Can we use an Exacto Knife on the Bible?

If I believed in the ‘exacto-knife’ approach to reading the Word of God, this verse would have been eliminated years ago.

But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.  

Matthew 7:14

I wear the proverbial ‘rose-colored’ glasses whenever I can.  I detest arguing and can find a million things I would rather do than proclaim ‘my rightness’ or ‘your wrong-ness.’  Indeed, there are many shades of gray in my world.  And seeing ‘both sides’ is my natural bent.  I am maturing into one willing to stand on the lines of Scripture, though.

For God is not wishy-washy; nor does He have difficulty discerning lines.  His view is not blurry or variations of gray like mine.  Scripture is clear:  there is right and wrong, good and evil.  Scripture is clear:  there is a devil.  He hates believers, and it is his preferred mission to destroy those who sincerely call upon the name of Christ.

The devil loves cloudy thinking.  I thank God that my early years of faith placed me under the tutelage of solid, Bible-teaching pastors.  There is no room for exacto-knives when you study the Word of God.  All Scripture is written for learning, encouragement and chastening.

Christians must study the Word to know what is in it…God created and creates with the living Word.  There is no other source to know how to live. 

Not long after the verse about the narrow gate, there is another passage that chills my heart and shatters my rose-colored glasses.  It teaches us that on judgment day, many who thought they knew Jesus are told ‘depart from me–I never knew you.’

My heart aches to consider the multitudes who have, are and will miss life.  That sorrow presses me to know God more fully, to reveal Him with greater simplicity and clarity.  My heart cries for individuals to know the glory of God–and the privilege of living in the power of Christ.

To consider oneself a believer–a friend of God–is awe-inspiring, is it not?  To claim to be friends with one so powerful that their very words produce action, create substance and give life is quite a claim.  Are we worthy friends?

Friends don’t hang out with those who hate their friend.  Friends don’t walk all over their friend’s kindnesses.  Friends don’t change their friend’s words to be what they want the words to be.  Yet, many of us who call Jesus, ‘Friend,’ do all of those things.  Many who call Him Friend don‘t even know what He says.  Many simply go on their own thoughts and opinions, assuming what they think is what God thinks.

There can be no exacto-knives in studying Scripture.  If it isn’t all Truth, who determines what parts are Truth?

 Wouldn’t that make the person who decides their own god?

Heaven forbid!  Invest your time and mind in studying the Word of God.  Don’t go on what Granny taught you or the newspaper reports.  Read it, study it for yourself!  Your eternity depends on it!.

What is your favorite place to find quality Bible studies? Or why don’t you study the Word?

I’ll post some of my favorite links in coming days but I look forward to hearing yours too.

Soul Training in the Barn

We become ‘new creatures in Christ’ when we accept Jesus as Lord…but we have some habits ingrained in our soul that need some work on our part.  This mini-book, Soul Training in the BarnSoul Training cover, aims at training the soul with Godly habits.

Christian living is not passive.  This is a short, Scripture packed, Spirit-soaked mini-guide to walking out the new life we receive.  It contains a Bible Study that focuses on three main concepts:

  • Willingness
  • Respect
  • Obedience

The supplemental pages focus on “Being a Disciple” through personal discipline.  Relationships with others, Bible Study, Serving and Prayer are different in God’s view than the world view.  The closing pages are practical tips to get you moving in your new life.

Soul Training in the Barn PDF

Jesus made the way for us to restored relationship with God. We can never work our way to heaven. But there is work to be done in the Christian life…we have been given EVERYTHING we need for victorious living. Soul Training is about learning how to use all that we have. This Bible Study guides you through scriptures that outline the glorious privileges we have as children of God!

$1.99

If you cannot afford the suggested donation, please fill out the contact form below and indicate the specific resource you would like to have.

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Emotions–the nerves of the soul

Emotions are a blessing from God.  Scientific studies show that individuals with damage to the brain in the area of emotional response have great difficulty making decisions and thinking clearly.  Most of us are tempted to believe that we can manage our emotions or suppress them effectively.  That is not the case.  Just as ‘toughing’ out physical pain causes lasting physical damage, developing emotional callouses (or prisons to stuff emotions into) creates physical and relational devastation.  God gave us emotions to develop us into the design He intended!

Identifying the message we are receiving from our soul nerves (our emotions) can be tricky.  When I first began to accept I had to deal with emotions, I needed an Emotion Chart such as the one on the left to help me identify them. I ignored them so long, I didn’t recognize them. The silly chart placed on my refrigerator helped me expand my vocabulary about emotions.  We cannot think beyond the extent of our vocabulary.  Knowledge and understanding walk hand-in-hand.

From there, I moved onto the Feeling Wheel and studied how emotions relate to one another.  Another helpful tool is recognizing the phrases that indicate deep emotion–either in yourself or another.

