This past Sunday I preached from Luke 13:1-9. Verses 3 and 5 both say

“No I tell you, unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

You can listen to the whole sermon here.

Here is an excellent quote from J.C. Ryle on the nature of true repentance:

“The nature of true repentance is clearly and unmistakably laid down in holy Scripture. It begins with knowledge of sin. It goes on to work sorrow for sin. It leads to confession of sin before God. It shows itself before man by a thorough breaking off from sin. It results in producing a habit of deep hatred for all sin. Above all, it is inseparably connected with lively faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance like this is the characteristic of all true Christians.”

One of the simplest ways to study the Bible is to see which words are repeated the most often.

In our Men’s & Women’s Bible Studies (Wednesday & Thursday mornings respectively) we are going through the book of TITUS.

Titus is a short book of the Bible. It is only 3 short chapters, only 46 verses total.

But in this brief letter written by the Apostle Paul to a younger fellow minister named Titus, the word Sound is used 5 times.

Titus 1:9“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in SOUND doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

Titus 1:13 “This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be SOUND in the faith.”

Titus 2:1 “But as for you, teach what accords with SOUND doctrine.”

Titus 2:2 “Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, SOUND in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.”

Titus 2:8 “and SOUND speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.”

Being “Sound” means being “healthy.” It is as simple as that. Are you healthy in life? Are you healthy in your faith? Is your Faith a sound faith?

Studying the Bible this way is so simple yet so impactful. Try it out.

We recently started reading the through the Jesus-Storybook Bible again with our boys.

I was curious to see how much J.J. knew, or remembered, from the previous times we have read through it. He is four years old now and beginning to process a lot of the deep truths of the Gospel.

On our 2nd day of reading the Bible, it covered the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden when they disobeyed God and ate the fruit. The JSB (Jesus Storybook Bible) does an excellent job clarifying that God told them what to do and what NOT to do.

As we all know, Adam & Eve did not listen to God. They did not obey God. Instead, they listened to the serpent and disobeyed God. This is wrong and bad.

To a 4 year old, direct disobedience is really wrong and bad. I was encouraged as we were reading as I could see sadness and disappointment on the face of JJ that Adam and Eve did not listen to God.

I asked a few questions to make sure that JJ was understanding what they did; why it was wrong; why it happened; etc. He then asked me some questions about the serpent. Why would the serpent do that? Why did he trick (deceive) them? Why does he oppose God?

After that small discussion, we concluded that the Devil is evil and he hates God and he wants to get other people to hate God. This discussion was a tough one for my 4 year old son. As he was sad & puzzled that anyone would not love God. Because God is great!

However, after this was when JJ really showed me that he is learning a lot and understanding the message of the Bible. As I closed the Bible to begin to pray, JJ said with excitement “Wait, now lets read the passage where Jesus kills the snake!”

I paused for a moment and thought to myself “How do you know about that?” (After all, most adult believers are unfamiliar with the protoevangelion of Genesis 3:15)

I then said, “what are you talking about?” JJ replied “Lets read the story where Jesus kills the snake. The snake is bad. He doesn’t like God, and now I want to read the story where Jesus kills the snake.”

I had forgotten that the JSB covered that part of the Bible. So I let him show me. He turned me to the page that recalls Jesus’ death on the cross as the defeat of sin and death and satan. The JSB has a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross with the crushed snake under his feet. It is a powerful picture of the redemptive history in the Bible. What God promised to Eve in Genesis 3:15 about her offspring crushing the serpent’s head came to fulillment in Jesus when He died on the cross for sin.

Thats incredible! The whole Bible beginning to end is about God’s plan to redeem people from their sins through Jesus. Many adult Christians today still do not understand this.

Praise God that because of the writing and illustrating of the Jesus Storybook Bible my 4 year old already has a healthy Biblical Theology!

We read that part and celebrated together that sin and satan do not have the final say!

This past Tuesday a small group from our church went to read at Hazelwood Elementary School. We were invited as a part of the “Annual Community Reader Week.”

Mrs. Annette Darnell is the Family Resource Director at Hazelwood, and she is also a member of our church. It was great to see her in her work environment.

Jettie Haines, Tish Hardin, Gail Deaton, T.J. Krages, and I went and spent the afternoon reading to various grade-level classes.

I read three different Dr. Suess books to the Mrs. Chapin’s 2nd Grade class. We had a great time participating in this event.

Thank you to Mrs. Darnell and Hazelwood Elementary for having us!