Sunday, January 29, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Slothful Students
R.C. Sproul says:
"There is a great deal of difference between reading and studying. Reading is something we can do in a leisurely way, something that can be done strictly for entertainment in a casual, cavalier manner. But study suggests labor, serious and diligent work.
Here then is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.
Karl Barth, the famous Swiss theologian once wrote that all human sin finds its roots in three basic human problems. He included in his list of rudimentary sins, the sins of pride (hubris), dishonesty, and slothfulness. None of these basic evils is instantly eradicated by spiritual regeneration. As Christians, we must struggle against these problems through our entire pilgrimage. None of us is immune. If we are going to deal with the discipline of Bible study, we must recognize at the outset that we will need the grace of God to persevere.
...I frequently lecture to groups on the theme of studying the Bible.Usually I ask how many of them have been Christians for a year or more. Then I ask those people how many have read the entire Bible from cover to cover. In every instance, the overwhelming majority answer in the negative. I would venture to guess that among those who have been Christians for a year or more, at least eighty percent have never read the whole Bible. How is that possible? Only an appeal to the radical Fall of the human race could begin to answer that question."
From Knowing Scripture
"There is a great deal of difference between reading and studying. Reading is something we can do in a leisurely way, something that can be done strictly for entertainment in a casual, cavalier manner. But study suggests labor, serious and diligent work.
Here then is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.
Karl Barth, the famous Swiss theologian once wrote that all human sin finds its roots in three basic human problems. He included in his list of rudimentary sins, the sins of pride (hubris), dishonesty, and slothfulness. None of these basic evils is instantly eradicated by spiritual regeneration. As Christians, we must struggle against these problems through our entire pilgrimage. None of us is immune. If we are going to deal with the discipline of Bible study, we must recognize at the outset that we will need the grace of God to persevere.
...I frequently lecture to groups on the theme of studying the Bible.Usually I ask how many of them have been Christians for a year or more. Then I ask those people how many have read the entire Bible from cover to cover. In every instance, the overwhelming majority answer in the negative. I would venture to guess that among those who have been Christians for a year or more, at least eighty percent have never read the whole Bible. How is that possible? Only an appeal to the radical Fall of the human race could begin to answer that question."
From Knowing Scripture
Friday, January 13, 2012
Words of Wisdom
Anything that refreshes you without distracting you from your ultimate goal is a legitimate pleasure. –Ravi Zacharias
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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Discipline
Last week, I decided that my word for 2012 would be "discipline." Tonight in Bible study, Dr. Palmer shared the following quote:
“I defy you to read the life of any saint that has ever adorned the life of the Church without seeing at once that the greatest characteristic in the life of that saint was discipline and order. Invariably it is the universal characteristic of all the outstanding men and women of God. Read about Henry Martyn, David Brainerd, Jonathan Edwards, the brothers Wesley and Whitfield — read their journals. It does not matter what branch of the Church they belonged to, they have all disciplined their lives and have insisted upon the need for this; and obviously it is something that is Scriptural and absolutely essential.”
—Martyn Lloyd-Jones
—Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Monday, January 9, 2012
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