Venting … gossip’s brother

Matthew 18:15 – 17 (NIV)
“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

OK … I’m going to generalize here.  So, if this angers you, I am politely asking you to get over it. 

Whenever the talk of gossip comes up, or whenever you read comic strips about gossip, it always seems to involve women.  This – by no means – mean that men are exempt from the snares of gossip.  However, this seems to be the accepted truth in what we read, see and hear in public.  It is almost as if this is a weakness that only affect women because we men are so much above that. (BALONEY!!!)

Men simply gossip in a different way than women.  It’s not gossip because it is what they DID TO US … not necessarily what they DID.  It’s called VENTING!

Have you have had anyone that just wanted to VENT to you in order to better understand what they were dealing with, or better yet, to avoid taking their anger out on someone else, or because it would do no good to go to the other person because they are an idiot.  I have been VENTED to, and I have VENTED!  Guilty!  But I know for a fact that I am not alone.

It is time we rise above.  No more venting.  That’s really all I have to say about that.  Just stop.  Read Matthew 18:15 – 17 again, meditate on it, memorize it, do whatever it takes to get that truth into your brain.  Just stop VENTING!

The weak person vents.  It is very easy to do.

The strong person goes to the brother who has offended (or seems to have offended).  It is very difficut to do.
It is a difficult life the Christian must live, but if we live it as God has instructed us to live it … it is the abundant life promised to us by Christ.

John 10:10 (NIV):
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Are you reading your Bible …

I know I struggle with being consistent when it comes to reading my Bible.  I get to feeling guilty for not reading it, then, I get it out for a while and do some good reading.  But then … I put it down again for days (and often weeks) on end.

WHY????

I put on a good Christian face most of the time.  Most of my friends would probably tell you I am a good Christian who could serve as an example from others.  As far as I’m concerned … that just makes me a pretty good actor.  I have been a Christian since I was 10, and I know how to act like a Christian.  Rather than BE the real thing, I pretend.

WHY????

I am weak and stupid.  That is why.  Weak because I cannot maintain the consistency that I would like to maintain.  Stupid because I KNOW … I REALLY KNOW … that a Christ-directed life is the best life in the world.  By not reading my Bible consistently, I might as well be hitting myself in the head with a baseball bat regularly.  It’s as if I say to myself – “reading the Bible would draw me closer to God and bring me ultimate joy … hmmm … what can I do to screw that up … don’t want any of that joy.”

What about you?  Are you reading your Bible?

I have a suggestion for you.  This is something I am going to try to do as well.  I heard it from a preacher on the radio the other day.  And no … it’s not reading the Bible all the way through in a year or anything.

I am going to read 1 John every day for 30 days.  There’s a lot to be said about repitition.  By the end of the 30 days, I ought to have a pretty good idea of what is in 1 John, and I will also probably (by the end of 30 days) realize that 30 days of reading 1 John is not enough.  That’s key.  We can read God’s Word over and over and over and there will always be more for us to learn.

I’ll close with these verses:

Psalm 119:11
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

1 Peter 2:2 – 3
Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

Go with God,
Donald B

Left Versus Right … What’s your motivation???

Why do we do what we do? There is an easy answer to this … and it is to be appreciated by other people – especially by those we consider family or friends! But that has to change …

Matthew 6:1 – 4 (NLT)
“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

For me, this is a very familiar scripture. I have known and understood (so I thought) this scripture for most of my life. But recently, I have come to a deeper understanding of what these verses are saying. I’ll try to explain.

I want to focus on two parts in these verses (they are in bold above.) Have you ever asked yourself what “good deeds” are? Or even what “publicly” means? What about “others” … who are they? I will tell you what I think about these in a moment. But the “don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” is a little more straight forward. That just tells me to not announce what I did to someone else. Basically … keep it a secret if I am able.

Good deeds – anything you do. Leaving groceries for someone in need, helping someone change a tire, giving someone money. That list is the sort of list I would have made in the past. I have since added to this. Doing your job at work, making beds, doing yard work, setting up chairs for worship, setting up Sunday School rooms, and any thing else that is something you might do to help other people in some form or fashion.

Publicly – anything you do that someone else might notice (or that you hope they will notice.

Others – any one who is not you. People at church, spouses, family members, co-workers, strangers, etc.

I believe there is a great lesson for everyone here. We so desperately want to be appreciated by people. We aren’t necessarily looking to be glorified or exalted above others (although we struggle with this too), but we are simply wanting to know that someone else appreciates the actions we take to make their life better. But this is what God is talking about.

