The ideas and thoughts around Noble finally started pouring in on Sunday.

Here are some verses, I have discovered that lead to what the choice of doing what is Noble/Honorable means.

Isa 58:13

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

Dan 2:11 “Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

Mathew 20

13“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Ga 4:18 But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you.

The following 3 translations of 2 Cor8:21` together bring a richness to our understanding of the word Noble/Honorable.

NIV

2 Cor 8:21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.

KJV

21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men

ESV

21 for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man

Just trying to get my head around the word noble from the NIV and the word honorable from other translations.  Here are the verses I am praying about for Chapter 2.

Acts 6:3 - Being someone full of the Holy Spirit and good sense

Romans 12:17 - Do not repay evil for evil

Romans 13:13 - Behave decently

I Thessolonians 4:12 - Winning respect of outsiders (Not dependant on anyone)

1 Timothy 2:2 - Live peaceful and quiet lives

1 Timothy 3:4 - Having your children respect you

1 Timothy 3:8 - Do not pursue dishonest gain

1 Timothy 3:11 - Be trustworthy

Titus 3:14 - Live good, productive lives

Hebrews 13:18 - Live honorably with a clear conscience

1 Peter 2:12 - Have good deeds to glorify God

This is a start….

Brian and I are moving forward.  We met last night on Chapter one.  Overall we are pleased with the content of Chapter one.   There are a few edits to do, and we are both praying about the first Paragraph.

God is moving this book forward, with that in mind we decided to move on to,  What is Noble?   We know the first chapter is the most important, but we have been working on it for 3-4 months.  Time to look at some fresh content, and come back to What is True?, with  a fresh look later.

We will be working seperately the next few weeks to define Noble, and then start the process of blending our voices into one again for Chapter 2.

We both pray that God continues to move us in his will as we work on this book.

Onward and Upward.

Short post.. I will add more later.

I have been thinking and praying about being the Church were ever I am, and how this ties into our search for Truth in this world.

Brian said in comment on another blog.

According to His Word, the church is the body of believers. Should we not BE the church wherever we are, not GO to church just on Sunday mornings to be a passive spectator?

Amen Brian.

There is nothing wrong with going to church on Sunday.  Infact I highly recomend it.  However we need to get out of our seats and do much much more than participate.  We must act and spread the love of Christ.

I wrote in the Blogged Bible Study about Christ meeting the need even in the mundane little ways.

To love as Christ expects is the Truth of how we are to live.  To show that love is to find the NEED.  I mean Christ gave us one command to follow that covers everything.    LOVE!   Love God, Love others.   We can’t do that just sitting and listening in Church.

Finding the Need beyond the four walls of the Church is the Truth of acting out in Love.

The posts have been quiet, so I just wanted to let everyone know we are still alive and kicking!

Chapter one still being written, ripped apart, written again, ripped apart, and being written again.

More to come….

It was a story of mass murder. The newspapers gave it front-page attention along with photos of the unfortunate victims.  In the wake of the killings investigating officials were heard to say things like:

This is the most horrific thing I have seen.

They suffered in ways you and I can’t imagine.

When we find (the killer), he’s going to be the kind of person who has no conscience.

Whose deaths prompted this outpouring of shock and anger? Tourists? School children?  No. 

The victims were 33 range horses. 

They were gunned down on the evening of Dec. 27 2005 in a canyon just 10 miles outside Reno, Nevada. 

Senseless, brutal killings: the taking of innocent life. 

Interesting isn’t it, how in our modern times we get so worked up about killing and cruelty to animals, yet atrocities against human beings often leave us apathetic and unmoved.

a.     Road rage

b.     School shootings

c.     Terrorism

d.     Everyday violence on the streets

e.   Abortion

We are nearly desensitized to news reports of murder.  Combine all this information with the brutally violent movies and video games that our nation cannot consume enough of.

We are on a slippery slope, and need to filter out what the world is showing as truth, and put on the spectacles that God has given us to see the world through His eyes. 

Unless there is a dramatic change in the American mindset the value of life will depreciate with each passing decade.  As Christians become more relative in their definition of truth, life in America could easily rival other worldview atrocities we have seen in history and keep sliding the slippery slope. 

Seek Truth … Seek Christ.

I was going through some stuff on my Blackberry and found some early notes on What is True?, that I thumbed out in the memo pad. It is mostly a series of questions that were going through my mind as we started the first chapter.  It gives a good frame of reference for what I was praying and thinking about early on…
__________________

God is true. God does not want anything that between us and him that would distract from our relationship with him. He wants us to experience him fully.

Gray areas…

If you struggle with alcohol do you go to a Bar? If you don’t is it ok to drink?

If you struggle with lust do you watch an R rated movie with nudity knowing it could lead you else where? If you don’t is it ok to watch the movie?

If you skip church for the big game do you have the correct priorities? Is it ok to watch sports as long as God comes first when the choice is him over the big game?

Does a person gamble every penny they earn without thought of God’s provision? What if a person has there financial house in order and glorifies God well beyond the first fruits?

What is true can be relative to the any person in any moment. Does scripture say don’t drink, Don’t gamble, don’t watch movies, don’t watch sports?

Again God does not want anything to interfere with our relationship with him.

Heb: Let us throw off all that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles us.

It seems that it is when that which we partake in, movies, sports, gambling, drinking….and a whole host of others, entangles us in a way that we are distracted from God, that is when our way of living becomes not True. We start living the untruth/lie of Sin.

