I came across this message from Mark Driscoll that really is a great intro to Proverbs.
Seeking Wisdom,
~Jon
Help Please: The Christian’s Ceaseless Plea
4 days ago
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wisdom, A Benefit Of The Gospel?
Do you ever read something and think, "why have I never seen that?" That's what happened to me this morning. I read this and the light bulb went off.
"He (God) is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." - 1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV)
Did you catch that? A part of what Jesus gives us when we surrender our lives to Him is wisdom! So the gospel is not just exchanging our sin for His perfection, but also, our foolishness for His wisdom.
Lord, let this surrendered fool be controlled by Your wisdom.
~Jon
These thoughts were fueled by a book I am reading...Craftsmen, Skillfully Leading Your Family For Christ, by John Crotts.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Joshua...Not Hoshea
I have a divine connection to the Joshua of the Bible. A few years ago, the Lord took me through an intense season where He revealed to me who He says I am. It was through that process that He forever connected me to Joshua. (For the whole story, check out my initial post.) So due to this connection, whenever I come across something on Joshua, my ears perk up. That's what happened tonight.
We have a little devotional book by Beth Moore called Believing God Day By Day and today's reading tells about God's purpose in changing Hoshea's name to Joshua. It hit home for me. Check it out.
"These were the names of the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and Moses renamed Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua." - Numbers 13:16 (HCSB)
"We may not know exactly when Joshua received his new name from Moses, but we don't have to be biblical scholars to reason why he might have needed one. In essence, his original name Hoshea means 'deliverer,' while his new name Joshua (or Jehoshua) means 'Jehovah delivers.'
If I were flesh and blood chosen by God to lead a grasshopper people into a land of giant opposition, I'd want to know He was the true Deliverer, not me.
I'd like to suggest that Joshua not only needed to know who he was, he needed to know who he wasn't. He wasn't God. Not a bad lesson for any of us to learn." - Believing God Day By Day, Beth Moore, February 11
Learning the lesson,
Jon
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Song Of Fools
Once again Ron Bergthold has taken a relevant truth and turned it on it's musical ear so we can say, "yeah, I get that." If there is one overarching truth the Lord has drilled into me in the last 3 years, it has been that God works through His Body, the Church, to accomplish His purposes...both in cultural ways and in personal ways. Thanks again Ron, for reminding us that it is a good and right thing to live with Godly accountability in the Body of Christ. ~Jon
Song of Fools
by Ron Bergthold
What is the difference between a musician and a savings bond? (Answer: Eventually a savings bond will mature and earn money.)
“Did anyone just hear a bad note?” The question came from one of the woodwinds. Of course, my first thought of “Is it me?” propelled me to verify that I was at least in the right key. Another group run-through confirmed there was indeed something that sounded bad. Others now heard and confirmed it. I did not hear it, but my initial self-evaluation runs clean. Now what should I do? How should the group respond?
Some groups would not have stopped in the first place simply because they don’t even hear wrong notes (some might say ignorance is bliss!). Some groups will hear it and just move ahead like it didn’t happen because wrong notes have become so routine, and therefore accepted, as a normal part of playing. Others who hear may want to stop and fix it, but are unsure how to find and resolve the bad note, and leave it up to the conductor to do so, if he can.
A good musical group will always be sensitive to and deal with wrong notes. They don’t always play perfectly, but they will always know what the tune should sound like and work toward getting it right. A good conductor will help greatly by repeating and reviewing measures that seem wrong. Good players are willing to point out places where something sounds wrong, even if they may be at fault. The group understands that they may have to repeat parts by section or, if needed, by individual player to find the cause. Sometimes it is as simple as an excellent musician just reading the wrong chart! Regardless, the wrong note gets resolved with good listening, an intent to play well, and group accountability focused on helping each other for the glory of God.
Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:18 that God “…reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” God has an ordained plan and purpose for our lives, and it always involves Christ – Who He is, what He has done, and what He wants to do in us. Our intent should be to seek Him and, as part of the journey, to encourage others to seek Him as well.
We may be seeking Him fully, yet be reluctant to help others do the same. At times, this may include the need for correction. Few people like to be corrected and therefore few take the initiative to correct others. So we often just live wrongly! We forget that many people cannot hear wrong notes because they are simply deaf to God in one or many areas. In truth, we all have some deafness in our lives in this world, and we truly need others to help us hear God well.
