More Than God

by Donny Friederichsen • August 28, 2017

When we attempt to be more than God, we inevitably fail. We must rest content in the fact that God appointed His means of grace and attends them with His power. When we trust in God as He reveals Himself in His word, then He will bless us. But when we try to be more than God, we are declaring with our lives that God is insufficient.

When I was a kid I would often go fishing with my dad. Our fishing trips usually started at the tackle shop. For a little boy, a tackle shop is a nearly magical place filled with colorful lures, live bait, and trophy fish mounted on the wall. Everything in the store had the ability to send me into daydreams of landing a monster bass or record catfish. As a child I thought the heights of fame included having one’s picture on the wall at Randy’s Bait & Tackle. When we went fishing, we usually used live bait, specifically minnows.

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My Light and My Salvation, Part 1

By James Boice

Theme: The Soul’s Confidence

In this week’s lessons we are reminded of the need to confidently wait upon the Lord to answer our prayers.

Scripture: Psalm 27:1-14

Psalm 27 is one of the best known and most comforting psalms in the Psalter. But it is hard to know whether it is chiefly a psalm of confidence, written against the dark background of David's many enemies, or whether it is chiefly a lament in which David cries out for help against implacable foes. The reason for the confusion is obvious. The first half of the psalm (vv. 1-6) exudes confidence. The second half (vv. 7-14) is a very moving prayer.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Rahab's Lie

Posted on Friday, August 25, 2017 by Aimee Byrd on Housewife Theologian

I've heard lots of explanations for Rahab's lie. But learning about ancient families shed more light on it.

 
Rahab is such a fascinating person in history. Her part in helping the Israelite spies scouting out Jericho was full of bravery, discernment, and faith. We later see Rahab’s name, we’re talking about a Gentile women---ex-prostitute---here, in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. Sure, there’s a whole list of sinners saved by grace in that genealogy. But genealogies in ancient Mediterranean society were patrilineal, tracing the offspring through the fathers. Rahab isn’t the only woman listed in this genealogy.

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Standing on Level Ground, Day 5

By James Boice

Theme: The Christian’s Confidence

This week’s lessons teach us that it is in Christ that God’s people confidently stand, and what the fruits are that mark one on this level ground.

Scripture: Psalm 26:1-12

During World War II a young soldier from a very wealthy and sophisticated Philadelphia family became a Christian, and when his time of service was over and he was about to go home he expressed concern that his old acquaintances would soon draw him back into the immoral life he had led before entering the army. His pastor advised him to give a testimony concerning his conversion to the first ten of his old friends he should meet. "If you speak about Jesus, either they will become converted themselves or they will drop you; you will not have to drop them,” he was told.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Standing on Level Ground, Day 4

By James Boice

Theme: Personal Innocence and Audible Testimony

This week’s lessons teach us that it is in Christ that God’s people confidently stand, and what the fruits are that mark one on this level ground.

Scripture: Psalm 26:1-12

Well, the problem of separating from evildoers may be both difficult and delicate, but it is obviously not unsolvable since there is a kind of separation recommended in this psalm. What is it? Like every other similar passage in Scripture, it is a separation based, not on a sense of our being better than others but of not being good enough to survive in such company. Jesus had no trouble in his associations with sinners, because he was not one of them. We are sinners and do have trouble. So, although we will be in the world and will associate with sinners daily for the gospel's sake (we can hardly avoid it), we will not "consort with" or otherwise appear to condone those whose lives are openly opposed to God's truth or morality.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Confessional Millennials?

by Zack Groff • August 23, 2017

If our churches are going to reach Millennials, we must “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,” (Hebrews 10:23). Only those churches founded upon God’s Word will promote spiritual maturity and strengthening. Churches built on the solid rock of biblical truth - confessional churches - will weather social and cultural changes in such a way so as to glorify God and to remain relevant. This is not an issue of reaching any one particular generation. This is a matter of the church’s divine mission to reach every generation through divine means. If we are for a continuing Christian witness, then we must be for a confessional witness.

Confessionalists value unity; Millennials celebrate individualism. Confessionalists cherish tradition; Millennials love innovation. Confessionalists are guardians; Millennials are liberators. The combination of these words seems like an oxymoron. But does it make sense to completely separate the categories “Confessional” and “Millennial?” To answer that question, we need to reach down through the porous layer of cultural stereotypes, and hit theological bedrock worth building upon.

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Standing on Level Ground, Day 3

By James Boice

Theme: Separation from the Wicked

This week’s lessons teach us that it is in Christ that God’s people confidently stand, and what the fruits are that mark one on this level ground.

Scripture: Psalm 26:1-12

The way of the righteous, which David claims to have been following, is outlined in verses 3-8. But verse 2 has something important to contribute to it. In that verse David asks God to examine both his "heart" and his "mind." In other words, in order to walk in a right way David must be both instructed in God's truth and be born again, which is the only way anyone ever acquires a heart that wants to go in God's paths. He needs to know the way, but he also needs to want to follow it. These two ideas carry over into verse 3, for the idea of heart desire is preserved in the word "love," and the idea of mind instruction is echoed in the word "truth”: “for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.”

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Standing on Level Ground, Day 2

By James Boice

Theme: Vindication for Righteousness

This week’s lessons teach us that it is in Christ that God’s people confidently stand, and what the fruits are that mark one on this level ground.

Scripture: Psalm 26:1-12

At first glance the word "vindicate" suggests a desire to be shown to be right over against other people. But as I read this psalm I sense that it is not David's reputation in the eyes of other people that concerns him but rather God's vindication of the rightness of a devout and moral life. In other words, it is not his own reputation but God's reputation that he covets. He has been trying to obey God. He is surrounded by many who think that he is foolish, just as we are surrounded by similar mockers of righteousness today. What he is asking is that God will show by the quality and steadiness of his life that a moral life is always best—for the sake of God's own honor and for the good of those who may be looking on.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Standing on Level Ground, Day 1

By James Boice

Theme: How We Stand

This week’s lessons teach us that it is in Christ that God’s people confidently stand, and what the fruits are that mark one on this level ground.

Scripture: Psalm 26:1-12

There are two phrases in the English translation of Psalm 26 that I would like to place together, except that they occur in different translations. The first phrase is from the New International Version and is the one from which I derived the title for this study. It is from verse 12, "on level ground." The other is from verse 1 of the King James Version: "therefore I shall not slide." I would like to put them together, because they unify the psalm, teaching that the one who trusts God will have a level foundation on which to build a life while the one who does not trust God is on slippery terrain.

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Don't Waste Your Commute

by Nick Batzig • August 18, 2017

We live in what has to be the most frenetic society in all of human history. It seems as though things are just getting faster and faster, and the pressure to fill our schedules with non-essential activities is becoming more and more demanding. The impact of such a dynamic is not easy to measure; but, one of the things that I have noticed in my own life is that it is easy for our devotional life and family worship to fall by the wayside if we are not guarded and purposeful about it. There are quite a number of practical steps that we can take in order to carry out the pursuit of feeding our own souls and bringing our shepherding our childred, even in the midst of such a frenetic society.

 

We live in what has to be the most frenetic society in all of human history. It seems as though things are just getting faster and faster, and the pressure to fill our schedules with non-essential activities is becoming more and more demanding. The impact of such a dynamic is not easy to measure; but, one of the things that I have noticed in my own life is that it is easy for our devotional life and family worship to fall by the wayside if we are not guarded and purposeful about it.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Christward Collective is a conversation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Christward Collective and the mission of the Alliance.

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PLACE FOR TRUTH

What David Needed Most

Reformation 21

“He fell today; I may fall tomorrow.”