We are thankful to God for the establishment of the Good News Mission. Here is a recent report about the exciting things God continues to do through men, women, youth and children at the Good News Mission.
Friday, September 9, 2016
Friday, August 12, 2016
A better program for your life
No one person wakes up to accidentally be a success! You've got to plan for it! However many people are not planning for success. "They do not read. Everything happening around them is only output", says Dr Wale. They are programmed wrongly or as people say, "wired wrongly".
If you do not plan for where you are going, you will have to do with where life will drop you.
You need to program your life! Everything happening around you/in your life is not an accident. Something was put in first (input). Some program was installed so to say.
I think of Jabez in 1Chronicles 4:9,10 The Bible says that he was more honorable than his brothers!
Jabez was born with a program of bitterness & pain. He had been named after his mothers painful experience during childbirth. The pain was so bad so that it influenced her to what she called her son. Before even Jabez had done anything good or bad his life was programmed to be that of sorrow, pain and bitterness.
Many people live today in programs that were given to them by others. Some see their lives going in the direction of their fears. Some in the direction of what they have been labelled as.
Let us get a better source of better programs from the Bible. It is a timeless source of our programming.
If you do not plan for where you are going, you will have to do with where life will drop you.
You need to program your life! Everything happening around you/in your life is not an accident. Something was put in first (input). Some program was installed so to say.
I think of Jabez in 1Chronicles 4:9,10 The Bible says that he was more honorable than his brothers!
Jabez was born with a program of bitterness & pain. He had been named after his mothers painful experience during childbirth. The pain was so bad so that it influenced her to what she called her son. Before even Jabez had done anything good or bad his life was programmed to be that of sorrow, pain and bitterness.
Many people live today in programs that were given to them by others. Some see their lives going in the direction of their fears. Some in the direction of what they have been labelled as.
Let us get a better source of better programs from the Bible. It is a timeless source of our programming.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Criticism Trap
Today I will avoid the criticizing trap!
You may criticize a lizard for sticking its tongue out but you have never been a lizard before and you do not realize that sticking its tongue out is a way of getting its food. The larva may criticize the butterfly for spreading out its wings and accuse it of showing off but that is the way butterflies are made to be. Don't look at someone who has a lot of money and conclude that they must have stolen the money.....Don't look at someone who lives in a million dollar home and preach sermons about how there are cheaper houses that they could have lived in!
(Thank you Dr Wale for the Tidbits)
And so today I will choose to get into my space that of being a trans-formative leader looking at what my next form will be! Let me not to despise that next form in which I want to be soon!
Last night we looked at my old phone a Sagem - it had its unique ringtones then! Now in a junk box! What was a trophy then is now outdated by its next form - the Smartphone!
Think about that!
You may criticize a lizard for sticking its tongue out but you have never been a lizard before and you do not realize that sticking its tongue out is a way of getting its food. The larva may criticize the butterfly for spreading out its wings and accuse it of showing off but that is the way butterflies are made to be. Don't look at someone who has a lot of money and conclude that they must have stolen the money.....Don't look at someone who lives in a million dollar home and preach sermons about how there are cheaper houses that they could have lived in!
(Thank you Dr Wale for the Tidbits)
And so today I will choose to get into my space that of being a trans-formative leader looking at what my next form will be! Let me not to despise that next form in which I want to be soon!
Last night we looked at my old phone a Sagem - it had its unique ringtones then! Now in a junk box! What was a trophy then is now outdated by its next form - the Smartphone!
Think about that!
Monday, March 28, 2016
Thursday, November 12, 2015
5 good reasons to read the entire Bible every year
5 good reasons to read the entire Bible every year
Jeff Robinson — September 8, 2015
I vividly recall two pivotal conversations with pastors shortly after I surrendered to gospel ministry in the late-1990s. The conversations were pivotal because in them I was exposed to two divergent approaches to ministry and the Lord used them to convince me that I must saturate my mind with Scripture
In one conversation, I asked a longtime pastor how many times he had read the Bible in its entirety from Genesis to Revelation. His reply: “Never, but I hope to someday.” I was stunned. I thought, but did not express verbally, “Then how do you know what you believe about the Bible and other important doctrines?” Being a very green rookie minister, I thought that perhaps my question was a bit cheeky. I thought that until I had the second conversation a few weeks later.
In the second conversation with another longtime pastor, a godly man who retired a few years ago as pastor of my home church in Georgia, I posed the same question and got an answer that remains instructive to me many years later: “I try to read through the Bible every year. After all, I have given my life to teaching and preaching God’s Word and so I had better know it.” That day, I became convinced that I should read through the Bible regularly and, since it was the end of the year, I began my first read through the Bible in a year venture. I was happy that I did.