We must act in the same manner as a great musical group which is intent upon playing a piece well. We must be listening to God very well, we must have the intent to live according to His ways, and we must encourage each other to live well for the glory of God. A loving church body is perfectly designed to complete this reconciliation. But we must always start with God’s Word: “It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.” (Ecc 7:5)
For the TRBC Orchestra on February 11, 2009
Song of Fools
by Ron Bergthold
What is the difference between a musician and a savings bond? (Answer: Eventually a savings bond will mature and earn money.)
“Did anyone just hear a bad note?” The question came from one of the woodwinds. Of course, my first thought of “Is it me?” propelled me to verify that I was at least in the right key. Another group run-through confirmed there was indeed something that sounded bad. Others now heard and confirmed it. I did not hear it, but my initial self-evaluation runs clean. Now what should I do? How should the group respond?
Some groups would not have stopped in the first place simply because they don’t even hear wrong notes (some might say ignorance is bliss!). Some groups will hear it and just move ahead like it didn’t happen because wrong notes have become so routine, and therefore accepted, as a normal part of playing. Others who hear may want to stop and fix it, but are unsure how to find and resolve the bad note, and leave it up to the conductor to do so, if he can.
A good musical group will always be sensitive to and deal with wrong notes. They don’t always play perfectly, but they will always know what the tune should sound like and work toward getting it right. A good conductor will help greatly by repeating and reviewing measures that seem wrong. Good players are willing to point out places where something sounds wrong, even if they may be at fault. The group understands that they may have to repeat parts by section or, if needed, by individual player to find the cause. Sometimes it is as simple as an excellent musician just reading the wrong chart! Regardless, the wrong note gets resolved with good listening, an intent to play well, and group accountability focused on helping each other for the glory of God.
Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:18 that God “…reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” God has an ordained plan and purpose for our lives, and it always involves Christ – Who He is, what He has done, and what He wants to do in us. Our intent should be to seek Him and, as part of the journey, to encourage others to seek Him as well.
We may be seeking Him fully, yet be reluctant to help others do the same. At times, this may include the need for correction. Few people like to be corrected and therefore few take the initiative to correct others. So we often just live wrongly! We forget that many people cannot hear wrong notes because they are simply deaf to God in one or many areas. In truth, we all have some deafness in our lives in this world, and we truly need others to help us hear God well.
We must act in the same manner as a great musical group which is intent upon playing a piece well. We must be listening to God very well, we must have the intent to live according to His ways, and we must encourage each other to live well for the glory of God. A loving church body is perfectly designed to complete this reconciliation. But we must always start with God’s Word: “It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.” (Ecc 7:5)
For the TRBC Orchestra on February 11, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Wisdom in 2009 pt. 2 - What does Solomon mean by "sense"?
If you took the time to read my post from January 4th about Wisdom in 2009, you know that God has me on a journey in Proverbs this year. I read the book through in January reading a chapter a day and God has begun, what I know is going to be a life changing year for me. I want to first make a few comments on some things I discovered in my first time through Proverbs this year.
If you will remember (or if you don't, check out my first article), I have a hang-up with assuming that common sense decisions are always from God. I do not believe they are. So when I started coming across verses dealing with common sense (the ESV uses the word sense 20 times in Proverbs), I became somewhat troubled. How is one supposed to think about this? I believe after digging a bit in Strongs, I have reconciled the two seemingly at-odds ideas about wisdom. Here's what I found.
There are three different Hebrew words translated sense in the ESV and one of them is the root of another. The first, and most common is "Leb." Strongs defines Leb as: inner man, mind, will heart, understanding, soul, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory, inclination, resolution, or determination (of will). The first time this word shows up in Proverbs, it is used three times in one verse!
"making you ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding." Proverbs 2:2 (ESV)
The first time it shows up translated as "sense" is in 6:32.
"He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself." (ESV)
Clearly in the first verse the wisdom referred to is not from the person, but comes from outside the person, thus the command to pay attention to it is understandable. In the second, it sounds more like something that we innately possess. Even though it appears that way, I want to beg to differ. Check out how Jeremiah uses the word:
"The heart is deceitfully wicked above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to the fruit of his deeds." Jeremiah 17:9-10 (ESV)
So our common sense is "deceitfully wicked above all things." But here's the good news, later in the book, Jeremiah uses the word again.
