No one wants to be exposed or found out. There are certain things that we do that we want to keep doing without any interference from others. Some of these things are innocent and not very harmful, others; are detrimental and possibly totally destructive. Being exposed is uncomfortable and can even be painful. However, it’s good for us.

It’s like waking up in the morning and opening the blinds and seeing the first rays of the sunshine. The initial response is pain. It hurts our eyes, its uncomfortable, we are struggling to gather our senses and see through the brilliance of the light. Then, within seconds our eyes begin to adjust. As the pain fades there lays in front of us the beauty of the sun light and the exposure of all of creation.

I’ve recently been reading through a book by Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones called, “Why Does God Allow War”. The book was first printed in December of 1939. For you history buffs you may recognize that date. It’s the exact time where the US would engage in WWII and the notorious Adolf Hitler begins his reign of destructive and cruel leadership. It is within this context that Dr. Lloyd Jones preaches a series of sermons which are turned into this small book. The first half of the book deals specifically with prayer. Dr. Lloyd Jones in the very first page states:

“In a time of stress and difficulty men and women turn instinctively to prayer. They are conscious of the fact that their fate, and the fate of those who are dear to them, is in the hands of powers greater than themselves”

As you read those words you may have the same feeling in the pit of your stomach. Its the set up that leads you to conviction. Dr. Lloyd Jones continues:

“Prayer is regarded as a mechanism which is designed to produce certain results”

Exposed. Here I was, literally two pages into this book and I found myself in deep conviction. I began to evaluate my own prayer life and realized while I knew how I should approach prayer I found myself in a dangerous position. I realized that my prayer life exposed how I view God. If I came to God in prayer only when I was in great need and functionally prayer served as a mechanism to meet my needs and goals, God was no more than a genie in a bottle.

God: Genie in a bottle or Sovereign God of the Universe?

It’s offensive. How could someone accuse me of viewing God as some genie in a bottle? Yet, here I was; not only accusing myself but declaring the verdict – guilty. My actions unveiled the condition of my heart and some tendencies I fell into. If I don’t keep preaching the Gospel to myself and the truth about who God is, the sovereign creator, sustainer, and King of the Universe; I am prone to dethrone Him and attempt a feeble insurrection and place myself in that place of kingship. The result is that God functionally becomes someone who has a sole purpose of meeting my needs, wishes, and desires.

The way we approach God in prayer gives us an understanding of our Theology of God. What do we believe about God and do our actions line up with our beliefs? Even worse, and more systematic of not having a right view of God is if the only time we truly pray is in the midst of crisis and despair. Dr. Lloyd Jones states,

“This is why, of course, the prayer life of so many is fitful and spasmodic in normal times, and becomes urgent and regular only in a time of desperate need”.

Course Correction:

It is in these moments I am ever grateful that we have a God who is patient and kind with us. We have two options when we are exposed. First, we can fear the exposure and attempt to burrow ourselves deeper into the darkness in a weak attempt at hiding from our creator. Or Second, we can allow the initial pain of exposure to result in a course correction that is navigated by the truth of the Gospel and results in our eyes and heart refocused on the beauty and brilliance of God.

If we look at the prayer life of Moses, Daniel, Isaiah, and even the Apostles we see a model of prayer that brings into perspective the full nature and character of God. If God is who he says he is we should willingly and in eager fashion approach him in humility declaring his worth and seeking his purposes. Petition has its place and even better, God hears and responds to our petitions, however; we need a balance in our prayer life that is centered by the Gospel.

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Grab your Copy of “Why Does God Allow War” By Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones

P.S – I just launched my first e-book and I’m giving it away for free! Grab your copy of Augustine’s 7 Steps To Wisdom!

The post Exposing Our Prayer Life appeared first on Joel's Travels.

I had the opportunity to spend 14 days in Israel. This was a dream come true and an experience I really cherished. The most important part of the trip for me may have been the desert experience. When we think about the desert our minds typically turn to the challenges and extreme danger associated with a desert.

• Lack of water
• Extreme heat
• Deadly animals
• Dangerous terrain
• Lack of food and nutrition

The truth is, the desert brings us imagery of hopelessness, loss, and ultimately death. This truth was experienced by the Israelites as they wandered for 40 years in the desert. As we read through this account and consider their journey it’s easy to take for granted what they experienced and overlook the journey they were on.

Let’s take a moment to take a step back and consider what took place in the desert for them. The journey through the desert positioned the Israelites in the most desperate of situations. They were in a seemingly hopeless situation and they found their only hope of survival by wholly trusting in the provision of the Lord. Probably one of the most important aspects of their wilderness journey is what they learned during the 40 years. Imagine what people were feeling as they wandered. They had such high hopes for the promised land. They could remember the bitterness of slavery and they had hopes for a better future.

