“Little fellowships within each local church that met at people’s homes on Sunday afternoons or in the evening. People shared their personal religious experiences, held informal Bible studies, sang hymns, and prayed about each other’s needs.”

Sound familiar? Interesting that many evangelical churches in the last 50 years have “discovered” the benefits of small group ministry. The quote above is a description of what was taking place within the German Pietist movement in the sixteen hundreds!

Nothing new under the sun…

(quoted from Worship: Reformed according to Scripture, by Hughes Oliphant Old, pg. 104)

We’ve heard (and used) some phrases so much in our churches that we don’t stop to question anymore where they’ve come from. Take the ever-popular invitation for lost people to “pray to receive Christ”. We’ve heard it a lot. Sounds easy enough. Sounds spiritual. Must be right… Right?

The phrase “to receive” is used in John 1:12 in reference to Jesus, but it is not an encouragement to pray a prayer. Rather, those who are said to have “received Christ” are those who have “believed on His name”.  So receiving is equated with believing, not with praying. It’s true that prayer can be an expression of belief, but it is not necessarily the case, and it is dangerous to equate the two.

Another Biblical use of language would be to speak of those who have “received Jesus” as those who have adopted, or fed, or clothed, or otherwise comforted children in the name of Jesus. Luke 9:48a “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”

Let’s stop to think about what we’re saying. Does anyone who encourages someone to “pray to receive Christ” really intend for them to pray that God will bring children into their lives for them to love and care for?

Trying to think, and speak, Biblically,
nathan

I hope to focus on one of the following names or titles of Jesus every week this year as I seek to know Him better. It’s too easy too get stuck in a rut and think of only one aspect of who He is all the time, and Jesus is far too multifaceted and infinite to dishonor like that.
The first week of 2010 I chose “Advocate”, so last Monday I studied the use of that name in 1 John 2:1, as I read Scripture, I tried to remember to ask myself “How does this connect to the fact that Jesus Christ is my Advocate?”, and I tried to include that name and focus in my prayers. My hope and prayer is that I’ll know Jesus better at the end of this year and that through knowing Him, I’ll become more like Him, and as I become more like Him, I’ll give the Father more glory through Him.

The following alphabetical list is not exhaustive, and it contains nearly twice the number of names or titles that I will get through this year. I intend to pick those which I have neglected in the past to focus on in 2010.

Advocate (1 John 2:1)
Almighty (Rev. 1:8; Mt. 28:18)
Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8; 22:13)
Amen (Rev. 3:14)
Apostle of our Profession (Heb. 3:1)
Atoning Sacrifice for our Sins (1 John 2:2)
Author of Life (Acts 3:15)
Author and Perfecter of our Faith (Heb. 12:2)
Author of Salvation (Heb. 2:10)
Beginning and End (Rev. 22:13)
Blessed and only Ruler (1 Tim. 6:15)
Bread of God (John 6:33) (more…)

Last year my wife and I, along with some brothers and sisters (in Christ) read through the entire Bible together using a reading plan from the Discipleship Journal. It was a very beneficial and helpful plan, as it takes you through the Bible with two readings each day from the Old Testament, and two from the New Testament. Reading the Bible this way really helped unite the OT and NT in my mind, as well as helping me to have a better grasp of the historical timeline of the Bible.
Having done that last year, and really being encouraged by it, my initial thought was that I would follow the same plan again this year (John Piper has used that same basic plan for 20 some years). However, (more…)

I recorded a rough version (with MacBook Pro internal mic :-/ ) of a song I wrote to help the Peine Ridge Church plant team learn our Scripture memory verses for the month of December. (more…)