Water into Wine and Cleaning House

This week we are studying the second chapter of John. In this chapter Jesus displays his divinity in his first of seven signs or miracles. Jesus is at a wedding and the wine runs out. After a prompting from his mother to do something, Jesus turns water that had been put into stone pots into wine. Not only was it wine, it was the best wine the party guests had tasted.

What is the purpose of this miracle other than to show His deity?

What could possibly be the symbolism of the miracle?

Who knew of the miracle? What is widespread or did just a few people know about it?

Why did Jesus respond the way he did to his mother?

Why was Jesus at the wedding?

Did his mother prompt him to do a miracle he was not planning to do?

What does "my hour has not yet come" mean?

How did the disciples respond to the miracle?

Jesus enter Jerusalem for the first time after the beginning of his ministry and finds the temple in a less than desirable state.

What is Jesus's response to the commerce inside the temple?

This cleansing of the temple was a fulfillment of what OT prophecy?

Did Jesus cleanse the temple once or on two different occasions? Hint, check the other three gospels for when the cleansing took place.

How did Jesus respond to the challenge by the Jews as to his authority to do what he did?

Would you have known what he meant at the time?

Enjoy the study.

See you Wednesday or Sunday.

Curtis

Is John the Baptist Really Elijah?

We will be studying John 1:19-51 this week. If you have been in a class of mine for long you have probably participated in the debate of whether John the Baptist was Elijah as foretold in Malachi. The debate arises from some interesting passages that appear to contradict one another. Here are some passages to review in your quest for understanding.

2 Kings 2:11 - Elijah does not die.

Malachi 3:1 - A witness will precede Christ.

Malachi 4:5-6 - Elijah will come before.

Matthew 11:7-15 - Jesus says John was Elijah.

John 1:19-28 - John says he is not.

Verses 19-34

Here are some other thoughts/questions to consider in your preparation for this weeks lesson:

• What two names does John the Baptist give Jesus?
• What is the meaning and significance of each name?
• What aspects of the Trinity are identified in the passage?
• How does Jesus baptism differ from Johns?

Verses 35-51

• The first two disciples called by Jesus were actually John's disciples? One was named. Who do we think the other disciple was?
• Who are the first four disciples called by Jesus?
• What names did Nathanael call Jesus? What was Nathanael's initial response to Jesus as the Messiah?
• What supernatural scene is described in verse 51? What other story in scripture gives a similar description?

Enjoy the study.

In the Beginning...

We have officially kicked off our study of the Gospel of John with our overview of the book this week. We are now going to jump into our chapter by chapter study. This week we will be looking at John 1:1-18 which is a powerful part of Scripture.

John's gospel starts out much like Genesis with the words "In the beginning..." As we discussed this week, John was writing this at the end of the first century in Ephesus, which at the time was the center of Christianity. The church was a generation removed from Jesus' presence on earth and the ministry of the disciples (save John) and was experiencing attacks on the faith.

John wrote his gospel and 1 John for the purpose of defending the truth. In John 1, the author is very clearly communicating two fundamental truths regarding the nature of Christ's existance. What are those two truths?

Here are some other questions to consider as you read the first 18 verses of the first chapter:

1. What are the three characteristics of the Word addressed in verse 1?
2. Who does the term Word refer to in this case?
3. What does it say about his role in creation?
4. What was John the Baptist's role?
5. Why is it surprising that he was not recognized?
6. Who has the right to become children of God?
7. What does verse 14 tell us about the nature of Christ? How does that compare to the nature described in verse 1?
8. There are a two words that John uses several times in verses 14-17. What are they and what is John trying to communicate using those words?
9. Who has seen God? If Christ is God (verse 1) then we have seen him haven't we? How do you reconcile verse 1, 14 and 18?

Enjoy the study. See you Wednesday or Sunday.

Study of John

We will begin our study of the book of John this week. I will be doing an overview of John this Wednesday and Sunday. If you would like to get started, I am asking everyone to read the entire book over the next week. We will begin with Chapter 1 next Wednesday and Sunday.

I hope you have a great week.

Overcoming Fear

In both the Wednesday night BFG and the Sunday morning BFG, we will be covering the fourth and last session of the Act111 evangelism training. Take the time to go online at www.act111.org and do the 20 minute session on overcoming fear in evangelism before class.

I look forward to seeing you with tomorrow night or Sunday.

