'Bible' Tagged Posts

'Bible' Tagged Posts

The Public Reading of Scripture: Is There Only One Verse About This?

The famous verse that speaks to reading Scripture in church gatherings is 1 Timothy 4:13: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” However, throughout the Bible, God expected his people to hear his word read publicly, and we have a few instances of that happening. Below are most of the references to relevant passages and verses on this topic, with some brief comments. A Concise Biblical Survey Exodus 24:3-7 – The first…

Memorized Scripture: An Aid to Ministry, Sometimes in Surprising Ways

Awhile back, I finished memorizing Philippians. Since that time, I have tried to keep those four chapters memorized — a harder task than I imagined! Also in the days after memorizing this little book, I have had three unexpected experiences that have shown me that memorizing Scripture is even more beneficial for church leaders than I might have originally thought. The first unexpected experience happened during an elders’ meeting. We were discussing an issue in the church when one of…

Reading Scripture Rightly

When reading a section of Scripture, we will find that a passage almost always comes across weighted on one side of an issue or another. I mean this: a passage is written intended to drive a certain point home, aimed at a particular audience, for a specific reason by an author who knew what was needed. He drives his nail to the heart. That passage should stare at us, disturb us and call us to action and faith. We should…

Why do Some Pastors Deliberately Avoid Teaching Doctrine?

I have been involved in leading churches for four decades, with an emphasis on church planting in the last few years. I’ve also visited and addressed hundreds of churches around the world and have had the privilege of meeting thousands of Christian leaders. Through this time I’ve watched an unintentional doctrinal imprecision on the part of many pastors become intentional. In other words, I have witnessed a new “conventional wisdom” emerge. Simply stated it is the “wisdom” of attempting to…

The Scriptures, Christotelic

When the forlorn disciples met up with Jesus following His resurrection, it made the short trip from Jerusalem to Emmaus much more pleasant. Before revealing who He was and that indeed the Christ was alive from the dead, Jesus talked with them as a fellow pilgrim in life—but one who had extensive knowledge about the Scriptures. We find this story in Luke 24. He rebukes them, but more as a human like them who is confounded that these men do…

Book Tribalism

A tribe was exposed to the Bible for the first time in its own language. For fifteen to twenty years, this was all they had. If there were questions about practices or beliefs, the Bible alone was studied by the elders until a clear view emerged. The people memorized it, read it aloud to each other, enjoyed its language and encouragement, and heeded its rebukes and challenges. They taught the Bible to their families and in their church as if…

Book Hoarding

“Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance of books does his life consist of his library.”      A pastor in a small church received his first book allowance, provided by the church. He began to purchase the books he needed to stimulate his thinking, improve his understanding, and jolt his conscience. His library grew. Later, at a larger church the book allowance increased, and he was able…

An Appeal to Churches to Use Bibles

I’ll never forget my shock the first time I attended a Bible-less church. My kind of church was a Bible-teaching one and Bibles were standard operating equipment. The last word I heard as I got in the car to drive to church was, “Jimmy, do you have your Bible?” A child might forget his belt or socks, but never his Bible. Just as dutifully, the church children found their mothers after the church meeting to load her up with their…

Note to Bible Readers: “I Married an Ugly Man!”

Suppose you were a mail order bride from another country. You dream about what kind of husband this foreign man will be as you take the boat across the ocean. When you first set your eyes on him, you’re disappointed. He’s ugly! But the contract is signed and as he throws your bag on to the carriage, you have your first realization that, in fact, he’s a kind man and really wants the best for you. As you travel down…

The Role of Timothy and Titus: Apostolic Representatives, Not Pastors

I sometimes hear respected Bible teachers refer to Timothy as the pastor of the church in Ephesus. One of my favorite expositors also refers to Titus as the pastor on the island of Crete. But were Timothy and Titus really pastors? Pastor Titus? Titus is never mentioned in Acts, but his name is found often in Paul’s letters. After Paul was released from his first Roman imprisonment (at the end of Acts, around A.D. 62), he ministered with Titus on…

Authenticating Glory in Scripture

Though the Scripture may be shown to be trustworthy by many historical and logical proofs, it is essentially received as true because of the revelation of God’s glory experienced through it. Just as nature reveals God (Rom 1:19-21), and some receive or reject his glory, so man receives or rejects the glory of God in Scripture. In other words, a man sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking a majestic display of nature has every reason to believe in…

Rebuilding Our Churches with Bible Reading

I’m no prophet, but I believe we may soon see a swelling interest in reading the Bible both together & alone that could rebuild our faltering churches, and improve the good ones. My information is purely anecdotal but substantial. I’m certainly not the only one seeing this tremendous need and trying to do something about it. Perhaps God will use each of us who care about this to repair the crumbling base in these slanderous, corrupt and morally compromised days.…
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