One thing that did happen was I finished the book Pagan Christianity?, by Frank Viola and George Barna. For a bit of what that book did to me, read my other diary.
For President-Elect Barack Obama�s team of advisors to be renewed in their minds as they discern God�s will for the new administration
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of Your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is�His good, pleasing and perfect will.
�Romans 12:2
Awesome God, how great and majestic You are! All You have made reflects Your intricacy and complexity; You are so great and Your domain so vast I cannot comprehend it! Glory and honor and praise to Your name, O mighty God! You are Lord of all things both large and small.
Today, I bring before You President-Elect Barack Obama and his team of advisors and counselors, asking that they be renewed in their minds as they lay plans for the new administration. Give them hungry hearts that seek You and Your face, Lord, so they may cooperate with You in bringing about Your will for our nation. Guide them as they lead us into the future, I pray. In Your Holy name, amen.amen.
Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.
Great peace have those who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble. Verses 164-165
The funny thing about a verse like verse 164 (Seven times...) is that people will take that verse, map out seven exact times during the day that they will praise God for his Word, and think that they are following his commands. "It says we're supposed to praise him seven times a day!" they will proclaim.
I really don't believe that's the point of this verse. I believe the psalmist is simply saying that he praises God for his Word whenever he thinks about it. And he probably thinks about it a lot. I'm guessing more than seven times, too.
2 Corinthians 11:21,23-30
What sort of spiritual teachers do you find yourself gravitating toward?
Do you tend to like the more animated, joking type? Smooth talkers?
Personally, I prefer those who are quieter, but deeper. One of my favorite Bible teachers to listen to is R.C. Sproul. Very "un-flashy," (at least I think so...it's usually on the radio, so I can't see him) and very deep. Sometimes, I have trouble following him.
I definitely don't like those who are always joking. Not that I don't think a teacher/preacher can never joke. And I will laugh if it's funny, because I definitely have a sense of humor. But too much, and I'm turned off, and will probably miss anything of spiritual value that the person has to say.
Paul was more of the hidden type. The quiter type. Not flashy or slick.
Paul has to go on a rant in this passage that makes him look like one who boasts in his accomplishments. But the only reason he does so is because the Corinthians he is addressing have been "duped" by speakers with flashy rhetoric. So Paul compares himself to those "teachers." Read the list of Paul's accomplishments/sufferings in verses 23-27. He's been jailed, beaten up, left for dead, flogged, beaten by Roman rods, stoned, shipwrecked, lost in the open sea, had to fend off robbers, been betrayed by friends, the list goes on and on.
But at the end, all he will boast about are the things that make him more like Jesus.
Paul was a person of joy. But where did his joy come from? He reveled in the Lord. His joy came from Christ. Not personal accomplishments.
I also pray for discernment when it comes to choosing which teachers to pay attention to. Help me and all other believers know how to wade through external appearances to see if there is anything of spiritual value beneath.
Grace and peace, friends.