Curtis

Obama, School Children & Christians

Over the last couple of days, I have become increasingly concerned over the impact of President Obama speaking to the students in our public school system, perhaps for a different reason than you might think. While I am certainly far from being a fan of President Obama's ideologies or of his public policies, I am concerned over the response by those of us on the other side of the political isle, so to speak, especially those of us who are Christians (not at all to suggest that all Christians are Republicans or even conservative).

My point is less about whether or not a sitting President should make such a speech to our students and more about the response to the speech of those who, like me, do not agree with President Obama's policies. I cannot help but wonder what our response would be if this were two years ago and President George W Bush had suggested he give a similar talk. Would you be ok with it then? If you are being intellectually honest, you would more than likely say yes. And yes, the response from those on the other end of the political spectrum would have been similar to ours. Quite frankly, that type of response has frustrated me over the last 8 years. Is that what we have come to in America? If I agree with you I will listen and everyone else should listen too, but if I don't agree with you, I am just not going to listen. I am going to take my toys and go home. What does that tell our children about engaging a culture?

Which brings me to our roles as Christians in this matter. What is our role and what should we do? Should we always take our kids out of school so they don't have to listen to something we don't agree with? If so, you may have to take them out everyday because I promise you there are things taught daily that you may not agree with. I can name several.

How then do we reconcile Romans 13 in which Paul addresses how we as Christians should interact with our government? What does "opting out" tell our children about the respect we should have for the Office of the President or any other authority figure? When you don't like what someone in authority says, just "opt out". "We are only going to listen to the President if he is a Republican Christian who goes to a Baptist church and he believes that the country was founded by Christians and based on Christian principles." I am being facetious but you get my point.

Our government is full of people in positions of authority who do not agree with us and most of them were elected by we the people.

I realize that I am stepping out here a taking a risk but I am convinced that we have missed the boat here. As parents, we have the obligation to teach our children to engage the culture and respect authority while at the same time not compromising our faith and convictions. It is a tough job but it is what we are called to do. If our kids are old enough to go to school then they are old enough to begin discussions on how to respect authority, in this case the Office of the President, but realize that we may not agree with everything that he says. We have had multiple discussions with our girls over the past several years concerning things they are learning at school that we don't agree with and they completely understand.

Personally, I do not like the message that we are sending as Christians when we say to all of those around us that we are not going to let our kids listen to our President when we don't agree. If the shoe were on the other foot, we would certainly not want them to do the same. Think about taking that philosophy to its logical conclusion. We would never accomplish anything and the possibility of intellectual argument or persuasion to change the mind of someone else is lost. We certainly would not want those who have not heard or do not believe the gospel to take that approach.

So as you consider your choice to "opt out" or not, I challenge you to consider the following passages in Scripture (hold your cursor over the reference to see the passage):

• Romans 13:1-7
• 1 Timothy 6:1
• 1 Peter 2:18
• Colossians 3:22
• Ephesians 6:5
• Titus 2:9

What should we take from these passages and how do they impact how we should handle this situation?

In closing, I want to leave you with this. Personally, I do not like President Obama's ideology or policies and quite frankly find them scary. And I completely support challenging any policies we feel are not in the best interest of our country. However those challenges need to be done through the right channels and by the right means. Matthew 10:16 tells us to be "wise as serpents but innocent as doves." That being said, that is my personal view and there are plenty of Christians who feel otherwise, some of which are in our church, class and who are reading this blog.

Nevertheless, I challenge you to read, think, and engage our culture for the purpose of showing Christ's truth to others.

Have You Told Someone?

One of the keys to spiritual growth is applying what the Scriptures teach us. We have been studying how to share the message of Christ with others. So we must ask ourselves the question, are we applying what we have learned?

• Have we prayed for the opportunity to share the gospel with someone?
• Has that opportunity presented itself?
• Were you obedient to the call to share your faith?
• How did you feel afterward?

I pray that you are studying the www.act111.org material and taking it to heart. I don't know about you, but I want to lead a life of significance. Obediently participating in the salvation experience of someone is definitely significant.

I look forward to hearing the stories.

The Wednesday class will be covering Lesson 3 this week in class.

The Sunday class will cover Lesson 4 a week from this Sunday as this Sunday is Labor Day weekend and some folks (including me) will be out of town. I want to make sure everyone is able to participate in the final lesson because I think it very important.

I look forward to seeing everyone.

Presentation of the Gift

Sometimes in business, it is all about the presentation. We often joke in our office that it doesn't matter what the content of a presentation is as long as it is presented well. While that is not completely true, by any means, and especially is not true with respect to the gospel, the presentation does matter. While God doesn't need a great presentation from us to convict and save a non-believer, the ability to deliver a clear gospel presentation can give us the confidence to step out and do what he has commanded us to do, share the good news with the Lost.

