"Today is Ascension Day, traditionally marked on the 40th day after Easter Sunday. The doctrine of Christ’s ascension has many implications. Here are just five." - Jared C. Wilson 5 things the Ascension Means
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Goal for Weekly Once-Over Weekly Once-Over is our weekly recap of some great blog posts that we have seen this past week that have been helpful and our hope is that they would benefit you in someway. So every Thursday of each week you will see a post that has links to different blog posts. Enjoy!
Weekly Once-Over (5.9.13)
He Is Ascended! So What? So what is the purpose of Jesus' exaltation to God's right hand? And how does it relate to the gospel?
"The Storyframes Collective is a collaborative effort between The Gospel Coalition and theAustin Stone Church for the purpose of celebrating the extraordinary work of God in the lives of ordinary people." Here is a narrated gallery of one woman's story as she fights with cancer called, Whether I Live or Die, God Wins.
Sacred and Secular Theology Refresh: Theology Refresh is a podcast for Christian leaders hosted by David Mathis, executive editor for John Piper and Desiring God. The podcast aims to refresh and sharpen spiritual leaders on key aspects of Christian theology for application to everyday ministry. This is not just for leaders but anyone who likes theology but doesn't have time to study it, so these podcasts are small and informational.
What We Mean When We Say Amen - Has any one ever wondered what it means to say amen after we pray? Here is a quick post on what it means and why we should say it.
The Struggle to Trust God with My Child's Salvation - "More than anything, I want my children to know and love Jesus; to turn away from their sin and trust Christ for salvation."
A Prayer for Trusting God in the Midst of Real Fears - "Heavenly Father, as the reach of the internet keeps getting bigger, our world keeps getting smaller and a whole lot closer. More so than ever, I’ve realized I’ve got brothers and sisters all around the world who are clinging to you and to this Scripture in ways that deepen my compassion and fuel my prayers. Because of Jesus’ burden-bearing love for us, we now gladly bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2); and prayer is one of the primary ways we shoulder up and love well."
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I don't know about you but as a Christian and a dad I sometimes have trouble leading my family in devotionals and for that matter I even have trouble leading myself into a deeper study of God's Word. Honestly, I have trouble knowing what to do half the time. All I have wanted to do is find a helpful tool that would lead me deeper into the bible and would help me grow deeper in love with my Savior. Below is a tool that has done both of those for me and I hope that it would serve someone you as well.
Catechism
Something I came across about a year ago and wanted to share it with you all. Below is an few links that will help you determine if this would be a helpful discipleship tool for yourself, your family and/or non-Christians.
New City Catechism is a joint adult (Not Just for Kids) and children's catechism consisting of 52 questions and answers.
Here is a link to an introduction to New City Catechism. If your like me you always have questions. Well within this introduction there are many categories that will hopefully answer some questions that you might have about using New City Catechism.
Example of Week 1 "What is our only hope in life and death?"
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The Bible is awesome. The Bible is more precious than endless stacks of money, diamonds or gold (Ps.119:72). In it, we meet God because it's His Word. In it, we learn His story of redemption through Jesus and how we can be reconciled to God. In it, we learn what it means to know God and live lives of worship to Him as His people (2 Tim. 3:15-17). So, the Bible is a big deal and a ridiculously gracious gift from God to us.
Therefore, we should enjoy it and read it and seek to read it well.
Here are some helpful principles to consider when studying the Bible.
Be Submitted to the Text Because it is God’s Word
This should go without saying, but it gets forgotten, so it’s worth saying. This is the most importance principle, or posture: being submitted to the authority of the Bible. The Bible is over us and we sit under it (Isa. 66:1-2). From this posture, we will come to the text in humility, eagerness, and with a teachable mind as we expect to learn from the text, not fit the text into our ideas and preferences.
There is an Intended Meaning in the Text
Another key principle that should go without saying is that there actually is an intended meaning in Bible and in each particular passage/text. In an age of where reader response theories and me-isms reign and rule, we have to come to the Bible with the understanding that God has worked through the original writers, by His Spirit, to write the Scriptures and there is an intended meaning that is discernable in the text.
Get Meaning From the Text, Do Not Dump Meaning Into the Text
We are working for exegesis, not eisegesis. We all bring assumptions and biases to the text. We need to acknowledge that and work and pray hard to get meaning from the text as opposed to dumping meaning into it.
Authorial Intent is the Key to Meaning
One of the ways we get meaning from the text is through close attention to the intended meaning from the text as displayed in the author’s words in the text. Here we wrestle with the text prayerfully with proper understanding of grammatical and historical elements.
Avoid Grounding Authorial Intent in a Psychological Reading of the Author
In our work to get meaning from the text, we must avoid the speculative joyride that is pyscho-analyzing the author’s life and background or anything that is not biblical grounded or in the particular text or larger context.
Context Is Key
As we interpret the word, context is crucial. To understand a set of verses out of Philippians, it will help us to look beyond those verses to the large point in that section. It will help us to zoom out further and get a feel for the larger meaning of Philippians itself. We may also want to examine Pauline writing. Similarly, if a word is used or term is used in strange way, context can help us understand the intended meaning.
Word Study Is Not Just Tied to the Etymology or Historical Meaning of the Word
It’s not enough to say that the meaning of “salvation” in Greek times was X. That may be helpful, but we also have to pay attention to the way a word is used in the particular text we are examining. Since terms can shift meaning from their context, it’s not enough to do historical fact-checking since that alone cannot account for the context the term is being used in and the range of meaning for a term. (Imagine I tell someone "that's hot" in conversation. To know what I mean, it's not enough to know what hot means historically. The context will help show if I'm talking about the weather, something that's good, or the temperature of an item -- all things that "hot" could possibly mean.)