Take a moment to pause.

I think this describes us in many ways.

As some of you are reading this you are instantly considering your own life. You may not be in a physical desert, but you are experiencing a “desert season” in your life. You find yourself filling your head with doubts and questioning God’s will for your life. You may have experienced some kind of failure recently. What possible worth could there be in the waiting? In the pain of the desert? Why would a loving God allow us to go through desert seasons?

Theological Framework:

First, lets take a look at Acts 17:24-28. This passage is a source of incredible encouragement for me. My specific boundaries and geographic location were determined by God. Not only our boundaries but even the “allotted periods”. This at the most practical level means that our work, school, families, and homes that we live in are allotted and determined by God for a purpose, namely our good and His glory.

Hope in the desert:

The Israelites experience in the desert was meaningful and not meaningless. They learned how serious God was about his Holiness and his people living according to his laws. They learned humility in being forced to trust God when the had no way to provide for themselves. During the course of 40 very difficult years, they experienced the simple and life giving blessings of the Lord. These experiences caused them to return to the hope they had in God.

Your desert is not meaningless. The job that you have is not meaningless. The neighborhood that you live in is not by accident nor is it meaningless. There is a purpose and God is working in your desert to provide simple blessings to cause you to remember the hope that can only be found in him.

Learning in the desert:

Human nature and our current cultural trends have us focusing on the destination. There is much more focus and drive to achieve and arrive at the goal. In the process we create a tunnel vision that causes us to miss the beauty of the journey. In Israel our tour guide, Boaz; focused on this aspect of our behavior as we walked up to the Mt. of Beatitudes. So many of us were focused on getting there, that we missed the beauty of the sea of Galilee that can only be seen on a certain part of the journey up.

Our hyper focus on getting ourselves out of the desert season we may be in may not be the best for us. Just as the Israelites had to learn important lessons, we must also. The desert just happens to be the means by which God teaches at times. What can you learn in your desert? How is God working to shape and form you in His likeness and image? What are the frustrations that you bring to God and are pleading with him to resolve so you can move on to the bigger and better?

It’s in these questions that we find the grace of God and we begin to see his will and purpose for our life a bit clearer. As we realize what God is teaching us, we can be encouraged to know that he also has a plan for us and is working in a 100 different ways simultaneously to cause us to reflect Him and prepare us for the future.

There is meaning in our desert. There is a value in our waiting. God is actively working and shaping us and uses the desert seasons of our life to accomplish this. Be encouraged, the desert will come to an end. The saddest thing is if the desert comes to an end and we missed out on all that God had desired for us to learn in that season.

The post Finding Hope In The Desert appeared first on Joel's Travels.

On Fathers Day every where we look we see a celebration of fatherhood filled with special food and drinks. Fun activities and basically a day filled with doing whatever dad wants to do. It’s a joyous day! It’s a fun day! Then you wake up Monday morning and that sense of exhilaration is gone only to be replaced with being weary and tired.

You wake up weary, tired, there is a sense of brokenness and anxiety as you roll out of bed and begin your routine. You see, I don’t really want to engage with or talk to the excited and pumped up dad on Fathers day, I want to talk to the dad the morning after.

Why Weary?

It’s hard work and exhausting being dad. From the moment we got married and then had kids, our world turned upside down. The college adolescent days of partying, late nights, and binge watching tv shows or playing games came to an end. If it hasn’t come to an end, it should! We can still have fun and actually, it’s important that we do. However, its a different world filled with constantly thinking about how we are going to provide for our kids, if our families needs are met, how to achieve the next promotion or raise to help create some breathing room for our family in the budget. We wake up thinking about those things and go to bed with them rolling around in our minds.

This leaves us weary and tired. However, there is good news. The scriptures give us hope and as fathers we can hold on to these four truths.

God is sovereign regardless of circumstance:

Let’s speak candid. We are not the kings of our castle. If we were, there is plenty of reason to not only be weary but terrified. Everything will crumble around us as we realize how unable we are to handle all that is on our shoulders. The good news is that God is ultimately and sufficiently sovereign. That means he rules everything and everything is subject to his Kingship. All we have to do is turn to John 1:1-3 to see this tremendous truth. Since this is true, our circumstances don’t shake God. The details and concerns that keep us up at night don’t stress God out. He is in control of all of it and is working those things together for our good and His glory. God is King of our circumstances and in an almost mysterious way he works through our circumstances to cause us to grow in our love and affections for Him.