"I will put My laws within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Jeremiah 31:33b (ESV)
This changes EVERYTHING! When God comes and gives us new hearts, nothing stays the same. So this second use of Leb in Proverbs is also from outside us. The "sense" that comes from our hearts without Christ's control is folly. But with Him at the helm, we can trust what He has put in our hearts.
Now the second and third word used for sense in Proverbs are essentially the same, one word is the root for the other. The root is Sakal, meaning: to be prudent, be circumspect, or wisely understand. I must confess, I didn't know what circumspect was, so I looked it up. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, it means "heedful of circumstances and potential consequences." The word that immediately came to my mind was discernment, which is a gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11)! So here's the verse where it is used:
"One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead." Proverbs 21:16 (ESV)
I hope you don't mind my taking a long time here, but God is, I believe, revealing what His wisdom looks like and He is birthing in me a desire to pursue it more.
Praying you will join me,
~Jon
If you will remember (or if you don't, check out my first article), I have a hang-up with assuming that common sense decisions are always from God. I do not believe they are. So when I started coming across verses dealing with common sense (the ESV uses the word sense 20 times in Proverbs), I became somewhat troubled. How is one supposed to think about this? I believe after digging a bit in Strongs, I have reconciled the two seemingly at-odds ideas about wisdom. Here's what I found.
There are three different Hebrew words translated sense in the ESV and one of them is the root of another. The first, and most common is "Leb." Strongs defines Leb as: inner man, mind, will heart, understanding, soul, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory, inclination, resolution, or determination (of will). The first time this word shows up in Proverbs, it is used three times in one verse!
"making you ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding." Proverbs 2:2 (ESV)
The first time it shows up translated as "sense" is in 6:32.
"He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself." (ESV)
Clearly in the first verse the wisdom referred to is not from the person, but comes from outside the person, thus the command to pay attention to it is understandable. In the second, it sounds more like something that we innately possess. Even though it appears that way, I want to beg to differ. Check out how Jeremiah uses the word:
"The heart is deceitfully wicked above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to the fruit of his deeds." Jeremiah 17:9-10 (ESV)
So our common sense is "deceitfully wicked above all things." But here's the good news, later in the book, Jeremiah uses the word again.
"I will put My laws within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Jeremiah 31:33b (ESV)
This changes EVERYTHING! When God comes and gives us new hearts, nothing stays the same. So this second use of Leb in Proverbs is also from outside us. The "sense" that comes from our hearts without Christ's control is folly. But with Him at the helm, we can trust what He has put in our hearts.
Now the second and third word used for sense in Proverbs are essentially the same, one word is the root for the other. The root is Sakal, meaning: to be prudent, be circumspect, or wisely understand. I must confess, I didn't know what circumspect was, so I looked it up. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, it means "heedful of circumstances and potential consequences." The word that immediately came to my mind was discernment, which is a gift of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11)! So here's the verse where it is used:
"One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead." Proverbs 21:16 (ESV)
I hope you don't mind my taking a long time here, but God is, I believe, revealing what His wisdom looks like and He is birthing in me a desire to pursue it more.
Praying you will join me,
~Jon
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Our Feat...to be at His
To be at His feet...what a place. Right there where He can easily, without obstruction touch me. This is the place of vulnerability. The place of humility. The place of need. This is the place we fight against in our self-sufficient flesh. But why?
Lord, help me be OK at Your feet. Don't let me fret about what You might want me to do or what I might not understand or what might be hard. Give me faith to trust You to be true to who You are. I worship You...at Your feet. In Jesus Name, Amen.
~Jon
Enjoy this article from Ron about humility.
Our Feat… to be at His
by Ron Bergthold
How does a violinist change a light bulb? (Answer: She just holds on and the world revolves around her.)
Auditions: those necessary but slightly malevolent judgments used to determine who will become part of a group. Or who will sit which chair or lead the section. Many of us are glad audition days are over, but we still make our own informal judgments of our and others’ abilities. Our emotions and self-worth can be buoyed when we compare favorably, but just as likely can sink in despair when we don’t feel we measure up.
The best receive so much praise and even worship that pride creeps in and tries to take up permanent residence alongside the talent. This can become a life-long battle. The rest of us, while working hard to avoid the other pitfalls of envy and jealousy when measuring our own meager skills, still like to be praised periodically. And when praise does come to us, even a small dose can quickly awaken our own pride. Are talent and humility then mutually incompatible?
