The Root Issue of Sin

Posted on 2014/02/05 by Shawn Thomas

II Samuel 12 relates how Nathan the prophet boldly confronted King David after his adultery with Bathsheba. In :10 he tells the king: “Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” The words here, “because you have despised Me” are key, for here we discover the real issue involved in David’s sin.

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God’s Part and Ours: Balancing Sovereignty & Responsibility

Posted on 2014/02/04 by Shawn Thomas

In II Samuel 10 David had sent his armies to fight a coalition of the Ammonites and the Arameans. Just before the battle, David’s general Joab told his brother Abishai, whom he had given charge of an important part of the battle: “Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight.” (:12)
Joab demonstrated an important balance in his outlook here, a balance between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility:

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The Little Condo (2-04-14)

Posted on 2014/02/04 by Shawn Thomas

If you were a fly on the wall of the “Little Condo”, you would have heard some of the following quips and shenanigans around here the past couple of weeks:

MESSY READER?
Cheryl, reading Danny Akin’s theology for the Academy class at Trinity: “Do you mind if I eat some Cheetos while I read this book?”
Me: “Just don’t get any orange all over it!”

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Against God

Posted on 2014/02/03 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 2:2 describes the nations as arraying together “against the LORD and against His Anointed.” Those words, “AGAINST THE LORD” are key. The Hebrew word for “LORD” there is literally “Yahweh”, the personal name for the God of the Bible, the God who created the world, who sustains it all by the word of His power, and who has all authority and power. And yet, Psalm 2:2 says, the leaders of earth are “against” this God. This is significant:

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Responsibility & Accountability in the Church

Posted on 2014/02/02 by Shawn Thomas

Hebrews 13:17 gives us some specific commands regarding our responsibilities in the church: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” We discover a double responsibility and accountability here, for BOTH the leaders and people of the church:

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Doing The Opposite

Posted on 2014/01/31 by Shawn Thomas

In II Samuel 9:7 King David told Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth: “Do not fear, for I will surely show kindness to you for the sake of your father Jonathan …”. “Do not fear” was an appropriate admonition, for Mephibosheth was undoubtedly afraid when David had him summoned to his court. The custom of a new king was to destroy the other potential heirs and family members of the previous administration. But David was NOT going to do that. Instead, he would purposefully show kindness to him: the OPPOSITE of what people would generally expect in such a case. David declared that he was doing this “for the sake of your father Jonathan” but we also know from 7:18 that David realized that God had been undeservedly good to him — so undoubtedly this affected the way he chose to respond to others like Mephibosheth. He would treat them with the same undeserved mercy and grace that he himself had received.

This is a good reminder for us today as God’s people that we should not respond to people the way that everyone anticipates we will — Continue reading →

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A Battle You Can’t Win

Posted on 2014/01/30 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 2:1 asks: “Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing?”
The Psalmist here asks “WHY” the nations are in rebellion against God, when the last word of :1 (in Hebrew, the word “riq”) means “void, empty, vain, in vain.” Why are they doing what has no possibility of succeeding? They cannot “win” vs. God!

But numbers of us today might do well to ask ourselves the same question: why do we attempt to “skirt” around what God has ordained, when we have no possibility of succeeding in those attempts?

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Take The Initiative To Do Good

Posted on 2014/01/29 by Shawn Thomas

II Samuel 9:1 says: “Then David said, ‘Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?'” As this story begins, which would culminate with King David taking the crippled son of Jonathan into his home and caring for all his needs, it is important that we note that it was DAVID who took the initiative here. No one from the house of Saul, or any of Jonathan’s relatives came to David and asked him if he would show kindness to them. No, HE took the initiative and sought to do them good.

In the same way, many of God’s people today need to be more zealous and purposeful in seeking to do good for others.

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A Religion of the Heart

Posted on 2014/01/28 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 1:2 says of the godly man: “But his delight is in the Law of Yahweh, and in His Law he meditates day and night.” It is significant that this very first Psalm sets the tone that it is the HEART that makes the difference in genuine religion, not merely routine deeds and practices. Those two words “delight” and “meditates” are key. Continue reading →

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Delight in His Word

Posted on 2014/01/27 by Shawn Thomas

Psalm 1:2 says of the man whom :1 declared blessed for avoiding the ways of the world: “But his delight is in the LAW of YHWH, and in His LAW he meditates day and night.” This is an example of Hebrew parallelism, which is the way they did poetry. This parallelism is synonymous — that is, it says a similar thing twice to emphasize a point. This parallelism demonstrates that delight reveals itself in meditation, or constant thinking. You think constantly about whatever it is that you delight in.

But what is revealing here is that in both parallels it is the LAW, the LAW which is the blessed man’s meditation and delight. Continue reading →

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