Not Neglecting to Meet Together

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

A quartet of ring-billed gulls gathered together along the shores of Lake Erie. Presque Isle State Park, Erie, Pennsylvania.

I suspect my introverted nature and desire for solitude are traits I share with many who enjoy hiking and the outdoors. Time alone for prayer, reflection, or simply to get away and recharge our batteries is a good thing. As I wrote about in a previous blog post, there are plenty of examples in Christ’s own earthly ministry where he and his disciples took time to get away.

But, as much as we may enjoy our time alone, today’s passage from Hebrews reminds us that we should not neglect gathering together with our brothers and sisters in Christ. From the first pages of the Bible we discover that God himself is relational, and, that we are relational beings, created in his image. In Genesis 1: 26-27 we read,

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

There is much more to these verses, but I have two points that I want to highlight here. First, God says “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Here God refers to himself using the plural pronouns us and our, not the singular, me and my. ¹ God is clearly relational. Second, he created us male and female in his image. We, too, are relational beings. From the beginning, we were created with a deep need for a relationship with God, as well as relationships with other people. Unfortunately we live in a fallen world where all of our relationships are complicated by sin and selfishness.

But, there is good news! As Christians we have hope through Christ. As Christians we have the opportunity, as today’s passage tells us, to encourage and “stir up one another to love and good works.” Of course, we can only do these things as long as we are “not neglecting to meet together.”

Read more about my “God is Revealed…“ category of posts

¹ While an explanation and defense of the central Christian doctrine of the Trinity is beyond the scope of a short devotional, this verse does clearly point to the relational nature of God. If you want to explore the doctrine of the Trinity further, I recommend this link to the Monergism.com website where you will find numerous links to many excellent writings on the doctrine of the Trinity.

An Image Formed

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Acts 17:29-31 – Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰ The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Shoreline image reflected in the waters of Stonelick Lake. Stonelick State Park, Pleasant Plain, Ohio.

Too often we substitute our own blurry images for the clear picture God has given us of himself in the Bible. We focus on the gifts rather than the giver, the reflection rather than the true object of our faith. While Scripture clearly tells us that the beauty of nature reflects the glory of God, we must always remember that we are called to worship God, our Creator, not his creation.

Take time today to study God’s word for yourself, so that you can be sure it is God himself you are worshipping and not some blurry image created by the “imagination of man,” be it yours or someone else’s.

Read more about my “God is Revealed…“ category of posts

And the Two Shall Become One Flesh

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

Ephesians 5:31-33 – “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³ However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

In honor of our dear son David and our new daughter-in-law, Felicia on the day of their wedding, this 23^rd day of November in the year of our Lord 2013. May God bless and keep them through many happy years as husband and wife!

Read more about my “God is Revealed…“ category of posts

A Few of My Favorite Internet Resources

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Todd D. Nystrom

With all of the frivolous material and garbage you find on the world-wide web these days, I thought it might be helpful to provide a list of some of the better internet resources I have discovered over time, and that I personally find useful in my Christian walk. I know there are other good, even great, websites that I have not included in this list; however, time and space constraints limit what I can reasonably present here. Many of these other resources will be found referenced in the websites listed below:

BibleGateway.com: http://www.biblegateway.com/

This is a great website with numerous online translations of the Bible in English as well as many of other languages. They have a helpful search capability that allows you to search scripture using keywords, phrases or specific passage references, and then compare the results between different translations. In addition, they have several translations available in audio format which allows you to listen to scripture passages read out loud…I find this feature particularly useful in learning how to pronounce some of the more difficult names of places and people found throughout the Bible.
If you are looking for ways to grow in your personal Bible study habits and dig deeper into God’s word, either on your own or through some of the daily devotionals and Bible reading plans they provide, you will not be disappointed. This is a wonderful resource!!!

e-Sword.net: http://www.e-sword.net/

This is a Bible study software package that you can download for free from the e-Sword.net website. I was skeptical at first—I usually am with “free” software downloads—but boy was I wrong! I have found this to be a very well designed, “user-friendly” software package that has more features than I could possibly enumerate here, although I will point out a few. I find this to be an indispensable tool for my own Bible study and research endeavors.
Some Bible translations, including the ESV, KJV, ASV, and several more, can be downloaded for free, but other popular translations, such as the NIV, NKJV, NASB, and RSV, must be purchased. Personally I do not find this limiting as the ESV is the primary translation I use.
There are also Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, devotions, graphics (maps, charts, etc.), and reference books that can be downloaded, many for free, some for purchase.
I know there are purchased software packages used by professional ministers that probably run circles around this, but for the layman who cannot afford to spend that kind of money this is a great way to go. I cannot say enough good things about this software!
To learn more about Rick Meyers, the creator of e-Sword, and the history of his “software” ministry go here: http://www.e-sword.net/history.html.

The Gospel Coalition (TGC): http://thegospelcoalition.org/

The Gospel Coalition was founded by D. A. Carson and Tim Keller, two big names in current reformed, evangelical circles. The TGC website contains a plethora of resources, videos, blogs, and book reviews that are helpful, thought-provoking, timely, and relevant, all firmly rooted in biblical truth.
Other names frequently found on the pages of TGC include Kevin DeYoung, Justin Taylor, Trevin Wax, and many more.
There is so much useful material here it is impossible to cover it all in a short description. If you want to learn more about TGC, you can find their confessional statement and theological vision of ministry at this link: http://thegospelcoalition.org/about/who.

Monergism.com: http://www.monergism.com/

This is another website, much like TGC, that contains an incredible wealth of materials, all rooted in sound reformed, evangelical theology. You will find many of the same names appearing here as you do on the TGC website.
To learn more about Monergism.com read their “About” page at this link: http://www.monergism.com/about_us.php

Challies.com (a blog by Tim Challies): http://www.challies.com/

The tagline for Tim’s blog is “…Informing the Reforming” which sums things up quite nicely. Again, this is a site well rooted in reformed, evangelical theology—perhaps you are seeing a trend here? Tim’s blog posts frequently challenge me to look at my own Christian walk and help me to see my own shortcomings. I find his book reviews very helpful when I am in the market for new reading material to add to my library. His writing style is quite witty and often humorous which makes reading this blog entertaining, as well as informative.
I think the focus of this blog is best summed up by Tim’s own description found on his About this Blog page: This is a blog (or weblog)–a kind of online journal…[it is] a compendium of articles, information and book reviews. If the blog has a primary focus, it may be best summarized as “commentary on the contemporary church and its interaction with the culture around us.”

http://www.desiringgod.org/

http://www.sportsmensdevotional.com/

From the Sportsmen’s Devotional website: “We provide the Christian outdoorsman a daily email Bible study that Sportsmen can relate to. Our study is short, to the point, and has a new photograph and outdoor tip each day. Our study is devoted to all that love the great outdoors.”
If you enjoy hunting, fishing, hiking, and the outdoors their daily e-mail Bible study is a quick, easy read that you can use to get you started in developing a daily devotional routine or add to an already existing routine, without being overwhelmed.

http://archive.org/

http://openlibrary.org/

Note: I plan to continue adding more resources and filling in more descriptions on this existing list over time.