pride

This will be short.

I suffer from a great deal of pride.  Knowledge comes easily to me and always has.  Knowledge usually leads to pride as far as I am concerned.  This summer and thereafter I want to seek something so much more.  Wisdom.  A true Godly sense of wisdom,  seeking this will be my constant prayer.  Anyways, back to the issue of pride.  I recently discovered the blog of John Piper and others at desiringgod.org.  One of the most popular blogs was entitled "Be a Kinder Calvinist."  It is a good article about a truly pressing issue, especially in my heart.

I did not know that I was a Calvinist until last summer when I was closely studying the book of Romans and listening to a series of sermons on it by Tom Nelson.  (Check out his church, Denton Bible if you happen to live in the Denton area.)  It was a truly enlightening time learning about God's grace in a whole new light.  I have so much more to learn about the character of Christ but sometimes I feel as if I know so much and this can be damaging to myself and to others I come into contact with.  The point that I am getting at is that the opposite of pride is humility and a sense of true humility ought to always be at the forefront of our minds as we discuss the nature of God.

Before we become too heated and replace the gospel with Calvin we ought to think of Christ and His perfect example of humility.  He was sinless, at the right hand of the Almighty and came to earth to become a man, to be tortured and to die in our place.  What an example of humility!  It shames me to tears.  

Be loving towards your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Humbly yours,

-Bryan

Oo and the article I was talking about can be found at: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/934_be_a_kinder_calvinist/

deipneo

Deipneo is a Greek word that literally means "to eat supper with."

Over the rest of this summer I will be working with 8th and 9th grade boys at Pine Cove.  Our Bible Study will be over Revelation 3:20:

"Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,  I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

We will be focusing on what it means to have the Lord come in and eat with you.  What does it look like to have intentional time with Jesus?  What does it mean to build a deep relationship with Him?

These are the questions that will be posed to my campers but I wanted to post them on my blog as well.  Hopefully I will be able to write from camp every week about mine and my campers experiences with this Bible Study.

-Bryan

love

God IS love.  Love is knowledge and truth.

Allow me to expound.

I am not married, but if I was I would consider it my duty to love and cherish my wife and it would be her duty to respect me in return.  What if told her I simply wanted to love her in action and deed?  What if I did not specifically enjoy talking to her or getting to know here in a one-on-one setting?  Would this be acceptable?  Once again, I am not married but I doubt if my wife would appreciate or accept this.  

In the same way we cannot as Christ's followers and bride (the church) truly love Him and love others if we do not have a deep knowledge of our Creator.  A knowledge and relationship with Christ through his word and through prayer is extremely necessary in order to love our neighbor and to love Christ in return.  To love others we must study the character and doctrine of Christ as found throughout his Word.  

This seems to be an element so often missed by many of the leaders of today's "emergent church."  They often call for love alone.  They often say that doctrine is simply a part of modern thinking.  This is simply untrue.  It is so vital to know the character of God through his revelations to us.  We cannot miss this.  

Hopefully this makes sense, more to come.

by His grace,

-Bryan