If there is doubt that is creeping into your heart about this truth take a moment to read John 1:1-7 and the book of Job. John 1:1-7 gives us the theological framework for this truth. The book of Job shows us how this plays out in the life of one of God’s faithful servants.

P.S – If you are a wife reading this take a moment in the day to remind your husband of this truth. Encourage him and pray this over him.

God is sovereign regardless of circumstance:
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We are not on our own:

Now that we know that God is sovereign there is a tremendous implication to this truth. We are not on our own. We have a tendency to walk through our day, make plans, and take actions with the mindset that we are on our own. Sometimes we keep things from our wives or loved ones fearing that they will stress out so we take this tremendous burden on by ourselves. If God is sovereign, and we know he is; we also know that he is active in our lives. He didn’t create the world by speaking and then walk away like an absentee father. Some of you may have experienced that growing up. An absentee father physical or even emotional is painful. God did not walk away, rather after creation he stepped into humanity and remained active. God is empathetic and truly cares for the people he created in his likeness and image.

For the weary father, this truth is like holding your breath under water to the point of passing out and then coming out of the water and getting that first breath of fresh air. It is life giving. Literally life giving. Knowing God is with us, and that he walks alongside us should fill us with hope and joy. It’s like going into a pick up basketball game with the 95’96 Michael Jordan walking next to you (Yea, I went there) Unstoppable!

P.S – Wives, if your reading this take a moment to pray for your husband. He may not show it, but some degree he is weary.

We are not on our own:
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We have the perfect Father to turn to:

One of the most important characteristics of God is that he is our Father. The imagery of God that we see throughout the entire Bible is of a loving, caring, and perfect Father (2nd Sam7:13-14, Mt 7:7-11, Rom 8:15-17). Keep in mind, the fact that he is loving and caring also means that like any good and Godly father he brings correction and discipline (Prov 3:11-12, Prov 13:24). When we feel hopeless, weary, and exhausted, we can and should turn to our heavenly Father. He comforts us in the midst of our pain and tragedy, he sings over us with delight in the midst of our joy and praise (Zeph 3:17).

We have the perfect Father to turn to:
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We have the hope of the Gospel:

To the weary father, live in light of the hope that the Gospel gives us.The hope we have is found in the finished work of Christ. We could never accomplish what he did, and our striving to accomplish what he has already done will only leave us weary and tired. Continue to preach the Gospel to yourself. Remember the hope that you have in Christ and take joy in our adoption as sons of God and co-heirs with Christ. Rest assured in these simple and fundamental truths:

1. God is sovereign regardless of our circumstance
2. We are not on our own
3. We have the perfect Father to turn to
4. Live in light of the hope of the Gospel

We have the hope of the Gospel:
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One of the theologians I took special interest in during seminary was Augustine. Augustine, was Bishop of Hippo and his life was a journey marked by his pursuit of selfish pleasures in his youth to a conversion experience that caused him to be placed by “force” as a priest in Hippo. In just 5 short years, he became Bishop of Hippo and remained in that position for the next 35 years. As I look at the life of Augustine I am filled with conviction, hope, and encouragement. Augustine’s priority was ministry and his writing and scholarship came as a result of his experiences serving the people of God placed under his care.

Both in Augustine’s day and in ours, humanity is seeking after wisdom. They look for wisdom in a variety of places hoping that the acquisition of wisdom will save them from hardship and provide a benefit for their future. Augustine took great care to write about wisdom in a way that would be of use for those that God called to his care. Even more important, Augustine points us to pursue wisdom through the context of the Gospel and in light of the scriptures. He breaks down the pursuit of wisdom into seven steps in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: First Series, Volume II St. Augustine: City of God, Christian Doctrine

First, Fear:

It is necessary that we should be led by the fear of God to seek the knowledge of His will – Augustin

In many ways wisdom begins with humility. Our understanding of who God is and who we are should produce a holy fear. Augustine helps us see that this holy fear should cause us to seek the knowledge of God. As we understand the knowledge of God we are able to align our desires with those of God. As we come into alignment with the will of God, our choices, motivations, and actions will begin to reflect the wisdom of God.

Another key aspect of fear is the recollection of who we truly are apart from Christ. Our mortality and fragile nature will come to the forefront causing us to run into the embrace of the Creator and lay down our prideful notions of idolatrous self worth.

we should be led by the fear of God to seek the knowledge of His will – #Augustin
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Second, Piety:

It is necessary to have our hearts subdued by piety – Augustine

Augustine is asking that we allow our hearts to be subject to properly honor and respect the Word of God. It can be easy for us to neglect or even run away from Scripture. The Word of God is both life giving and offensive as it exposes our sin. Our response to scripture however should be filled with humility and a willingness to allow God’s Word to direct and change our life. Augustine also encourages us in our inability to understand Scripture at times. Rather than thinking we should be able to understand and beating ourselves up over our inadequacy, we should rest in the truth and sufficiency of God’s Word. Whatever is written, even if it is hidden, is better and more true than anything we could conjure up with our own wisdom.

