Thanks for a great year, everyone.  I have learned so much, as I hope you have.  Feel free to share some final thoughts.

This blog will remain inactive until the next Foundations Group begins in September.  Have a great summer!

Today, as I missed worship services due to illness for the first time I can remember, I sat down and began to catch up.  I read Psalm 6, 20, 21, 25, 28, 70, 71, 72, 76, 77, 100, 117, 119:65-176, 120, 131 and 140.  I thought about the times of struggle we all have (which the psalm writers so eloquently describe) and how the strength of God is so powerfully generated in such moments.  The psalms reflect this over and over.  God, through His Word, His Spirit, His works, His very presence, supplies what I need most when I have the least.

I thought about some of you who have been struggling lately in being consistent in Bible reading, or getting those last few memory verses “locked in.”  I thought about others of you who have had other issues in your life sapping your strength.  For all of us the very thing we may struggle to do is the supply of strength we need.  Being alone with God in the Word is so vital to the survival of the soul.  We must be tireless in finding that time.  And when we find it, we must guard against it being a mere exercise.  Allow it to be a relaxed time in God’s presence.  As you read, it is not to report in to me or someone else.  It is to connect to your Creator and Savior.  That’s all.  Anything else that comes of it is bonus.

We have just about 10 meetings left in this group, and your stamina may be running low.  But seeking God in His Word is what you want to be about.  Endure.  I am praying for each one of you and will do whatever I can to help you stay the course.

I want to continue to encourage you to hang in there with Bible reading, study, prayer and Scripture memory review.  When I push a little, please understand that I am not trying to bring you up to any human standard, but simply trying to challenge you to take that next step to becoming more like Jesus Christ.  This group is never about “pass” or “fail” but about growing deeper.  Always ask yourself the question:  Am I farther along in my maturity today than I was a month ago?

This morning I read from Psalms 16, 47, 66 and 116.  For some insights I gained, check out my post on my blog.

If you need the article on “How to Spend Extended Time in Prayer,” just click on the title to access it.  I will be praying for your half day of prayer.

You can read more about my thoughts on this on my personal blog, but I just wanted to encourage you to go beyond the basic disciplines of Scripture and Bible reading and discover the value in fasting, confession and repentance, simplicity, solitude and the like.  Richard Foster’s excellent book Celebration of Discipline gives some helpful instruction on exercising these disciplines.

I am seeking, in this season, to glorify God, and to be renewed in the process.  Great is the Lord and worthy to be praised!

I just finished going through the next lesson in our Study & Meditation book.  That is a record for me.  I’m usually getting around to it the night before our meeting.  But I have to realize that when I delay, I am not putting off work.  I am putting off my growth and my intimacy with God.

Life is so much more fulfilling and smoother when I consistently do the things that are most important, rather than put them off until they scream in my ear “Get this thing done now, or there will be major problems!”  The worst time to repair a leaking roof is during the spring storms.  If we tend to our lives consistently we discover:

• That future disastrous experiences are lessened, for we have maintained and strengthened and prepared our current and future life.  We aren’t left to cram at the last minute.
• In a gradual process, we are built up in every way.  We will be amazed at what God does in us over the long haul.
• The habits of a disciple of Jesus Christ become the rhythms of our life.  What God creates in us is character, not mere ritual.

Continue to review your memory verses, especially the “Proclaim Christ” set.  If you are having trouble with several verses, don’t try to review them all.  Begin with one and review it until it is well established in your mind.  Then move on to the next one as you continue to review the ones you already know.

Be sure to read through the “How to Spend Extended Time in Prayer” sheet.  If you need a copy, click the title that you just read.

As you spend time in the Bible the next two week, slooooow doooown.  Be sure that you hear the voice of God and don’t just see His words.  Allow yourself enough time.  If you need 15 minutes for your Bible reading, make sure you have 30 minutes so that you aren’t rushed.

Continue to pray for those on your “Disciple-Making Card.”  Ask God to open their hearts to God’s truth and love.  Ask Him to open your eyes to their needs.  Ask Him to open your mouth to share the message.

What do you have to say?  Please leave your comments for all to read.