Some ways we let the other hand know what’s going on is in casual conversation. For example, you may be in a conversation about kids not being taught how to change a tire by their parents. And you say something like this, “The other day, I stopped for this car on the side of the road, and there was this 20 something just sitting there because they didn’t even know where the spare was. Fortunately, I was able to help them get it changed.” Now … you didn’t really brag on yourself, but you let someone else know what you did. Guess what … you have received your reward in full.

Someone at work may have done something poorly, and you went in behind them and fixed it. Someone else says, “My, so and so did a good job with this.” And you, just wanting to make sure the company doesn’t promote a dolt say, “Well, if you really knew what happened, you might not think that.” And then, you proceed to tell them the truth of the matter. You have received your reward in full.

Or your preach a sermon or teach a lesson (and pastors and teachers everywhere could affirm this one), and you ask – for the purpose of improving of course – what did you think of the message today, or did you get anything out of that lesson? You have received your reward in full.

Ultimately (and probably impossible for me … not sure about you), but I believe God’s desire is for us to do whatever we can to help our brothers and sisters in whatever way we can as an act of obedience to him. And, after we do it … I think he wants us to look for our reward from him and not the people we assisted (or those around).

With all that said (I hope it made sense) <– Funny, I just typed that without even thinking. It’s kind of like me looking for your appreciation … I believe we should look for ways to thank others for their service or the things they do. Like I said at the beginning, we all do thrive on being appreciated from others. And I think this is a thing God built into us. However, I don’t believe God intends for us to go looking for it. But I do believe God intends for us to look for ways to give it to other people. And no … by me finding a way to appreciate something you did … I am not taking your reward away that God has promised.

Maybe – if you think about it – if we put more effort into showing our appreciation for what others have done, the need to go out and seek that appreciation would dissipate.

Go with God,
Donald B

A Husband’s Responsibility

First, this post is for men.  My hope is you will find encouragement to do the hard things to make your marriage work.  Women – feel free to read.  However, this is NOT intended for you to use against your husband as a battering ram.

Here’s the skinny – if you marriage isn’t working, it’s probably your fault.

I use the word “probably” above because there are some rare (but few in my opinion) situations where this is not true.

Let’s kick this off with some scriptures.
Genesis 3:16 (NIV)
Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth.  And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.

By sharing this verse, I am not trying to give you more reason to try and treat your wife as a slave … or to “put her in her place.”  If you have this attitude, then we’ve already discovered your problem.  Stop here … ask God to forgive you for your sins of treating your wife badly, then come back and finish reading.

By sharing this verse, I am pointing out a responsibility that God has placed on man.  To “rule over” our wives should not be equaled with “king of the world.”  Rather, it should point out how much God is going to hold you responsible for your wife and everything about her.  So, our role comes with a GREAT responsibility.

Check out these verses from the NT:

Ephesias 5:21, 25 – 27 (NLT)
And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 
…
For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her  to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.  He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

I skipped verses 22 – 24 on purpose.  Those verses talking about the wife submitting to the husband, but your focus shouldn’t be on what she is supposed to do, but rather on what you are supposed to do.  And even if we were to discuss this, how you understand submission may be totally wrong any way.  My wife does a great job of explaining this.  Maybe she will someday, and then, I’ll point you to her post.

My reason for going here today is because of some wise counsel I received early on.  Someone was telling me about words of wisdom he had heard from some other guy about the man’s role in marriage.  Let me try to get this straight …

Man: My wife is the most irritating person in the world.  She nags at me all the time.  She’s always picking fights with me.  She doesn’t show me any respect ever.  She’s just impossible to be around.

Counselor: Why would you marry a woman like that?

Man: She wasn’t like that when I married her.

Counselor: Then, what did you do to her?

Point of this story: If we follow the guidance from Ephesians 5 above – “love your wives, just as Christ loved the church” - we will have a thousand more reasons for loving our wives today than we had when we got married.  We will be able to say, “This is not the woman I married” and be glad about it … and her too.  Because she will be EVEN MORE the woman that God wants her to be.

BOTTOM LINE:

If your marriage is rocky, if your wife is more irritating to you than you like, if it seems she is just out to make you miserable … you should probably stop trying to find her faults and get out your mirror.  If you will truly practice what is written in Ephesians 5 above, I firmly believe that over time, you will begin to see just how beautiful and lovely your wife truly is.  Your attitude affects her attitude!  Simple as that …

Practical advice:

• Stop being selfish.  Better yet, practice being selfless.
• Fix your faults.  Don’t even focus on her faults.
  If you think you don’t have faults, talk to me for a little bit, and I’ll help you find them. 
• Pray to God.  Ask him to show you your faults.  Ask him for strength.
  You will need strength as you begin to recognize and accept your role as husband.
• Read some books.  There are plenty of great ones out there.  Start with “The Five Love Languages” maybe.
• Work, work, work on your marriage.  If you want it to be good, then you will work.
• Gather godly men around you to pray for you and to hold you accountable for your actions toward your wife.