It is necessary to have our hearts subdued by piety – #Augustine
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Third, Knowledge:

God is to be loved for his own sake, and our neighbor for God’s sake – Augustine

As we jump into the Scriptures to gain knowledge we will find the truth of the human condition apart from God. We have been entangled in the love of this world and taken in fleeting and momentary pleasures only to find our selves more broken and hurting. Therefore, the fear of the Lord and our pious approach to the scriptures give us a renewed sense of hope and we see the truth. As we become captivated by the beauty of the Gospel we see that God is to be loved for his own sake and that in grace he saves and restores fallen humanity to enjoy Him. The more we understand and grow in our knowledge of the scriptures we have a greater sense of the despair we were in but for Christ. So we become humble and not boastful, meek and not proud, and seek to serve not to rule.

God is to be loved for his own sake, and our neighbor for God’s sake – #Augustine
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Fourth, Strength and Resolution:

He extricates himself from every form of fatal joy in transitory things – Augustine

As you may notice, Augustine seems to be building on each of these points. As we have gained knowledge and understand the truths of scripture there is a need for response. The heart that has been redeemed and restored turns from the fatal and fleeting pleasures of this world to fix our eyes and gaze upon Christ. We fix our affections on eternal things that stir up our love and joy in Christ.

There is also a sense of resolution that takes place. A commitment to submit ourselves to the Gospel and in humility subject ourselves to the Kingship of Christ in all areas of life.

He extricates himself from every form of fatal joy in transitory things – #Augustine
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Fifth, Counsel Of Compassion:

He exercises himself diligently in the love of his neighbor – Augustine

In the most basic manner our pursuit of Godly Wisdom will result on our reflecting the character and nature of Christ. As Christ loved us so we love our neighbor. Even more so, we begin to show compassion and love towards our enemies and those that mistreat us. Our story becomes one that is defined by the love of Christ.

Our affections are so stirred up for Christ that we can not help but become agents of his mercy and love. We carry out our mission as ambassadors of Christ and the ministry of reconciliation. Therefore, our love of our neighbor and enemy produces a Godly wisdom.

He exercises himself diligently in the love of his neighbor – #Augustine
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Sixth, Purification Of Heart:

For men see Him just as far as they die to this world; and so far as they live to it they see Him not – Augustine

The process of our purification forms us into the image of Christ. As we live in light of the Gospel we will be so pure in heart that we can’t step aside from truth for any reason. The thought of pleasing man or even our own desires fade in comparison to the brilliant and beautiful light of Christ. Our purification of heart and mind cause us to see this world for what it is, a temporary living place until the return of the King who will create and form the new heavens and earth.

Our purification will also allow us to see God. As we die to this world and live for the Kingdom our clarity of the King becomes clearer. Sadly, those that live for this world are unable to see the King or His Kingdom.

Seventh, Ascend To Wisdom:

For the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom – Augustine

Peace and tranquility is found by the person who processes these six steps and finds it’s culmination in Godly wisdom. It is a full circle as we are brought back to the truth that the fear of God is in fact the very beginning of wisdom.

“From that beginning, then, till we reach wisdom itself, our way is by the steps now described” – Augustine

For the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom – #Augustine
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P.S – If you would like a copy to read I recommend the following edition. Click the link and grab your copy!

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^[1] Augustine of Hippo, “On Christian Doctrine,” in St. Augustin’s City of God and Christian Doctrine, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. J. F. Shaw, vol. 2, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1887), 538.

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In 2013 I set out to earn a second Master’s Degree. I had just completed a Master of Science in Organizational Psychology and was faced with an opportunity to earn a Masters Degree in Biblical and Theological Studies from Knox Theological Seminary. The offer was too good to pass up and I love being a student so I embarked on a 2.5 year journey. Recently, I finished all course requirements and finished my degree. As I’ve been reflecting on my time in Seminary I’ve come to realize that much of what I learned and will take away with me are the intangibles. The following are five of the most important skills that Seminary taught me aside from the standard academic goals of proficiency and aptitude in the area of theological and biblical studies.

