I’ve read through Acts 4 a couple times this morning and I’m continually drawn back to Acts 4:13-22.

The fact that they were speechless in v14 and how Luke 21:15 says He will give us a mouth and wisdom which none of our adversaries can withstand but, what’s more, in v20 it says they HAD to talk about Jesus. Amos 3:8 says “The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”

It makes me consider the hubris of not only the council, but of us. I posted this Spurgeon quote a few days ago on Twitter and Facebook:

“The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.”

The spirit is alive in us. The Lion is inside, roaring to get out. But I think we keep it shackled more often than not. At least, I think I do. I can identify the times when I need to let the Lion loose but I often don’t because I fear what it will do to my reputation (will I look like a Bible thumper?) or a myriad of other things (read: excuses.)

It’s like I’m standing in a gap. On one side is the Lion, and on the other side are people who need to hear the word. The Lion wants out, and God says the spirit will give us the words. But I stand in the gap, arms outstretched to either side, holding the Lion at bay on one side, and keeping my distance from those who need to hear the Word on the other. It’s me who’s in the way of the Word being let loose.

I fear the thought of God saying, “why didn’t you let the Word loose?”

Up until just a few years ago I struggled with the best way to study the Bible. I never knew how much to read, and what was I supposed to do with what I did read?

My family and I started attending eXchange in late 2003 and was introduced to a Bible study method called Life Journaling. It was like a breath of fresh air when it came to studying the Word of God and, once I got the hang of it, I’ve never looked back. Life Journals come with their own one year Bible reading plan and an easy method for converting what you’ve read that day into effective reflection and tangible results.

Initially I journaled using a paper journal but found I could pour out my thoughts more effectively sitting at a keyboard and using a PC (I type much faster than I write). However, it was a little tough reading a bound Bible then moving to the PC platform to pour out my thoughts and prayers.

This article details how to Life Journal using your PC for 100% of the process. No paper journals required.

First, hit up the official Life Journal reading plan for today by clicking here (thanks New Hope). This site is based out of Hawaii so the reading plan doesn’t change each day until 6am Eastern time.

Read through today’s scripture, taking the time for your eyes and mind to catch verses that stand out to you. Copy and paste those verses into Notepad (comes with every version of Windows) as you read so you don’t lose them.

If you’re new to Life Journaling and find the daily reading plan a bit overwhelming, just stick with the New Testament reading for that day. If that’s still too much, just read a paragraph or two (or at least until you find a verse that really sticks out to you).

Once done reading, pick the verse you want to journal on for today.

Next, you’re going to need somewhere to keep your journal entries. There’s all kinds of options, from Notepad and Wordpad (both built into Windows, both free) to Google Docs (available at docs.google.com, also free) to journaling software. I use My Daily Friend (pictured at left) which runs $9.95 and can be purchased here. Use the coupon code eXchange to get $5 off (yes, $5 off) making My Daily Friend only $4.95. That’s cheaper than a single paper journal, and it’s a one time cost, meaning you don’t have to spend $4.95 every time you “run out of paper.” My Daily Friend indexes all of your entries so you can easily go back and find any previous journal entry and also password protects your journal so no one but you can read the entries.

Now, taking the verse that stood out to you, use the SOAP method. Below is the official description for Life Journaling in a paper journal using the SOAP method but the directions easily translate to journaling on your PC. You may notice some of the instructions below duplicate some of what I’ve written above but it’s still good to get exposure to the process.

S for Scripture
Open your Bible to the reading found under today’s date of your Bible bookmark. Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. Highlight, underline or place a mark in the margin of your Bible, next to the scriptures that stand out. When you are done, reread the verses you marked, look for one that particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal.
Helpful hint: If you are having difficulty understanding what you’ve read, you may find a study Bible useful.

O for Observation
What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own words, in your journal.

A for Application
Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps it is instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular area of your life. Write how this scripture can apply to you today.

P for Prayer
This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight on what He may be revealing to you. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to listen to what God has to say! Now, write it out.

As you become more familiar with the process, don’t be afraid to move away from the SOAP method if you find alternatives work for you. I’m simply presenting a method to use if you don’t already have one.

That’s it! That’s all there is to it. I am not understating how valuable Life Journaling is to me and how much its improved my relationship with God. It’s also made me more aware of what he has in store for me as I’m hearing him speak to me through His Word every day I Life Journal.

Feel free to hit up the comments with questions. I’ll do my best to help!

[tags]life journaling, new hope, soap, bible study, shawnw[/tags]

Today’s reading is from Matthew 9 (MSG).

12-13Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”

This is my favorite verse in all the Bible. The way The Message translation words it is so relevant to today’s culture (not that Jesus has to be relevant to today’s culture, by any means; he’s relevant because he’s the Son of God and the savior of mankind) that, the first time I read it, I was captured by it, and have hung onto it ever since.

