Concerning Discerning...

As it is related to our study of Philippians, and the introductory section we covered last night, I'd like to take a moment to expound a little bit on the idea of discernment.

In the study last night we covered verses 9b and 10:

"knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent"

As Christians we desire, or at least should, to grow in the Lord. We want to be closer to Him, we want to know more about Him. We want to bring our lives more in-line with His will, and do all the more to please him. To do this we have to make decisions FOR Christ in everything that we do.

Those 'eternity colored" glasses that I mentioned Paul looks through - we need to see our spiritual optometrists and get a pair for ourselves. "So how do I get a hold of my 'spiritual optometrist" you might ask? Read your Bible. The way to get your pair of 'eternity glasses' is to familiarize yourself with scripture so that you know God's heart.

Discernment is everything. We must judge everything we do against God's standard, against what God has deemed excellent. Some of these daily choices are easy for us.  Should I be stealing these tools from work? Of course not. Should I be over-charging my clients for time I actually did not spend on this project? Pretty easy - no. BUT- should I have that beer with lunch? Should I watch that "R" rated movie tonight? Should I be reading this magazine,or surfing this site on the web? These are questions that are sometimes more difficult to see through our Eternity Glasses.  Or worse yet, they are seen as "society" or "culture" issues to be judged differently, by standards that seem to be 'morphing'.

Let me assure you, that God's standards are not morphing. The world's are, but not God's.

God, through His infinite Grace, has given us rotten sinners, free-will. Some might question whether a God that gives fallen sinners free-will is really omnipotent! I mean, think about it. Free will to people that you know will fail when it is given. Free-will gifted to men that will turn their backs on God, worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. But God IS omnipotent, he is all knowing, and He did it anyway. Why, because He is also all LOVING.

Decisions on issues that seem culturally reliant, or that are clearly areas in life where God has given us freedoms, must  be made carefully. Considering not only the immediate repercussions (if there even are any), but the results on our eternity, our present walk, and our (either) stumbling a brother or causing confusion to the Christian faith in general in the eyes of those observing you - and they are observing you.

Weight every choice against God's excellence that He has declared to us through His word. Take your timer in making these decisions. Wait on the Spirit! If you do not have total peace with the decision, don't make it. Stop. Seek further counsel, take it to the Lord in prayer. Seek in every way to uphold His excellence as it is displayed in you.

Just a quick thought.

Introduction to Philipians

Wow! What a great night. I just wanted to thank all of you that attended, and challenge you to invite other brothers to attend. We had roughly 30-35 guys there last week. Let's first shoot for 50, and then 100! Help get the word out.

So, what did you all think of the introduction to Philippians? I hope that I shared my vision as to what I want us to get out of the study, and how I want us to view Paul's letter through his eyes, not ours. To explain that more clearly, and in part to review, look at each conversation and event not just through Paul's eyes, but also considering Paul's circumstances, his period in time, the environment around him both politically and socially, etc. Let's walk this mile in Paul's shoes.

I'll get my notes attached up here soon so you have them to review. There is actually quite a bit to them that I did not have time to share Tuesday night, so they might be more helpful than you might think. 

For next week, please take a look at Chapter 1, verses 1-26. We'll cover that section next week. We will look at the "prologue/introduction of the letter, and sort of cover the way letters were written at that time and the Greek syntax of it all. Also, we'll be considering verse 18 in some depth...

^"18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. "

...as well as verse 21:

 ^"21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. "

I doubt we will have much time to go further than that.

Check out the book and resources in the right hand column. Don't be afraid to buy used if you want to pick up one or two of these books. I purchased an additional copy of "A Distant Presence" for something like $4.00 plus shipping through Amazon...

Got questions? Please ask. Otherwise, see you next week!

Tom S.

Welcome; to CCO MOB!

On behalf of Calvary Chapel Olympia, Pastor Chuck, Pastor Jon, Chris Post (MOB Coordinator), and all those people that work to make the CCO 'Men of the Bible' a reality, I'd like to welcome you to the new 2012-2013 bible study season.

Mark your calendars for September 18th at 7:00 PM for our first meeting. Chris and I will be disseminating lots of helpful information at that meeting, so do your best to attend. There will be no sign up this year for the MOB, but we are planning and hoping for an excellent turnout next week.

This year's fall session will be spent doing an in-depth study of the book of Philippians. The MOB meetings will go in three week cycles. Two weeks we will be studying Philippians, and on the third, we will have guest speakers, testimonials and more. This will not be a boring session, that we can guaranty!

With six weeks of studies for the book of Philippians, we will be overviews of sections that will run a little more than half a chapter at a time, highlighting some of the greater nuggets along the way. I plan to use this blog to share some helpful study notes, and give you all topics to discuss and issues to look at, not just from the point of view of Paul (something I do plan to ficus on), but also with a strong personal application focus. Studying, and learning is great, but as Men of God (or Men of the bible as the case may be!), if we do not plant these truths into our Spirit and live them out in our lives, we are failing to fulfill the purpose for which our lives have been intended: to share the gospel of Christ!

St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Share the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words." The implication is that the gospel message of salvation through Christ needs to be seen in our every day lives, in the things that we do, the way that we act, the events and issues that occupy our time, and not just in words alone. The half-brother of Jesus himself implies the same thing when he says, "faith without works is dead". Either you live it, or you have to begin looking at your dedication to your faith.

This blog is created to give the group an interactive place where we can stay in touch throughout the week, ask questions, review notes (I'll be posting my notes after each session), and keep each other accountable to the MOB Study, and to each other. Other features of this blog:

• You can "subscribe" to the blog by email or RSS feed for your convenience, and to get all the latest posts delivered right to your email.
• A Calendar that will show the next 5 upcoming meetings so you can keep track of your events.
• Comments are active for all posts, allowing you to comment on a post, ask questions etc. 
• Recommended Books for helping you through this study, and giving you more resources to take your study even deeper at home. 
• Helpful links to on-line bible study resources.

I hope you find the blog, and all of its resources helpful to you. Bookmark it and return to it regularly for updates and more information.

Get ready to be challenged. I hope that this study through Philippians urges your Spirit to be more active in your bible study. I hope that is causes you to desire to dig deeper and allow yourself to grow all the more. Most of all, we all hope that MOB will create a new heart, rededicated to God in such a way that growth and accountability become forces that bring you closer to our Savior than ever before.

Sincerely,

Tom Spithaler
Primary Instructor: MOB