Idols of the Heart - Week 4

Here is the final week of the teaching.


powered by ODEO

To listen to all four weeks of the teaching visit my odeo podcast.

Idols of the Heart - Week 3

I have added the third week of the Idols of the Heart lesson. Here is a link to my podcast, where you can find the other two lessons and download the mp3's for listening to on your ipod.

Or, you could listen to it here:


powered by ODEO

The Trail

The sins of some men are obvious,
    reaching the place of judgment ahead of them;
the sins of others trail behind them.
    I Timothy 5:24

In my life I have fallen into both of these categories.

There have been times when my sins were worn on a badge on my chest. They were right there out in the open for anyone to see, anyone who was looking. Sometimes I was the only one who could not see these sins. I was under the impression that I was doing pretty well, when those who were closest to me were being hurt.

Other times I have kept my sins hidden. I was the only person who could see these sins. I held onto them the way a man might hold onto the last bottle of water during a drought. These hidden sins were the last remnants of a former self, a self that I clung to, even though it was detrimental to me.

A better illustration would probably be more like a man holding onto a bottle of sea water during a drought. Secretly taking drinks of it, thinking that it those cool drinks would be satisfying. But sea water can never satisfy thirst. It only heightens it. I would have been like that man, when there was a cool fresh-water spring within reach.

This verse was written as a warning, in the context of elder approval. When one is choosing an elder, great caution must used. There is always the possibility of hidden sins. You may not see them right away, but they will show themselves eventually.

Even though this verse was written to assist with the evaluation of others, I read it as a warning to myself. (It seems that most of the verses I read end up having their targets aimed at my heart.) I recognized how I fit into this verse. I don't want my sins to be leading the way in front of me, and I most assuredly don't want my sins to be following up behind me, leaving a trail of destruction.

I want to be the kind of person who is laid bare in the eyes of Christ, not withholding anything. I want my sins to be dealt with right now, today. Not in front of me or behind me. Right here. Let's get to the heart of the problem.

The Bible is the exact tool that I need (that we need) to achieve this. It is living and powerful. It is the only book that has the ability to cut to the depths of the inner being, and it will reveal the heart (Heb. 4:12). And the heart is the exact place where we need to go. It is the source, the wellspring of all sin (Mk. 7:21-23).

May God cleanse our hearts and renew our spirits (Ps. 51)before the trail of sin becomes irreversible.

The 27's...

As many of you know, especially if you are one of my former students, I have this thing with the number 27. I don't really want to get into the origins of the 27 right now, I will have to save that for another day.

I would like to share this e-mail that I received the other day concerning the 27. I think that you might find it to be entertaining.

Your site describes almost the exact same set of events that my friends and I have been experiencing for about a year now. We are thoroughly amazed that another person has experienced this, let alone with the same number as us.

We have a wealth of photographic and written evidence, and one of us is also planning to do a short comedy film (The Curse Of 27) based around the number (and possibly a comic, called the Chronicle of 27)

The first incident occurred whilst purchasing sweets. When asked what the price of a Drumstick lolly, one of those present replied off-hand "27 p" for no reason. Upon inspecting the Drumsticks, to our surprise we discovered the price to be exactly 27 p.
At first this coincidence led us to believe the number was lucky, and we noticed in many different locations.

Eventually though, the sheer number of 27s we found led us to believe that 27 was perhaps not as positive a number as we had first believe. A prime example is a building one of us found with a huge 27 on the side. A week later, he attempted to show one of us to the building in question, only to find it demolished.

We await your response.

:)

Therefore I love it.

"Your Word has been tested and found to be very pure;
Therefore, Your servant loves it."
Psalm 119:140 (Jay Adams Translation)

I do not doubt the truth of the Bible. When I pick it up and read through it's pages, I know that the words I am reading are true.

There are whole books that have been written about the truth of the Bible. They have evidenced the many attacks on these words, and have proclaimed the glory the Bible's amazing reliability... its amazing durability. No matter what challenge has come against its authenticity, the Bible has been proven right over and over again. It also continues to be a beacon of wisdom and hope, regardless of the moral dilemmas we get ourselves into.

All of these things I know and believe about every verse in the Bible, but there are some verses that I know and believe in a deeper way. In a way that has gone beyond accurate historical facts, and has cut deep into my soul, leading me and guiding me by its light.

This verse speaks of that truth. I love the Words of God, because it has been tested in my own life. I have experienced its teachings first hand. I have needed its hope, I have needed its wisdom, I have depended on its truth, and it did not fail me. Therefore, I love it.

hatchet boy

So I have this giant tree in my back yard.

It wasn't looking too healthy, so I had this guy come over and cut it down.

I thought to myself, "Great. This works out good for me, I have a fireplace in my new house, I ought to be able to use all of this wood. No need to have it hauled off. I will just split it, stack it, and this winter, life will be golden."

So, today I went off and with a little bit of my birthday money and my handy-dandy Lowe's card, I purchased some of the tools that I thought I would need to start splitting this wood. One of the tools that I purchased was a small one-handed hatchet.

(I didn't know if I would actually need this tool or not, but it seemed like a smart choice at the time, so I added it to the cart.)

Once I got home, I immediately set to work on the wood. I was feeling pretty manly and all, I was splitting wood with my axe, I had a fire going in the fire pit, I was profusely sweating, and drinking a (non-diet) coke. Oh yeah... A real man.

My sons watched me splinter through a couple of logs as if I had been doing this my whole life, but they weren't as impressed or as interested as I thought they would be. My 4-year old immediately went off to look at bugs or something, but the 8-year old spyed the little hatchet.

His keen, intuitive mind immediately deduced that this smaller version of the axe that I was using, must be for him...




Ok. So giving a hatchet to an 8-year old is never a good idea, no matter how manly you are feeling.

Don't worry. The injury was minor, it only required a trip to an urgent care clinic and some stitches. That isn't that big of a deal, right? I mean, every kid has to stick a hatchet in his big toe at least once in his lifetime. Sam just got it out of the way early.

I have to say, he was very brave through the whole process. Mommy wasn't there to be with him (...which, her being out of town, might have something to do with how we got ourselves into this mess to begin with...), but he took it like a man. The only time he started to cry was when they gave him the shot to numb it. He is a tough kid when he needs to be.

Right now I think that he is actually enjoying the attention that he is getting. He is all propped up on the couch, watching a movie and eating Double Stuff Oreos with some milk.

His official new nickname is hatchet-boy. At least that is what he will be called until he becomes hammer-boy or bike-wreck-boy.

(If you are really interested, click
here to see the pre-stitched toe, and here to see the post-stitched toe.)

movie night

When the mommy is away, the boys will play... (and eat!)

Thursday night, when the children were supposed to be silently sleeping away in bed, we stayed up and had a movie night. And no movie night is complete without cinnamon rolls. (at least when it is one of my movie nights...)






Of course, I also had to introduce Sam to the wonderful world of the BIG Cinnamon Rolls! (He was impressed!)