What should we fear?

"Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."

-Francis Chan

Jesus in Hebrews, Worship in Costa Coffee

Yesterday at Costa Coffee I sat down with my friend Shane Dean and he taught me a bit of how to use the Logos Bible Software that I had on my computer, yet had been completely unable to figure out myself. It was a great couple of hours of explaining lexicons, hyperlinks, language tools, text comparisons, sentence diagrams, visual filters, etc.

And then right before he left he showed me the passage analysis feature, which allows you to chart out any pericope according to the frequency of words used, or quickly see the importance of a word or theme in a book. I offhandedly typed in "Jesus" as my search, and "Epistle to the Hebrews" as my pericope. The chart that came up nearly brought me to tears. 

It so wonderfully showed the great and noble name that He possesses and the great things that Jesus has done for us. 

• The One who is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession is the same One who suffered outside the gate. 

• The One who is called the Son of God is also the One who opened a way for us through the curtain of His flesh. 

• The Great Shepherd of the Sheep, who was crowned with glory and honour experienced the suffering of death.  

 It was an amazing moment as I was quickly reminded that the Scriptures are not just words to be studied, but they teach us about (and lead us to) the Saviour to whom we are to worship. I just looked at the chart and whispered a quiet prayer of thanks to my Lord, Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

What is Repentance?

Some people encounter Jesus and say, “Sweet! Jesus, do You want to join the party of my life with this sin, that addiction, this destructive relationship, and we’ll all just coexist together?” 

But repentance means saying, “Sweet Jesus, You are the best thing that has ever happened to me! I want to turn from all the sin and selfishness that rules me. I want to let it go and walk with You. Only You. You are my life now. Help me to walk away from the enslaving, worthless things in my life.”

France Chan, Forgotten God, David C. Cook Publishers, 2009, pg. 83

How to Read the Bible

A conversation between myself and Shane Angland about how we should read the Bible. (6 of 6, there aren't any more!)



I really enjoyed doing this interview with Shane and I hope you have enjoyed watching it. Shane's a fantastic guy and a great friend and I love serving Jesus with him. Make sure you check out his blog because it's better than mine! (He actually writes his own stuff!)

Why Does God Love Us?

He is the great God, “the God of the spirits and of all flesh,” “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” and created not angels and men because He wanted them, for He is being itself, and as such must necessarily be infinitely happy in the glorious perfections of His nature from everlasting to everlasting; and as He did not create, so neither did He redeem because He needed us, but He loved us because He loved us, He would have mercy because He would have mercy, He would show compassion because He would show compassion.

Susanna Wesley (1669-1724) as quoted by Fred Sanders in The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything, Crossway Publishers, 2010, pg. 67

What translation do you use?

A conversation between myself and Shane Angland about Bible Translations. (5 of 6, more to come!) 

Amplified!

Incredible.

The Dead Sea Scrolls

A conversation between myself and Shane Angland about the Dead Sea Scrolls. (4 of 6, more to come!) 
 

Is the Bible historically reliable?

A conversation between myself and Shane Angland about the Historical Reliability of the Bible. (3 of 6, more to come!)

Textual Criticism

A conversation between myself and Shane Angland about Textual Criticism. (2 of 6, more to come!)

The Canon of Scripture

A conversation between myself and Shane Angland about the Canon of Scripture. (1 of 6, more to come!)

Jesus is Better

In this epistle... Everything presented is presented as better:

a better hope, 

a better covenant, 

a better promise, 

a better sacrifice, 

a better substance, 

a better country, 

a better resurrection, 

a better everything. 

Jesus Christ is presented here as the Supreme Best.

And we are presented as being in Him and as dwelling in a completely new dimension – the heavenlies.

We read of the heavenly Christ, 

the heavenly calling, 

the heavenly gift, 

the heavenly country, 

the heavenly Jerusalem, 

and of our names being written in the heavenlies.

Everything is new. Everything is better. We don’t need the old.

-John MacArthur, commenting on the Epistle to the Hebrews

Apart from Him...

The Christian’s life in all its aspects - intellectual and ethical, devotional and relational, upsurging in worship and outgoing in witness - is supernatural; only the Spirit can initiate and sustain it. So apart from Him, not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations, there will be no believers, and no congregation at all.

J.I. Packer, quoted by Francis Chan, Forgotten God, David C. Cook Publishers, 2009, pg. 83

How does God reveal Himself?

...When it comes to the great, defining events of the economy of salvation, it has been God’s direct intention to do these things in order to make Himself known to us.
In the old covenant, the central events were the choosing of Abraham, the Exodus from Egypt, and the gift of the Promised Land. In these events God was doing something in history that brought about knowledge of Him. “I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God,” He declares in Exodus 6:7, with the result that “you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the Egyptians.” At the other end of Old Testament history, the Lord promises that He will bring His people back from exile and that this mighty act will result in sure knowledge of His identity and character: “And I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD (Ezek 37:14). Over and over, God links accurate knowledge of His character to recognition of a definite constellation of His mighty acts on behalf of His people.
But those old-covenant events all cry out for their divinely ordained fulfillment in the new covenant, where God completes His intention to make Himself known.  The book of Hebrews begins by announcing this breakthrough to a new level of God’s self expression toward us: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He spoke to us by His Son” (Heb 1:1-2). This Son is not simply a messenger who carries God’s words, or an interpreter who explains God’s ways. He is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (v.3), and His being sent into the world is itself a mighty act of God to simultaneously save us and reveal Himself. 

-Fred Sanders, The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything, Crossway Publishers, 2010, pg. 131

How has God spoken to us through His Son?

The revelation from Jesus Himself was unique, because not only was it purely God's message (as was the case with every other inspired writer) but it was also God's personality through which the message came. the personality of Paul, Peter, John and the other Biblical writers is clear in their writings. yet in the revelation from Jesus we see the personality of God.

David Guzik commenting on Hebrews 1:2 "In these last days He has spoken to us by His Son" 

Hebrews, Enduring Word Commentary Series, pg 12, 2004