My Thoughts on the ESV Study Bible

My copy of the new ESV Study Bible arrived last week.  The ESV has been around for about seven years now; the study Bible for a few weeks.  Well known Christian leaders have given the version high marks.  For example:

"The ESV satisfies the preaching, memorizing, studying, and reading needs of our church, from children to adults. We are building all of our future ministry around it.”  John Piper

"The translation is outstanding. The ESV achieves a new standard in accurate Bible translations for our day."  Dr. R. C. Sproul

The study Bible gets equally rave reviews.  

"An invaluable and inexhaustible resource... I am deeply grateful for this magnificent work." Nancy Leigh DeMoss

"Finest study tool I've seen in 50 years of Bible teaching."  Jerry Bridges

With that kind of support what more needs to be said?  Well...at risk of showing my ignorance more than anything else, I want to share my thoughts on the new ESV Study Bible.  I find that the English flows much better than the NASB which makes it a good Bible for public reading.  The study notes and helps are excellent.  And I love that when you buy the study Bible you also receive access to the whole thing online.  

But I struggle with some of the interpretation choices I've come across in recent study.  Romans 12:16 in the NASB says "Be of the same mind toward one another."  ESV says, "Live in harmony with one another."  I don't think they necessarily mean the same thing and from what I can tell, the NASB better represents the Greek.  I see the same kind of thing in Romans 14:1.  NASB: "Now accept the one who is weak in faith."  ESV: "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him."  Is welcoming someone the same as accepting them?  I claim virtually no knowledge of the original languages; I am undoubtedly out-classed in this by the people I have quoted above.  So perhaps I am way off base here and over my head.  Perhaps I'm trying to make something out of nothing.

Perhaps for me, it is really about preference.  I have been reading, studying and memorizing the NASB for over twenty years now, since I was told in Bible school that it was the most literal translation.  Obviously I have grown accustomed to and comfortable with it.  Could it be simply that, as the previous generation was unwilling to give up the KJV, I prefer to cling to what has become familiar?  

I do plan to use the ESV for some personal and public reading.  I will make good use of the study aids and will include this translation for study comparison.  But for now, I plan to keep the NASB as my main study and pulpit Bible and if anyone asks, will continue to make it my recommendation. 

Grace and peace,

Dave

New Books!

I love books! I love reading. I even love bookstores. I can spend an hour and a half easy in a book store, especially a Bible book store. Besides my kids and grandchildren, that's probably what I miss most about our move. That and a Harvey's hamburger once in a while. The closest Christian bookstores are four hours away!

We do have a decent library here, but there aren't many new Christian books to choose from. I already have a somewhat bad habit of reading too much secular fiction. I don't think that's wrong, but I can easily get in the rut of only reading secular fiction. And you have to be so careful of what you choose in the secular market to avoid a lot of sexual content. I need to be filling my mind with better quality material. In Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders wrote,

"The leader who intends to grow spiritually and intellectually will be reading constantly...Leaders should determine to spend a minimum of half an hour a day reading books that feed the soul and stimulate the mind."

It's not quite the same as going into a bookstore and browsing the shelves, picking up books, reading the reviews and the Table of Contents, but I am thankful for online stores like Amazon. And thanks to a generous budget line for professional development from my church, I recently ordered and received several new Christian books from Amazon Canada.

Five of the seven I ordered came this week so I'm excited. I chose a couple on the recommendations of some Conference leaders and the rest by reading reviews on Tim Challies' blog. I tried to get a good variety of topics. I ended up with:

ESV Study Bible

Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor--D. A. Carson

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment- Tim Challies

The Reason for God- Timothy Keller

Who Stole My Church? -Gordon MacDonald

Still to come: When Sinners Say I Do- Dave Harvey; Polishing God's Monuments-Jim Andrews.

I'll let you know what I think of them as I get them finished-some sort of book review. Whether that interests you or not, it will help me to be accountable to get them read in a timely fashion.

I'd also like to know what you're reading at the moment or have recently finished. I've put a poll question in the side bar for you to let me know what genres you prefer to read. Not a lot of choices there, but it may be interesting to see the results(you can choose more than one category). And if you have a recommendation for me, please let me know that too. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Grace and peace,

Dave

Help! I Can't Sleep

I got up at 4:30 this morning.  I didn't really want to, but I wasn't sleeping so I thought I could use my time better than lying in bed.  The reason, you ask?  Promise not to laugh?  This always seems to happen to me when we are getting up early to travel somewhere.  I don't know why.  Excitement?  You wouldn't think a four hour trip to pick up my wife's brother from the airport would cause that kind of excitement.  Afraid of sleeping through the alarm?  Maybe.  Anyone else have this problem?  Whatever it is, I just can't seem to shut my mind down concerning the trip and all kinds of other things.  I was lying there at 3:45 thinking about some things I could add to my previous blog entry to make it a little better.  Ridiculous!