Jesus, the greatest talent ever on earth, humbled Himself from the glory of heaven to the point of dying on a lowly cross. His humility did not tone down His talent, but accentuated it. Being humble actually means to make oneself low, so the biblically obedient among us may aim toward a self-debasing attitude and try to consider ourselves worthless. But that does not describe Jesus’ actions!
Jesus became low by first glorifying and obeying His Father and then lifting up, encouraging, and helping those around Him. This humility compelled Him to serve men in ways ranging from the lowly (washing His disciples’ feet) to the amazingly talented (raising the dead!). James reflected on Jesus’ earthly work and summed it up in verse 4:10 of the book he penned by saying, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James had noticed how many people appeared before our Lord with a sincere need and how Jesus famously served the need through talent granted by His Father.
We do not need a church of people who continually put themselves (or others!) down. We need people who are constantly looking up to God and seeing Him as more important than anyone or anything else. We must live at His feet. Only this upward perspective can transform each of our God-given talents into truly useful service to others that pleases Him.
For the TRBC Orchestra on January 14, 2009
Lord, help me be OK at Your feet. Don't let me fret about what You might want me to do or what I might not understand or what might be hard. Give me faith to trust You to be true to who You are. I worship You...at Your feet. In Jesus Name, Amen.
~Jon
Enjoy this article from Ron about humility.
Our Feat… to be at His
by Ron Bergthold
How does a violinist change a light bulb? (Answer: She just holds on and the world revolves around her.)
Auditions: those necessary but slightly malevolent judgments used to determine who will become part of a group. Or who will sit which chair or lead the section. Many of us are glad audition days are over, but we still make our own informal judgments of our and others’ abilities. Our emotions and self-worth can be buoyed when we compare favorably, but just as likely can sink in despair when we don’t feel we measure up.
The best receive so much praise and even worship that pride creeps in and tries to take up permanent residence alongside the talent. This can become a life-long battle. The rest of us, while working hard to avoid the other pitfalls of envy and jealousy when measuring our own meager skills, still like to be praised periodically. And when praise does come to us, even a small dose can quickly awaken our own pride. Are talent and humility then mutually incompatible?
Jesus, the greatest talent ever on earth, humbled Himself from the glory of heaven to the point of dying on a lowly cross. His humility did not tone down His talent, but accentuated it. Being humble actually means to make oneself low, so the biblically obedient among us may aim toward a self-debasing attitude and try to consider ourselves worthless. But that does not describe Jesus’ actions!
Jesus became low by first glorifying and obeying His Father and then lifting up, encouraging, and helping those around Him. This humility compelled Him to serve men in ways ranging from the lowly (washing His disciples’ feet) to the amazingly talented (raising the dead!). James reflected on Jesus’ earthly work and summed it up in verse 4:10 of the book he penned by saying, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James had noticed how many people appeared before our Lord with a sincere need and how Jesus famously served the need through talent granted by His Father.
We do not need a church of people who continually put themselves (or others!) down. We need people who are constantly looking up to God and seeing Him as more important than anyone or anything else. We must live at His feet. Only this upward perspective can transform each of our God-given talents into truly useful service to others that pleases Him.
For the TRBC Orchestra on January 14, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Praise Him
Here is a new post from Ron Bergthold. Our God is worthy of all our praise and confidence! Give us eyes to see Your worth and hearts to desire You above all earthly things. ~Jon
Praise Him!
by Ron Bergthold
What do you call someone who hangs around musicians? (Answer: A drummer.)
Voices and Instruments of Praise. Praise is the focal point of our name. The acronym VIP, normally meaning “Very Important Person”, still fits very well with Who we should be praising. But how exactly are we supposed to praise? If this is truly our reason for being, we ought to understand this term well.
One of two primary Hebrew words for praise is Halal. Yes, that is where we get the word Halleluia or Hallelu-Yah (Yah is short for Yahweh, or Lord), so this term is translated “Let us praise the Lord”. The root word for Halal means to boast. Boasting is normally considered a slightly evil act that is associated with being prideful and therefore not usually encouraged in everyday life. But Webster dutifully explains that boasting can be proper and justifiable if the claims are true. Boasting about God’s attributes is certainly justified, since these attributes literally define truth!
