Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Truth Project--Round 2 "What is Truth?"

For those of you who were with us the last time we studied The Truth Project, this will be a review and a more in-depth study of some profound truths. For those of you who were not with us last time, I hope that this study will be one that brings awareness and understanding to the issues created by the constant paradox of the world's view of almost every conceivable issue versus the perspective outlined in the Word of God. According to Dr. Del Tackett, the author and father of The Truth Project, the perspective of contemporary culture stands in direct opposition to the Truth-centered worldview presented in the Bible. Dr. Tackett advances the bold claim that our culture is not only filled with lies but is actually heading in the direction of social insanity. Consequently, he proposes that Pilate's question in John 18:38, "What is truth?" is actually the most important question facing our society today.

Dr. Tackett argues that every sin can be traced to belief in the lie. The cosmic battle of the truth versus the lie of satan is at the center of good and evil, spiritual and material, and the Children of God versus the children of the devil. I hope you will join us in the next four or five months as we again study the Word of God and compare and contrast the teaching of truth in almost every area of human endeavor to the lies of our society and the deception of satan.

The Scriptures referenced in this first part of the study: "Truth" are listed below for your reference:

Isaiah 6:1-8, John 18: 33-38, Matt. 5:18, Matt. 10:15, Matt. 13:17, Matt. 16:28, Matt. 17:20, Matt. 18: 3, 18, Matt. 19:23, Matt. 21:21, Matt. 23:36, Matt. 24:2, Matt. 25:40, Matt. 26:21, Matt. 26:34, John 3:3, John 3:5, John 3:11, John 5: 19, 24, 25, John 1:17, John 14:6, John 6:26, 32, 47, 53, John 8:34, 51, 58, John 17:17, John 4:24, John 8:32, John 14: 16-17, John 16:13, 1 Tim 2:3-4, Eph 6:14, Isaiah 59:4, Jer. 7:28, Isaiah 59:15, 1 Tim. 6:13, 2 Tim. 4:3-4, Rom 1:18, Acts 20:30, Rom 2:8, Rom. 1:25, 1 John 4:6, Job 1 & 2, 2 Thess 2:9-13, John 8:34-47, Rom.7:11, 2 Thess. 2:10, Eph. 4:22, Heb.3:13, 1 John 3:10, 2 Tim. 2:24-26, Col. 4:5-6, Isaiah 44:18-20, Isaiah 44:17, Matt. 6: 25-34, Col. 2:2-4.

Monday, January 16, 2012

WHEN LESS IS MORE--January 15, 2012

As I mentioned during our lesson this week, I contemplated not showing this week's lesson due to the fact that the lesson appeared to target the business arena and, in my opinion, really did not speak to family issues. However, after finally deciding to use this week's lesson from Andy Stanley's series on "Time", I was pleased to have several members of our class express their appreciation for this lesson. God always uses His Word and our commitment to Him to give us insight to His Plan and His expectations for our life.

In this week's lesson, Andy used the story of Moses being given advice by his father-in-law Jethro to help us understand some important principles about the use of time in our organizations--NOT THE FAMILY. As you recall, Jethro criticized Moses for spending all of his time acting as the judge or referee for the everyday disputes that arose among the children of Israel. He suggested an organizational chart that placed others in positions of responsibility and freed Moses for more significant duties assigned by God. The first principle that Andy Stanley articulated this week was: "My fully exploited strengths are of far greater value to my organization than my marginally improved weaknesses." He interprets the following principle for making our best contribution to a society in which we might work: "Discover what you're not good at and eliminate those things from your schedule." Next, he suggests, "Identify areas where you make the greatest contribution" and "give your best time to what makes the biggest impact." Finally, the last principle to improve your organization is to "develop other leaders." If you wish to learn more about the Biblical Principles of time that Andy has identified, you may wish to visit www.northpoint.org/time

It was good to see so many of our group there this week. Hope to see you all Sunday.

Jimmy and Cindy

Monday, January 9, 2012

Compounding the Minutes--January 8, 2012

Wow! It seems like it has been a very long time since we met as a Sunday School Class. It was good to get back in the swing of things this week. We returned to the Andy Stanley series on "TIME." The third message in the series deals with "Compoinding the Minutes." The lesson is based on the teaching in Ephesians 5:15.

Andy shares three things about time that we already know, but tend to ignore:
1) There is a cumulative value to investing small amounts of time in certain activities over a long period. Neglect is cumulative as well.
2) There is no immediate benefit to any single installment of time and no immediate consequence if we skip an installment of time.
3) There is no cumulative value to the random things we opt for over the things we know to be important.

Many of us have heard parents and grandparents refer to Ephesians 5:15 with the phrase, "Redeem your time." Andy interpets this scripture as, "Cash in your time for something of equal value." Another important concept from today's lesson is that anything that relates to your time is a spiritual matter.

Where do you need to begin making time deposits?
Spiritual?
Physical?
Relationships?

What is your biggest obstacle? A manifestation of God's life in you is self-control. What are you willing to do about it?

Thanks to Bo Miles for recommending a great little book that relates to this issue of time and prioritizing our activities: The Tyranny of the Urgent by Charles Hummel. It can be accessed at Amazon.com.

Have a great week. Redeem the time!