4/23/13

From Gary... A red bird, an old song and the light of life







One of the tasks I now do each day is taking Buddy for his early morning walk.  On the way back home, I saw a red bird in a small tree and it perked me right up.  Immediately, an old song came to mind and I couldn't help but sing what words of it I could remember...


Needless to say, it started the day on a good note (no pun intended, I am not that musical).  So, a few hours later (around noon) when I took Buddy out again, I snapped a few more pictures.  Yesterday is gone and today the sun is shining and there are only a few clouds in the sky.  Somehow things just look "Better"!!!  On days like today, I can imagine how someone who has just seen the world for the first time might feel...

John, Chapter 9

 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.  2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 

  3  Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.   4  I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.   5  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”   6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man’s eyes with the mud,  7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went away, washed, and came back seeing.  


If just a little red bird can make big changes in your life, think of what Jesus can do!!!  When the sun shines, it adds warmth and texture to everything we see, but when Jesus shines in your heart even the smallest little change around you (like a bird in a tree) can seem wonderful.  And a little music from Al Jolson couldn't hurt either!!!

From Jim McGuiggan... CHECKMATED BUT WINNING

CHECKMATED BUT WINNING

Acts 16:7 tells us that Paul turned to go to Bithynia but the Spirit of God stopped him--wouldn't allow it! 
How did the Spirit do that? Via a dream? Did a prophet speak a word to him? Did he become ill? More than one of these? All of them together? I mention this because Paul didn't enjoy being contradicted or thwarted or hindered and he didn't mind saying that when he was hindered it was Satan at work in the matter [see 1Thessalonians 2:18]. 
In Acts 21:10-14 a prophet warns Paul what would happen to him if he insisted on going to Jerusalem. The disciples begged Paul not to go there [how many "good reasons" did they give to win him over?] but in the end we're told he could not be persuaded. Again, I mention this to make the point that when the Spirit stopped Paul in Acts 16 the message must have been loud and clear and definitive because the only thing this man really cared for was that he be faithful to the task God had given him and that was to preach the gospel [Acts 20:24].
As God's story unfolds in Acts we learn that God's eternal purpose is greater than Paul, greater than Paul's faithful and driven heart. Paul was marvelous but God is more marvelous. Paul was committed but God is more committed. But it was because Paul had one thing in his heart, had one joy in  his life that the Spirit said a definitive "no" to him. The Story was to go West! 
Paul was never so wisely guided, said G.H. Morrison, than that time when he was thwarted, baffled more than once [Acts 16:6-7}. Paul said "yes" and God said "no". Incidents like this leave us with many questions and generate many others but they are questions for another time. Here on this occasion Paul dreamed a dream about a man in the West pleading for help and he concluded [16:10] that God was calling him Westward. 
[Was God not making a "pet" out of the West? Hmmm. Was he not making a "servant" out of the West whether or not the West has refused or refuses to be? Has privilege no implied mission?]
God will not be domesticated! He will have what he will have and what he will haveexpresses his heart's desire to bless the entire human family. This means he will, when it suits his wise and loving purpose, say "no" even to his devoted servants! This means he will not always speak in such a way that he cannot be misunderstood--there will be times when the devoted servants will have to trust to their loving hearts' best construal. But it will be such people that God will trust himself to. As if he said, "They will work it out--they love me!" 
In this person, Paul, the Spirit's "no" and his "yes" was rightly understood because he was so in tune with the Spirit, so driven to proclaim the gospel of God as it has come to us in the blessed Lord Jesus that he tried every door and when he found one left unlocked he hurled himself through it. If God checkmated him it was because he knew the heart of Paul--knew that he would think himself a "winner" despite the loss [compare 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 for the same spirit in Paul]. 
Paul would have seen himself a winner because he was free now to preach THE GOSPEL to the Western world. Had he gone east he would have turned his back on Athens and on the world's center of power, Rome. In truth, Paul was not beaten. If he was free to preach, if God had opened a door or shut one it made no difference to Paul. It was GOD who was God. It was GOD'S gospel about GOD'S Son and Paul was his willing servant. You can't beat such a man by helping him better to do his job. He'll turn and thank you for it!
But let Paul through a door and it's THE GOSPEL he'll preach! It's GOD he'll talk about! He won't educate, he won't inform, he won't entertain, he won't enthrall, he won't delight, he won't moralize, he won't impress or amaze--he will PREACH! He will preach the GOSPEL! He will go to many places and find himself in many differing situations and he will shape his presentation accordingly But he willl PREACH and he will preach one thing--THE GOSPEL. 
God doesn't take the trouble to say "no" to Reader's Digest "preachers". God doesn't bother himself to shut and open doors to the clever "information pedlars". He marks well the journeys of PREACHERS who preach one thing--THE GOSPEL. 

