Scripture

Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.

~2 Timothy 2:15, NLT

Quote

The author who benefits you most is the one who gives expression to the things you believe and know to be true, but unable to articulate.

~Oswald Chambers

The older I get the more I love to read. I am not a great reader and certainly not fast. I make notes, underline, highlight and go back many times and reread things that I didn’t understand the first time. I thank God often for good authors. Right now, I am reading seven books which includes my three devotionals. One is Charles Allen’s book on HOPE. Gary gave me a great little book entitled, PRAYING THE BIBILE by Donald S. Whitney. Carol has already given me a devotional for 2023 written from the Jewish point of view. The first devotion is on the use of the shofar in worship. Of course I read Charles Stanley, Oswald Chambers and Dr. Billy Graham. It is amazing to me that I will read something they articulated  {Put into words} and then think, “I never thought of it that way.” The one guy who seems to surpass all others is David. I pick up his Psalms and they literally read my heart. David is very good at expressing the deep things that I am feeling. I marvel at his insight, his use of metaphors, and his giftedness as a prophet and poet. God gave Michael Jordan the ability to jump out of the gym; He gave David the ability to articulate my feelings. As incredible as Jordan’s talents were, I marvel at David’s even more.

I asked this question at our Pastors Prayer group a few weeks ago: “Do you ever get frustrated because of your inability to articulate some truth that you understand in your mind but are unable to put into words.” One of the older preachers quickly affirmed that he felt the same frustration but most of them did not respond. It will come in time. I never sensed this frustration until the last few years. As I have shared before, Nancy Leigh Demoss is a very gifted writer and so is Elisebeth Elliott. Nancy Leigh DeMoss does the best exposition of the SONGS OF SOLOMON that I have ever read. Seriously, I thank God for good authors. I have never read anything bad or of poor quality from Erwin Lutzer or C.S. Lewis. I could go on and on but you get the point. Iron sharpens iron: we need each other. We need to share our spiritual insights.

Extra

Sorry I am late today: getting ready to go to Cherokee, not NC, for some Christmas visits. One is to an old pastor friend who attended Athens College back in 70-71. We graduated together in the summer of 71. There were three Baptist Preachers in that class: Mickey Dalrymple, Larry Bullard and myself. They were about twelve Methodist preachers. I can’t remember them all but William Wells and David Nelson come to mind.

I hope you have a great day. Thanks for reading the blog.

Extra/Extra

Quotes from Erwin Lutzer’s book NO REASON TO HIDE

• PETA is pressuring Baseball to stop using the term “Bullpen”. This is offensive to bovine species. They want is renamed as “Arm Barn.” {Folks, you can’t make this stuff up}
• Brandeis University new dictionary on offensive words that cannot be used by students or faculty–“picnic,” “trigger warning,” and “rule of thumb.” {don’t ask me to explain, I can’t}
• A whopping 77% of college students are afraid to speak out in class for fear of being humiliated. Over 60% of the general public refuses to speak out due to political correctness.
• According to the left–Christians and conservatives are motivated by hate but the left is motivated by justice and fairness.
• Opposed to abortion, you are a hater of women.
• If you oppose same sex marriage, you are a bigot.
• If you oppose the violence of Islam you are Islamophobic and you hate Muslims.
• If you believe that Covid-19 came out of a Chinese laboratory, you are xenophobic.
• If you support voter ID, you are a hater of democracy.
• If you don’t vote for democrats, you are deplorable.

According to the left: I am a bigoted, racist, and white suprematist who hates women, muslims, and perverts: to ice the cake, I am deplorable. You know what, I don’t give a rip what they call me. I cared once but not any more. I am an advocate for the truth of scripture and that makes me their hated enemy.