Mat 9:12-13 summarizes, to me, the problems with today’s church mentality, and where the church needs to go. The days of Sunday afternoon potlucks and Wednesday night chicken noodle dinners, where the only people in attendance are the same people you see week in and week out, and no one new, have passed. These serve no purpose.

You want to have a potluck? Get everything together, your foodstuffs, utensils, manpower, everything: then find some people who need the food, and serve them. Crack addicts, porn stars, gamblers, cheaters, the poor, the homeless, the downtrodden. They’re all God’s kids. He loves them just as much as those who spend every Sunday in church, and every Wednesday in prayer meeting. A great addition to Matthew 9:13 is Hosea 6:6, which says:

I’m after love that lasts, not more religion. 
I want you to know God, not go to more prayer meetings.

It’s time, folks. It’s time we get off of our dead butts and do something about those who don’t know the life changing truth of Jesus the Christ. Are you with me?

[tags]life-journaling, matthew, jesus, christ, mercy, religion, shawnw[/tags]

Today’s reading is from 1 Samuel 17.

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

The above is David’s response to Goliath as they prepare to battle one on one. It’s verse 47 I find interesting. “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves”.

David is standing toe to toe with an enemy that’s quite possibly, literally, twice his size. He has the entire Israelite army behind him, and the entire Philistine army sprawled ahead of him. The constant yells and screams of warriors ready to do battle, armor and weapons clanging, mayhem…

And yet, David knows that it’s not by sword or spear that God’s people are saved. It’s by the grace of God. It’s by his enduring love. It won’t be because David’s good with a sword or shield or sling. It won’t be because there are more (or fewer) Israelite warriors. It will be by God’s generous hand.

Lord, thank you for today’s humbling reminder. You are not made more famous by our doings. You are not made more famous by talent, or aggressiveness, or luck, or temperment, but by who you are, God. You are the Creator God of the universe. I seek your will, Father, and want to do only what you want me to do. Thank you God.

[tags]david, goliath, samuel, bible, life journaling, grace, philistines, shawnw[/tags]

11-12These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.

13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

Verse 13 reminds me of “there’s nothing new under the sun.” Often times it can feel as if we’re the only ones who ever went through what we’re going through, and it’s easy to forget that this hardly the case. Christ has endured it all, and much harder to boot, I’m sure.

It’s in times like these where we need to stop looking at ourselves, and relying on ourselves. “How am I going to get out of this?” or “What will I do if this or that happens?” We should take all things… ALL THINGS… to Christ, who strengthens us. It requires a rewiring of our minds, so to speak, so our reaction to hardship is a look to the heavens, then a fall to our knees in prayer and supplication.

Lord, thank you for the reminder that you are my all in all. I often look to my own understanding, which is so limited. May today’s words rest in my heart, Lord, so that I may remember them, and use them, and lean on you and your living Word when times are rough.

[tags]jesus, hardship, paul, apostles, the message, self reliance, shawnw[/tags]

Philippians 4:6 | study verse
6Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.

I was stunned. As we worry, let’s vocalize those worries, and form them into prayers to God, letting him know where we are, what’s going on, and what’s on our minds. It’s about creating a new mindset that, when we begin to worry, we need to change the way we vocalize those worries so they can be petitions to the Father.

A worry would go something like, “Man, what am I going to do about my doctor’s appointment next week. I just know they’re going to find something wrong, then what? What am I going to do if something is wrong? What will my family do, what will I do about my kids…”

Instead, we need to transform that worry into prayer. “Man, what I going to do about my doctor’s appointment next week. I just know they’re going to find something wrong, then what? [pause... re-focus on God here] Lord, be with me as I work through this. I don’t know the results, or what they’re going to be, but I know you’re with me. I know that, no matter what happens, I’ll be able to lean on you, and glorify you through my handling of this. Give me strength and comfort in this time. Oh Lord, I need you now.”

[tags]prayer, worry, doubt, petition, praise, God, Jesus, doctor, shawnw[/tags]

49The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Verse 51. “So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.” To shake the dust from your feet, from what I understand, was to leave that city behind you. You weren’t going to leave that town with even dust from their roads on you.

But there’s more to this. Notice it says that Paul and Barnabas were expelled before they left. They didn’t leave willingly, they were sent out. Only after they were told, “don’t come back” did they say “we won’t, and we won’t even take the dust from your roads with us.”

It’s important that we give an honest effort in sharing the love of Jesus with others. Sometimes we can do that through practical means, like Crash, and sometimes it’s through other means, like talking. We will come up against trouble, Jesus told us this. But we can’t quit just because we meet some resistance.

If a group of people, or a town says, “your beliefs anger us; get out,” my advice, taken from the Bible, would be this. Walk to the edge of town, take off your Skechers, beat ‘em together a few times to make sure any sand, soil, grit, grime or grub from that town is off you, put your shoes back on, give that town a smile and a wave, and seek clearer skies.

