Psalms 1-5

I was talking with the campus pastor on Thursday and she told me she was reading through the Psalms.  I've decided I'm going to do that as well and give some reflections on them.

PSALM 1

Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

 What a great line to start out the book of Psalms.  This psalm is saying we should not follow evil.  Simple as that.

Psalm 4:1
Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God.  Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

Whenever I pray, it's usually about my worries and fears.  I pray that my car won't peter out (it has a leak in the radiator hose now).  I pray that I get an internship for my music technology curriculum.  I pray for forgiveness for my sins that I constantly commit every day.

Psalm 5 is interesting.

Psalm 5:2-12
Listen to my cry for help, my king, and my God, for to you I pray.  In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.  You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.  The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.  You destroy those who tell lies; blood thirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.  But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.  Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies -- make straight your way before me.  Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction.  Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.  Declare them guilty, O God!  Let their intrigues be their downfall.  Banish them for their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.  But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.  Spread your protection over them, that those who have your name may rejoice in you.  For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

In case you don't know, I like to write music, but I only do if I'm inspired.  This verse sort of inspires me.  I'm going to try to write some song verses down and see where it takes me.


Listen for my cry.  My heart is troubled
Listen for my prayer.  My heart's is in pain.
I will come to your house and I will worship
and let us not take your name in vain.

Spread your love over us, O God!
For you are the one we love
Let those who surround may rejoice you
Send your spirit down like a dove.

For surely, O Lord, bless the righteous
surround them with your holy shield
Let all who take refuge be glad,
and let your word be fulfilled.

Jude's Letter

It's kind of chilly outside today, so I'm in the Mezz at Capital University.  Jude wrote this letter to let Christians know that although they're saved, the can't go around and do bad things.

Titus 1:5
I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.

Titus 1:18-19
..."In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.  These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit."

Don't we all do that?  Don't we all follow ungodly desires?  I know I do.

What does it mean when it says "who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit?"  Does this mean we are to not follow what the body is to instinctively do?  Are not to "fight or flight?"  Are we to not follow our sexual desires, (which we shouldn't before marriage anyway)?  Are we to not feed ourselves whenever we're hungry?

Hebrews

I will be sharing some reflections on the book of Hebrews today.

Hebrews was written by Paul to help strengthen the faith of early Christians.  Jesus here is referred to as a High Priest, much like Melchizadek in the Old Testament.

Hebrews 5: 12
 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!

Oh the Lord knows how elementary I am with Christianity.  I think all of us still have a lot of learning to do.

Hebrews 6:1
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God...

Dear Lord, help me mature.

Hebrews 6:10
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.


If you read my blog, you'll know that I love doing what's called Kindness Outreaches.  At church, we have cards that we use to buy other people's food for them.  It's a good way to show God's love.

I just hope that God will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant," when it's my time to leave.

Titus

I will be reflecting on the book of Titus today.  Today, I'm sitting under a big tree at Capital University near the Blackmore Library.

Titus was written by Paul to Titus, telling him to appoint pastors.  He also tells him to obey the government and be gentle.

Titus 1: 7-8
Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless - not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.  Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.  

Titus 3:9
[Avoid] foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

Not much to say here today.  These few verses were the ones that struck me as being important.

Justin Bieber Doesn't Need To Go To Church

I saw this posted on another blog (here).  Apparently, Justin Bieber doesn't feel the need to go to church.  Here's an article on it.

In a coming of age cover story photographed by Inez & Vinoodh, the soon to be 18-year-old pop singer discussed his rising fame, paternity suit controversy, and his views on faith and religion.

Bieber, an unabashed Christian, is known not to shy away from his beliefs in public, seen in his candid declarations of faith in Jesus, whom he believes died for his sins, to his visits to the holy land of Israel.

Most recently, the Canadian star turned heads again with a new tattoo – the face of Jesus Christ adorning the back of his calf.

With more to say about his faith, Bieber, who is currently recording his next album Believe, told V Magazine, according to the New York Post, “A lot of people who are religious, I think they get lost. They go to church just to go to church.”

“I’m not trying to disrespect them ... but for me, I focus more on praying and talking to Him. I don’t have to go to church.”

Responding to his statement, Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, Calif., told The Christian Post that he agreed and disagreed with what Bieber was saying.

“[E]very Christian according to the New Testament is to be in some form of structured local church, whether a house church or large church,” the pastor stated. “We are not meant to be following Jesus without being in a Christian community, where if we are not there part of it, we are missed and noticed.”

“I do agree with him that some Christians can see ‘going to church’ as the basis for their faith, and that then becomes incorrect theology too,” Kimball noted.

Justin has got this all wrong. 

Matthew 18:20“Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst of them”

There's a verse in Hebrews that states,

"And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. "

I have spent about half an hour searching my Pastor's blog that features a sermon he gave to my church just weeks after being installed as pastor back in 2007.  I think I found it.

I hope he doesn't mind I copy and paste this here.

Preparing For Jesus