Session 3 in the www.act111.org series addresses the presentation of the gospel. Session 2 teaches us what the gospel is and Session 3 tells us how to present it. Session 3 outlines a presentation of the gospel using the old concept of "Good News/Bad News" or better yet "Bad News/Good News" that is very easy to understand and remember. I think it will open your eyes to how simple the gospel is to share and yet how powerful it can be.

On Sunday, we will be finishing up Session 2 with the six statements that are often used by believers that may cause confusion for the non-believer. Many of these sayings are commonly used and may even cause you to bristle a little and that is not at all bad. It is good to be challenged. We will then head into Session 3 and will make every effort to finish that lesson Sunday as well.

The Wednesday class will head into Session 2 as we just finished Session 1 this week.

Come prepared as it makes the material so much more meaningful for you. Also, I would love to hear any testimonies on how you have been able to share your faith the last couple of weeks based on learning this material.

See you Sunday.

Bible in a Year Program Update

I have often recommended the Bible in a Year Program presented by www.Crosswalk.com. I have just found out that the program I have been referring to has been moved to www.christianity.com and is under Bible in a Year. The two sites are created by the same people. Crosswalk has a new program that is the Online Bible in a Year that I have not tried. I realy like the program on Christianity.com because of the clecklist option (for you checklisters)but both are great options.

So I Shouldn't Say That?

In the second session of the evangelism training program at www.act111.org, we learn what the gospel is. If you were in class on Sunday and then were in the middle service, I felt your eyes as Jeff asked you to go to 1 Corinthians 15. God is in the details as Deeann says to me quite often. For those of you in the Wednesday night class you will learn soon enough if you have not already. I love how simple the gospel is presented in the training. It makes complete since and is easy to articulate.

However, the life long Baptists among us are or will be shocked to learn the six statements that we often make that can confuse the gospel message. I have made all of those statements, many times. It does make sense though how our misunderstanding of the gospel, in minor ways, could cause confusion for the non-believer.

So if you have not, please complete Session 2 in the training. I will be back shortly with a preview of Session 3.

Have a Great Day.

Curtis

"It's On"

One of my favorite marketing campaigns is the Southwest Airlines' "It's On" program. I like what it says. I like what it means. I like the spirit behind it. It says we are not going sit back and let this economy get the best of us. It says we are going to take it on. It says we are going to fight and claw our way to success no matter what it takes. Rather than whining about the situation, we are going to do something about it.

What if we did the same thing as Christians? What if we said to the world, which appears to be falling apart all around us, "It's On". I think for too long now, we as believers have sat around whining about how bad things are getting from a spiritual and moral perspective, feeling helpless, rather than making a decision to do something about it. We trade emails and forward news stories regarding the latest moral failure, pro-evolution "discovery", terrorist threat, or religious freedom violation and lament together as to how "bad" it is getting. While sharing of that information with each other is actually good, we need to go beyond just commiserating together in our holy huddles and engage the world around us to make difference for Christ and the Kingdom. We need to make a difference.

So many times we think the only way to change the direction of the world, country or our community is through our government officials. While that is important to let our government officials know what we think, the real way to change the direction of a society is not from the top (gov't) down but from the bottom (people) up. Change the hearts of the people and you will change the government and the society as a whole.

That being said, there is no greater way to "change the hearts of the people" than to share the good news of the gospel with them. I recently had a chance to meet Larry Moyer, founder of EvanTell, a not for profit dedicated to sharing the gospel with the world. I was so impressed with Larry and what he (rather God) has built over the last 36 years. Part of their ministry is a evangelism training program which is available on-line at www.act111.org. It is excellent. I am the process of doing the training myself and I want to challenge you to do the same. It is four sessions of approximately 20 minutes. It is simple, straight forward and theologically sound.

I like the program so much we are going to spend the next four weeks studying the training materials in class so we can all be equipped to share our faith. We started the series this Sunday for the Cornerstone (Sunday BFG) class and we will be starting the series this Wednesday for the Wednesday night BFG. The training has four sessions so we will be covering a session per week. For Cornerstone members (Sunday BFG) you will need to do at least sessions 1 and 2 before Sunday the 16th to get caught up. For Wednesday BFG members, you will need to do session 1 to be prepared for this Wednesday the 12th. There are materials (worksheets) to print out from the website and complete. If you don't get the homework done before class, please do not let that prevent you from coming. We will covering all of the material so you will not be lost. You will just get more out of it if you do it before hand.