God designed humanity for the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23a)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

In fact, not living in the Spirit creates disease because it is dis-ease within our bodies.  Not living the Spirit creates dis-ease in our relationships.  Emotions are God’s tool to help us live in health and harmony!  Embrace them.

Heartsong Pets: Devotion Debut

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Attendees and staff at the Adult Day Care in Chester, SC welcomed the message of pets as partners who help us gain understanding of great truths from God today!  The Velveteen Rabbit, a book written in 1922 presents a beautiful message of ‘becoming real’ through the bumps and bruises of life.  Combining snippets from the book with truths in the Word, the love of God was celebrated around the room.  Sharing stories of hard times that revealed the faithfulness of God, we celebrated together Christ’s example of embracing rejection with unconditional love.

The weather–and not yet fully trained pets–hindered the presence of real-life animals…but not the participation of animals.  Many shared stories of their own beloved pets and a bag of stuffed bunnies (donated by Christ Central Ministries) stayed to offer bunny love to any in need.  The reality that pets help bring the words we know in our heads to loving feelings in our hearts was loud and clear.

Heartsong Pets is on the calendar for a devotion in late August.  If you would like to know more about participating, let me know!  Miss Pat has agreed to play, “It is Well With My Soul” next time.

Therapy Dog training classes continue.  We are tentatively scheduled for this Sunday at 3 pm.

A Resource for Growing in Christian Maturity

I was asked by a friend to do a Book Review.  I’ve done a few before; they are easy.  Read and give a summary of the content to help folks determine if the book is a good fit for them.  This book was different.  It was so good, I couldn’t just ‘read it.’  Abby Kelly, the author, helps readers journey into the amazing depths (heights) of growing in the fullness of Jesus Christ.  I so thoroughly enjoyed it, I wanted to share the review with all of you.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book.  I used it more as a devotional than a Bible Study–and plan to do it again!

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Whether your salvation took place today or decades ago, this book is a Holy-Spirit crafted tool that will deepen your maturity.  Abby Kelly clearly partnered with the Spirit in writing this book.  Expanding the definition of maturity to incredible depths, the study clears a path for believers to walk upon.
Exploring maturity as a key to unity, Abby builds a beautiful case for pressing into the design of God.  Moving on to the topic of humility and then moving on to masterfully balance grace and law, the guide helps believers march forward to freedom.  This study guide provides disciples with an awesome journey; I will be taking the journey again.
Kelly carefully closes the study by leading the reader to explore the depths of a love-powered, spirit-filled walk that produces for eternity.  Beyond Belief is the study every Christian needs to live the life Jesus intends for us to live!

Heartsong Pets – Building Trust

The foundation of obedience is trust.  In our first session of Heartsong Pet Dog Training, we built on this truth:

Obedience to the call of God requires that we trust Him more than we trust ourselves.  

In that first session, we covered basic obedience training concepts:

  • Responding to name – a call to Attention
  • Exercising impulse control – a call for restraint
  • Resting 148789_117501068313177_1646713_n
  • Accepting “No.”
  • Sit – a default position while waiting for further instruction

We built on our foundation with the truth of an ‘old saying:’

The life of faith is well described as a

‘long obedience in one direction.’

Session two on our way to Pet Therapy Teams brought us to these points of obedience:

  • Responding to their name when competing interests ‘called’.  The walk of faith increases in difficulty when things we really like compete for God’s attention.  Obedience overcomes the temptation–and response to the name happens!
  • Moving from an ATTENTION command to a CORRECTION command, we practiced “Leave it.”  This is an exercise to teach making good choices.  Leave it is practiced with things that are enticing…obedience calls to a higher choice.
  • OUCH!  Dogs really do not know we are not one of them.  They are made for biting and chewing upon.  We are not.  Dramatic exclamations of pain help them learn to stop behaviors that harm us.  They want to please; we have to help them understand–just like God does for us.
  • Stay or Wait.  Do you not hate waiting?!  Stay is taught in a two-step process.  First, we ask our pet to stay while we are with them–just moving a few feet away.  Then, we move farther out.  God does the same.  In the early stages of our faith-walk, we need constant assurance and blessings to keep us going.  As we grow in obedience, we may be called to endure some times of waiting.   Distractions are a key factor in this…anything that draws the focus of our pet will require us to move closer to the pet.  That’s a pretty good faith recommendation too.  The busier we are, the more we need face time with Jesus!
  • Come!  Taught in much the same way as Stay!, the distance and distractions work in relationship.  Come is not the same as Name Response.  With Name, we want attention–but perhaps not running to us.  Name is to elicit a stop and look; come means ‘draw near.’

I’d love to hear how your training–and trusting–is growing!