Well the alarm is set to go off in 7 minutes so I'd better finish this off.  So if you hear I met my demise by driving off the road or running into a moose, you'll know why.  (-:

Grace and peace,

Dave

Another Lesson at the Gas Station

This lesson could have come in any setting but it was another gas station episode for me.  Not that it was a big deal, just a good reminder.

I had a clear lane of two gas pumps to pull up to.  I make it a habit to pull up to the furthest so someone can pull in behind me, but today the second pump was out of order so I stopped at the first.  A truck behind me suddenly swerved around me and the guy gave me a dirty look like I should have pulled up further.  I could almost hear what he was thinking:  "What a stupid jerk!  He couldn't pull up twenty more feet?!  People don't think of anyone but themselves!!!!"  I can imagine such words, or worse, because they've been on my minds and lips many times before in similar situations.  Of course when he got to where he thought I should have been he realized his mistake and had to turn back around to get to the pumps on the other side.

How many times have we judged someone's actions and motives without seeing the whole picture?  I've done it many times, and probably many more than I even realize.  It is so easy to jump to conclusions and think wrongly about people.  

As I write this, I ask myself how I can try to respond better.  I think patience is part of the answer.  Always being in such a hurry about everything is a sure way to misjudge people.  Forming a habit of thinking the best of people, starting with giving them the benefit of the doubt instead of thinking the worst will also go a long way to fixing this.  And finally, when it's possible, good communication is vital: asking a question for clarification instead of assuming you know what they meant.

I'm glad I was on the receiving end of this glare instead of handing it out this time.  It's a good reminder.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"  Matthew 7:3

Dave 

The Wonder of Creation

I love God's creative power and work!  I am so thankful to God that He has given me such an appreciation for His creation.  Whether it's the power of a thunder storm or the delicate beauty of a tiny flower or an ant, the works of God are amazing and direct my thoughts to His greatness and beauty.

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."  Romans 1:20

If you revel in the creative power of God, you may be interested in a new blog I recently discovered.  It comes from RBC Ministries and is called The Wonder of Creation.  The writer looks at various aspects of creation and relates it all to God.  I'm putting it in my list of Blogs of Interest to remind me to check back regularly.  Check it out.

Dave 

God's Faithfulness

I was lamenting to my son tonight that I've run out of ideas to blog about.  Call it a dry period or writer's block, whatever.  But then I got thinking about how awesome our God is and that reminded me of a Scripture that touched me recently.

Before I go to that Scripture I have a couple other thoughts to tie in with it.  We were talking about faith in our adult SS class this morning.  What is faith?  How does it work?  Trust was mentioned as a synonym.  We talked about faith needing to be placed in God, not in self and not merely faith in faith.  But what can we trust God for?  Can we trust Him for whatever we think we want or need?  That's not biblical faith.  We have faith that God can do anything, but it isn't biblical faith to say we believe He will do whatever we want.  Rather, I believe faith is believing in what God has promised us.  If He has said it, we can believe it.  If He hasn't said it we can't expect it.

So what can we trust God for in this economic crisis?  Having sold our house in Alberta to move here and not needing to buy a house here because the church had a house for us, we have some money for the first time in our lives.  But that's not money to waste.  We will need to buy a house again at some point in the future.  So that money has been put into the money markets to grow.  Terrible timing!  The past year and a half has been dismal for such investing.  On paper at least, we have lost a considerable portion.  Where will it end?  Can we trust God to come through for us and spare us this loss?  Can we trust Him to protect our money and make it grow?  I don't see any such promises or guarantees that we can count on.  Rather we need to trust God Himself to do what is best for us, to teach us to depend on Him alone.  That's where this Scripture from Habakkuk fits.  I want to declare with the prophet(even though I struggle with it at times):

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord.  I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.  The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet and makes me walk on my high places."  Habakkuk 3:17-19

Dave

Sponsor a Child

This subject has been on my to-blog-about list from the beginning.  Just haven't gotten around to it yet.  I was reminded today as I wrote a letter to our Compassion child and sent some money for a Christmas gift.

We have only been involved with Compassion for a few months now.  We've known about these organizations for years and have felt some guilt about not helping out, but never felt like we could afford it.  Our daughter has been sponsoring a child for around a year now.  That was certainly a reason to consider it.  I think the turning point was when I read Randy Alcorn's book, Money, Possessions and Eternity, and especially when I taught a Sunday School class from that material.  A main point of that teaching was, God blesses us so we can bless others!

We made the decision to get involved and then went to Compassion Canada online to see how to go about it.  Once you see those faces and the need, the tough part is trying to decide which child to sponsor.  Some children are labeled as Priority Children, meaning they have already been waiting several months for a sponsor.  We decided to go that route.  The other criteria we used made it much more personal to us.  We decided that we wanted a little girl who was born the same year as our first grandchild, Kadence.