When I was ten years old I had my first, and only, cavity.  My dentist was Dr. Drukenbrod.  I was a scrawny kid  (hard to believe isn’t it?) and all I can remember is how massive Dr. Drukenbrod’s fingers were.  They were like bratwurst links.  It seemed like I could never get my mouth open wide enough for even two of his fingers.  Thirty-six years later I have no problem getting my mouth open wide enough for two bratwurst links.

Anyway, I got my first and only cavity at the age of ten and I still have it today.  Every year at the dentist, they check it and it is solid and never needs any repair.  Why?  Because it was embedded properly.  Three and a half decades later a job well done is keeping my tooth healthy.

Where am I going with that?  The reason that my memory verses are fairly easy to review after being lax for a while is because they were embedded well when I first learned them.  I worked hard to memorize them originally, and it has paid off in the long term.

Having said that, I cannot become lax in review.  Eventually the good filling in my tooth can become a liability if I don’t maintain good dental hygiene.  So my memory verses could become a faded thought if I don’t practice good scripture memory habits.  The great thing is that after the verses are solidly known, review can be less often (maybe weekly instead of daily).  And when I find verses growing a little fuzzy, I can make them a priority and review them more often until they become solidified again.

We now have all the verses we are going to memorize for this group, so you can focus on review, review, review.  Next Wednesday we’ll review the “Proclaim Christ” verses.  There are nine of them.  We will also talk about having a day of personal prayer.  Good stuff.  We’ll meet at Ginnie’s at our new time – 6:30 p.m.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

This is a great verse to emphasize the importance of meaningful fellowship in the church family.  It far transcends simple church attendance.  It goes way beyond meeting together in a building once a week for singing, praying, listening to a speaker, and then going home.  We gather to inject strength into one another’s lives.

I am particularly interested in the word “spur” for it conveys the idea of urging one another to Christian faithfulness, even when our challenges may be a bit uncomfortable.  I realize that the Hebrew writer did not have in mind the spurs of North American cowboys, but the same idea applies.  We “encourage” one another with jabs that can be a little painful.  But sometimes that is necessary.  We are, after all, referred to as “sheep” many times in Scripture, so we have the dullness of domestic livestock at times and need a not-so-gentle reminder to stay on track.

This is where I am lately.  The first of the year provided me no motivation to get my act together.  I am still struggling tremendously in consistent Bible reading and prayer times.  One or two days I may string together a good effort, but beyond that I am doing dismally.  I need a good kick in the spiritual hindquarters.

Please feel free to ask, urge, spur and kick me that I might resurrect this lazy flesh.  I may gripe at the time, but I will be ever grateful in the long run.

Thanks ahead of time.

By the way, how are you doing in this matter?  Leave your comments below.

• Bible reading
• Scripture memory review
• Prayer for your prayer partner and those on your disciple-making card
• Being a witness to those in your sphere of influence

If we make this a GROUP resolution, it will be more powerful and lasting.  Use this blog to be accountable in your reading, and our group time will be a good time for accountability in the other areas.

See you Wednesday night at Ginnie’s.

Happy New Year!!!

At times the text that I read in Scripture is alive and penetrating and stirs my heart.  I discover something amazing about God, His kingdom, or myself.  And many other times I am reminded of long forgotten truth that is foundational to my life.  But there are times when the words seem dull and colorless.  I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but sometimes God’s Word isn’t very exciting.  And because nothing bowls me over, I have little to write about in my journal, and much less to share in comments on this blog.

Nevertheless, I must press on for several reasons:

• I know that eventually I will be stirred again by what I read.

• I know that consistent attention to the Bible will slowly mold my thoughts, my attitudes, my words, my actions, and my life.

• I know God’s Word holds power that, while not under my control, is still actively accomplishing God’s purposes.

the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

- Hebrews 4:12

as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;  it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

- Isaiah 55:10-11

Today was a good start for me and, I hope, you too.  I finished up Deuteronomy and will begin Joshua tomorrow.  I even began work on my study for next week.

One of the essential functions of a group in the body of Christ is the work of challenging and encouraging.  Let’s call each other to action.  Our lives are not islands of isolation.  Whether we realize it or not, even our “private” actions impact our communal lives.  Let’s begin again to come before God with consistent conversation – He speaking through His Word and we speaking through prayer.  Let’s be diligent in Scripture memory review and in thoughtful, thorough study of our lessons.  And let’s “spur one another on” by reporting in about our current Scripture readings.