In our family, the new year provides a great time to set goals for the year. One of the goals our family has is to read through the Bible as a family this year. Whatever your plan, there are many tools to help you focus on planning, and reading God’s Word.

So as we begin the new year, I wanted to share some resources for reading through the Bible in 2010.

Grace Fellowship… of course

The Gospel Coalition

ESV

Ransom Fellowship

Crossway Books

Each of these plans have different ways to accomplish the same goal: intentionally planning to read God’s Word. Make reading God’s Word a priority in 2010.

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In Part I, we considered the establishment of the Old Covenant within the ceremony between God and the people of Israel as outlined in Exodus 24. It is vital to notice that within the story of God rescuing Israel, it is God’s choice that is the dominant feature. God’s saving activity was to deliver the people from Egypt. While it is true that a sense of obligation on Israel’s behalf would naturally flow out being rescued; there is no reason to believe that the Covenant of Exodus 24 is the motivation for God’s acting.

God’s motivation was simple; He had made a promise (Gen. 12:1-3; Judges 2:1) to do something great through the people He had chosen …

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James 1:2 talks about meeting “trials of various kinds.”

Did you ever think of prosperity as a trial? In an age that regards prosperity as a claim we have on God, it is probably unusual to think of abundance as a test of our faith. But I’ve heard enough wise old saints talk about prosperity this way to make me think they’re on to something.

I think the heart of the matter is this: whether it’s a trial of prosperity or a trial of adversity, the important thing is not the content of the trial. The important thing is the objective God has in mind for the trial. To the extent we focus on our circumstances, we fail the test.

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I put a few thoughts together before the election, but never got around to posting them. Now that the results are in, it seems like it’s still worth posting, so here goes…

1. Over the last four years, Grace Fellowship has been immeasurably more impactful to my life than the White House. I have no reason to suspect that the next four years will be any different, and that’s as it should be.

2. In John 19:11, Jesus said to Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” That’s been true of every elected official who has served and led us, and it’s just as true of the

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Prayer took much of the time and strength of Jesus, and a man or woman who does not spend much time in prayer cannot properly be called a follower of Jesus Christ.

—R. A. Torrey, How to Pray

I often get down on myself for not reading my Bible like I ought to. But recently, I’ve started to think my real problem is that I don’t pray like I ought to.

Frequency of Prayer

What is the “right” amount of prayer? For me, “more than I’m doing right now” will do for an answer, and I suspect few of us have people saying to us, “Praying again? You know, you really ought to cut down…”

In the first chapter of the book quoted above, …

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For me, one of the highlights of Greg Koukl’s visit was a dinner on Saturday night that was followed by a lengthy Q&A session. Eric’s post on compatibilism reminded me that after dinner, Greg explicitly said he was a compatibilist. Specifically, he differentiated himself from J.P. Moreland inasmuch as Dr. Moreland is a libertarian.

For context’s sake, though, he made this statement while naming Dr. Moreland as the most influential person in his life. I find that kind of irenic spirit refreshing. While there’s a huge gap separating Greg and Dr. Moreland in this area, there’s not a ray of daylight between them when you consider their work to advance the Kingdom of …

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As you slept last night…

Jesus was betrayed in the Garden by a one of his disciples – Judas (Luke 22:47-48). Jesus was then taken to the former high priest, Annas (John 18:13). Jesus, the King of the Jews, was bound and delivered to Caiaphas – the reigning high priest who happens to be the son-in-law of Annas (wink,wink). Then Jesus was taken before the Sanhedrin, a group of top ranking religious leaders who were modeled after a council of elders that Moses convened to administer justice to keep Israel pure before their God (see Numbers 11:16). Jesus, the Son of God was bound by man – the creation of God. The entire series of events leads us into …

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It is now Tuesday in the Passion Week of Christ. Jesus goes back into Jerusalem (Mark 11:27) and is immediately challenged by the religious leaders of the day: By what authority are you going these things? And who gave you this authority? (see Matt. 21:23). These two questions set off a theological explosion since these two inquiries focus on the epicenter of the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders, the true identity of Jesus Christ. It is easy to expose what the religious leaders of the day thought of Christ since they viewed Jesus’ authority as fake, a simple poser that needed to be exposed as a heretic. It is now clear that the religious leaders refuse …

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The day after the “Triumphal Entry” or “Palm Sunday” Jesus again enters Jerusalem in the morning, but this time he is walking. No ceremony, no joyful cheers, just a plant that will serve as a living parable. It was early and Jesus was hungry (Matt. 21:18-22). Upon investigating the tree, Jesus sees that the tree that was intended to produce figs had none since the time of year for fig trees to produce had not come. At this time of year, edible figs were still about 6 weeks away. A bland fruit would appear on the fig tree in late March, but it would not become ripe until late May. These figs were “early” figs that would precede the main …

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The following was a story I referenced in the March 11 teaching. There were several people who asked for a copy so I thought it could be beneficial to post this story since it magnificently portrays how God gets messy in the details of our lives. Enjoy.

It Happened on the Brooklyn Subway

Marcel Sternberger was a methodical man of nearly 50, with bushy white hair, guileless brown eyes, and the bouncing enthusiasm of a czardas dancer of his native Hungary. He always took the 9:09 Long Island Railroad train from his suburban home to Woodside, N.Y.., where he caught a subway into the city.
On the morning of January 10, 1948, Sternberger boarded the 9:09 as usual. En …

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