Bottom line for me is … if things aren’t good at home, it’s usually my fault.  If I find out what I am doing wrong and work on that … my marriage always seems to improve.  Go figure.

I think you will find the same thing to be true for you.

Go with God,
Donald B

Where is your seed …

Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8 all give us the Parable of the Sower.  If you aren’t familiar with this parable, I would advise reading it before going further.

Parable of the Sower – from Mark 4

Today, I would like to focus on Mark 4:18 – 20.

Mark 4:18 – 20 (NIV)
Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

If you simply read the verses above, you may just simply flow from one type of person to the next – and make the same distinction that I made – that being there are two different types of people being discussed.  I think the realization that I came to today is this can be just one person.  Not one person at the same time mind you, but nonetheless, one person.

In the past, when I have read these scriptures, I have quickly concluded I am the type of person in verse 20 because I was living the Christian life I thought it was referring too.

Mark 4:20 (NIV)
Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.

Today marked a new understanding of who I am.  Sometimes, I believe I am the person in verses 18 – 19.  Other times, I can say that I am verse 20.  However, debt, teenagers, wanting to be out of debt, other weaknesses … all of these things and more … as I allow them to consume my thinking … I quickly become the person described in verses 18 and 19.  The worries of this life … come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

That’s not the life God intended for me to live.  If I am to live the life God intended, then I will focus on the joy that is only found in him.

John 15:10 – 11 (NIV)
If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

What keeps us from being the person described in Mark 4:20?  What keeps us from having Jesus’ joy in us?  Lack of faith, disobedience, worrying about the hard times we are going through here on earth, and more are the thorns that attempt to choke the word.

So, knowing these things choke the word, making it unfruitful … how do we overcome them and enter into the joy that God has for us?  The things aren’t going away.  My debt will still be here tomorrow.  My children will still be teenagers (and I’ve got four more after the current two).

Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Although Jesus’ tough times were brought on by our sin and not his own, he still had to endure.  He still had to go through things that COULD HAVE (but didn’t) choke the word.  How did he endure?  How did he continue on?  He focused on the joy set before him.  He knew how the story ended!  He understood that he would soon be with the father – again – eternally!  He knew that he would save all of us – or at least provide a way for us to be saved.

What is my debt compared to what Jesus went through on the cross?  What can a teenager bring into our family that would even compare to his trials?  (Some of you may be thinking you have an answer … but believe me … in the end, you don’t.)

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith …

Go with God,
Donald B

Logos Bible Software

Logos is a company that produces and sales Bible Study software.  But what makes this software so cool is the way they make it so easy to search through hundreds – if not thousands – of resources (Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, books, magazine articles, etc.) at the push of the enter key.

After that introduction – and looking at the rest of my blog – you may be wondering why I am plugging for this software.  It’s a very simple thing really.  Logos searches the web to find where people have advertised – by word of mouth (or blog) obviously – for them.  And then, in turn, they place a link to your site (or blog) from their Logos blog.  A good trade I think.  First, I get to tell you about a software I use which greatly enhances my ability to prepare papers for seminary or lessons for a Bible class I might be teaching.  Second, when found by Logos, my blog gets advertised at a site where people might come looking for answers or resources to different topics.  It is my hope my blog can be used by others as a source of encouragement or even enlightenment.  I don’t believe I am the brightest bulb in the pack, but I do believe God has given me an understanding he expects me to share and the ability to share it.  With all that said, back to Logos.

I am using the Leader’s Library.  The reason I purchase the Leader’s Library rather than the Scholar’s Library: Gold is because of price.  The price for the Scholar’s Library is more than I can spend on anything at the moment.  However, I will say, for what you get it is well worth the money.  I was able to scrape up enough to get the Leader’s Library.  And even this library will be a mound of information for me to use.

These different systems are called libraries because that is exactly what they are.  They are packed with Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, books and magazines.  And the easy to use search functions make it easy to search through all of them for particular subjects or writings related to biblical passages or anything like that.  The very cool part – as far as I am concerned – is how they insert foot notes in the correct format for papers that I have to write for seminary.  Simply put, they do all of the annotation work for me.  AWESOME!!!!

This is the end of my advertisement for Logos!  Check out their website by clicking on the image above or on any of the highlighted links in this post.

Go with God,
Donald B

Which translation of the Bible should I use?

Have you constantly struggled with which translation you should use?  Or are you the person who has landed on one particular translation of the Bible as the “ONLY TRULY INSPIRED TRANSLATION OF GOD”?  My purpose today is to briefly discuss translations.  I am not the expert, but this topic does need discussion.

