What is my One Sentence Bible?

8-21-09:  If God is our example, why does our love not endure forever? We give up on God, and love, too soon. Psalm 136:1-26

When you die, your plans mean nothing. Men can’t save your vision. Psalm 146:3-4

God numbers and remembers each of the stars by name. I can barely remember my friends’ names. Psalm 147:4

The Lord does not take pleasure in how much you do. He takes pleasure in Who you revere. Psalm 147:10-11

Much love.

www.themarinfoundation.org

What is ‘My One Sentence Bible’?

8-18-09: Hope is a shield that provides space to faithfully continue walking forward. Psalm 119:114

Be about peace and love, even if you are the only one standing up to do so. Psalm 120:6-7

Much love.

www.themarinfoundation.org

What is ‘My One Sentence Bible’? Here’s a summary.

8-17-09:  The Lord is our reward – not success, notoriety or anything deemed worthy by this world. Focus on our success, and that is God. Psalm 119:57

Much love.

www.themarinfoundation.org

What is this? Here’s a summary.

8-16-09: Just because God commands, doesn’t mean we just know how to live it out. We have to LEARN to do so. Psalm 119:7

 ‘To understand’ cannot happen without meditating on what we learn to understand better. Psalm 119:27

Much love.

www.themarinfoundation.org

Each year my goal is to read the Bible all the way through from cover to cover between January 1 and December 31. I have accomplished this goal each year since 2000. But it doesn’t look like I’m going to make it this year, and that bothers me.

It bothers me not because I’m missing a goal, but because it means I’m not ingesting and spending enough time with my Lord’s words. I just feel more alive when I am reading the Bible everyday … not necessarily an exhaustive study, but a careful read with my spirit open for the Lord to lead and speak.

As of today, August 18, 2009, I have made it from Genesis 1 (January 1) to Psalm 119 (August 15). I figured a great way for me to keep myself accountable is to write a one sentence summary of a particular verse or passage that moves me within whatever I chronologically read that day. I don’t have a set amount of verses or chapters I read each day – I let the Lord determine that. I read and then pray until my spirit is satisfied. The following one sentences are my chronological one sentence Bible, starting with Psalm 103, when I started writing the summaries.

Benefits of God: forgiveness, healing, redemption, love, compassion, satisfaction, renewal and justice. Psalm 103:1-6

“God does not treat us as our sins deserve.” Do I do that to others? No. Do you? We must re-adjust! Psalm 103:10

God is enduring no matter how many times we run. He will never give up on us, if only we would never give up on Him. Psalm 117:2

Society continues to use the fields of psychology, biology and politics prove its validity. Yet we’re doing the same thing to prove ours! Your assurance is in what? Psalm 118:8-9

One more day closer to death, or one more day ready to live? Get out of yourself and look what the Lord has done. Psalm 118:17

I hope that throughout the upcoming days, months, years, these will be a blessing and an encouragement to you as they are to me. As long as I can get the internet each day, I will post my one sentence (yes, along with my usual posts as well).

YOU CAN FIND THE WHOLE SERIES OF ’MY ONE SENTENCE BIBLE’ HERE

Much love.

www.themarinfoundation.org

I was reading Psalm 7 the other day and I noticed something that I had never noticed before:

Awake, my God; decree justice.

O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.

Wow. What a word by David concerning those that perpetuated Saul’s paranoia to keep the kingdom he rightfully thinks is his, and not the Lord’s that was given to David. The words:

“Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High”

have stuck with me the last few days since I read them. David is pleading with God to judge him. Who actually asks God to judge them? And not only so, but David puts his inner most faith and faults in God’s hands by asking Him to judge David according to his righteousness and integrity!

Let us all have enough faith that we too cry out and be so bold as to want God to judge each of us according to our integrity. It’s a very scary thought if you actually think about it…but David’s heart at that moment intrigues me, and challenges me as I strive to be a man full of Godly integrity. That when I am judged by the Almighty, I might kneel before God and say with 100% sincere conviction,

“Judge me O LORD, by my integrity, and see that what I have done is pleasing in Your eyes.”