Pursuing Excellence in the Area of Time/Calendar Management:

Throughout my seminary journey I balanced a full time job at Faithlife which had me traveling over 100K miles a year around the world. I did my best to be a faithful husband and loving father to my three sons. I also attempted to be apart of the local church and serve to the best of my ability. Somewhere in that mix was serious study time for seminary which included lots of reading and writing. Oh, I also had to fit in fantasy football and watching and playing basketball! I’ve been constantly asked, “How do you manage it all”. I typically responded with, “It’s really just the way God wired me”. As I reflect on that season of my life I agree that God has definitely wired me in a way to enjoy balancing multiple projects, however; I think an overlooked skill that was forcibly developed was pursuing excellence in my time and calendar management. The most important part of this for me was redeeming possibly wasted time. For instance:

• Get all my reading and as much of my writing done during airplane rides instead of falling asleep (which sadly I did to often!).
• Create blocks of time that was dedicated to school, work, family, and fun/activities. I built this in my iCal and shared it with my wife so we had visibility in my schedule.
• Evaluate my calendar and how successful I had been the previous week – I learned quickly how much I could manage and had to make some difficult decisions in different seasons on things that I had to lay down in order to get my priorities done. For instance, I took a 4 month break on this blog to finish seminary strong and achieve the grade point average I needed to have a competitive application for a PhD program

Ultimately, this allowed me to finish my goals without having to many things slip. If they did slip, it would be taken care of in the evaluation of my previous week. Learning this has been vital and really has overflowed into every area of my life.

Think Critically about Literature and Scripture:

Until I got into Seminary I didn’t realize how much of my reading was on auto pilot. I took almost everything I read to be fact without really engaging and thinking critically about what was being said, why it was being said in that way, and if I even agreed with what was written. This showed up specifically in engaging with commentaries, modern surveys, and biographical research and study on influential people such as Jonathan Edwards, John Calvin, and Augustine. It is easy to just assume what they have to say is correct because of the great platform they have in the development of theology and doctrine. However, I was forced to come to terms with parts of their writings I didn’t agree with or where they missed the point or were simply negligent in. This is not isolated just to writing but the life that was lived. For instance, for all the good that Edwards has done for the church the fact is he was also a slave owner. Some how in his study, this was a blind area of his life.

Thinking critically about literature and scripture caused my mind to work in ways that it hadn’t previously. I found my self asking different questions which led me to a deeper and better understanding of scripture and theology.

Funnel my Scholarly Pursuit Through the Lens of Ministry:

One of my honest fears of Seminary was that I would turn into a snobbish academic elitist with little time for ministry and people. I didn’t want to become a modern Pharisee who was so caught up in the details of the scripture that I missed the heart and mission of God. This fear actually served as a lens that I funneled my academic pursuits through. I made it a habit of asking the simple questions, “How and why would this relate to my church or the body of Christ?”. Crossing the bridge of application between the scholarly and ministry worlds is so important. I think its when we neglect this bridge that we lose our way. Again, I am greatly influenced by Augustine who spent 35 years as Bishop of Hippo preaching up to two times a day and still accomplished academic excellence. It took Augustine 16 years to write his influential work on the Trinity in his “spare time”! Possibly my favorite Augustine quote is:

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Better is it that scholars find fault with us, than that the people understand us not – #Augustine
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Being an Academic and Still Have a Relationship with Christ:

Another fear going into seminary was that my heart would turn cold towards God and that the scriptures would become a textbook filled with information that needed to be studied and researched. Again, this fear propelled me to engage with the Lord personally through seminary. I made a commitment to read books that were more devotional in nature and caused me to realign my heart with the creator of the universe. Dr. John Piper’s Desiring God was monumental for me in seasons where I felt myself slipping.

While this is a serious danger, especially as I consider further academic pursuits; I am encouraged that there are those out there that have also been down that road and are more in love with Christ than ever before as a result of their academic journey.

Being a Perpetual Student of the Word of God: There is no “Arriving”

Just because you graduate with a diploma and have the ability to add a few letters after your signature doesn’t mean you have “arrived”. Throughout my entire seminary process what became more and more evident is how little I am and how much there is to learn and grow in. This goes for both the academic and spiritual parts of our life. We will ever be servants of Christ and it bodes us well to position our selves in humility before the creator of the universe. That he reveals himself to us through his Word is evidence of his grace and love for the people whom He created. This sense of humility allows us to approach the scriptures with an eager mind and humble heart.

The post 5 Skills Seminary Taught Me appeared first on Joel's Travels.

