A Lesson in 1 Corinthians

I am taking a class on 1 Corinthians right now. One of the assignments is to do 4 book reports on the book of 1 Corinthians, each from a different translation. Have you ever got to the point when you were reading the Bible and God gives you one of those WOW! moments and you just can't put the Bible down - then when you put it down, you are still trying to wrap your head around what God just said? That's what happened to me tonight in the Chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians.

1 Cor. 1:30-31 "But from Him you are in Christ Jesus, who for us became wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord."

This verse is building upon Jeremiah 9:24, "Let he who boast, boast in this: that he knows and understands Me."

When we start that journey of knowing and understanding God, Jesus then becomes wisdom for us sent from God on top of righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, "The wise man must not boast in his wisdom; the mighty must not boast in his might; the rich must not boast in his riches. But the one who boasts should boast in this - that he knows and understands Me."

When we unpack this, and see what Christ has done for us - it almost becomes mind boggling. 1 Cor. 1:5 says that we were made rich in everything, in all speaking and all knowledge (let not the rich man boast in his riches, or the wise man boast in his wisdom). 1 Cor. 1:24 says, "Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom." (the mighty man not boast in his might & again, the wise man not boast in his wisdom)

This is what I'm getting at: To boast in the LORD means to have an intimate knowledge of Him (let he that boasts, boast in this: that he knows and understands Me), and through that intimate relationship, God greatly increases through Christ what men long for: riches, power and wisdom.

Material riches will fade away. All it takes is a few bad hits on the stock market, or a recession and see what happens to material wealth; however, the riches God gives through Christ will never fade or spoil. To the homeless man $10,000 seems like a fortune, but the multi-billionaire would give everything he had to have his deceased son back. In this case, who desires the true riches?

Physical power is limited and will eventually be gone. Sickness will take it away and so will death, but to us who are called, Christ is God's power and God's power is infinite. The 12 year old boy would idolize the massive body builder because of his strength, but would pay no attention to the tower crane lifting steel beams to the 60th floor of a skyscraper. What has more strength?

We all want to look smart, nobody wants to look like a dummy, but our knowledge and wisdom are limited also, but God sent Christ to become wisdom for us, even though it looks like foolishness to those who are perishing. Are we going to look to man's wisdom that gets us into trouble, or are we going to seek God's wisdom. The Psalmist says that God's foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom, just like the tower crane is stronger than the body-builder and just like the deceased son is worth more than billionaire's fortune.

So this is the question I am going to leave you with. Who is Jesus Christ to you? Is he a myth or an archaic god? Is he a theological entity that we should at sometime learn something about, or is He truly the Son of God who desires you to know Him in the fullest sense?

God's majestic beauty

It is 8:26 here and I am sitting at the computer in Jason's office looking at the sunset. it is gorgeous as the sun goes down behind the mountains. This past week has been filled with the beauty that God created with there being snow on the mountains at the beginning of the week and now that the snow is gone. There are barely any clouds over the mountains and they are gorgeous. God has definetly shown his glory.

The boys are doing wonderful. Riley and Sawyer love their new environment. The cool mountain air makes them sleep really good at night especially after playing outside alot during the day.

well time for me to go

Full Time, Full Time

Well, Jason got a new job to put us through school this semester. God is good, isn't he. Jason was hired for part-time, but was moved to full-time his first day. He works the night shift at a grocery store - that pays extremely well. On top of that, the grocers union is going through negotiations for pay increases and when that goes through, he gets the difference in his wage retrod from the first day he started until the new contract comes into play. He is almost making what we made at the church. So now Jason is employed full time, taking two classes at the seminary and taking 2 online classes. He should be done his Bachelor of Christian Ministry by the end of April and start on his Masters of Divinity (online of course) in September. Why does he always push himself to the limit? Probably because he doesn't know any better. Maybe if he works super hard this semester, planting the church in Medicine Hat will seem like a breeze..... well maybe not quite. Please continue to pray for us - and for Jason to hold up this semester.

Family update

Hey everyone, This is Leigh from Canada. As of 7:40 our time Tuesday night, Jason and his dad are in Great Falls, Montana which means that they will be in Calgary between 1-2 tomorrow afternoon. The kids are doing wonderful.

The Big Day Has Arrived

Jason's parents flew in about 1:00 pm today. We got the U-haul and that is almost fully loaded. Tomorrow morning Leigh and the kids make the flight back to Calgary. They should be in Canada by noon. Dad and I should be there no later than thursday. There won't be any posts for a while until we get our computer up and running - but until then, Let God be God and let you be you.

Camp Photos

A friend of mine emailed some pictures from Preteen Camp. Here are some of our family. Enjoy!

This is one of Jason getting a Wedgee from a bungee jump trampoline.





Riley and Daddy at the Rec Field. Riley loved the Golf Cart

No, this isn't the family car. We don't have one that big!

Fairwell Party

The church had a commissioning service for us tonight. It went well - Hewy preached out of Acts 13, then the church laid hands on us. After that we had a good Baptist Fellowship. (It's always good when food is involved!) The church decked up the fellowship hall for us in a Texas Western theme. They had the hay bails and everything! As Leigh, the kids and I were eating, Hewy came and gave us a card from the church. We opened it up and out fell a check for a lot of money. The church just paid three quarters of our move back home. Leigh and I want to thank Security First Baptist for being so generous to us these past 2 years. God really does answer prayer because I did pray months ago that the church would provide the funds for us to go back to Canada - I didn't tell anybody - not even Leigh until tonight. God does answer prayer, so please continue to pray for us as we move back to Canada next Sunday and pray that God would go before us in Medicine Hat.

FBC Splendora

So, we are on vacation and I thought it would be nice to visit another church for a change. On Wednesday I called my friend, Kerry Baxley, the pastor at FBC Splendora and told him that we were going to be there that evening. He told me that was great and that I would be sharing the message. He wanted me to tell the church what God is doing with us and Medicine Hat. So three hours later I was speaking at FBC Splendora - on a Wednesday night. One of my girls from Elite Fleet was there along with the expected attendance on a Wednesday night. Why is it that in a Baptist church everybody sits from the back forward? After I spoke, Kerry told Leigh and I to go to the back an open our Bibles and he then told the church to prepare a love offering. We want to thank FBC Splendora for the wonderful gift that we were in no way expecting. It was the biggest love offering I have ever received for preaching - and it was on a Wednesday night!

We also met a couple in the church that went to Canada years ago to work on the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary's building.

Praise God for what He is doing in and through FBC Splendora, and thank you so much for wanting to partner in mission with us in Canada. To view FBC Splendora's website click here.