So the person struggling with lust would not go to the R rated movie.
The alcoholic would not enter a bar.
The sports nut would choose church over HD ESPN.
The Gambler would put the extra entertainment money in an envelop to a missionary.

That would be living the truth.
________

Chapter one is shaping up to not answer the above questions, but to help define what living for Truth should be.  It will help when there is a choice in a gray area.

Now I realize it is the gray areas that hinder us.

We are still alive and kicking.

Brian took what I am sure was a much needed vacation with the Family.

My summer just keeps rolling on by spending as much of it as I can in God’s word and with my family.

Chapter 1 has been written and is in Draft revision, we will update more as we continue to work through what is the most important Chapter.

I want to bring a post from a few weeks ago back to the top, in hopes to generate some discussion.

What it True in your life?  Let us know.

_________________

The premise of this book is to help followers of Christ change the way they look at decisions they make.  We want to relate personal stories that match up to Phil 4:8, to give more solid concrete illistrations of the evidence that putting on these Biblical glasses has on real peoples lives.

We will use a personal story to help illustrate how scripture helps us define  each layer of the filter in Phil 4:8, and how scripture works to keep us in line with God’s truth.

• What is true?
• What is noble
• What is right?
• What is pure?
• What is lovely?
• What is admirable?
• What is excellent?
• What is praiseworthy?

So we are looking for stories from followers of Christ, that will help others see how scripture is used to find the answers to the following questions.  What, how, and why, do people turn to God’s word?

So do you have a story to tell?  Please do so using the comments sections.  It will really help Brian and I out with the structure of this book.  So go ahead and tell us how scripture is your filter for life.

I feel like I am truly living in this filter we are talking about.

As I write and work on this book I am constantly consulting God’s word on stuff. Whether I am pulling up verses from memory or opening the bible and diving into research. Even my daily morning reading.

Scott at Floating Axehead posted about who is your ring master. The post got me thinking about the whole turning everything over to God. I made a comment based on Romans 12:1-2 (Yes I know I use that a lot.) Romans 12:2 … We get to test and approve his will, but only if we do Romans 12: 1 Offer our bodies, holy and pleasing to God.

By putting it in reverse, it puts more of the expectation on us to test every thing against God’s will, but only if we understand that our decisions should be pleasing to God.

I just find myself in this constant communication state with God, and the temptations of sin are much easier to spot, and I capture them and rid my mind of them. God’s Son, through his Word of Truth can truly transform your life, to where your are submitting to God’s service. The more you stay connected to God through The Spirit, and the service of his Son, your thoughts and decision making become like his.

Gal 5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

It is finding the Truth in God’s word that helps you connect to him, and you will want to do what is pleasing to Him. Phil 4:8-9 encompasses what it means to do something that is pleasing to God, to live by it is to do God’s will.

How many of you read the “Left Behind series” as they were being published?
Millions of people did.

It was a smash hit and almost guaranteed its continuance by leaving the story at a crossroads one book after another.  I think it was 12 volumes.

People continued to talk, asking, “When is the next book coming out?”

When the publishing date was set, millions of copies were sold before it was ever printed!

Maybe you are not a reader, so how many of you watched the Lord of the Rings series as it hit the big screen?   Again, the first movie was a smash hit and anticipation was built for the next installments

The anticipation was huge that when each of the next two movies hit the big screen, they were guaranteed hits!

You see…when the beginning is good people can’t wait to see what comes next!  This is why Carl and I are going to really take our time on the beginning.

This is similar to the book of Acts.  It too is a continuing story - a continuation to Luke’s account of the gospel of Jesus.

But even greater, it is the trailer to the continuing story of today

The book ends with these words:

Grab your Bible and read:  Acts 28:30-31

Note it does not end with Paul’s death; it does not end with the word being snuffed out; it does not have a formal closing as with the letters of Paul.

You know why??  Because… WE all are the continuing story of Acts.

The Book of Acts is an exciting book in the Bible.  It is a book of action.  In Acts the world is being turned upside down and right side up by the gospel of Jesus Christ preached with power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit.  

I enter this book project with four goals in mind (much like the Book of Acts).

1.  As a believer I want to know as well as others to know what we as Christians believe about the Holy Spirit and why we believe it.  Could you explain from the Bible why it is important to be filled with the Spirit and how that can happen in a person’s life?  I want to be equipped to do that during this book project.

2.  I also want my faith, and others faith, to be strengthened concerning God’s willingness to work supernaturally through His people.

It is my prayer that while Carl and I study scripture on this project the Holy Spirit inspires us to believe God for great and mighty things.   The same Holy Spirit who worked in the early church is with us today with the same purposes in mind.

3.  I also want a clear vision of what God is doing in the earth and how we can be a part of it.

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I will ask “God, use Carl and I.  Let our lives and this tool of a book make a difference for Your glory.”

4.  Lastly, I want a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit on our own lives.

Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit and expect Him to honor His promise to do so.

What promise am I talking about?

I’m talking about Luke 11:11-13  “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” 

These are 4 main goals I pray we grow stronger toward in life and in this project. 

It’s not a matter of more information.  It’s not a matter of more teamwork or of trying harder.  It’s the necessity of a power beyond our own.

What we need today is the same thing they needed and got in the early church. 

We need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our lives.

We need to be clothed with power from on high.

If we miss that point we have missed a major theme in the book of Acts and the project in which Carl and I have embarked on. 

Chapter one is coming along nicely, and in God’s timing.

Your Brother in Christ, Brian