As baffling as it might be, it just means that, sometimes, we gotta look a little harder for someone to hear the Good News we have to share.

[tags]acts 13, paul, barnabas, jesus, preaching, smile, joy, persecution, dust[/tags]

50-54There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good character. He had not gone along with the plans and actions of the council. His hometown was the Jewish village of Arimathea. He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Taking him down, he wrapped him in a linen shroud and placed him in a tomb chiseled into the rock, a tomb never yet used. It was the day before Sabbath, the Sabbath just about to begin.

I consider myself a follower of Jesus, but to be a follower of Him while he was still on earth must have been a completely different experience. People were able to see him perform miracles and preach, yet the Bible still talks of people doubting.

I find it interesting that the Bible mentions that Joseph of Arimathea “lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God”, which to me, says he had Kingdom work on his mind.

But, to see the Savior of the world nailed to a cross, get mocked and stabbed, only to die and then just hang there, would have shaken me greatly.

That’s not the worst part though. “Give me the body of Jesus,” Joseph says. Pilate agrees. It’s now your duty to take the swollen, beaten, battered body of the son of God and lay it to rest. That whole experience would have proven to be too great for me. Sure, I’d have started the process, but I think at some point during, I’d have simply collapsed, mentally, at the weight of my actions. To hold the lifeless body of Jesus in my arms, and to know that just days before he said, “I have to be killed, but I will be back.”

God, I have faith that your son, Jesus, will return again one day. May others see your endless love through the selfless actions of Jesus, through his willing surrender. And, through that surrender, may they come to know what true peace is.

What a price was paid that day at Golgotha.

[tags]luke-23, jesus, crucified, crucify, joseph, arimathea, pilate, herod[/tags]

11-12Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’

12-16″So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.

17-20″That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father. (emphasis mine)

The story of the prodigal son. It’s quite famous, but today’s reading struck me in a different way. Most people that know the story are amazed at the father accepting the son back into the fold.

I’d like to focus on the portion I bolded above. How many times have we screwed up, or screwed someone else up with our own actions. How much wrestling did we do with ourselves before we finally said, “ok, I’m going to admit that I’m wrong here.” That’s what the bolded portion above says to me.

The son is saying, “Ok, fine, I realize now I’m a total loser. I can’t stand this lifestyle I’ve chosen for myself, so I need to go back to Dad and tell him I blew my inheritance. I’ll probably need to take some punishment from him, but it’s worth it to at least be fed like a farmhand instead of like a pig.”

How freakin’ hard is that part? The part where you have to humble yourself? That’s the hardest part. The hardest part is looking that person in the eye, and saying, “yep, I screwed up.” We have these preconceived notions that the person is going to lay into us, tell us how much we suck (which we already know very well) and kick us back out.

But, how will we ever know that the person we’re going back to will show us mercy, if we don’t ask for it?

LORD God, give me the same strength and courage as the prodigal son when it comes time to ask for forgiveness. I want to be able to turn around and go back the way I came without shame. I’m going to screw up again, just like I did yesterday, last week, last month, last year. I could go on and on. May they forgive me as you do. May I have the guts to be truthful, even if it feels like a knife to the stomach.

[tags]luke 15, courage, prodigal son, jesus, christ, god, faith, forgiveness, forgive[/tags]

2A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “The people procrastinate. They say this isn’t the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of God.”

3-4Shortly after that, God said more and Haggai spoke it: “How is it that it’s the ‘right time’ for you to live in your fine new homes while the Home, God’s Temple, is in ruins?”

5-6And then a little later, God-of-the-Angel-Armies spoke out again:

   ”Take a good, hard look at your life.
   Think it over.
You have spent a lot of money,
   but you haven’t much to show for it.
You keep filling your plates,
   but you never get filled up.
You keep drinking and drinking and drinking,
   but you’re always thirsty.
You put on layer after layer of clothes,
   but you can’t get warm.
And the people who work for you,
   what are they getting out of it?
Not much—
   a leaky, rusted-out bucket, that’s what.

We’re currently discussing tithing and the working of finances for the church in eXchange, and this scripture really hits home with me today. I’ve wasted a lot of time and money and other resources on things that aren’t redeemable. What do I have to show for it?

More credit card debt. More bills. More things tying me down. I want to be light! I want to live with a light load, and it’s all up to how I handle things on whether that happens or not.

My wife and I have, off and on, been attacking the stupid debt we’ve accumulated over the years. Recently, however, we’ve noticed a newfound fervor in this attack. Why? We’ve finally said, “that’s it God. It’s all yours. Do what you want.”

The best part? It seems to be working.

LORD GOD, I want to keep my eyes on you. I want what you want, and I want to help me your hands and feet and eyes and heart while on this earth. I would ask you to bless my efforts, but that would insinuate that they might not be of you. I want what you want God. I want what you want.

[tags]haggai, old testament, finances, debt, credit cards, jesus, god, christ, church[/tags]