One of the challenges in our theology is in regards to how we view Christ. Our theology of Christ (Christology) is vital in regards to how we interact with the Word of God and how we relate to scripture. In fact, our theological framework serves as the lens in which we apply the text in our lives. So, if we don’t consider the wider and deeper implications of theology, our interpretation and application can be found limited and undeveloped. One of the areas that is incredibly important is how we view Christ. As we unpack the character and nature of Christ we find that he serves as the perfect prophet, priest, and king. In fact, Calvin taught the work of Christ in the context of Prophet, Priest and King. As we are able to unpack the nature of Christ and see how he functions in these three particular categories, our understanding of how marvelous Christ is will expand.

Christ As Prophet:

Throughout the Old Testament we find God interacting with his chosen people. Prior to Genesis 3 God spoke intimately with Adam and Eve face to face. After the fall and as sin enters humanity we see a shift in communication as God uses specific people as his spokesmen. The term prophet as used in the Old Testament can be closely associated in terms of a person who is the actual “mouthpiece” of someone else, in this instance, the prophets of the old testament are “mouthpieces” of God. However, these prophets are limited and found wanting. They deliver a specific message from the Lord, but they themselves are not a clear and perfect reflection of God. As Christ enters in the New Testament he calls himself a prophet (Lk 13:33) bringing the message of his Father. He also functions perfectly as a prophet as he foretells (Mt 24), speaks with authority (Mt 7:29), authenticates his message with signs, and is recognized by the people as a prophet (Mt 21:11, Lk 7:16, Jn 3:2). While the prophets of the Old Testament proclaimed the truth, Jesus Himself was and is Truth (jn 14:6).

As we read through the Old Testament and encounter these incredible prophets such as Moses and Aaron we can remember that as great as they were, they are but a shadow of who Christ is. Jesus is our perfect Prophet and a clear reflection of God the Father.

Christ as Priest:

As we consider Christ as our Priest we can turn to Hebrews 5-7 which gives us a clear picture of this great High Priest who intercedes on behalf of His people. Again, throughout the OT we see the offie of the priest hood established. These priests served as a form of mediator between a fallen humanity and a perfect God. They interceded on behalf of fallen humanity, yet, they themselves needed cleansing and purification because they were with sin. One interesting fact is that once a year the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifice. The priests would tie a rope around his ankle just in case he went in and was struck down dead due to unrepentant sin. No one was allowed into the Holy of Holies, and even the High Priest could be slain and struck down for his sin. How wonderful to know that we have a High Priest who intercedes, is in the very presence of God right now, and is for us! He was found without sin and therefore is counted as the perfect High Priest

As we read through the Old Testament and see how the priests function and serve the people of God we can take hope in Christ who serves as the perfect High Priest and continually intercedes on our behalf.

Christ as King:

Throughout the entirety of Scriptures there has never been a priest who was also a king other than Melchizedech King of Salem (Ge 14:18-20). Christ, enters into humanity in many ways as the suffering servant. He comes and humbles himself, in obedience to the will of the father, to death on the cross. During his time on earth he teaches his disciples of the coming Kingdom. He conquers both sin and death and ascends into heaven giving a promise to his disciples that he would return again. In revelation we find that kingdom of this present world will come under the final rule and authority of Christ as King and within the boundaries of His Kingdom (Rev 11:15). Geerhardus Vos describes Christ’s final Kingdom reign by stating, “It is the ocean into which all the rivers of history roll their waters from the beginning of the world”*.

As we consider  the tragedy that takes place in our world, we can find rest and assurance in the coming Messiah who will bring all the broken fragments of this world under His perfect Kingship and authority to create the most magnificent Kingdom.

The Perfect Jesus:

As we study and consider our perfect Jesus we see that he exercises all three offices. As prophet he declares both the law and his gospel and outshines the prophets of the Old Testament. As priest, he is not limited to an earthly temple but ministers in the true sanctuary in the presence of the Father. Finally, as King he entered humanity, conquered sin and death, setting the prisoners free from the bondage of the law. Jesus is perfect. He is sufficient. He is Prophet, Priest, and King.

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Geerhardus Vos, The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews (repr., Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 1998), 194.

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Parents,

Let’s take this advent season as an opportunity to lead our families well. God has given us a great responsibility and privilege to lead our families. I know the challenges that we face in regards to this all to well. We work long hard hours, we get home and we are tired and exhausted.  We run through our checklist of things that need to get done before dinner, and we find our selves scrambling to play catch up on everything else after dinner before we go to bed just repeat the same thing tomorrow. In this process many of us, myself included, neglect leading our families in Bible study. Somehow, the most important thing we can do as parents becomes the most neglected. There is nothing more important that I can think of than opening up the beauty of God’s Word and sharing this marvelous Christ with our family.

