

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Plate Techtonics

Plate techtonics is the theory of drifting continents and oceans. You can find more information about it here:

Genesis 1:9 says, “Then God said, ‘Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into ONE PLACE, and let the dry land appear;’ and it was so.”

Is this an argument for plate techtonics? The text seems to indicate that all the waters were in one place and then the dry land was placed together into the waters. I have always assumed that the continents that exist today were always in their current position, i.e. that is the way God created it. However, I am not so sure about that now.

I agree with the article above that the flood could be the cause of such a shift in the land masses. I know when you put a water hose on the ground and turn the water on full force it causes the earth to move. I know that is simple and probably inadequate but it works for me. Consider the amount of water that would have been “poured” onto the face of the earth in order to flood the entire thing. Also, 7:11 speaks of the “fountains of the great deep burst open” which would indicate a move in the ocean floor.  Plate techtonics…who would have thought it!

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Which one or both?

In Hosea 1:11 he speaks of the gathering of Israel back together under one leader. Is this a return from the exile or is it a reference to the coming of Jesus? It seems that to me that he is speaking of the return from exile. Although I am not ruling out the possibility of it referring typologically of Jesus.

Furthermore, in Hosea 3:4, I believe he is speaking of the deportation or the exiling of the people. Then in verse 5 he gives them a blessed hope that even though they will experience this tragedy some will return to the land and seek the Lord. Again, is this referring to the return from exile in vs. 5 or is it referring to an eschatological fulfillment in Jesus? I believe he is referring to the return from exile and a future eschatological fulfillment in Jesus.

Love to hear your thought!