Obedience = Trust

“Obedience is really just getting your dog to trust your judgment more than its own.”  Wally Wimmer, Last Straw Dog TrainingDSC00011

Heartsong Pets continues toward developing therapy dogs to bless our community!  Our heart desire is to help our pets honor the intent of St. Francis of Asissi when he said, “Preach the Gospel at all times–and if necessary, use words.”  Below you will find an overview of the steps we are following to help our dogs.  But I can’t help but see how it relates to walking out a life of faith.

For me, learning to obey the commands of God is exactly the same.  The Word of God is a loving letter of instruction from our Heavenly Father.  He never makes rules to hear Himself talk or rob of us of pleasure.  God gives rules that we might understand what His heart looks like.  We will never understand until we choose to obey.

The privilege and power of choice is easily overlooked.  As parents, our job is to offer choices to our children that are fit for their maturity level.  Our goal is that they will learn to exercise their right to choose with wisdom that comes along with increased knowledge.  Children who never learn to think for themselves and exercise choice become adults who are easily led astray.  Treasuring choice actually leads us to obedience.  God gave choice to humanity because it is the only path to fully understanding the greatness of God.

Choice is a divine privilege.  Robbing humanity of choice is the work of the devil.  There is an interesting dynamic of evil that hides itself well.  The temptation to reject restraint actually leads to total bondage.  Addiction is the perfect example.  Choosing to drink or drug is a decision each individual can make…stopping becomes increasingly harder.  Choosing not to surrender to God is a choice one can make…but the sound of His loving call becomes fainter with each step away.   The arms of God remain open to all who will heed His call to come, though!  The option to choose God remains as long as His breath is in our body!

Obedience to His call is trusting Him more than we trust ourselves.  

Heartsong Pet – Training Session One

  • Teach the name as a command.  When the name is called, the response should be immediate.
  • No is also a critical command.  Clear instruction when a behavior is not desired matters.
  • Sit is a command that becomes an efficient ‘base of operations’ for later commands.
  • Nap (rest or wait) is a command that assists with impulse control.

Session Two will focus on playing together…fun, productive games to build bonds with our pet pals!

Body, Soul and Spirit

Understanding the inter-play of the body, soul and spirit is so exciting.  If you click the “Triune” link below, you will a PDF file that offers some insights.  The human body is wonderfully made–and the choices we make (physical, mental and inter-personal) impact every other part of the body.  I’d love to dialog about the things you see as you look over the page and consider its implications in your own life.

Triune

Heartsong Pets – Dog Training

Today at 3 PM, Last Straw Dog Training will provide the first in a series of dog obedience classes at our house.  Any are welcome, but there is an underlying goal to this venture.

1 Corinthians 15:46 sums it up well for me:

The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to all of life’s dilemmas, but we are often blind as to how that can be.  We believe that pets are great instructors who can reveal truths in powerful ways!

The natural life is our ground for learning about Jesus.  Pets reach hearts when people cannot.  The tangible results of pet interaction for those with hurting hearts is well documented.  Children are drawn to pets; old people as well.  From family pets to therapy dogs to service animals, the potential of well-trained pets is phenomenal.

For those willing to invest themselves in partnering with their pets (to learn and share natural/spiritual truths) there are even greater rewards.  The natural (our minds, our bodies) must meld knowledge and discipline.  That is our responsibility. The spirit work is all the Lord’s.  The natural life training will benefit anyone willing to exercise themselves to do it.  The spiritual potential will be enjoyed by any willing to receive it.

Participation in actual therapy visits is not a requirement for attending the training.  The cost is $25 per pet.  For more information on how we see animals partnering to teach us, visit Heartsong Pets.

Finding patterns to follow

Our standards for life come from Scripture.  Sometimes, though, God grants us the privilege of seeing what those standards look like when lived out well!  We are never to idolize people, but learning from others is Scriptural.  Paul encouraged believers to follow him as he followed Jesus.  This week, a masterful portrayal of Biblical living graduated to heaven.  It was a joy to research and write about her life.  Here is a taste of that story.

Elisabeth Howard Elliot Leitch Gren 12/21/26 – 06/15/15

A life lived in the faith of Jesus Christ continues eternally—in the heavenlies and on earth.  Elisabeth Howard Elliot Leitch Gren lived such a life.  By definition, faith is the substance of things hoped for but not seen (Hebrews 11:1).  The opportunity to see what a life of faith really looks like provides immeasurable help to those longing to leave a legacy.

A life lived in faith embraces all as coming directly from the hands of a loving God—a loving Father.

“If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things.”

A life of faith exudes integrity.  God began preparing the world for Elisabeth Howard before her birth.  Nurtured in a godly home, mentored and sharpened by others along the way, Elisabeth learned that the life lived is the message others receive.  Speaking of a godly woman who mentored her,

For the rest of the piece, visit TBL Faith News