It’s Time To Change Things

Rather than waiting for next year or for our “busy season” to die down lets take this Advent season as our opportunity to intentionally lead our families and enter into eager anticipation of the celebration of the coming of the promised messiah. I know some of the objections that may come up. Things like:

• I’m not a Bible scholar
• I don’t have any formal training in theology or studying the Bible
• We don’t have the time to add something else, this will definitely take a serious time commitment that I don’t have

There’s good news! You’re not on your own and there are some incredible resources that can walk you through the process of leading your family regardless of your knowledge, training, or time availability. This is something that we all can do!

My Commitment To You

During Advent I am planning on sending out a weekly Advent Bible study that can be a help to you as you lead your families through this season. Each week expect to see an Advent study that you can repurpose and use to teach your family or engage in conversation. These studies will build on each other and include some great visuals, background history and information, and discussion questions. Getting this each week is incredibly simple! Just sign up to my advent newsletter and you will be all set!

Further Resources

I’d recommend that you also invest in some resources to help you dig deeper and encourage you along the way. I’d highly encourage you to check out and dig into the following resources:

Good News Of Great Joy: Daily Readings For Advent (John Piper)

Prepare Him Room: Celebrating The Birth Of Jesus Family Devotional (Marty Machowski)

The Adventure Of Christmas: Helping Children Find Jesus In Our Holiday Traditions

*(All opinions are my own. I make a commission off of the affiliate links, however I do not endorse products that I do not use myself or believe in)

The post Parents, Lets Lead Our Families Through Advent appeared first on Joel's Travels.

There is nothing better than the remembrance of the goodness of God and seeing how it produces fruit in our lives. I’m excited to also share a link to the entire sermon that I preached that sparked this series as we wrap it up with this post.

First, if you haven’t, take a minute and get caught up on the first two parts of the series. Also, make sure you sign up to the email list so you can get posts delivered right to your inbox.

1. Theology of Remembrance Part 1 – Our remembrance of the goodness of God stirs our affections for Jesus
2. Theology of Remembrance Part 2 – Our remembrance produces a grateful heart

Human Motivation and Action

We have a tendency to take things into our own hands. I grew up in Chicago during the days of the legendary Michael Jordan. Without fail, in the last few minutes of any game when the Bulls were down there was not even a doubt who the primary ball handler would be. Who was going to take the final shot? Of course, it was going to be MJ. I’ve listened to numerous interviews of Michael Jordan describing his thought process during these moments. It was simple, he wanted the ball and was determined to take things into his own hands to win the game.

This motivation is present in all of us, however, we begin to think that we are in fact God. We believe that when chaos in our lives occur that the best chance we have is to take things into our own hands. If we were to take an honest look at our selves we would find that we are truly not capable. It would be impossible and this creates a serious frustration. Further, we try to respond from our finite knowledge and experiences. As believers, we have a better option. We can turn to Christ and allow the Gospel to inform our decisions and actions.

God Remains Faithful In Spite Of Our Circumstances:

Why should we turn to Christ? Because he is not shaken by our circumstances. God is not surprised or taken back by the situation are your in today. Rather, as we see in Romans 8: 28-30 God is continually working things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. What an incredible truth to know that God is for us and with us! I think its important to note that this does not mean we will not go through trials, tragedy, and seasons of sorrow and lament. What we do know is that in these seasons we can trust and count on God being with us through every moment. This reality became so true to us as we experienced the goodness and comfort of God as my 9 month old son went through hospitalization and tests after he had a complex febrile seizure.

Today we can rest and rejoice in this truth. That God does not leave us regardless of our sin, failure, and unfaithfulness. Rather, he stays with us and remains faithful.

**

You can listen to my sermon on Genesis 35 here

The post Genesis 35: A Theology Of Remembrance Pt. 3 appeared first on Joel's Travels.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and the blitz for family time, food, and travel is well underway and we are all in need of more grace! It always amazes me that in a season where we are asked to remember what we are thankful for, we end up being the most critical people who are unable to show grace. When I write these words I am speaking about myself first.

I realized over the last week leading up to thanksgiving that all the preparation and trying to get caught up with work so I can enjoy time with family has caused me to be short and sometimes plain mean to my family, I think the dog gets the worst of it! The journey of giving and extending grace can sometimes be long and complicated, filled with unexpected turns and challenges.

A Reflection Of The Condition Of Our Heart

Then it hit me. The extent of how gracious I am is a deep reflection of the condition of my heart. My critical nature, being short, and angry were all symptoms of a heart that really was not thankful. In many ways a thankful heart produces a gracious person. I think the Apostle Paul’s words are helpful to in this regard (Col 4:6)

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person*”

Really, being a gracious person is not an option for the Christian. As we understand and remind ourselves of how God rescued and delivered us our natural response should be to extend grace to others. Sadly, in times of stress we so easily run hard after achieving our goals that we neglect to rest in the grace of God.

