The Joys of Waiting

I've been praying for a position in vocational ministry for over a year. In December 2010, I became aware of the fact that one of the pastors at my church was resigning. I began to talk with the pastor of the church about the opportunity of coming on staff. After nearly a year of praying and waiting and starts and stops, I was informed that he was no longer interested in considering me. This has also been the case at many other churches. Some of the churches that I have applied to have never responded. Others have thanked me for applying, but did not wish to discuss things with me any further. One church did not want to talk with me because I had "pastor" instead of "youth pastor" on my resume. Needless to say, it has been a trying year.

While I am not wanting to make it sound as if life has been as difficult as Job's, God is definitely teaching me some patience. I have several resumes still outstanding and am praying to hear something in the near future. It would be very exciting to have good news (and possibly a title change to this blog) some time soon. It's all in God's hands.

FinishYear 2012 - One Week Update

I know that most of you have been waiting anxiously for updates on how my FinishYear 2012 projects are coming. Well, here is the first update:

• I have finished copying Proverbs 1 and am currently working toward finishing Proverbs 2.
  
• I have finished reading my first book, Leaders That Last by Dave Kraft.
  
• I am continuing to memorize 1 John 1:1-10. The first couple of verses are rather complex and I am having difficulty getting them to stick in my head.
  
• I have memorized Romans 5:1 and am working on Romans 5:2-8.
  
• I have not done any running at all
  
• I just finished reading 180 chapters of the Bible. In full disclosure, I did begin this project before January 1, but I thought any Bible reading was a good thing, right?
  

So, there you go, my first week of FinishYear 2012 update.

How are you doing with your FinishYear projects?

The Highlight of My Day

Many of you know that I am the proud father of three boys, with another one on the way. I love my boys and I am doing what I can to raise them to love Jesus. One of the ways that I am doing that is by sharing with them what God's plan for mankind is and how He is redeeming us back to him. How God sent a Rescuer into our world to save us.

The highlight of my day is reading with my boys before bed. Lately we have been reading The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name. This is a beautifully written and illustrated book that shares God's redemptive plan of salvation from the beginning through the end of Revelation. So far, we have seen God's hand in Creation, the Fall of Man, Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel, and the Birth of Isaac. My boys are thrilled with the stories and remind me every night that it is time to read.

My prayer is that God will use this book as a means of continuing to help my children grow to love Christ. I am looking forward to the day that I can lead my children to the Lord.

FinishYear 2012 - Reading Over 3,000 Chapters of the Bible - A Breakdown

The other day in church, my pastor mentioned to the congregation about how I was planning to read over 3,000 chapters of the Bible. Given the fact that the Bible has a little over 1,000 chapters, it would seem that I would be reading the Bible through twice or more. Actually, it doesn't quite work out that way. Let me explain what I am doing.

There are 10 different section that I read each day. The sections are as follows:

• List 1 - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John (89 days)
  
• List 2 - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (187 days)
  
• List 3 - Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews (78 days)
  
• List 4 - 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, 1&2 Peter, 1,2,3 John, Jude, Revelation (65 days)
  
• List 5 - Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (62 days)
  
• List 6 - Psalms (150 days)
  
• List 7 - Proverbs (31 days)
  
• List 8 - Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (249 days)
  
• List 9 - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (250 days)
  
• List 10 - Acts (28 days)
  

Following that pattern, my reading will break down like this:

• The Gospels will be read 4 times.
  
• The Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) will be read twice.
  
• The Epistles (Romans-Revelation) will be read 4-5 times each.
  
• The Wisdom literature (Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) will be read 6 times.
  
• The Psalms will be read at least twice.
  
• Proverbs and Acts will be read 12 times each.
  
• The Old Testament History and Prophets will be read about 1.5 times.
  

What it boils down to is 10 chapters per day. I was asked by someone at church as to why I was doing it. My answer: If I want to teach people what the Bible says, I need to know what's in it...deeply.

