Journey To Faith

No verse tonight as I think I have Eph 1:15-23 down. Instead, tonight I'll relay a little of the marriage seminar I'm taking this weekend. The premise is from Ephesians 5:22-33 which, in my summary, states that wives need to respect their husbands and husbands need to love their wives. The seminar, thus far, has been no great shakes, but this basic truism is something I always have to strive for. I too often, take my wife for granted or love her as I want to love her, not as she wants to be loved. And I am certainly not at the level of loving her as Christ loved the church. It also reminds me how blessed I am to have a wife who respects me and does so much to make our family and our marriage work. I am truly grateful, Lord.

Good night,
Seeker

Today's verse is Eph 1:21-23:

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this life, but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

It's hard to add much to that. Christ is the ruler of all.

Let me just share the great night I had. I'm the sound guy for our church. I'm not particularly gifted at it as my ear is nothing exceptional, but I'm adequate, or perhaps I hope I'm adequate. Either way, with God's grace I get through rehearsals and worship services. However, the joy comes in working with these incredibly talented volunteer musicians who pour their heart into worshipping the Lord. I've done sound at three churches in three different parts of the country and had the great blessing of working with talented musicians in all three. Tonight was yet another great night - jammin' with the Lord. May you all find a place you can worship that will bring you as much joy.

Mañana,
Seeker

Today's scripture memory is Eph 1:19-20 which says,

... and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

What this all means for me was a little difficult to see, but the study brings up several cross references (Rom 8:11, 2Cor 4:5-7 & 12:9-10, Jn 14:12-14) all of which explain how God's power in Christ is now made manifest in us. Even though we are weak, sinful creatures, the power of God can transform us just as it raised Christ from the dead.

Powerful thought, no?

G'night,
Seeker

Back to the scripture memory for today. The NavPress study states that the hope referred to in verse 18 is not the mood of one who hopes but the content of a sure expectation. Now, if that's the case, why use the word hope. Why not use assurance or confident expectation or some other word? I think this is one of those times, perhaps one of those all too common times where we make the words say what we want them to say. Unbelievers twist the scriptures to do evil; the orthodoxy twist them to match their orthodoxy. There's probably an entire study here on the subject of hope and what it means in a Christain context, but it alwasy strike me odd to hear commentators or Christians who are years in the faith state categorically how a word means something other than its plain meaning. I prefer to use R.C. Sproul's method of literal interpretation. He thoroughly explains his methods of interpretation in his book, Knowing Scripture. It may well be, after one does a thorough study of the lexicography of hope, or the Greek elpis, that, indeed, it does mean a sure expectation; however, at first glance I am skeptical at best.

If anyone would care to enlighten me, please comment or email.

Seeker

So I'm reading my copy of Harvard Business Review today and several of the articles are pointing to the need for leaders to be tough and shrewd, almost machiavellian. One article is case study highlighting a guy who is not going to make it to the top slot because he's not tough enough - he's too nice. Another is championing the "Great Intimidators" — those leaders who use political savvy, intimidation and manipulation to get their organizations to perform.

In sharp contrast, yesterday, I'm reading Guy Kawasaki's blog where he advocates that we all need to strive to "be a mensch", that is, someone who unselfishly looks to be of help those around him. When I read this, I thought to myself, "Yes, a business man who has his priorities straight. This is the example we should strive for". However after reading the HBR article, I think, "Am I just being a chump here"? Do nice guys really finish last in today's business world?

They may or they may not, but the choice for me is clear. I'd rather the world say I was a mensch at the end of my life than a great CEO. I'd rather have my Father in heaven say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" than get a slap on the back and a seat at the table with the board. I also have a theory (experiment in process) that says there are no successful CEOs with a good family life. I know they're rumored to be out there and you even see some chronicled on tv or in the press, but I've yet to meet any. I've met some good CEOs with no family life and some good family men who weren't CEOs, let alone good ones. :)

Bottom line. I'm still looking for that role model, mentor, shining example of someone who has found the balance and has the talent to execute being a good CEO and good father and husband. If you find one, let me know.

Until tomorrow,
Seeker

Today's scripture memory is Ephesians 1:17-18 which says,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints

I pray this for my kids. I hope that they will come to know the Father better than I do. I pray that their relationship will be much more deep than mine.

So my scripture memory work for today is Eph 1:15-16 which says:

For this reason, I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus that exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers.

The question is, does that which applies to the Ephesians also apply to us today or to me in particular. The quick answer is I don't know, but the modern church and Christians for the past two millenia have operated on the assumption that it does. Since this line of questioning usually takes me down endless rabbit trails to no avail, I'll take the Billy Graham approach and assume the traditional Christian stance applies and move on. Hopefully, the gentle reader does not find this too much of a cop out. If so, I definitely understand because I've been there for many years, but the time has come to shed the old and put on the new. May you join me also.

The study in the Life Change book asks the question, "For what did Paul give thanks". I'll take the straight forward answer and say for the faith and love of the Ephesians. If any of you have other thoughts please comment.

Good night, sleep tight.

Ok, it's been over a year since my last post and, no, I'm not dead, at least not yet.

I've started a new study in the NavPress Life Change™ series. I've begun working on Ephesians. I actually wanted to go through Philippians as I believe there's a ton of applicable scripture in there for me right now, but I remembered I had one of these Life Change books on the shelf that I hadn' t opened yet. I actually thought it was Philippians, but it turned out to be Ephesians — I'll take that as Providence suggesting Ephesians for me instead of what I thought I should study.

The first week went great. I went through the first week of the study (overview and chapter 1) no problem and got most of the way through memorizing the chapter's scripture (Eph 1:3-14). I bogged down however as I hadn't completed my memorization (an extra task I'd taken on) and wanted to complete it before moving on. Now a 1 week study has taken two: bad habit forming here.

Nevertheless, I'm on to Chapter 2 this week. Let's see if I can do the chapter, memorize the scripture and blog!

A bientot
Seeker