During my lengthier-than-I-first-intended career as a seminary student, I followed the same practice and after a few years, I had read through the Bible several times. The results have been massively helpful for both my walk with the Lord and the teaching and preaching ministry he has given me. More recently, comments by two of my ministry heroes, John Piper and R. C. Sproul, have encouraged me to continue this approach to Bible intake. Piper: “When all your favorite preachers are gone, and their books are forgotten, you will have your Bible. Master it.” And then, there are these manly words from Dr. Sproul: “I’ll retire when they pry my cold, dead fingers off my Bible.” Words like those encourage me to stay saturated in God’s Word. Reading through it perennially is one means of accomplishing that.
I have become convinced that every student of the Bible, particularly those who are or will be charged with teaching it as a vocation ought to consider this practice. There are many, many benefits of reading through the Bible every year, and here are five ways I have been helped:
1) Reading through the Bible annually helps you learn the overarching metanarrative of Scripture.
After reading through the Bible a few times, the historic/redemptive storyline will become second nature. For example, in the OT, it will help you greatly to know that the kingdom of Israel was divided around 930 B.C., after which time the Northern and Southern kingdoms had different kings and began to spin off into serious idolatry. With some incredibly meaty study helps (such as the ESV Study Bible or Reformation Study Bible), you will soon learn where everything in the OT belongs on the timeline of ancient history. Pretty soon, you will see that the Bible is all about Christ and will become keenly aware why it is important to read Leviticus alongside Hebrews.
2) Reading through the Bible will improve your ability to interpret and exegete Scripture.
This is a natural consequence of reason number one. The better you know the Bible’s storyline, the more aware you will be of both the near and far contexts of each pericope, the less prone you will be to engage in eisegesis. With the whole of redemptive history as your framework, you will see why it is not compelling to preach slaying the giants in your life or five smooth stones of ministry success from David’s encounter with Goliath. It will rescue you from preaching/teaching a bare moralism.
3) Reading through the Bible will keep you habitually in the Bible.
You cannot read through the Bible quickly. It will force you to spend many hours in God’s Word and that is always a fruitful endeavor. If you commit to read through the Bible every year, there will be precious few days, if any, when you find yourself out of Scripture.
4) Reading through the Bible will ensure that you are engaging God’s Word at least as frequently as you are engaging other solid Christian books.
I love the Puritans and the Reformers. I have to resist buying every piece of excellent Christian literature published by leading evangelical publishers, but I should not be reading three non-inspired books, no matter who solid and instructive they are, for every book of the Bible I read.
5) Reading through the Bible will force you to navigate those tricky, less traveled roads of Scripture.
Reading through the Bible annually will force you to read books and passages that might not normally attract your gaze: Leviticus, Numbers, the Song of Solomon, Amos, Philemon, and yes, for those of us who suffer from acute allergies to all things end times and exhibit tendencies toward pan-millenniallism, chapters 6-22 of Revelation. The Spirit inspired ever word for our edification. Let us read it.
Walking through the Bible in a year should not replace daily meditation upon and memorization of Scripture. And no, it won’t necessarily make you more spiritually mature—spiritual growth is not a mechanical process—but it certainly cannot hurt (the Spirit uses the Word to grow us). Ultimately, you are reading God’s Word to be transformed in heart and mind, and it should never be reduced to a cold, detached, clinical exercise.
_____________
Jeff Robinson (M.Div. and Ph.D., SBTS) is editor of the Southern Seminary blog. He serves as senior editor for The Gospel Coalition and is also adjunct professor of church history and senior research and teaching associate for the Andrew Fuller Center at SBTS. Jeff served as a pastor for several years in Birmingham, Alabama. He is co-author with Michael A. G. Haykin of To the Ends of the Earth: Calvin’s Missional Vision and Legacy (Crossway, 2014). Jeff and his wife Lisa have four children and belong to Clifton Baptist Church.
Jeff Robinson — September 8, 2015
I vividly recall two pivotal conversations with pastors shortly after I surrendered to gospel ministry in the late-1990s. The conversations were pivotal because in them I was exposed to two divergent approaches to ministry and the Lord used them to convince me that I must saturate my mind with Scripture
In one conversation, I asked a longtime pastor how many times he had read the Bible in its entirety from Genesis to Revelation. His reply: “Never, but I hope to someday.” I was stunned. I thought, but did not express verbally, “Then how do you know what you believe about the Bible and other important doctrines?” Being a very green rookie minister, I thought that perhaps my question was a bit cheeky. I thought that until I had the second conversation a few weeks later.
In the second conversation with another longtime pastor, a godly man who retired a few years ago as pastor of my home church in Georgia, I posed the same question and got an answer that remains instructive to me many years later: “I try to read through the Bible every year. After all, I have given my life to teaching and preaching God’s Word and so I had better know it.” That day, I became convinced that I should read through the Bible regularly and, since it was the end of the year, I began my first read through the Bible in a year venture. I was happy that I did.
