Marinating in the Word

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

(Joshua 1:8 ESV)

The Word of God possesses powers that transform character. Meditating on what God has to say to us through the Scriptures can radically transform our vocabulary, thoughts and behavior. I often like to use the phrase "marinating in the Word". Tanner (my wife) is not a fan of ordinary grilled chicken. "It taste to chickeny" according to her. But when I marinate the chicken in some honey barbeque sauce with brown sugar then she really enjoys the flavor. Allowing yourself to marinate in the Word of God adds flavor to your life that makes you pleasing to God and to those around you.

By marinating in the Word, our speech may be gracious and seasoned with flavor. (Col. 4:6)

By marinating in the Word, our mouth may proclaim the abundance within our heart. (Matt. 12:34)

By marinating in the Word, our behavior may be pleasing and tasteful to our God. (Psalm 19:14)

What you marinate yourself with will always reveal itself in your speech. If you saturate your mind and your thoughts with the Word of God it will come out in the things you talk about. If you saturate your mind and thoughts with other things, they will come out in your conversations as well. So what do you talk about? May we all marinate ourselves with the sweet flavor of God's Word.

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

(Psalm 119:103 ESV)

Penn St. Protests

A 24 year old aerospace engineering student at Penn St. was asked by the New York Times about the riots taking place on campus at Penn St. This is what he had to say....

"Of course we're going to riot. What do they expect when they tell us at ten o'clock that they fired our football coach."

This controversy at Penn St. has really got me speechless right now, but there are two things about this particular comment above that I have to address.

1. "Of course we're going to riot" - Since when is rioting so widely accepted as the appropriate response to inconvenience? All over the country we are now seeing more and more demonstrations of violent temper tantrums over anything and everything.

2. "they fired our football coach" - This is worth rioting over? I recently read the indictment against Jerry Sandusky which stirred up a cocktail of emotions such as pain, sadness, hurt, anger, rage and disbelief. There are eight known victims in this scandal, and Joe Paterno is not one of them. I have no intent to accuse or defend Joe Paterno. I am just shocked that given the recent circumstances, the firing of Paterno was the thing that enraged these students to protest and not first and foremost the abominable accusations against Jerry Sandusky. Have we become so misguided in our perspective of the world around us? Can we please open up our eyes and redirect our attention and sympathies on the actual victims in this controversy - the eight young men who were victims of horrific sexual assault as young children. May appropriate justice be served.

- Terry Evans

No Escaping a Fathers Love

Tell me if you're like this. My wife, Jenny, and I love the opportunity to get out of the house for a real date every now and then. We have two little girls, and a third little girl arriving any day. When we get tired and towards the end of a week when the kids have been tough, we call the babysitter. Here's an example of what we might say. "Man, I just need a few hours to re-charge my batteries. The girls have been wearing me out, and i can't believe she did this, or she did that, etc". We were encouraged years ago at a PAO conference to always make time for at least 1 date night a week. The logic is simple. We get so caught up in being mommy and daddy that we sometimes forget to be husbands and wives. So, we do everything in our power to make it at least once a week. But here's what happens. We rush out the door, get in the car headed towards a movie or dinner, so grateful for our time away. Then what do we do? We spend the whole dinner talking about our kids! We talk about how cute they are, and how we can't wait to watch them grow up, and all kinds of stuff like that. By the end of our dinner we're rushing back home to see the kids, because we feel like we've been gone so long. This happened to us again the other night on our anniversary. While on the way home from dinner I started thinking about my role in my daughters lives. There is nothing that my kids can do to lose the love that I have for them. They can't mess that up. They're stuck with me. I am their father, and no matter which direction they go in life I will remain their father. No matter how many times they disobey me, and no matter how many times I have to punish them.... I will still be their father. There is no report card, strikeout, or little white lie that will make me stop loving my daughters. Nothing. So, here's what i'm getting at. If you can relate to me about how much you love your kiddo's I want you to think about something. Our God in Heaven, has one Son. His Son's name is Jesus. Do you think that God loved His one and only Son less than we love ours? I can't even fathom how much God loves us. All I know is this. Our God loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son to DIE for us so that we could have eternal life in Heaven. After all we have done....He is our Father and He loves us. As followers of Christ we cannot escape His love. We may move away from Him, but He isn't going anywhere. No matter what happens, He will always be our Father. We don't deserve this awesome gift from God. I'm blown away by this, and just wanted to take a minute and reflect on this because as a believer I should know this already. Yet, somehow, I always need reminders. And, for some reason, God keeps reminding me. Thank you God for the reminders. Thank you God for loving me when I don't deserve it. Thank you God for your Son........Thank you God...............

