Comforting Scriptures in Times of Death

As I’m finishing up a funeral message to preach at a funeral tonight, I thought I would make available the list I compiled a while back of Scriptures that can be comforting in times of death.

Maybe you need to read these right now.  Maybe you need to share these right now.  Or maybe you need to remember this is here and come back whenever the time comes that you need it (because you will…).

Reading Scripture in the New Year

As somewhat of a follow up to my last post, I thought I’d share some easy ways to get into Scripture this new year.

Technology has made it easier for us to do many things, even some things relating to the Bible.  If you’ve made it a goal to get into Scripture regularly this year and need some guidance on how to make it happen, look here.

You can find 10 different reading plans that can be printed, viewed online, subscribed to via RSS, downloaded as podcasts (pretty amazing!), and received in your email.  Check it out and get into Scripture this year!

Psalm 1 and a New Year

I took a picture of this tree at Nikki's grandparents house. Just thought it looked nice and related to the Scripture in this post!

Happy New Year!  I caught a break in the midst of celebrating the new year with family to reflect a little on my site about some Scripture I read this morning.  I was enjoying my bowl of cereal and read Psalm 1 this morning.  It’s a Psalm I’ve read a thousand times probably, but today it struck me in a new way (don’t you love how God’s Word can speak into your life at a specific time when you need it?).

Look at the text of Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
²but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

³He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.

My Thoughts after Visiting the Creation Museum

This past Saturday, Nikki, Caleb, and I had the opportunity to go to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, KY (just outside of Cincinnati, OH), with some good friends of ours who live in Alexandria, KY, now.

I thought I would share my thoughts of our experience.  Some of you may have already visited the museum, but if not, you need to go!

First off, the Creation Museum is an outreach of Answers in Genesis (AiG) ministries.  Both of their websites are incredible resources (and should be linked in that last sentence).  The AiG website is full of Biblical and scientific articles that show that God is Lord of all!

So my thoughts:

Leaving a Legacy For My Son

What do these two Scriptures teach us?

“No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.”" Genesis 17:5-9 (emphasis added)

“The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.”  Numbers 14:18

They teach us that we can leave a positive impact on our children, and that we can leave a negative impact on our children (and future generations).

So the question I kept asking in my mind was “what kind of legacy am I going to leave for my children?”

With Caleb being the only child right now, and only being 7 months old, there’s not much I can teach him yet.  But I wanted to start doing something practical now to leave a positive impact on his life and his siblings’ lives.

I thought- what do I value enough to leave a legacy built around?

Scripture. That’s it.  I want my children to know that I value the Word of God in my life.  I want them to know that beyond what they hear me teach at home or preach at church or write on the walls of our house, I’m spending my life interacting with God through His words.

So I got a journaling Bible, which is just a Bible with wide margins.  I have made this Bible my every-day reading Bible where I am writing down my interaction with Scripture- questions, thoughts, connections to other Scripture passages, etc.  I want Caleb to know that I spend time with God outside of what he (Caleb) sees, that I struggle in my life, that I don’t know everything about the Bible.  But most importantly, I want Caleb to know that I valued Scripture enough in my life to instill it into his.

I can’t wait until one day when we’re older and I give him that Bible.  By then, I hope it’s full of writing to show Caleb that his Dad is a real person who spent time with the Lord.

Commercials & Scripture

You might find this post funny by my friend and former co-worker on a church staff, Jimmy Jackson.  He has some insightful and humorous writings that you would enjoy on his site, Jim’s Gems.  Enjoy!