A Good Resource

Hey everyone, I wanted to pass along a website to you.  Ravi Zacharias is a Christian apologist who does an excellent job in presenting a logical argument and rational for faith in Jesus.  His weekly radio program in one of my favorites.  If you subscribe to any podcasts, be sure and subscribe to his.  It is free.  You can also check out his radio program, as well as many of the other Ravi Zacharias International Ministries resources at the following link:  http://www.rzim.org/USA/Resources/Listen/LetMyPeopleThink.aspx

Television

Pretty much everything on television today is garbage. Every night though, at least I think every night, you can still catch reruns of my favorite t.v. show. The Cosby Show is arguably one of the best t.v. shows created. I invite you to watch the clip below. I always laugh.  I found this video on YouTube.

Getting Closer To Christmas

There is a lot to be said for living in a warmer climate, such as Dallas. It is 4:06 pm and 74 degrees outside right now. It is nice, I must admit. Having lived in Colorado all of my life though, it is hard to acclimate to this type of fall weather. I am used to wearing a jacket and watching the leaves change. Here, I can wear shorts today and watch people who are still watering their lawns. When the sun goes down it does cool off, but still, it is not the same. My cousin Meagan took the photo below a while back, and it really summarizes what is cool about Colorado. There can be several inches of snow and clear blue skies. I totally miss the fall in Colorado.



Oh, and check out the cool shot she has of the 16th Street Mall at Christmas time. You just have to be there sometime to understand.

New Layout

So as I'm sure you have noticed, the blog has a new layout. I understand that the title of the blog is Straight Outta Dallas, but the image behind the title is not of Dallas. What can I say, I liked the layout. I did not make it, I just found it on a layout website and decided to put it to use. As I am sure several other people have.

Just to point out another new feature, notice the ESV verse of the day on the right hand side. I thought it was pretty cool. That and since I do not tend to post anything on a daily basis, this will at least post a new verse each day. If you click on the verse, it will take you to the ESV Bible's website, where you can look up any verse in the ESV Bible. I really like the ESV version as well, another reason for the addition of this widget.

Whom Do You Trust?

I must admit that if there is one thing I suffer from, it is homesickness.  This morning was absolutely miserable and I had to fire off a prayer request e-mail to my mom, asking her to intercede for me.  Thankfully she did just that, of which I am very appreciative.  Upset over the fact that I am so far from home, confused about a lot of other things, and not terribly excited about the future, this morning was just miserable.  If there is one thing that I have learned this morning though, it is that I do not trust God with everything in my life and really do not trust Him as much as I think I do.

A friend of mine pointed out these verses, 1 Timothy 2:1-4, "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.  This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (NASB).  

Pray for our leaders, pray for their decisions and their future decisions, and pray that we all will trust in God and that we would KNOW in our HEARTS that HE IS IN CONTROL!  I am praying that I would trust and believe that with all of my heart.

You Must Apply It

Today we began studying the principle of application in our Bible Study Methods class.  Prof told us that it sounds simple yet is one of the most difficult sections of the course as it tends to bring about mounds of conviction.  I cannot disagree with him, as even on day one, conviction came about.  

Prof told us that one of the fundamental disconnects people make is they substitute Bible interpretation for application.  We study and study and study and we build up this information and knowledge about God and about the Scriptures, and we tell people what we know, but we fail to apply the principles of what we learned to our own lives.  We teach people the principles but we do not live the principles ourselves.  We are convicted by Scripture, but we fail to respond to the conviction.  We chalk up the interpretation and move on to learning the next thing.  

There were two groups of people in Scripture, famous for doing this very thing; the Scribes and Pharisees.  They knew the Scriptures inside and out and on the outside they looked good, but on the inside they were as dirty as sin.  They were guilty of superficial application.  Unfortunately our churches today are packed with people who are guilty of superficial application.  I myself am guilty of this very thing in certain areas of my life.  

My prayer is that we would all make sure that we apply the principles and apply what we learn from Scripture to our lives.  As prof pointed out to us today, the Bible was not given to us, merely to inform us.  Yes, the Bible was given to us to inform us, but more importantly, the Bible was given to us to TRANSFORM us.   Are you being transformed?  Are you different than you were a year ago?  How about six months ago?  If not, chances are there is a failure to apply what God has revealed to you.  I know that I have failed to properly apply God's word in areas of my life, because there are areas that have not been transformed because I have not made proper application.

This was just day one of the application section.  I am very excited to see where the next five weeks takes us!

Think About It

Today in our Bible Study Methods class, Dr. Bailey was discussing dispensationalism and explaining dispensationalism to us.  That is not what I am writing about here, so do not worry.  Maybe when I have had more time to study dispensationalism, as I know I will, I will post something in regards to the subject.  What I wanted to post for you think about is a comment that Dr. Bailey made at the end of class.  A comment that really should cause each one of us to take pause and reflect upon.

Dr. Bailey's comment, and I am paraphrasing, as I do not have this as a direct quote, went something as follows:  Just think, the angels that have been with God and Christ in heaven, from the beginning, still to this day have reason to fall on their face before Him and worship Him.

Think about that.  From the beginning, they have worshipped Him and to this day they worship Him and for all of eternity they will worship Him.  As John notes in Revelation 4:8, "And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME" (NASB).