During my lengthier-than-I-first-intended career as a seminary student, I followed the same practice and after a few years, I had read through the Bible several times. The results have been massively helpful for both my walk with the Lord and the teaching and preaching ministry he has given me. More recently, comments by two of my ministry heroes, John Piper and R. C. Sproul, have encouraged me to continue this approach to Bible intake. Piper: “When all your favorite preachers are gone, and their books are forgotten, you will have your Bible. Master it.” And then, there are these manly words from Dr. Sproul: “I’ll retire when they pry my cold, dead fingers off my Bible.” Words like those encourage me to stay saturated in God’s Word. Reading through it perennially is one means of accomplishing that.
I have become convinced that every student of the Bible, particularly those who are or will be charged with teaching it as a vocation ought to consider this practice. There are many, many benefits of reading through the Bible every year, and here are five ways I have been helped:
1) Reading through the Bible annually helps you learn the overarching metanarrative of Scripture.
After reading through the Bible a few times, the historic/redemptive storyline will become second nature. For example, in the OT, it will help you greatly to know that the kingdom of Israel was divided around 930 B.C., after which time the Northern and Southern kingdoms had different kings and began to spin off into serious idolatry. With some incredibly meaty study helps (such as the ESV Study Bible or Reformation Study Bible), you will soon learn where everything in the OT belongs on the timeline of ancient history. Pretty soon, you will see that the Bible is all about Christ and will become keenly aware why it is important to read Leviticus alongside Hebrews.
2) Reading through the Bible will improve your ability to interpret and exegete Scripture.
This is a natural consequence of reason number one. The better you know the Bible’s storyline, the more aware you will be of both the near and far contexts of each pericope, the less prone you will be to engage in eisegesis. With the whole of redemptive history as your framework, you will see why it is not compelling to preach slaying the giants in your life or five smooth stones of ministry success from David’s encounter with Goliath. It will rescue you from preaching/teaching a bare moralism.
3) Reading through the Bible will keep you habitually in the Bible.
You cannot read through the Bible quickly. It will force you to spend many hours in God’s Word and that is always a fruitful endeavor. If you commit to read through the Bible every year, there will be precious few days, if any, when you find yourself out of Scripture.
4) Reading through the Bible will ensure that you are engaging God’s Word at least as frequently as you are engaging other solid Christian books.
I love the Puritans and the Reformers. I have to resist buying every piece of excellent Christian literature published by leading evangelical publishers, but I should not be reading three non-inspired books, no matter who solid and instructive they are, for every book of the Bible I read.
5) Reading through the Bible will force you to navigate those tricky, less traveled roads of Scripture.
Reading through the Bible annually will force you to read books and passages that might not normally attract your gaze: Leviticus, Numbers, the Song of Solomon, Amos, Philemon, and yes, for those of us who suffer from acute allergies to all things end times and exhibit tendencies toward pan-millenniallism, chapters 6-22 of Revelation. The Spirit inspired ever word for our edification. Let us read it.
Walking through the Bible in a year should not replace daily meditation upon and memorization of Scripture. And no, it won’t necessarily make you more spiritually mature—spiritual growth is not a mechanical process—but it certainly cannot hurt (the Spirit uses the Word to grow us). Ultimately, you are reading God’s Word to be transformed in heart and mind, and it should never be reduced to a cold, detached, clinical exercise.
_____________
Jeff Robinson (M.Div. and Ph.D., SBTS) is editor of the Southern Seminary blog. He serves as senior editor for The Gospel Coalition and is also adjunct professor of church history and senior research and teaching associate for the Andrew Fuller Center at SBTS. Jeff served as a pastor for several years in Birmingham, Alabama. He is co-author with Michael A. G. Haykin of To the Ends of the Earth: Calvin’s Missional Vision and Legacy (Crossway, 2014). Jeff and his wife Lisa have four children and belong to Clifton Baptist Church.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Learn How To Forgive
Forgiveness is really for our own benefit. We must be determined that we will forgive and let nothing stand in our way to do so.
Forgiveness is first a choice and then an action.
1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God is willing to forgive us!
Matthew 6:15 says “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Our heavenly Father desires that we forgive others their offenses.
If you are having trouble forgiving this is a good place to start.
God forgives us for His own sake! Let us follow His example!!
To view this post in Sway here is your link: https://sway.com/IXJT73IcZgzN66EC
Forgiveness is first a choice and then an action.
1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God is willing to forgive us!
Matthew 6:15 says “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Our heavenly Father desires that we forgive others their offenses.
If you are having trouble forgiving this is a good place to start.
- Acknowledge that you have been hurt.
- Recognize that your sin against God is far greater than the worst any human could do to you.
- Choose outright to forgive the other person.
- Accept your rightful share of the problem, if appropriate. You are not the victim!
- Try to communicate and clear the air, with hopes of reconciliation.
- If nothing changes , release the person(s) and the hurt.
- Move on
God forgives us for His own sake! Let us follow His example!!
To view this post in Sway here is your link: https://sway.com/IXJT73IcZgzN66EC
Friday, October 30, 2015
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