The following is a tale not altogether false. For other Christmas card letters, see 2010’s Christmas Epistle, the in-between years, or the 2015 Christmas Thriller. Once Upon a Christmas Tale Once upon a time in a land far, far away lived a young prince. Times were good in the land, and the king and queen were fair, loving people. The prince enjoyed all the pleasantries of royalty, spending his days coercing others to do his bidding. Subjects of his majesty included several ladies of the realm who were under a deep enchantment of his–some kind of dark magic. Entranced
Read more →Before breaking into the social media scene, our family gave an annual update through our Christmas letter. I already posted the Christmas Epistle (2010), written like a Bible account, but here are a few more we scrounged up from the past… 2009 Greetings from the hustling, bustling land of Stillwater—home of the world famous Oklahoma State Cowboys and, to be more germane, the Rench family. Life has been hopping for us in the big town—cow-tippin’… ‘coon-huntin’… tractor races, and the like. What a time! Actually, to be honest, we’ve never done any of those things, and we don’t say “and
Read more →In this Christmas season, I’ve been reflecting on family and all our past Christmas notes. Here’s one of the first ones we sent. Enjoy, Ryan, a servant of the Lord and of Pastor Rench, called to be an associate and youth pastor, separated unto Calvary Baptist Church, from which I have grown and learned: To the 12 families of Jamie scattered abroad Indiana; and to friends and family in other like places, of like mind, scattered throughout the Midwest Americas of Oklahoma and beyond, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth; greeting. I thank my God to know
Read more →Sometimes It Helps Sometimes it helps me to see an example of what the author is talking about. You can only read so much explanation before you say, “All right! Enough theory! Show me how this actually works!” Some people like examples. If that is you, this post is for you. Others say, “Yeah, I get it. No need to show me an example.” That is okay. You do not have to read this chapter. You can scan it and file it in your mind as reference material. Figure out what words were used and why. Notice how words are flagged,
Read more →In Bible study, application is essential but dangerous. It is essential in that every Bible text has some kind of application to life. It has to, or else God wasted His and a lot of people’s time writing and preserving it. (In case you are wondering, God did not waste His time.) Application is essential, but it can be dangerous because it can be done wrong. Remember the posts about observation (see here and here)? Incorrectly applying a text like “Judas went and hanged himself” can lead to some big-time neck burns! Application must be done in order to take the
Read more →Understanding your daily Bible reading is possible–even when you’re in Ezekiel (although I wouldn’t recommend starting there.) For me, it helps to have a system. When I get overwhelmed with all that goes into “Bible Interpretation,” I slow down. I break things down. I take smaller steps. Here are the steps I learned a long time ago. These steps are the same basic steps I take almost every day in order to see the Big Idea of what God is trying to tell me through His Word. Step 1: Read The first steps are the simplest. Do you think you can
Read more →When choosing a Bible text to study, beginners will often take the Bible-flop approach: flop open their Bible, stick their finger on the page and start reading. While God IS on that page, that approach may not be the best for your daily practice. Choosing your text is still easy. Why? Because “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…” (2 Timothy 3:16a) No matter where you turn in Scripture, you will be able to find something that is profitable. It will not all be equally profitable, because your needs are not the same as your dad’s needs, your teacher’s
Read more →
In compiling the BIBS process of Bible study to teach to my teens, I found that the concepts were simple, but actually doing the work was hard. Bible study–when you’re doing it right–is an exacting exercise. Not only do you have to mentally and emotionally get into it, but you have to live it out spiritually, too. Daily. It takes discipline. And courage. And determination. And grit. “Sure, I get it. Read a text; figure out what it says.” It goes beyond that, though. None of these steps are original to me, but they’re the simplest way I have found
Read more →Start With Your Toothbrush Some tools—dentist drills, for example—are used only by specialists. I would not recommend drilling out your own cavities. However, other tools—toothbrushes, for example—are for everyone. I do recommend you use a toothbrush daily. Do not leave your teeth cleaning up to your dentist. Your annual checkup does not count as good hygiene. Use the tools you have. A specialist’s tools might do incredible work, but only the specialist knows how to use them. Sure, anyone can learn dentistry over time, but it makes sense for everyone to just start with a toothbrush. If you are a
Read more →
A Trip To the Library You walk into a library and plan on reading a book. Even before picking up the novel, you scan the library for what shelf to start looking. You see signs hanging from the ceiling: Non-Fiction, Periodicals, Children’s Books… You are drawn to the kids’ section but have to keep scanning. Ah! There it is! The fiction section. Already, you have an idea of what type of book you will be reading. Fiction. It will be a story. It will not be a reference book, a poetry book or a school book. It will be an
Read more →
