allergic to vengeance

I am re-reading Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up by Francis Chan. This book has been my guide for a current Sunday School Class that I am teaching. This is a sobering topic... in more than one way. First, the realities of what Jesus and others in the Bible actually say about Judgment is simply terrifying. Second, these thoughts of Hell leave me grieving for those that might actually end up there, or are there. Finally, I am finding that I don't know if I am actually ready to speak the same way that the Bible does on this topic.

I want to share a quote that will convey my feelings on this, and will also show that I am not alone in these thoughts. Consider these following words from Francis Chan:

Psalm 119 Journible

Our new Bible Study books showed up on the porch today.

For our new Tuesday night Bible Study time, I picked a book from the Journible Series (or the 17:18 series). There are several editions of the Journible Series, but I picked a nice short one for the introduction to our Bible Study. The one I chose was Journible Through Psalm 119 because I love Psalm 119 and because Psalm 119 emphasizes the Psalmist's passion and love of God's Word... a passion that is seriously lacking in many, who claim Christianity as their faith.

Pouring over the scriptures, pondering them, and reading them were a natural response to my genuine introduction to Jesus. I wanted to get to know him. And what is important is that I attribute this attachment to the Bible... not to some inherent quality within myself... or as a result of what the Spirit of God does in just a handful of His followers... but to the natural response to anything that we come to value.

Twelve Ordinary Men Study at Edgewood!

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I finally picked the book for the men's study at Edgewood!

Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur is a book that I have owned since it first came out.  I have had it in the back of my truck for almost 6 years.  I started reading it, but got bogged down with other books.  The former pastor of Edgewood even bought me the study guide a few years ago.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been trying to decide what study to do at the church.  A friend of mine had donated several weeks to coming to our church and teaching the adult Sunday School class, but his time is up and he really needs to return to serving at his own church.  Instead of looking for another teacher, my wife and I decided to split the group between the men and the women.  I would take the teen boys and the men and my wife would take the teen girls and the women.  This seemed like a reasonable solution, and my wife was able to pick a topic and a book fairly quickly, I on the other hand, was having trouble picking a book.  This morning it just popped in my head!

So, if you are in the Danville area and you have been looking for a church to attend, now would be a great time as we begin these two new studies.  If you don't live around here, but you are of the praying sort... consider adding Danville to your prayer list: we need it.

New Sunday School Class

In the Adult Sunday School class at church we just finished the book, Lord, Change My Attitude, Before It's Too Late by James MacDonald. It was a good book and everyone in the class really enjoyed it. In fact, a couple of people mentioned that we should do that same book again! They felt like the book had opened their eyes to some attitudes that needed dealt with.

Well, we thought about doing the same book again, but instead decided to do another James MacDonald book from a similar category. This time we will be using the book I Really Want To Change, So Help Me God.

I mention this for three reasons. The first reason would be that those of you who are Christians that read this blog might simply take a moment and ask... That you would ask that God would be involved in our Sunday School Class in a real way. That His Spirit would fill our minds and the teaching that is done in that room.

The second reason for me to mention this class and the books we are using is for those who might be from Danville who read this blog. If you are from Danville, think about dropping by. I would never want to purposely draw people away from their own churches, but at the same time if you are not regularly involved in a Church, or if you are at a church that isn't feeding and encouraging you for the week, then I would ask that you consider being a part of our church.

The third reason that I mention these books is to point people toward the books. They are very good and very practical, and completely worth the little bit that you would pay if you purchased them through Amazon.com.