Last evening I wanted to give our congregation some help when they read prophetic sections of Scripture (and there is a great deal of it).

I shared this article in part with them from Stephen Nichols over at the Crossway blog:

Many of you have your Bible and your reading plan all set for 2012. However, there are undoubtedly some passages or even books that more difficult to understand than others. InWelcome to the Story, Stephen Nichols gives us some pointers on understanding the prophetic texts:

You should keep the big picture of hope in view. It’s easy for us to get lost in the details. We are tempted to run down rabbit trails of trying to decipher minutiae and looking for some secret insight into the details. Is Ezekiel’s “wheel within a wheel” some sort of UFO? Are the locusts in Revelation Huey helicopters of the US Air Force?

Remember the big-picture reason why God reveals the future to us. He wants us to know what will happen so that we can have a real and abiding hope. God wants us to know what will happen so that we will trust in him that despite appearances, he controls the future and we need to trust and rest in him. He wants us to know what will happen so that we will work until he comes.

As you journey through these prophetic passages of Scripture, you can easily lose your way. These questions serve as guideposts to help you navigate these texts. Begin with trying to capture the big picture of restoration, and then work from that solid ground to sorting through and understanding the details.

Questions for reading prophetic passages of Scripture:

• What does this passage teach about the grand narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration?
• What does this passage specifically teach about the coming restoration of all things?
• What have I learned from this passage about the future that I can put into practice now?
• What do I need to change in my life based on what I have learned about the future?
• How does this passage offer a different perspective on life, as compared to the perspective offered by our surrounding culture?

Learn more about Welcome to the Story by Stephen Nichols.

Dr. Michael Horton reminds us and football fans everywhere that the BIG day is almost here!  What day? It’s not what you are probably thinking!

Read and think about this here.

Voddie explains clearly and accurately what has happened over the last few months and why this past weekend he didn’t speak at an event at the last minute.  He begins his article by noting!

This past week a firestorm erupted over the recent “Elephant Room 2.”  The controversy centers around the decision to invite Bishop T.D. Jakes to participate in the event.  The central questions in the debate are 1) whether or not Bishop Jakes holds to the historic, orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, 2) whether it was appropriate to invite (and feature) him without first having clarified his position on this cardinal doctrine, and 3) whether he cleared up the matter.

I was scheduled to speak at Harvest Bible Chapel on the weekend following ER2 which raised significant questions about my stance on the matter.  While I do not consider it my responsibility to comment on every controversy, I do recognize my duty to clarify matters with which I am involved directly, and/or those that impact the congregation I am called to shepherd.  Hence, my explanation now.

I’d encourage my readers to read Voddie’s post carefully and to click on the links he has within the post.  This is a man for whom we should pray.  I also pray many others will stand with him in this crucial time.

However, he is also a continuationist, which means he believes there is biblical support for the ongoing NT gift of tongues. On this point I disagree with him.

Jesse Johnson has a really, really good article that shows how Carson argues for tongues—notably what kind of tongues he believers are being spoken today. It’s really an easy article to read and it shows how untenable the position of the NT tongue advocates really is and to what length they must go to explain their position.

Read DCRSN’s Defense of Continuationism here.

What is the ultimate facebook?  Have you checked God’s facebook today?

Excellent exhortation here. 

~ Thomas Watson

How do you prepare to meditate in this distraction-crazy world?  How do we start? What does it look like?  What would be passages we should meditate on?

The Crossway blog features some brief thoughts from Kent and Carey Hughes. Kent Hughes has helped me in this area over the years as I have returned to his book Disciplines of a Godly Man many times.  So read this post and be sure to click on the link to Joe Thorn’s brief exhortation regarding meditation in the post.

Feel free to post a comment on what you have learned best aids biblical meditation in your life.