These 3 links (pdf files) are excerpts from books that discuss translations.  I found them to be very enlightening.  Maybe you will too.
What are the differences in Bible Versions – do they matter?
Where does the Bible text come from?
How are Bible Translations made?

It is important for each of us to understand what a translation is, where it comes from and how it was translated … in order to keep us away from the unnecessary fear of apostasy or heresy if we are reading a misleading translation.  Better worded … we should not let translation-phobia keep us from reading and understanding God’s Word.

First, if you have one single translation that you stick to as the only and best translation where every other translation is wrong or inferior – YOU ARE WRONG!  Sorry to be so blunt, but this type of person is bordering on idolatry.

2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

2 Timothy 3:16 (NASB)
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

No matter which translation you use above, they all say the same thing.  God’s Word is inspired.  What they DO NOT say is that a particular translation is more inspired over the other.  Let’s get real very quick.  In order to have the exact Words of God you need the original copies that were written down by the authors of the text.  And even then, you have to know the language to be able to read them.  And even then, you have to know the language well to understand the idioms that are there.

(Dictionary time … idiom is a term like “that politician is slicker than a greased pig”)

And here’s another important fact … even if you do know the languages well enough to even understand and know the idioms … WE DO NOT HAVE THE ORIGINAL TEXTS!  Don’t go hide in a corner now because you think we have inaccurate copies of God’s Word.  If you do any reading or studying about this, you will find that the actual book – the Bible – is more researched, better proved and more authenticated than ANY BOOK EVER!  If you want to read up more on this, check out Josh McDowell’s book The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict.  (This is a revision or update … or maybe it’s a translation … of his book Evidence That Demands A Verdict.)

Now … to the basics.

For those of you who do not want to do a lot of research on your own.

There are 2 ends of the spectrum that most translations fall into.  There are the word-for-word translations.  And there are the thought-for-thought translations.  Word-for-word translators try to translate the copies of the original texts as closely as they can word for word … yet, make it readable.  If they were to translate word for word exactly, we would not be able to make sense out of what we were reading.  Thought-for-thought translators take a text and try to say in the language they are translating into the thought the author was trying to convey.  However, most thought-for-thought translators do this while trying to stay word-for-word where possible.

Then, there are paraphrases.  These are Bibles that are usually completed by one or a few people.  Basically, they read the Bible and just write it in their own words to better express (in their view) what is being said.  While these are not evil, they are also not useful for actual Bible study.  They are good for reading though.  As a matter of fact, I have a copy of The Message on my shelf.

So, which is better – word-for-word or thought-for-thought?

NEITHER!!!!!!

They both have their strengths and weaknesses.  My suggestion is for you to use both.  Don’t get stuck on one translation.  Don’t lift another translation above another.  However, I will ask that you research where a translation came from and how it was translated?  Here are some questions to ask.

Who translated it?  If it was one person, I call that a paraphrase.  If it was a group of theological scholars educated in Greek and Hebrew who come from a myriad of religious backgrounds … I feel pretty safe with that translation.

What texts did they use to translate?

Why did they produce the translation?

What are the spiritual leaders of the day saying about the translation?

These are all good questions to ask.

As I finish this up … I do have a negative comment to make about one particular translation that may get me into a lot of trouble with some friends and some readers of this blog.

The KJV is NOT a good translation … today!  When originally translated, it was good.  It was the best English translation they had at the time.  But the KJV was translated using inferior copies of the original texts.  At the time of its conception, many of the Greek and Hebrew texts that we have today had not yet been discovered.  The KJV was translated from a Latin translation of the original texts.

But we can learn an important lesson from the KJV.  Although not perfect in its translation, God’s Word was taught well to English-speaking people for many years.  This translation was much better for the people than the Latin versions of the day because the people did not understand Latin.  What is important is that every person be able to read God’s Word.

It always amazes me that we can have such strong debates over the different English-translations, but have nothing to say about a Spanish translation or a German translation.

Going back to 2 Timothy 3:16 … God’s Word is inspired.  I’m sure that we would all benefit greatly from the ORIGINAL TEXTS if we had them.  But we don’t.  Therefore, our scholars strive to provide us with the best translations possible.  Archaeologists continue to dig and search for clues to help understand the original languages of the Bible better (and even hope to find an original text or two.)

Bottom line … I believe that when God says His Word is inspired,  He is not referring to the actual words of the original text but the principles those Words teach.  I believe that if He had meant the actual words were inspired, then a full understanding of Greek and Hebrew would have come with our salvation and we would all have access to the ORIGINAL TEXTS.

So … read the Bible!  Read the NIV, NASB, NLT, ESV, TEV, NKJV, The Message, TLB and even the KJV.  Read them all!  What’s important is that you are soaking up God’s Word.  Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is our teacher.

Go with God,
Donald B