I am looking forward to this program and getting back to a regular blogging process.

Please join me on this evangelism for life journey.

Do You Love the World? (1 John 2:15-27)

Beginning in verse 15 of 1 John 2, the author moves into a topic that is all to familiar to us and the struggles of our current day. John commands us not to love the "world" and all the things that come with it. He also tells us why loving the world is not what God desires for us. I am sure that the temptation to love the world has always been present in each age, but it seems to me that our culture of self-indulgence is especially at risk.

Love of the world is so sneaky in that many times we do not see ourselves as loving the world yet when something "of the world" is taken away from us, it can have a dramatic effect. For example, how many of us have felt stress over the decline of our investment/retirement portfolios? How many of us have felt a loss of self esteem around the loss of a job? How many of us have been frustrated that we do not have enough money to buy something we really want? How many of us have bought it anyway?

Then there is the approval of the world. I was so impressed with Miss California in the recent Miss USA pageant when asked whether all states should legalize same sex marriage. Miss California, a Christian, stood her ground and said that she believed that marriage is between a man and a woman. She lost the competition and most believe (including the judge) that she lost it because of the answer she gave. She could have given the politically correct answer knowing that answering truthfully was going to cost her the title. In fact, she said in an interview today that she knew that question was a possibility and prayed that it would not be the question she was asked. God didn't answer her prayer. Or did he? God gave her a platform and she chose to love the God rather than the world. The result was she lost the temporary crown but gained a eternal one. Way to go!

John 15:19 says "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world; but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

Does that not clearly explain the Miss California situation? Who says the Bible is no longer relevant?

Questions:

1. John says do not love the world or the ________ in the world. (v 15)
2. If you love the world, what is not in you? (v 15)
3. What is described by John as being in the world? (v. 16)
4. What will eventually happen to the things of the world? (v. 17)
5. What will happen to him/her who does the will of God? (v 17)
6. What did John tell the readers would be coming? (v. 18)
7. What will the Antichrist teach those who will listen? (v. 22-23)
8. What is the defense for us against the Antichrists? (v. 20, 24, 27-28).
9. What promise did Christ/Holy Spirit make to us? (v. 25)

In Christ,

Curtis

Distraction or Prime Mover (Special Entry)

While running today, I was very aware of how tired I felt, more than usual. As I considered why that might be, I realized that normally during my runs, I am either praying or listening to my Ipod so I am less aware ("distracted") of any physical strain. Today I was neither listening to my Ipod or praying. I just started running with no agenda in mind.

Because I was tire of feeling tired (and because I did not have my Ipod), I decided to pray. Just as I was about to start, I realized that I was potentially using God as a "distraction" (from being tired) rather than making him the primary desire of my heart and seeking Him just to seek Him.

How often do we do this? We call out to God almost as an afterthought; use him as a distraction; a "Mr. Fix It" of sorts, rather than our initial and primary source/builder of all things in our life.

Is God the Prime Mover in your life or is He like a pitcher in the bullpen that you call on when your initial plans are not working and you need him to come and "Save" you?

Is God your maintenance man (someone who fixes things someone else (you) built) rather than a builder (one who does the initial construction)?

My God never be a distraction or afterthought in my life and may he always be my first and primary mover/builder.

Stumbling in the Dark (1 John 2:7-11)

Surprise. Surprise. I set out to cover all 26 verses of 1 John Chapter 2 and I made it through all of six verses. Those of you who are regulars in class of course are not surprised at all. So we will try it again. We will try to cover the rest of Chapter 2 but this post deals with only verses 7-11.

So often Scripture uses imagery to help us understand the point being communicated. As I think about it, it is the very way we communicate with our kids when they ask us a question or when we are trying to get our point across. In this epistle, John uses "Light" to illustrate being in God's will and "Darkness" to communicate being out of His will. In verses 10 and 11 of the ESV translation, the imagery of "stumbling" in the dark is used. As I meditated on that concept, I could not help thinking about what it is like to wonder around in my house at night in the dark. You think you know where you are going but you are never really sure and if you are not careful, there is always the risk that you will bang into some furniture, stub your toe, or step on a Polly Pocket or Barbie accessory (at the Rippee house anyway). You must be keenly aware of the risk that every step you take could result in pain to some part of your body.

