Tim Boyd's Blog

I don't know if God is trying to teach me something here but "repentance" has been a dominate theme in most of my study over the last month. On Sunday nights we have been looking at the book of Isaiah.  The theme there is: things are bad and they will get worse until you repent.  When you repent things will get better.  So why not just repent now?  That  is theme for each of the nations that are being judged.  If you would just repent you would not have the terrible time that is coming to you.  You are too proud to repent so you will be smashed.  If you would have repented you would have no problems, dummy (I added the last word for emphasis.) On Sunday mornings we are in the very beginning of the book of Acts.  Peter has two sermons to start it off.  He preaches one right after the Pentecost.  He preaches the second right after a healing is performed.  In both cases people look to Peter and ask him, "What must we do to be ...

I am teaching through the book of Isaiah and using Warren Wiersebe's book as a reference.  On page 45 I came across a wonderful quote: The Jewish political leaders were asking, "Is it popular?  Is it safe"  The prophet was asking, "Is it right?  Is it the will of God? I wonder how many decisions we make using the first set of questions.  I'll bet it's far more than half.  In our churches.  In our lives. That's a sad state to be in.  It didn't make me feel good.

This is a great post by a blog of the Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-howard-merritt/church-charity-in-the-21s_b_673254.html

This morning I was thumbing through a parenting magazine and I read an amazing tip.  This medical doctor gave the following advice for parenting.  Paraphrased by me. "When you are on the phone and your 3 year old child is trying to talk to you tell them to do something else and you will be right with them.  For example you can say something like this, "Mommy is on the phone right now please go play with your blocks and when I am done I will come talk to you."  When you are off the phone make sure to find them and reward them for listening to you." That is groundbreaking advice.  I would have never thought of that on my own.  "Excuse me Doctor?  Um, what happens when my child starts screaming because I won't talk to her?"  "Also, Doctor do you by any chance have a phone AND a child?  I don't think that you do." Do you give advice like this?  Please stop. I read this and I immediately think of all the christian catch-phrases that we te...

This is a fascinating little read on the blog of Al Hsu. http://thesuburbanchristian.blogspot.com/2010/08/evangelical-tribalism-big-sort-or.html

How long has the Kingdom of Heaven been around?  Is it one of those things that just always "has been" and "will be?"  Like God?  Or is it something new that came when Jesus came to the earth?  Yes, no, and sort of... In Matthew 5:19, Jesus teaches, "Anyone who breaks one of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven." In this teaching, Jesus is telling them (and showing us) that he is continuing the message of the Old Testament.  He is teaching that the old way of doing things is not being thrown away, rather it is being fulfilled in Him.  He is the finish of the Old Testament.  He is the completion of the law.  He teaches the same things in new, more challenging and much more personal ways.  He serves as our Mediator, or one between us and God the Father.  Now we can do things much di...