Understand Authorial Intent and Do It by Bringing In the Big Story of Scripture
At some point in interpreting the Word, we need ask where the text fits in the larger redemptive history of the Bible. For some passages, this is easy to see. In other passages, this might seem more camouflaged. Either way, we need to do this work to remain faithful to the whole of Scripture and its thread of redemption through Jesus (Jn. 5:39; Luke 24:1ff).
November is National Adoption Awareness Month. In celebration of National Adoption Awareness Month, we’re sharing adoption stories from different families at Redeemer.
The following blog is from Kati Berreth, a member of Redeemer, reflecting on her family's call to adopt.
Take a minute or two and listen to this song: http://stevencurtischapman.
"And from everything I've heard, it sounds like the greatest gift on earth would be a mom." This line gets me even now. It makes my heart flutter and the tears well up, just as it did all those years ago.
"All I Really Want" by Steven Curtis Chapman kept playing in my car the month after Owen was born and Rob, my husband, had felt called to adopt. Which, of course, was within minutes of holding his newborn son.
I had just given birth to Owen and Rob was holding him for the first time. Rob looked down into Owen's eyes and he then whispered in my ear, "I think we have room for one more. We have room for a child who doesn't have a mom or a dad." I looked at him as if he were crazy, and probably said something to that effect as well - that part isn't as clear to me.
But what is clear is that during the whole Christmas season following that November, this song made me cry in sadness and frustration...often causing me to change to the next song on the CD quickly. I had just had a baby, our second baby, and I had no plans to adopt.
But God did. After Rob's call, and a discussion that ended with me asking for time to adjust to life with Emma and Owen, a year past. It was time again for this song to begin playing in my car and I began to pray about this call to adopt that had been so clearly placed on Rob's heart. I will be honest, I was scared. This for me was probably the most intense test of my faith.
And yet, after a season of prayer and wrestling with giving up my plans for God's plans, we did decide to adopt a little girl from China. And what ensued over the next four years was a journey that not only led us to adopt a little girl from China, but first to adopt Judson, an eight-month-old from Ethiopia. And then we welcomed Lilli, a two and a half year old from China, into our home.'
So now as I listen to this song each Christmas, I still cry. I cry for the journey that God had me on. I cry over my struggle and how God changed my heart. I cry for joy over the two beautiful children that God so graciously brought into our family. I cry because I get to be their mom. And I cry for the kids who are still waiting. Waiting for a mom and a dad. Waiting for a family.
I am adopted into God's family because God chose me and because Christ graciously gave up his life on the cross for my freedom from the wrath of God for my sin. I did nothing to deserve this. And whether I had been obedient or not during this journey, my standing as a daughter of God would still have been secure. But because of this amazing and overwhelming love and grace, God did change my heart and I was given the opportunity to grow in faith, grow in obedience, and grow in love as I was given the gift of being the mom of Emma, Owen, Lilli and Judson.
How is the Gospel opening your eyes in terms of adoption this season?
November is National Adoption Awareness Month. In celebration of National Adoption Awareness Month, we're sharing stories from different families at Redeemer.
The following blog is from Stephanie Sund, a member of Redeemer, reflecting on the adoption of their daughter, Mekdes.
I had the immense pleasure of spending a morning alone with Mekdes last week while my other two were at school (we're at two different schools again this year). I suggested going out for donuts, she asked if we might be able to go for a bike ride instead. Yes! That would be MUCH healthier, great idea! We packed up our bikes and headed to the lake for a ride. It was a beautiful fall day with yellow leaves reflecting in the lake and I was so glad to be there, on the bike I hadn't ridden in ages, with my girl who is a beacon of light and joy in my life- so incredibly far from where we were a year ago! But, this time, instead of reflecting on how she has changed, I started thinking about how much I have changed because of her. I am so much healthier now because of her and here are a few examples:
- I have never exercised as much or as consistently as I have since Mekdes came home, what at first was a stress relief is now a healthy daily habit.
- I am more organized, first because with 3 kids I just need to be, but also because Mekdes needed routine. Getting our family into routine made me realize how much we all thrive in knowing what is expected of us when. I feel that we flounder less with our time and get more done with less stress. Life has enough kinks to keep us from getting bored, our routine helps our lives run smoother!
- We eat more beans/legumes, Mekdes really likes beans and it winds up that the rest of the family enjoys them too. I started visiting the dry goods section of the grocery store and making more recipes with legumes and vegetables, only eating meat 2-3 times a week. Some meals, like the sprouted bean soup I made tonight, wasn't my favorite, but it was full of good food and both my girls devoured it, so I'll make it again.
- Spiritually I feel that I have a greater understanding of God's love for us and adopting us into His family. He doesn't love us because we are beautiful, in His love we are made beautiful.
When I look back at the first difficult year with Mekdes I don't think so much of how hard it was, the predominant thought is HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS! It was a beautiful year! Yes hard, but my goodness, what a gift to see this child's life transform before us! I was thinking all this as we pedaled along, and out of the blue Mekdes said, "Mom, I love you!" and I wanted to jump off my bike and squeeze her so tight, because I love her SO much and she is such a gift, and I began to wonder if I would be so awestruck by my love for her if we hadn't struggled so hard to get here. We began to peddle uphill and Mekdes spoke up "I don't like the uphills, downhills are much funner." Then as if to answer my question, she continued "Guess you can't have the downhills without the uphills." And as we sped down the hill, Mekdes shouted into the wind "Thank you downhill!" and in laughter my heart echoed "Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you downhill!"