- Adam Wainwright

Starbucks and Jesus

Tanner scheduled a play date at the house this morning so I made the conscious decision that this would be a good time to make a Starbucks run. Rather than playing zone defense for the next two hours trying to defend my house from 4 children under the age of 3, I am sitting quietly on the outside patio of the Starbucks down the street. True application of wisdom taking place. Anyway, as I sit here and cherish my Tall Italian Roast coffee, the Spirit takes a seat next to me and takes advantage of this quiet time to offer His wisdom aimed directly at my heart. I'll share with you our time together.

I am a drink person. I love coffee every morning, tea in the afternoon, and a nice glass of wine or cold Sam Adams in the evening. I have a coffee maker with a timer on it so I can prepare the coffee before I go to bed and wake up with a fresh pot brewed for me each morning. I love my morning coffee time. As you can see, I even took careful consideration as to what kind of coffee maker to buy in order to enjoy it even more. I love sitting at a coffee shop and enjoying various kinds of coffee from all over the world. Coffee is something I desire and something that I go out of my way for each and every day to enjoy. If I go a day without a cup, I miss it. Quiet time with a cup of coffee, I desire, but what about quiet time with my Father in heaven? Do I desire communion with God each and every day and pursue Him with the same consistency that I pursue Starbucks? Is a day without a cup of coffee a bigger bummer to me than a day without conversation with God? I may sound silly (thats debatable) but there's some truth here.

"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." - Jesus

I, personally, do not know how to pray as I ought. I am currently reading a great book titled, With Christ in the School of Prayer (Murray), and it encourages me to be taught by Jesus as to how to pray. Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach only how to pray. Jesus tells us to seek God in the secret places and that is where He awaits for us - basically, to seek out quiet time with God. To shut out the world and to shut yourself in with God. I find a way to make time for a cup of coffee every single day, but I fail to make time for a conversation with God each day. Father, free me from the thought of prayer as a duty or burden and may my secret place be my most treasured piece of earth. Yes, may my secret place with God be more treasured than Starbucks.

A humble student in the school of prayer,

- Terry Evans

Not of this world?

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is from the world." -1 John 2:15-16 ESV

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 10:37-39 ESV

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ..." -Phil 3:20 ESV

Heavyweight verses here that make me feel pretty worthless. Perfect! I love God's word for this exact reason. The moment I realize how bad I need Jesus and how messed up Blake Hawksworth is the better i'll be. To hit your knees and say "Jesus, I need you, I can't do anything alone." That's not weak, that's strong. God is after that very thing... YOUR HEART. Lets jump back to the first verse and see how it ends...

"And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." -1 John 2:17 ESV

The world is marked for destruction (John 12:31) and it's man that jacked up the system. Living for the now is short sighted. You want to be satisfied and honored now.

"Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry." -Luke 6:25 ESV

In contrast, those who love the Father have a long-term perspective and wait for God's reward. Listen to what Jesus said to his disciples...

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.... Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven." -Luke 6:21-22 ESV

Rejoice!!! I need Jesus and I don't deserve His grace. Me, get rewarded? Wow. I'm down here sinning and trying to make sense of everything, and yet He makes it so clear. So what are we going to do? What are we going to do with this Jesus?

Lord I need you, ALL of You. Help me see this world through your eyes!

- Blake Hawksworth

Who Are You Hangin With?

"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."
- Proverbs 13:20

Who you hang out with determines who you will become. If you want to be a godly person, then hang out with godly people. If you want to grow in your love for Christ, then hang out with people whose hearts are set ablaze with love for Christ. On the contrary, if you want to be lukewarm in your faith, then hang out with people who are lukewarm in their faith. It's really not a difficult truth to understand.

