14 Questions to Ask Yourself in 2014

Happy New Year!  I pray that everyone had an excellent time gathering with family and friends.  Now it is time to begin a new year with hope and dreams of what could be.  Might I also add that this is an excellent time to reflect or as the prophet Haggi said, "Consider your ways!"  (Haggai 1:5)  he declared this to urge the people to reflect on some of the things happening to them and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.  We can become so busy with daily living that we can easily forget to pause and ask tough questions to ourselves.  We need to pause and rethink!  So here we go:

1. What is one thing that you can do to increase your enjoyment of God?
2.   What is the single most important thing you can do to improve your family life this year?
3.   In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress, and what will you do about it?
4. What is the most helpful way you could strengthen local church this year?
5.  For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
6. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
7.  What is one way you could be a blessing to a leader or staff member of your church?
8.  In what area of your life do you most need growth and what are you going to do about it?
9. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?
10.  In what area of your life do you most need change and what are you going to do about it?
11.  Who do you most want to encourage this year?
12.  What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?
13. What one thing to you regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?
14. What is the most important decision you need to make this year?

The Word of God instructs us in Proverbs 21:5

"The plans of the diligent certainly lead to profit, but anyone who is reckless certainly becomes poor."

Let us be wise with the time God has granted us in 2014 and be diligent with all the resources we have.  Also remember that we will try to sabotage ourselves with the goals or resolutions we will set in the new year, so be mindful of this as we move into this year.  I would like to thank Don Whitney for helping me to think through these questions.  I pray you have a blessed 2014!

Building a Godly Home in 2014!

This past week on Sunday Morning, I preached from Psalm 101, and we focused on how we can build Godly homes. Here is an outline for building a Godly home in 2014 based off of Psalm 101.

1. Resolve yourself to make a Godly home in 2014!

Really the rest of these applications will not work without this one  We must be firmly determined that this is a goal for our households, we must be RESOLVED! We must have a desire in our hearts to see God glorified at home and let us be shaped by the Gospel. We must ask ourselves what is non-negotiable to spiritual growth for me and my house?

May I suggest a few:
-Repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as our only hope of salvation (Acts 4:12)
-Create a family worship time in your home daily (Deuteronomy 6) The family could go over a passage or bible story, have prayer, and have a song of praise.  Simple is just fine and encouraged.
-Attend one local church regularly & become a member (Hebrews 10:25)
-Joining a Sunday School Class (Ephesians 4:11-16)
-Join a small group (opportunities will be available later in 2014) (Hebrews 3:12-14)
-Get involved in a discipleship/accountability relationship with someone more mature than you (Ephesians 4:11-16)

2.  Be Tough and Tender
Psalms 101:1 says "I will sing of faithful love and justice."

The Word of God is filled with great tensions and this is one of them, that we be both loving and seek justice at the same time.  The cross of Christ is the place where faithful love and justice kiss.  In this passage, the head of household is called to be both tough enough to deal with the sin in his or her household, and tender enough to faithfully love their spouse and children.

Darren Patrick, a pastor at the Journey Church in St. Louis, prays this prayer with his son every night, "God make me a man with thick skin and a soft heart.  Make me a man who is tough and tender.  Make me tough so I can handle life.  Make me tender so I can love people.  God, make me a man."

3. Be careful how you build, intentional and practical steps are required.

Psalms 101:2 says, "I will be pay attention to how I build."

If the emphasis on this verse was placed on "blameless" or "perfection," the job will seem too difficult. Failure would be immediate, because no home is a perfect place. But if the emphasis of your intentions is on the first part of this "I will be careful", it becomes very possible to achieve the goal of this thought.

Let's get really practical for a second:
-Have a Bible in several key spots around your house
-Join me as we read though the Bible in a year or create a bible reading plan over the course of a year or two.
-Memorize Scripture. (You can't apply it if you don't know it!)
-Fill your home with God glorifying art.
-Talk about your faith with your family and friends.
-Be consistent.
-Consider writing a family mission and vision statement.