What can you boast about God? And do you personally believe it to be true? If nothing immediately comes to mind, turn to Psalms, which uses the word Halal over eighty times. The book of Psalms could have more accurately been named Praises, given its numerous references to specific traits of God and what about Him is praiseworthy. In fact, turn to the last seven Psalms (144-150) and there is nothing but praise, culminating with Psalm 150, which, by the way, we instrumentalists can claim as our very own!
It is certainly worthwhile to dwell upon Who God is. Just a few of the elements lifted up in Psalms include King, Rock, Victory, Provider, Rescuer, Lover, Guide, Teacher, Blesser, Builder, Satisfier, Righteousness, Hope, Fulfiller, Revealer, Maker, Healer, and Sustainer. There are many more that describe in further detail Who He is and why He is so worthy of our boasting at this moment.
Another Hebrew word for praise is Yadah (not to be confused with Seinfeld’s “Yada Yada”, which means “empty talk” and is the complete opposite of Yadah). Stemming from "the extended hand” or “to throw out the hand", Yadah means “to give thanks”. Though sometimes a symbol of Yadah is physically raising your hands up in thanks to God during worship, the meaning goes much deeper. This is the corporate and personal intake, impact and reflection of Who God is in us. He is Teacher, but what has He taught you lately? He is the Builder, but what has He done through you to build something that would Yadah Him?
We can Yadah God in as many ways as He is. One of the most obvious ways is listed in Deut 8:10, “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.” All we have that is good comes from Him and it is a natural response to thank Him for such things. However, a less obvious Yadah is challenged in 1 Peter 1:7, “These (trials) have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold….may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” So is your praise Yadah, or just Yada Yada??
For the TRBC Orchestra on January 7, 2009
Praise Him!
by Ron Bergthold
What do you call someone who hangs around musicians? (Answer: A drummer.)
Voices and Instruments of Praise. Praise is the focal point of our name. The acronym VIP, normally meaning “Very Important Person”, still fits very well with Who we should be praising. But how exactly are we supposed to praise? If this is truly our reason for being, we ought to understand this term well.
One of two primary Hebrew words for praise is Halal. Yes, that is where we get the word Halleluia or Hallelu-Yah (Yah is short for Yahweh, or Lord), so this term is translated “Let us praise the Lord”. The root word for Halal means to boast. Boasting is normally considered a slightly evil act that is associated with being prideful and therefore not usually encouraged in everyday life. But Webster dutifully explains that boasting can be proper and justifiable if the claims are true. Boasting about God’s attributes is certainly justified, since these attributes literally define truth!
What can you boast about God? And do you personally believe it to be true? If nothing immediately comes to mind, turn to Psalms, which uses the word Halal over eighty times. The book of Psalms could have more accurately been named Praises, given its numerous references to specific traits of God and what about Him is praiseworthy. In fact, turn to the last seven Psalms (144-150) and there is nothing but praise, culminating with Psalm 150, which, by the way, we instrumentalists can claim as our very own!
It is certainly worthwhile to dwell upon Who God is. Just a few of the elements lifted up in Psalms include King, Rock, Victory, Provider, Rescuer, Lover, Guide, Teacher, Blesser, Builder, Satisfier, Righteousness, Hope, Fulfiller, Revealer, Maker, Healer, and Sustainer. There are many more that describe in further detail Who He is and why He is so worthy of our boasting at this moment.
Another Hebrew word for praise is Yadah (not to be confused with Seinfeld’s “Yada Yada”, which means “empty talk” and is the complete opposite of Yadah). Stemming from "the extended hand” or “to throw out the hand", Yadah means “to give thanks”. Though sometimes a symbol of Yadah is physically raising your hands up in thanks to God during worship, the meaning goes much deeper. This is the corporate and personal intake, impact and reflection of Who God is in us. He is Teacher, but what has He taught you lately? He is the Builder, but what has He done through you to build something that would Yadah Him?
We can Yadah God in as many ways as He is. One of the most obvious ways is listed in Deut 8:10, “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.” All we have that is good comes from Him and it is a natural response to thank Him for such things. However, a less obvious Yadah is challenged in 1 Peter 1:7, “These (trials) have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold….may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” So is your praise Yadah, or just Yada Yada??
For the TRBC Orchestra on January 7, 2009
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