We can say that all we want, but if we’re being honest with ourselves, who knows what the outcome will be? This is just another reminder of the power and faith that it is to live a distinct life as a follower of the Way. Life giving? Yes. Scary? Without a doubt!

I recently (and unfortunately) saw a blog post written about me by someone I don’t know (I’m guessing he is gay), nor has this person ever tried to contact me to talk. They said:

“This guy is a FundaGelical. He says he’s a conservative Christian. He admits it in the video [the promo video from Love is an Orientation]. He contrasts his “conservative/traditional” view with the “pro-gay” view. Well, if that doesn’t show what he is, I don’t know what would. Thus, although he is not open enough to come right out and say it, he believes homosexuals are sinners.He’s very crafty in talking around the issue…….but he admits to the conservative/traditional Christian view on gays. So he’s no different than any of the gay bashers…….except he’s hiding it better. Unless he can come out and say that it is NOT sin for a gay couple to have a marriage relationship just like a heterosexual couple.

He’s just another guy making a living by slandering gays. And he never says anything even remotely resembling that…..he is strangely silent about it.

I cannot even begin to express my contempt for such people, and especially those who make their living through such behavior.”

I would love to sit here and publicly tear apart off of his false assumptions, but as David said, LORD, please judge me by my integrity. I know this is a volatile place that I have been led to, and all I can do is claim The I Am as The I Am and continue praying

“O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure”

For we are all children of the Holy God, and all deserve to be treated as such – the man who posted those words as well as me. Let us all continue to work towards putting an end to the violence: rhetorical and physical.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

When I study the Bible I read it cover to cover, starting in Genesis 1 and end in Revelation 22:21. The Bible is a Story, and there are many stories within the Story that compile the larger message(s) on trying to learn and understand what it means to live a life loving Christ—more to come on this later on a post I will do about Scot McKnight’s book, The Blue Parakeet, which has been extremely influential to me.

Anyway, I hit the Book of Psalms. I love biblical historical context. I love reading historical commentaries and books that help me read the Bible so I can better understand the culture it was not only written in, but also the audience in that culture that it was meant to communicate through. All of this to say that whenever I arrive at a new book in the Bible I take out all of my other commentary books and read all of their introductions to the corresponding book in the Bible I’m at, so I’ll be in the right mind frame to read that particular book.

One of my favorite commentary books is the New Bible Dictionary (Third Edition) by InterVarsity Press. Here is part of what it said about Psalms. I hope this blesses you as much as it blessed me—a not so subtle reminder of who God is and why we work so diligently for His Kingdom:

“The marrow of the religious life of the psalmists was undoubtedly their knowledge of God. They never tire of singing his majesty in creation. In all his works in the heavens, the earth and the sea he has made himself known as the all-powerful, the all-knowing, the everywhere-present God. He is also the God of all history who guides everything towards the final goal which he has purposed to fulfill. But this Ruler of the world, this King of kings, is also Lawgiver and Judge, the Vindicator of all who are oppressed and their Savior. He is therefore merciful and faithful, just and righteous, the Holy One whom men and angels adore. But the God of the psalmists is also, and uniquely, the God of Israel. The God who revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who through Moses delivered Israel from Egypt, entered into covenant with them and gave them the promised land, is the God of Israel still, the Lord and Defender of the chosen people.

With such a high conception of God it is not surprising that the psalmists found their chief delight and privilege in prayer to God. There is a directness, a spontaneity and an immediacy in the prayers of the psalmists that convince us of the reality of prayer for them. The believe in his providence, trust in his presence, rejoice in his righteousness, rest in his faithfulness, confide in this nearness. In their prayers they praise, petition and commune with their God, and find refuge from sickness, want, pestilence and slander, and humble themselves under his might hand. In the progressive life of the community their behavior is marked by fidelity to God, reverent obedience to the law, kindness to the oppressed and joy in the worship of God’s people (pp. 983-984).”

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org