3. Be careful the music you listen to in your home.

In verse 1, the author says, "I will sing praise!" This instruction comes from the Bible's hymn book.  It breaks my heart as a pastor to see people stand in place and look as if their dog died during worship though music. There is a clear connection between the music we listen to and the actions we take.

Something to think about, while the notes an instrument produces should be considered morally neutral (that is to say instrumental music is neither good nor evil). So any given genre of music is not necessary in and of itself good or evil, because it is the words of a song that make it good or evil.

We all can recall words from commercial jingles that we heard a long time ago. Music affects us for the good or bad, marketing companies have known this for years. It is foolish and arrogant on our part to think we can listen to a song that is wicked and evil and think it will have no effect on our hearts.

4. Go to War with Evil!

In verse 3 says, "I will not set anything worthless before my eyes..."

Be careful what you let your eyes see.  The enemy is crafty, and one of his best resources  to both keep Godly thoughts out and keep the flesh feed.  We are a multi-media culture, and we have got to be careful what we allow ourselves and our children to see. We need to put barriers in place to prevent "worthless things" from being seen in our household. Things like parental locks on the tv programs, possible removing cable tv (most commercials are so sexually charged they are worthless to the eye), and filters on our computers. I recommend the following as a help:

Covenant Eyes
http://x3watch.com/

5. Surround your family with God-honoring friends.

In verse 6, it says "my eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me."

Here we have God-given and delightful instructions to surround your family with friends who will bring their laughter, gifts, food, and priceless friendship into your home. The Godly of the local church may even become closer to you than your unbelieving family. What a joy and blessing!

Consider the opposite, if we allow the ungodly into our homes. Our children may be attracted to evil the way that termites have a taste for untreated wood. Our children are always watching the influences around them.

So I hope this has helped you to think about how you can be intentional about building a Godly home. We are all building, the question is what are we building? See to it that you build carefully brothers and sisters.

Bible Translations

I have recently been receiving several questions on bible translations, which one is the best or which one I prefer.  My main concern is that everyone is readying their bibles.  We will soon be getting ready to start our read through the Bible program for 2014.  I pray that everyone will take this challenge and go ahead and try your best to stay in the word in 2014.  One question that sometimes arises is why do we need newer translations?  The Authorized Version, aka the King James Version, was written sometime and ago so why a newer translation.  The answers is simply this, the Word of God never changes, but language does!  Let me give you an example, the word "gay" 50 or 60 years ago meant "to be happy" but now means someone who has embraced a homosexual lifestyle.  In a similar manner, many words we use today are different then in 1611.  One example would be from Genesis 4:1:

"And Adam Knew Eve his wife; and she conceived" (King James Version)

vs.

"Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived" (Holman Christian Standard Version)

In the above passage, for a modern reader "to know" someone does not mean sex, it simply means "to be aware" of someone.  So for a modern, especially young reader the King James could prove difficult to understand.  These are just a few of the reasons why there will always be a need for newer translations, because English, like all languages, are constantly evolving.  I have selected the Holman Christian Standard Version as more or less of a default translation for preaching and teaching at Grace Baptist Church.  I selected this translation because of its accuracy and readability giving it the ability to satisfy a wide array of Bible students from the most seasoned serious student to the beginner!

I would also recommend the following translations as excellent ones to own:

·         New American Standard Version- very literal word for word translation, sometimes readability is difficult.  Not the best translation for public reading of Scripture, but a must have for study time!

·         English Standard Version- Designed to bridge the gap between the New American Standard and the New International Version, this translation strives to be as biblically literal as the NASB and seeks to be as readable as the NIV.

·         New International Version (1984 version)- very readable written on an eighth grade reading level, but this is also it's weakness.  some words like propitiation is translated simply as atonement, and the Greek word doulas which means slave is often translated servant instead of slave.

·         King James Version- written on a twelfth grade reading level, one must be familiar how to read old English in order to get the most from this translation.  The strength of the KJV is it's poetic beauty of old English coupled with being more like the Greek in using thee and thou, making it easier to tell if we are talking about you-singular vs. you-plural.

Here is a helpful video about the Holman Christian Standard Bible.