Pastor Jay //

A Biblical Guide to Decision-Making

Decision-Making: Eating Problems for Lunch

Recently, I have been studying about Joseph, husband of Mary and adoptive father of Jesus. He had a difficult decision to make. As I looked more closely at his decision process, I realized that his big decision regarding what to do about Mary’s surprise pregnancy, was made up of a series of smaller decisions. Here’s an excerpt from the back of this mini e-book:

Feel free to download this small book about decision-making. Pass it along to a friend that’s in the middle of a big decision. Apply it to your life and see how God would have you make decisions.

You may download your free copy here.

See fellow blogger, Mark Brown, make a plug for the book, here: http://brownblog.info/?p=724

We will only have worship at 10:45 am. For the full story about reasons etc. see:

http://cameronfbc.org/home/2008/12/21/schedule-change-sunday-dec-21-2008/

See you tomorrow - those of you in/near Cameron, MO!!

In Him, Jay

Mark Brown challenges me to consider how we will reach this generation. He claims that the proportion of online activity in the world is exploding exponentially while the church lags behind. He further claims that we must find new ways to interact with culture in a greater way than just putting up a website here and there. I encourage you to read his article and interact with this Anglican Priest (congrats Mark! on your recent ordination). He is also church planting in the virtual world through Second Life - a virtual world that effects real-life people.

This will stretch your thinking:

Reaching out to an online generation? at Brownblog

image from Mark’s blog

Can you imagine an athiest being grateful that someone witnessed to them and still remain an athiest. The embedded video is a vlog of Penn of Penn and Teller Magic Shows describing such an encounter. He is an outspoken athiest and yet, he appears to be truly struck by an evanglistic encounter after one of his shows.

Thanks to Micah Fries and Ed Stetzer for passing it along.

Luke 2:34-35 says,

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

How do you make decisions? Joseph was faced with the dilemma of his life: what to do about Mary’s extra-marital pregnancy. She had promised herself to him. They were to be married. Now she was going to have a child and he knew that it wasn’t his. Joseph chose to make a righteous decision, but he also chose to be compassionate about how he would carry it out. He would put her away quietly. That was his decision.

Then God stepped in. God showed Joseph how it was all part of his plan. He could be righteous, compassionate, and obedient to the Spirit of God. Why? Because God made him a promise and God always fulfills His promises.

Many believe that the Bible is outdated, outmoded. However, if we are willing to look into the Word of God and allow it to shape us, we begin to see that there is a great deal of wisdom in the scriptures that we need for today. I believe that God’s Spirit works in us just like He did with Joseph. We are to do what we can with what we know about God’s ways and then trust God to show us what we can’t see. Everything changed for Joseph when he discovered who the baby was. Everything changes for you when you discover who Jesus is. He is the Son of God and “by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Discussion Questions:

1. What major decisions have you made this last year?

2. How do you make decisions? Is there a plan to your decision making?

3. How can you consider the person and character of Jesus more in your decision making?

Further Reading:

• Matthew 1:18-25
• Newsweek article completely misconstrues the Bible and calls it outdated
• Biblical response to the Newsweek article

Timing is everything – so they say. Have you ever wondered about God’s timing? Joshua may have felt the same way when he went to lead the people of Israel into the Promise Land. After 40 years of wondering in the desert, they were finally back at the Jordan River. God had been preparing them to take possession of the Promised Land. A trip from Egypt that could have lasted only a few weeks had now lasted more than a generation. What was worse, at the very time that God said to cross over, the Jordan was at full flood stage. This was the worst possible time to cross at the Jericho crossing. Joshua 3:14-15a says:

“So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest.”

Can you imagine standing on the eastern shore of those cliffs, looking down into the river valley and seeing that mighty river, dark with mud from seasonal rains? Many probably said, “Wait! We’ve been waiting 40 years. What would it hurt to wait 40 days.” Timing is everything. The only reason that I can think of for God to move the people at this time was glory – God’s glory. Jericho needed to tremble at the hand of God. Something miraculous needed to happen to show that God had done it. So God said move forward. Here’s what happened next: (more…)