Kadence went to be with Jesus when she was just four and a half months old.  We barely got to know her.  We barely got to spend any time loving her, encouraging her, or buying anything for her.  We decided to honour her memory by finding someone  the age Kadence would be now.  We do not see this in any sense as replacing Kadence.  We have five other grandchildren to love, encourage and buy things for.  But we thought it would be fitting to send some love and help to someone in need, in her honour.  

So we chose Silvia.  Silvia is a nine-year-old from El Salvador.  Even though Silvia is from another country, culture and language, for us, she is  a sweet reminder of Kadence and something of what Kadence might be like now.  It is a privilege and a joy to get to know this little girl and have a small part in her life.  We have received one letter with hand-drawn pictures from her.  We look forward to getting to know her better over the coming years.

Such is the privilege of being involved with a needy child through Compassion.  I recommend it to you.  There is great joy in knowing that God can use us greatly for so little effort.  We have found Compassion to be well-organized, reputable and committed to Christian teaching as well as material aid.  

However you look at it, this is an investment in eternity--for the child and for yourself as you lay up treasure in Heaven.  Especially with the way the economy is going, this is a far better investment than you will find on the financial markets.    

God's Power in the Weakness of the Stauffer Family

I just want to take a minute to point you in the direction of God's power and the Gospel at work in a real family in an extremely painful time.  Most of you know of the murder of Emily Stauffer, daughter of Pastor Terry and his wife Juanita.  In the midst of this severe trial Terry has blogged a few times to update those who are praying.  He  talks about their weaknesses and pain, but also the great hope they have in Christ and how God has used a variety of resources to help them.  I have been touched and encouraged by his honesty and faith.  That combination is a powerful testimony and ministry to others who may be or will experience pain.  I highly recommend that you bookmark his blog and go there regularly to remind yourself to pray and to learn from this godly family.

  Dave

God's Perspective?

I took this picture of mountains from the plane somewhere between the Okanagan and Calgary.  This was the first time I've seen mountains from above.  I LOVE the mountains from the ground--the height and size and majesty that dwarfs me and leaves me in awe.  I love how they point to God the Creator.  While I enjoyed this view of them too, they appeared less awesome.  I could take in several at once and rather than huge and majestic they looked a little flat. Looking down on them and taking them all in at once, it seems to me, is much more God's perspective.  He holds the whole world in the palm of His hand and He deserves this view of His creation.  He is far above and greater than it all.  I am not.  I'm perfectly happy with the ground view. 

I think next time I fly across the mountains I'll let my daughter have the window seat! 

Keeping Things in Perspective

It has been some time since I've posted.  In fact I noticed that I had fewer posts in September than any month since I started blogging and this is the first one this month.  Much of that has to do with having had a tough month at which point blogging takes a back seat--way in the back of the bus.  

We finished our vacation time for this year the end of the first week of September.  We had a great time on Vancouver Island with our son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons who we hadn't seen in  a year.  So it was tough saying goodbye, coming back home and getting back into the routine.  And being September also meant life was busy at church--the  Fall start up of AWANA, Sunday School, Small Group study, as well as other things that happen this time of year.  All things that add to my work load.  I was starting to feel some pressure.

But that was just the beginning.  Before long I was neck deep in dealing with issues of various sorts that caused me a fair bit of stress.  I guess the honeymoon of being the new pastor is over and I started feeling those old familiar stirrings of reluctancy in pastoring.  And I started arguing with God about why He keeps putting me back into pastoral ministry when I can't handle it. 

So I've tried to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective--hopefully a more godly one.  I've tried to see some good in all this.  One thing I was reminded of is something I have reminded others of in the past: we should expect problems and conflict in the church.  The church is made up of sinners saved by grace and in the process of being sanctified, but certainly not there yet.  The New Testament church had problems; so will we.  In fact I suspect that God uses these things to grow us.  The key is to act rightly when the problems and issues come.  All of that to say, problems should not surprise me/us.

Along the same line, a step back helped me realize that the devil is at work because God is at work.  Things have gone quite well in my first year in the church.  God has been moving in a couple salvations, some baptisms, some growth in individuals and the church.  It is inevitable that Satan is going to try to undo that.  I find it frustrating that we let him trick us and use us to do his dirty work, but I need to keep in mind that this is a battle and we have an enemy.  That enemy is not one another, but the evil one.

Another thing I've realized is that all of this pressure has affected my walk with God for good.  I have felt a greater weakness, a greater need and gone to the right place to find strength and God has shown Himself faithful.  He has listened to my doubts and complaints and cries for help and has not only given help and wisdom in some situations, but inner strength and peace in the midst of stress and fatigue.  

And finally, I have realized that my struggles are a walk on the beach compared to what others have gone through and are going through.  This hit me particularly hard this past week with the news of the death of Pastor Terry Stauffer's 14-year-old daughter in Alberta.  Pastor Terry is an acquaintance and my heart goes out to them as my prayers go to Heaven on their behalf.  My struggles are real enough, but not on the same scale as the pain this family and many others are facing.  It reminds me how much I have to be thankful for. 

Dave