In fact, I have found in numerous business books this same principle. They say if you want to be a succesful salesman, then hang out and learn from other succesful salesmen. If you want to be a millionaire, then hang with the millionaires.

You see this in the sports world too. There is a reason in sports we talk about coaching trees. Coaching trees are lines of succesful coaches that can be traced by to one individual (i.e. Bill Walsh or Bill Parcells). The reason they become great coaches is because they spent hundreds of hours with a great coach!

Just to be clear, what I'm not saying is that you should avoid spending time with non-believers or new believers. But what I am saying is that whoever you spend the bulk of your time with will determine who you become. Aa a matter of fact, it is the height of foolishness to say that you want to become a mature follower of Christ, but never spend time with mature followers of Christ.

This is a call to be wise in who you develop long-lasting, deep relationships with. The most important one is with Jesus Christ, because apart from Him we can do nothing. But also, those of us who bear the name of Christ, and want to grow in godliness, need to be intentional about having close relationships with other wise, mature believers.

Think about who you want to become as a Christian, then surround yourself with people who are ahead of you, or right there with you, on that journey.

- Tyler Durham

Daily Bread

"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength... But they who wait for the lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." -Isaiah 60:28-31 ESV

- Blake Hawksworth

Jesus and The Occupiers

As much as I'd like to stay out of it, I feel the need to bring up the "Occupy" movement going on nationally and extending globally. CNN recently posed the question, Would Jesus Occupy Wall St.? What do you think? What should I think? Are you for the Occupy movement? If so, why and what does being for it even mean? What about the Tea Party movement? Are you for that instead or are they the same thing? What side would Jesus walk with? What side should we walk with? What about our President? Do you support or oppose our President? What about capitalism? Is it evil or is socialism evil? As a believer should you be a Republican or Democrat? Liberal or Conservative? Where should you get your information on all these topics? Fox News or MSNBC? Amidst all this division and turmoil, where would Jesus stand and how should we follow Him? My own humble answer may surprise you (or perhaps disappoint you).

To answer quickly, I don't want to argue that Jesus might walk amidst the Occupy movement. I do however claim that if He was found there, He would not be there to protest. You see, Jesus isn't for the 99% or the 1%. Jesus is for the 100%. Be careful with picking sides and feeding your head with a particular side's agenda. As a follower of Jesus, we are called to love those like us and those unlike us even more so. But Terry, our political system is full of corruption and something must be done! Ok, I don't argue with that. But if we're going to take action, let's take Biblical action.

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

The verse says enough (especially if you consider the context). So as a follower of Christ are we loving the 100%? Are we spending more time and energy complaining about or praying for our leaders? Sorry. Somebody had to bring it up.

- Terry Evans

Martin Luther

"The Christian feels the unholy condition of his heart, and it makes him feel so low that he cannot trust in his good works. He therefore goes to Christ to find perfect righteousness. This keeps a Christian humble."

- Blake Hawksworth

Matt Chandler Quote

"Do you know what a better human being you are... How happy you are... If you understand that ultimately everything is about God and NOT ABOUT YOU. It is a freedom that few taste."

Telling Yourself the Truth

Psalm 42:5 - "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God."

Blake's last post got me thinking about Psalm 42:5 and the importance of talking to ourselves. I know that sounds strange, but we talk to ourselves all the time! There is a constant inner conversation going on and we see this in Psalm 42:5. David asks his soul why it is cast down.

What I want you to see from this text is that David tells his downcast soul to do something. Many of us let that inner dialogue go rogue all the time. We lose control of it and it can cause us to be discouraged. Maybe you had an argument with your wife, or maybe you have bills that need to be paid and you don't have the money. Or for you baseball guys maybe you are 0 for your last 20, or couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Fear begins to slither into your inner dialogue and anxiety begins to suffocate you. It is at this point that you have to take control and talk to yourself. It is at this point that you need to start telling yourself the truth.

So what does David do? He speaks to himself. And what does he tell his soul to do? Hope in God! He says "soul! hope in God!" Inwardly he asks the important question, "why do I feel the way I do," and then he gives himself the remedy, which is "hope in God."

