Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Ramblings

Saturday Evening Ramblings

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Saturday, 23 June 2007
Filed under: Faith, Ramblings

This blog entry is sort of a mishmash of thoughts that have been running through my mind lately, and I'm simply using this blog as a placeholder for them so that I can be "freed" from them. On many levels, it's nothing serious, but there are some things that concern me on one level or another.

First up to bat is expository teaching/preaching. Can I just say that I absolutely love it?! Ever since I found out about expository preaching, it's been a whole new ballgame in terms of my enjoyment of the Scriptures, church, and personal study. At church, I'm really enjoying the expository preaching that's going on as we are thoroughly going through 1 Corinthians verse by verse (I mentioned before that they have been working on this study for four years now) and we are just beginning an in-depth look at Psalm 119. I love the intensity of the study and the systematic approach that comes along with it; it allows me to know what's coming up next and to very easily study on my own alongside it, with the anticipation of not missing a service because it's just that good. I couldn't say that about my last church, as it was very topical and had no idea what was going to be preached from Sunday to Sunday, which sometimes affected my motivation in wanting to go because I never knew what to expect or what I'd get out of it. I could relate it to going into a classroom to take a test, but you don't know what the topic or subject is going to be until you get there; how could you possibly prepare yourself for it?!

In some regard, I feel like I've been in the dark and have missed out on so much. And one of the misconceptions is that you spend so much time on one passage or book that you don't learn the rest of the Bible. It's so false, because you are constantly looking at parallel passages and studying similar ideas throughout the Bible while you're studying one particular book; so, in essence, you are studying the entire Bible. Expository teaching has even taken root in the ministry that I have hear at Trailblazin Ministries, now that I'm doing a devotional series on the book of James. I've been doing it for about 2.5 weeks now, and I'm only 19 verses into it. I never thought that I would be able to pull out so much meat and Scriptural knowledge (with the help of commentaries and dictionaries) by simply focusing all of my efforts into one book of the Bible to teach from. Some of what I've learned, I will speak about later in this entry. But overall, it's just been awesome the amount that has come from just 19 verses. Just this past Thursday, it was my intention to do a devotion on three verses (James 1:19-21), but I pulled so much from just verse 19, that I ended up only teaching on that one verse. It was truly a joy, even if it meant changing my plans. And one thing I've learned in just doing these first few verses is that timelines go right out the window because you're forced into taking your time so that you can be as detailed and clear as possible. I wouldn't be surprised if it took me until close to the end of the year to finish teaching this book. Then, when I'm done, I'll probably start another book. But yeah, expository preaching is the bomb, even when you do it topically.

Next up to bat are my thoughts on James thus far. It's not like I haven't studied this book before, but it seems like I'm studying it with a brand new set of eyes, and everything seems to be so refreshing and convicting this time around. One of the main things I've learned thus far is the purpose for my trials and the reasons for my falling into sin. First, the purpose for trials is so that our faith may grow towards maturity until I reach full sanctification and holiness, which will only come when I get to heaven. It is my purpose to allow my trials to push me towards leaning and depending upon God alone; which is, in essence, putting my faith in God to give me enough faith to get through the trial (without sinning). As long as I keep my eyes fixed on God, I will be alright and make it through the trial learning what God would have me to learn. The next thing I learned, and very convincingly, is that God plays no part in our sin. Yes, God will allow temptation to come our way, but He is not the one that causes us to sin; we only sin when we take our eyes off God and allow ourselves to give into our lustful desires. Overall, it's been very insightful and I recommend checking out the devotions so that you can grow too.

The third batter falls right in line with what I've learned in James. There is a certain "gospel" artist/pastor/preacher who is going through some trials right now (won't name names, so as to not allow him to get any glory out of it). I won't give way to speculation, even though I did speak with him on the phone Thursday. I will say that his trials are meant to perfect and grow him in his faith, like they should all believers, and at face value it looks like he has taken his eyes of Christ and jumped head on into sin. And like the 4 D's of sin, sinning involves fully thinking on and planning it out before the act even transpires. This happens to be the case here with said person writing a song full of foul language (which requires: 1) writing the song, 2) producing a beat for it, if it wasn't already made, 3) recording the song, 4) mixing it down, 5) exporting it to MP3, and 6) ultimately uploading it for the public to hear) and then a follow-up video containing much of the same. Even in my phone conversation with him, he seems to be relishing this as his "season" as if it were God given and that these are all "grown man decisions" that he takes full responsibility for. Seems like he's just sinning and trying to find reasons to justify it, such as his "season." But, like I just learned in James, God brings trials our way so that we can lean on and put our faith in Him, but when we sin, it falls squarely on our shoulders and God has no part in that. God calls us to live holy, and sinning is NOT holy! Our sinning is surely not the reason we had trials come our way, we sin because we take our eyes off God and try to do things in our own might. Nevertheless, I will say this is an example of what NOT to do in your Christian walk. This is not being "real" or anything of the sort, it's been foolish and playing with the grace of God. Should we continue sinning that grace may continue to abound? As Paul would say, "Certainly not!" That's the final word: certainly not!

That's the majority of what's on my mind tonight, among other things that I'll share later. So, check out the devotion series on James, make sure you're walking in the Light of Christ and being an example of Him to all. Until the next blog update, keep it holy! Holiness first 'til we under the earth!!!!!!