Archive for August, 2007
Spur One Another…
August 13th, 2007 | 3 Comments | Posted in » Christian Living, Devotions / Bible Studies, My Life / Family
Yeah, the title sounds bad. Spur one another. OUCH! It’s what often seems to happen here in blog land, right?
That’s not where I’m going with this, though… “spur one another” is a portion of a Scripture passage that came to mind late Saturday evening as I was pondering, prior to bed, what I was going to teach in Sunday School the following day. You see, we had finished our last study guide two weeks prior, and had not yet settled with 100% certainty on new material. So our lesson plan was up in the air. I thought that perhaps I’d teach something I had previously taught, or maybe something new that I could find on the net or in one of the many study guides I have laying around. But I did the smart thing (for a change), and prayed.
God answered that prayer almost immediately by bringing “spur one another” to mind, seemingly out of the blue. At that moment, I knew exactly what I needed to teach, so I went on to bed, knowing it wouldn’t take long Sunday morning to put it all together.
The Scripture passage? Maybe you’ve figured out by now, but it’s Hebrews 10:24-25…
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
You’re wondering, of course, why this was such an applicable passage.
Simply put, Sunday School is typically a place of discipleship. Discipleship, discipleship, discipleship. Yeah, we throw in a bit of prayer, and some fellowship on occasion… but it’s primarily discipleship.
It’s certainly not a bad thing! But don’t we often disciple ourselves to death? What do we do once we’re prepped to go to battle for the Lord? We’re ready to go… we’re eager to engage… but we find ourselves merely partaking in training exercise after training exercise, always prepping, but never fighting. We never enter the fray to battle for lost souls… to search out the sheep that have gone astray… to love and serve people God loves.
Instead, we sit in our Sunday School classes and disciple away… wondering why we find we’re losing all passion to really make an impact in our world.
What’s to wonder? We’re equipped to make a difference, but we’re sitting on the sidelines. How depressing is that?
It’s obviously where Hebrews 10:24 comes into play… “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”
Scripture tells us in James 2:17, “faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.” Hebrews 10:24 makes clear that we’ve got to take action out of faith… to love and do good deeds. It seems that living in community, “spurring one another on”, is critical to keep our faith alive. And that’s not even mentioning how much more effective we are in serving God when we have the encouragement of others driving us forward, holding us accountable, praying for us, and lifting us up when we’re weak.
So… the tough questions remain…
- Are you involved in any sort of real relationships where you have opportunities to be the kind of encourager Christ expects?
- If not, what can you do to develop such relationships so that you’ll be able to encourage fellow believers to step out and exercise their faith in a practical manner?
Think about it.
Vacation Pictures… Final
August 4th, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
This will wrap up photo week… a few more pictures from around Lakeshore.
Vacation Pictures… Play Time!
August 3rd, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
It’s day 5 of photo week, featuring miscellaneous shots of the Stickleys enjoying some family play time.
It continues to become more and more apparent just how great of a vacation we really had!
Anyway, on to the photos.
Here’s Jenna, hanging out…
Jeffrey, doing a bit of climbing…
Jenna, enjoying a bit of basketball…
Yes, Jeffrey is a bit of a ham…
Finally, Jeffrey and I, getting soaked riding bumper boats. Talk about fun!
Vacation Pictures… Silver Dollar City
August 2nd, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
Photo week continues with vacation photos from Silver Dollar City.
It was VERY hot… but tremendous family fun.
We’ll start with a photo of Jeffrey… one cool dude, isn’t he?
Here’s Jenna, hamming it up…
Jeffrey’s first roller coaster ride!
Jenna’s first ride… a bit more tame than Jeffrey’s roller coaster, but still fun…
Finally… “You Will Get Wet” is on a lot of ride information signs… and it’s totally true. Very refreshing on a hot July day!
Vacation Pictures… Boat Ride!
August 1st, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » My Life / Family, Pictures
Back to photo week… day 3. Today, it’s photos from our boating outing on Lake Taneycomo. We had a blast in the pontoon we rented from the resort, as is probably obvious from the pictures. I just wish I had a few shots of Jeffrey catching trout from the boat that day as well… he’s quite the little fisherman.
Anyway, here they are…
These photos really make me want to go back on vacation…
The Truth…
August 1st, 2007 | Comments Off | Posted in » Devotions / Bible Studies, Quote of the Day
I hate to interrupt the photo series, but I saw this quote today and had to post it:
The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.
– Herbert Agar
While I’m not quite sure the context of this quote, it’s DEFINITELY applicable to Christianity.
Jesus proclaimed, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
It’s this truth… that Jesus is truth… that we simply don’t want to hear or acknowledge. And yes, that goes for Christians as much as non-believers.
Jesus is truth. His ways are truth. But we want to continue to do things our way, on our terms.
We prefer not to hear, and remain enslaved to… well, insert what’s trapping you here.
Isn’t the freedom that Christ provides a better option? Open your ears… hear Him today… and be free.