How Do We Extend Grace?

Some of us feel a sense of defeat when it comes to extending grace. We may feel that we are just critical people. We are flawed and there is no hope, rather we just have to deal with the affects. However, this is true for all of us. We are all hopeless and not capable of extending grace and being a people filled with grace apart from Christ. I appreciate how Charles Spurgeon comments on this topic of being a grace filled people.

“you may have some grace in your heart, but it is dropped there like small rain from heaven, you have not got it “poured” there; you may be ever so full of grace, but Christ is more full than you are; and when you are ever so reduced in grace, it is a consolation that with him is plenteous grace, plenty that knows no lack, for grace is poured into his lips” – C. H. Spurgeon*

Spurgeon

While we may have some grace in our hearts, we have to recognize that it is nothing compared to the fully sufficient grace that is found in Christ. The real challenge happens when we try to extend and be a people of grace based on our own means or ability. Even our ability to extend grace is fully reliant on Christ who is full; even overflowing, with grace. Therefore, lets find our hope, rest, and sufficiency in Him.

—

C. H. Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 54 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1908), 98.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Col 4:6.

The post The Journey Of Grace appeared first on Joel's Travels.

As some of you know I’m in seminary. Seminary has been an incredible opportunity to get stretched in my understanding of theology, church history, and ministry methodology. I’ve had a lot of conversations with people who wish they had the opportunity to go through seminary but it just is not a reality for them in the season of life they are in. In response to this I thought each week I would do a post called “Seminary 101”. Essentially, this will be post that covers a specific topic that I am studying in seminary for that week.

The Reformation and the Church

Currently, I am taking Church History 2 from Dr. Gerald Bray. We have been discussing the nature of the church in light of its social and political climate during the time of the reformation. The very nature of the church during the time of Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Calvin, and the reformers was both scrutinized and being evaluated. It seems very clear that the reformers believed that the church had lost its way as time went on and therefore was in desperate need of reform. Wycliffe questioned the extravagant wealth of the church and priests. Wycliffe believed that the Bible should be accessible to everyone and therefore should be translated[1]. The church in response to Wycliffe’s outspoken beliefs responded by decreeing that no one was allowed to translate the Bible.

Internal and External Challenges

As these “internal” challenges were taking place, there was also growing dispute between the church and state. The secular government became increasingly reluctant to send troops to Palestine for the crusades, which brought upon unrest. These issues expanded even to the area of taxation as the Pope in 1298 AD decreed that the church could not be taxed on its properties, which the King of France took objection to. Eventually, after the Pope died, the King of France won; regardless, this caused further unrest and tension between the church and secular rulers. [1]

Luther and the Reformation

Roughly 100 years after Wycliffe enters a man named Martin Luther. Luther, continued the effort to see the church fall in line with the actual teaching of the scriptures. Luther was incredibly distraught over the practice of the church to take indulgences (priests taking payments in exchange for the forgiveness of sins and extended grace) and boldly spoke out against such practices. These practices made the church rich while clearly teaching a false gospel of works and not grace, which Luther despised.

All of these challenges and conversations spurred on the reformation and caused an environment for leaders within the reformation to stand up and speak out over errors within the church in regards to the interpretation of scripture, practice and ministry methodology, and the desire for growth in the area of political power. It is also important to note that Luther did not necessarily desire a revolution and separation from the church, rather a reconciliation and reform of the church to reflect what the scriptures actually taught.

How Does This Apply Today?

It’s important to look at the past to identify areas where we are prone to commit the same mistakes. Much of sin is repackaged in creative new forms throughout centuries. As we identify these areas and address them with the truth and light of the Gospel we are able to continue to reflect Christ. As we look to our practices in church it would be wise to consider if we are pursuing leadership and authority or diligently pursuing the advancement of the Gospel. Just as Wycliffe and Luther had a desire to see the church reform, we should also have that desire. We must have a desire to see an ongoing reformation that causes us to continually turn to the scriptures to ensure that our actions and practices are reflective of the Gospel.

Further Study:

If you would like to jump into some further reading and study about church history and the reformation I would highly recommend the Logos Bible Software Mobile Ed Course by Dr. Gerald Bray. At the time of this post being written, it is currently still available for pre-order. 

**

[1]  lesson 5, Church History 2.  Dr. Gerald Bray.  Knox Theological Seminary.  Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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