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Bible reading for April 5 -- 6 Apr 5 -- Proverbs 23 and 1 Thessalonians 2 Apr 6 -- Proverbs 24 and 1 Thessalonians 3 "Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out." (Proverbs 24:19-20)  BE NOT ENVIOUS. There are sections within the book of Proverbs. Those originating with Solomon transition to other sources in chapters 22 through 24. Here there are parallels with Egyptian wisdom teachings of Amenemope (see Derek Kidner, Proverbs, pp 23-24). They are adapted -- either by Solomon or perhaps Hezekiah later -- for use by Israelite believers. In these chapters there is a repeated call by the father to his son to pursue wisdom, to listen, to observe, to control desires, and to make good decisions. Familiar themes are repeated: labor vs. laziness, sobriety vs. drunkenness, justice vs. injustice. One repeated admonition is to avoid envy and the temptation to join with others in a worl...

Bible reading for March 10 -- 11 Mar 10 -- Job 39 and 2 Corinthians 9 Mar 11 -- Job 40 and 2 Corinthians 10 "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it." (Job 40:2) MORE LESSONS FROM NATURE (ch 39-40). God speaks of the mountain goat, the wild donkey, the ostrich, the horse, and the hawk, in order to demonstrate the limitation of human knowledge and power. Each of these creatures -- a creature like Job -- has greater strength, skill, and speed than Job. We are not as wise and capable as we often think.  ON BEHEMOTH AND LEVIATHAN (ch 41-42). There are many opinions about whether these are real creatures to be found in nature, being described with hyperbole, or if these are references to mythological creatures symbolizing death and Satan. Some have suggested these are remnants of dinosaur species. See Constable's comments on the various interpretations . And here's Christopher Ash's interpretation . The over-riding poi...

Bible reading for weekend March 8 -- 9 Mar 8 -- Job 37 and 2 Corinthians 7 Mar 9 -- Job 38 and 2 Corinthians 8 "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?" (Job 38:33) ELIHU FINISHES (ch 37) . Elihu finishes his speech, and in these last two verses he speaks of several of God's attributes: "The Almighty -- we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit" (vv 23-24). God is omnipotent and great in power; he is infinite and inscrutable, that is, beyond our full comprehension; and he is completely righteous, with an impeccable standard of justice. Again, Job and his friends have only been considering a limited view of God, specifically his temporal judgments in human affairs. Elihu's conclusion is that our knowledge of God -- and our lack of knowledge about him -- should lead us to humble o...

Bible reading for January 11-12  Jan 11 -- Nehemiah 1 and Acts 11 Jan 12 -- Nehemiah 2 and Acts 12 ================    "Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" (Nehemiah 2:3) REBUILDING THE WALLS. We begin a new book, Nehemiah, about a man who leads the third wave of Jews returning from Babylon to their homeland in the fifth century B.C. A few years previously Ezra made the same trip, and worked on restoring national worship. Nehemiah will focus on rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem for the city's security and dignity. But the central concern for both Ezra and Nehemiah was the rebuilding of God's people. In the first two chapters we observe Nehemiah's prayer (and his heart) for his kinsmen back in their homeland. He embraces his people's failures as his own, and since he is a man of high position in the Persian empire, he asks for success in helping his fel...

Bible reading for October 30.  2 Kings 12. "Then they would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the LORD. And they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the LORD..." (2 Kings 12:11)  HIGH PLACES. As we proceed through 2 Kings the accounts will alternate back and forth between the southern kingdom (Judah; capital: Jerusalem) and the northern kingdom (Israel; capital: Samaria). The "high places" (v 3) were regional places of worship, scattered throughout the land. These locations might be on the high point of a hill, or under a grove of trees, or at some convenient place where people could come and give offerings without having to travel to Jerusalem. It decentralized worship, making it easier, and thus detracted from worship at the temple in Jerusalem. It also opened the door for the introduction of idolatry on those sites, making the high places a sort of one-sto...

Bible reading for October 16.  1 Kings 19. "And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'" (1 Kings 19:13) FROM FAITH TO FEAR. Elijah goes from a mountain-top experience of great success, down to the pit of fear and despair, because of Jezebel's threat. And the threat was real. Who knew that God's prophets could go through such ups and downs? So Elijah flees to Mount Sinai, many miles to the south in the wilderness. The Lord sustains him through the journey. He is going back to the place where God gave his law and promises, where God's power and glory had been manifested centuries before, and where the nation was founded. Twice the Lord will ask him, "what are you doing here, Elijah?" In other words, why have you come? This is not an indictment, but an invitation to speak and to plainly state his pro...