Isn't that really what walking outside the will of God is like? You are not sure whether the next step you take will result in some sort of pain that could have been avoided had you just chosen to follow God and His will. Sometimes it is easier not to turn on the light when walking in your house at night because you really don't want to wake up. That can be true of our spiritual lives as well. Sometimes we are so comfortable walking in spiritual darkness and really don't want to wake up to the spiritual truth because it would demand a response from us. Like walking through a dark house where risk of injury is around every corner so to is the risk we run in our spiritual lives, only the pain can be much worse and last much longer.

Are you walking in the Light or the Dark? Maybe it is time to turn on the Light and figure out where you really are walking.

Walk Your Talk

As we learned this last week, 1 John was written by the Apostle John when he was an old man. John was seeing false doctrines starting to take hold with believers in Ephesis and the churches in the surrounding areas. Much like an elderly person would tell us young folk (he he) about the Great Depression and the lessons learned during that time, John was telling his readers about the simple but power truths that he learned from Jesus himself.

Chapter 2 carries on with these four themes:

• Jesus is our Advocate When We Sin.
• To Know Him is To Obey Him
• Do Not Love the World Because It is Passing Away
• Don't Be Lead Astray By False Doctrines

As you read the chapter be aware of the extremely powerful and convicting statements about the evidence of your faith.

Quesions:

1. John states that he is writing this so that we may not sin. If we do, what is God's provision for us?
2. Define "propitiation".
3. Define "advocate".
4. How do we come to know God? What is required of us?
5. What is the evidence that we are walking in the light? What should we not be doing and what should we be doing?
6. What are the two main reasons we should not love the world?
7. What happens if you deny that Jesus is not the Christ?
8. What happens if you confess that Jesus is the Christ?
9. Why should we abide in Christ?

I trust that these questions will aid you in your study?

See you Wednesday or Sunday.

Curtis

Faith, Obedience and Love - 1 John Overview

Well after several months in Jeremiah we are now going to venture back into the New Testament. My plans are for us to spend the next five weeks or so studying 1 John before starting a study of the gospel of Matthew. I am very excited about both studies.

Let's get started with 1 John. I just finished reading the entire book in one sitting, something I would like to ask you to do this week. When you read the book you will find or will be reminded just how many powerful and significant verses are contained in this small book.

Most scholars agree that this epistle (letter) was written by the apostle John (the beloved disciple) who was one of two disciples in Jesus' inner circle. As you read the book, certain themes and John's close relationship with Jesus will certainly jump out at you. The themes of faith, obedience and love come across in a powerful way.

This week we will be doing an overview of the book as well as looking at the chapter 1. As you read you may want to consider these questions:

1. What are the similarities between 1 John and the gospel of John with respect to words that he uses to describe Christ? (1:1-3)
2. Why does John say he is writing this letter? (1:4)
3. How does John describe God? (1:5)
4. What happens when confess our sins? (1:9)
5. Who is our advocate and with whom is he our advocate? (2:1)
6. What should be our approach to the world? (2:15-17)
7. What is the promise the Father has made to us? (2:25)
8. Why doesn't the world know or understand us as believers? (3:1)
9. How does John suggest we show our love? (3:18)
10. What should our response to God loving us? (4:11)
11. Why do we love God? (4:19)
12. If we love God, how does that impact our view of his commandments? (5:4)
13. What is the second reason that John is writing this letter? (5:13)

I hope that you take the time to read this book and review these questions. I trust that you will be blessed.

In Christ,

Curtis

Inaugural Blog

Well this is my inaugural blog. I really have no idea what I am doing but I am about to do it anyway. I never thought I would be a blogger but then again I never thought I would be an entrepreneur and I was wrong about that too.

The title of the blog originates from one of my favorite verses:

"For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules to Israel." Ezra 7:10

It became a natural choice for the title when I reflected on my first reading and my most recent reading of the verse. The first time, I was sitting in my backyard hammock crying out to God for direction with respect to my career and playing Bible Roulette. I landed on this verse and it was a powerful moment given my love for learning and teaching Scripture. Then recently, while doing my daily reading and again seeking direction on some critical issues in my life, the verse came up again. Another powerful moment and I believe not a coincidence.

My intent is to write weekly regarding my thoughts on my upcoming BFG lessons at First Baptist McKinney. While I feel resistance to the idea of becoming a "blogger", I feel lead to use the medium to communicate and possibly create a better learning environment for people who choose to read the thoughts and then attend one the classes.

So if you are a reader of the blog and/or attend one of the BFG classes, I am humbled and appreciative. I pray that God will honor your time reading and studying.

In Christ,

Curtis