Daily we are in a battle and the frontlines are in the mind. I challenge you when you are heavy hearted, anxious, or fearful to speak words of truth to your soul and lift up your soul with the Word of God.

Emotions are commanded in the Bible

Hope

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?" -Psalm 42:5

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." -1 Peter 1:13


Contentment 

"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'." -Hebrews 13:5


Peace

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful." -Col 3:15

Zeal

"Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord." -Romans 12:11

Strength in Weakness

Great quote from Paul Tripp in his book War of Words:

"Our weakness will not get in the way of what the Lord wants to do in us. Our delusions of strength will! The power of God is for the weak! The grace of God is for the unable! The promises of God are for the faint! The wisdom of God is for the foolish!

Conisder Others More Important than Yourself

“But in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” - Philippians 2:3b

Wow, what does that look like? How on earth could I possibly consider others more important than me? It sounds good, but I know my heart too well. The only way you or I can count others as more significant than ourselves is, as Paul says, “ in humility.” The problem is humility is unnatural. Because of the fall, my natural inclinations have been toward pride and self-centeredness, not humility.

In fact, I have spent my whole life trying to get others to see how significant I am – not how significant they are – and my guess is you have done the same thing. This is a result of our sinful nature, and according to Paul this breed’s disunity, back-biting, gossip, covetousness, and other unity destroying sins. This is not the way of the cross: the way of the cross is lowliness, humility, and service to others.

In the letter to the Philippians, Paul is writing to a church that is being persecuted from the outside and experiencing division from within. They need a Word from God and the Word He gives is look at others as more important than you. The supreme example of this counting others as more significant than ourselves, is God Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. Paul says that “though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8). It is only through the power of Christ – given to us in the Holy Spirit – that we can follow the example of Christ and count others as more significant than ourselves. This is impossible without the supernatural power of God working in our lives.

So what would this really look like? What would it do to our marriages if we counted our wives as more significant than ourselves? What about our children? I mean really. I have a nine month old daughter named Rachel. What if from this day until the day I die I communicate to her – through my actions – that I think she is more significant than I am. What about at work? What about on your team? What about in our church? I think it would be revolutionary.

I know we all want unity in our families? I know you want unity on your team? I know we all want unity at the workplace? I know we all want unity in our churches? This being the case, let’s ask God to help us cultivate humility in our life. Let’s confess our sin of selfishness and pride and ask God to help us to begin considering those around us as more significant than ourselves.

TD

Re-Introduction

It has been so long since I have been involved in the E-Fellowship conversation that I feel I need to re-introduce myself. My name is Tyler Durham. I am a former player for the St. Louis Cardinals organization and one of the original contributors to the E-Fellowship blog (that was a long time ago and this thing is still going!). I am currently finishing my Masters of Divinity degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in my hometown of Fort Worth, Tx. I have been married for 3 1/2 years to my wife Ariane and we have a 9 month daughter named Rachel.

My desire, Lord willing, is to finish my MDiv in May, then enter the PhD program here at Southwestern. Ultimately, I want to teach and preach the Bible in whatever place the Lord has for me, whether in the classroom or the church.

What I want to do in this post is share with you several reasons why I want to return to the E-Fellowship blog:

1. Even though I have not seen many of the guys who contribute to this blog in years, I still consider them good friends and through this blog hope to continue our friendship.

2. I want to help the followers of this blog grow in their Christian walk. Whether it is through a biblical passage that I have been wrestling with, a great quote in a book that I am reading, or a personal story of my struggle with sin, I want to be a means of encouragement to those who follow this blog.

3. I want to share what I have learned in these last 3 years of seminary. I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to get a masters level education at a solid, bible-believing, evangelical seminary. By God's grace I have been granted this opportunity and I feel a certain responsibility to share the things I have learned, not keep them to myself. What better way than on the E-Fellowship blog?

4. I want to benefit and contribute to the conversation that his been going on through E-Fellowship over these last several years.

5. I want to be a part of what God is going to do through E-Fellowship in the future.

Well, that is a little bit about who I am and why I am back. I thought before I starting throwing out posts I should re-introduce myself.