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... Private Teaching And Its Benefits


                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

              Private Teaching And Its Benefits (4:33-34)

INTRODUCTION

1. Jesus was truly the Master Teacher...
   a. He preached often in the synagogues - Mk 1:39
   b. He taught large crowds by the sea shore - Mk 2:13; 4:1-2

2. He also taught in private...
   a. Especially regarding the parables, first told in public - Mk 4:33
   b. Which He later explained to His disciples - Mk 4:34

[The disciples of Jesus were blessed to have private instruction.  While
listening to the Word of God in a public setting is of great value, have
you considered the benefits of private teaching...?]

I. WHAT IS PRIVATE TEACHING?

   A. EXPLANATION...
      1. Simply put, it is teaching in a private setting (home, office,
         park bench)
      2. Just the teacher and the learner, or at the most a small group
         of learners
      3. Where the teaching is informal, usually a dialogue rather than
         a lecture
      -- Private teaching involves a more intimate, personal environment
         for learning

   B. EXAMPLES...
      1. Jesus and His disciples in our text - Mk 4:33-34
      2. Jesus and Nicodemus - Jn 3:1-3
      3. Jesus and the Samaritan woman - Jn 4:5-26
      4. Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch - Ac 8:26-40
      5. Peter and the household of Cornelius - Ac 10:24,33
      6. Aquila and Priscilla working with Apollos - Ac 18:24-26
      7. Paul as he taught in homes, including his own - Ac 20:20;
         28:30-31
      -- The Bible is filled with examples of private teaching

[Jesus and His followers made much use of private teaching in addition
to public instruction.  To appreciate why, consider the answer to the
question...]

II. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

   A. INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION...
      1. Public teaching is at best a "shotgun" approach
         a. An audience has many people with different needs, levels of
            understanding
         b. No one subject or lesson meets the interests of every person
      2. Private teaching can address an individual's needs or interests
         a. The need might be basic ("What must I do to be saved?")
         b. The interest might be academic ("I ask you, of whom does the
            prophet say this...?)
         c. The desire might be to grow in understanding ("Explain this
            parable to us.")
         d. The student might want to act immediately ("What hinders me
            from being baptized?")
      -- Public instruction cannot provide such individual attention

   B. PERSONAL QUESTIONS...
      1. Public teaching does not lend itself to asking questions
         a. Some venues traditionally frown on asking questions (e.g.,
            during a sermon)
         b. Shy people are often are too intimidated to ask questions in
            public
         c. Personal questions are not always suitable for public
            discourse
      2. Private teaching is well suited for questions
         a. Related to one's interests or spiritual level
         b. Without fear of ridicule or interruption
      -- Private teaching allows for inquiry and follow-up questions

   C. SUPERIOR LEARNING...
      1. Successful people have their mentors and advisors
         a. Olympic athletes have personal coaches
         b. Serious fitness buffs have personal trainers
      2. The disciples benefited by their time with Jesus - cf. Ac 4:13
      3. Personal spiritual training is part of God's plan - cf. 2Ti 2:2
         a. Don't think you need a personal teacher?
         b. Then you need to be a teacher! - cf. He 5:12
      -- Private teaching provides opportunity for accelerated and
         advanced learning

CONCLUSION

1. Willingness to listen to public preaching and teaching is
   commendable...
   a. Do you listen to sermons in worship?  Good!
   b. Do you attend and participate in Bible classes at church?  Great!

2. But if you want to really get serious about your salvation and
   spiritual growth...
   a. Find a personal "spiritual fitness" trainer
   b. Attend a home Bible study, or start one in your home

After the two disciples walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, they
said to one another:

   "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the
   road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" - Lk 24:32

Their experience (hearts excited by learning) is often shared today by
many people who are willing to go beyond just attending church, to
become involved in the private teaching of the Word of God.

If you would like to experience the benefits of private teaching, please
let us know...


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

eXTReMe Tracker