Bible reading for September 15.  2 Samuel 11. "It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful." (2 Samuel 11:2) SEX AND POWER. Most Christian men know the story of David and Bathsheba better than the story of David and Goliath. This story is especially relevant to men... the pitfall which comes with idleness, a beautiful and forbidden woman, opportunity, and lack of accountability. David should have been doing something productive rather than sleeping in the afternoon and channel surfing the rooftops. David, like many near-eastern kings, felt entitled to the extra pleasure that came with power and authority.  How many leaders down through history (and today) have fallen through affairs, pornography, or some other sexual sin. The evil mounts up: sight is followed by the deed, then there is deception and cover-up. Others are involve...

Bible reading for weekend September 12-13.  2 Samuel 7-9. "And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever." (2 Samuel 7:16) THE DAVIDIC COVENANT. Along with the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and New covenants, God's covenant with David is critical in understanding the history of redemption.  God promises that David's lineage and dynasty would continue in perpetuity. David's descendants  would be disciplined if they were disobedient but God's love would never depart as it did from King Saul's dynasty. How can such a dynasty as David's last forever? It could be through a perpetual line of kings descended from David. But David himself speaks of one to come, his greater Son, whom he calls "Lord" (Psalm 110:1). And the prophet Isaiah tells us that there will be one Davidic ruler who would be eternal: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his sho...

Bible reading for Aug 26.  I Samuel 18. "And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him." (1 Sam 18:14)  DAVID'S SUCCESSES. Here we read of Saul's growing jealousy and fear of David. Saul's son Jonathan befriends David. Saul attempts to kill David by betrothing one of his daughters to David, hoping that the bloody bride-price would pit David against the Philistines and he would be killed in battle. All of this backfires. The Lord is blessing David and has departed from Saul. And Saul is in a downward spiral of envy and hatred. It's interesting to note that this is what Pilate saw when the Jewish leaders brought Jesus to trial before him: "For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up" (Matt 27:18).  REFLECT. Envy is a vice which is self-consuming. At its core is ingratitude toward, and rebellion against, God's wise providence. That is, we do not like God's dealings which give a gift...

Bible reading for April 3 -- Leviticus 6; Psalms 5-6.  "...he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt." (Leviticus 6:5)  The principle of restitution (Lev 6:1-7).   Reconciliation with God does not remove the necessity of reconciliation with other people . The principle of restitution is taught here, with an added 20% (verse 5).  In the NT Zacchaeus becomes an example of a beautiful and bountiful conversion to Christ when he offers -- on that very day -- to repay not 20% but four-fold to those whom he cheated (Lu 19:8). This attitude should apply to prompt payment of all our debts:  "Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law" (Rom 13:7-8).     ...

Why is the preaching and teaching of the Bible so central to the life of BCF?  This is the question asked in Sunday's sermon .  Here is the outline of those notes and a few quotations... Key passage :  “...the church of the living God [is] a pillar and buttress of the truth. ...devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”  (1 Timothy 3:15; 4:13 ESV) Here's a walk-through  of the ministry of the Word in biblical history... • In creation.   (Gen. 1:3, 5; Ps. 147:15-18; Rev. 21:5)   • To Israel. (Deut. 4:10-12, 33-36; Josh. 1:8; Ezra 7:10)  • In OT worship. (Ps 1; 19; 119) • In the prophets.   (Isa. 8:16-20; 40:8; 55:10-11; 66:2; Jer. 23:28-29) • By the Lord Jesus ( The Word in flesh! ) (Matt. 5:17-19; 26:13; 28:19; Mark 13:31; Jn. 8:31-32; 17:14-17) • In the early church .  (Acts 2:42; 6:4; 20:20, 27, 32) • By the Apostle Paul .  (Rom. 15:4; 1 Tim. 3:15; 4:13; 2 Ti...

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God. "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were  brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." (Psalm 90:1-2  ESV) This Psalm is ascribed to Moses, and may have been written in context of the forty-year wandering of Israel in the wilderness. (Numbers 15-20)  In verses 1 through 11 Moses considers the eternal nature of God and the brevity of human life. (90:1-11)   Here are six petitions that Moses made in light of the brevity of life before the eternal God.  These are also six things I can pray as I am growing older... Wisdom. (90:12) "So teach us to number our days..."  Pray that the Lord would enable us to know the value of our remaining  time on earth, and that we would plan well to make the best use of it (Eph. 5:16). Mercy. (90:13) "Have pity on your servants..." Pray that we would continue to rely...

It was a special treat for me as a young child to see Dwight Eisenhower (then President) in person when we lived at the Air Force Academy. I've profited from reading about his leadership during World War II.  The following is an excerpt of a letter he wrote on leadership in 1942.   "This is a long road we have to travel. The men that can do things are going to be sought out just as surely as the sun rises in the morning. Fake reputations, habits of glib and clever speech, and glittering surface performance are going to be discovered and kicked overboard. Solid, sound leadership… and ironclad determination to face discouragement, risk, and increasing work without flinching, will always characterize the man who has a sure-enough, bang-up fighting unit. Added to this he must have a darn strong tinge of imagination—I am continuously astounded by the utter lack of imaginative thinking.… Finally, the man has to be able to forget himself and personal fortunes. I've ...