Terrell Suggs and the Foolishness of Disrespecting God

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple of months, you have at least a passing knowledge of who Tim Tebow is. Tebow, for the uninitiated, is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos and an extremely vocal Christian. He is also the architect for some amazing come-from-behind victories. And, while they were winning, a lot of people were saying that God was helping Tebow and the Broncos win. Then, when the Broncos started losing, a lot of ridicule began flowing Tebow's way and, by association, God's way.

On Tuesday, Terrell Suggs, a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, had this to say on ESPN:

"With all due respect we don't need God on our sidelines."

Well, with all due respect, Mr. Suggs, I think you are wrong. You do need God, but not to help you win football games. You need Him to save your soul.

The other day I was reading in the book of Acts and I came across a similar story, a story where Herod did something similar to what Mr. Suggs did.

On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!" Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. - Acts 12:21-23.

I am by no means saying that Terrell Suggs is going to be eaten by worms for his lack of respect toward God. I am simply seeking to point out the danger that is inherent with not giving God the proper respect. Without God, Mr. Suggs, it is very likely that you would not even be taking the breath you need to say that you don't need God, let alone playing football.

FinishYear 2012 - Hand Copying Proverbs - Off to a Good Start

As I've written about before, one of my projects for this year to hand copy the book of Proverbs into a journal. While I don't wish to rehash all of the reasons for this, I did want to update you on my progress. Yes, I realize that it has only been one day since 2012 began, but it is always easy to stick to a project the first day; it gets harder as time goes on. Being accountable to you is what is going to keep me going.

As you can see from the picture (or maybe you can't), I began my copying with the first ten verses of Proverbs 1. This chapter begins by telling us that it is Solomon who is giving us these proverbs and he is laying out why it is necessary for us to study them. He also includes some admonishments to study (most likely the Scriptures) because that is how one becomes wise and avoids being lumped in with the foolish. The section I copied so far concluded with some encouragement to a son to listen to the advice of his parents and to stay away from those who would entice him to do wrong.


I won't post pictures of every time I write in my journal, but, from time to time, I will update you on what I am doing and what that day's passage is all about.

I hope that you will be encouraged to join me in this journey. The great thing is that you can start at any time. Just write a few verses a day and you will be finished by the end of the year.

FinishYear 2012 - Memorizing 1 John and James

I've already written about my project to memorize Romans 5-8. This project is something else entirely. Rather than memorizing a few chapters (no small feat), I'm planning to memorize two complete books of the Bible. I will be working on memorizing 1 John and James. According to the schedule that I've worked out, it should take me about 19 weeks to memorize 1 John and 20 weeks to learn James. This is at a pace of about 6 verses per week.

I was very blessed to receive this notebook from one of my students as a Christmas present. I was quite pleased to see it because I was actually planning to go to Target that afternoon and purchase one. Receiving this little notebook/journal was actually an answer to prayer.

I typed up the verses to 1 John in a Word document with text boxes set to be about the size of a 4x6 index card. After typing them up and printing them out, I cut them out and pasted them into my journal, one card on every other page, leaving a blank page to write on.

On the blank page, I have listed out the days of the week and left some space below to give me a place to write my thoughts and reflections over that week's passage that I am memorizing. Next to each day of the week, I will keep track of how many times I have reviewed the passage that particular day. My goal is to read through/recite the passage at least 10 times each day. I actually think it will be more beneficial to review the verses several times throughout the day instead of trying to do all 10 recitations at the same time.

As I advance week to week through memorizing the book of 1 John, I will actually spend more time each day reviewing the old verses. I mean, what good is memorizing verses if you aren't going to use them? I'll say my new verses, then recite the old verses in order to have the context of the whole passage. After memorizing 1 John, I am going to spend a few weeks reviewing the whole book each day before beginning the book of James.

The reflection area on each page is for me to record what God is teaching me through the verses that I am learning that week. I can record how many times a phrase is used, how God allowed me to recall that passage, or how it is helping me to grow in my faith.


Here is a link to another blog where I got this idea. I hope that you will consider joining me, even if you don't take the time to put together a memory journal of your own.