 Hey, all! I hope your week is going well so far. If you're interested in where I'm preaching or where I'm playing music at next, you can click here to view my upcoming events. Remember, If you haven't downloaded the Life Audit Assessment, you can do that by clicking here. Here we go! 1 Thought"It's almost like they want you to say one thing. It's not one thing. It's a thousand little things. He's in tune with the little things, not just the big things, and that's imbedded in our entire program." This was a quote from a recent interview with Jeff Allen, the head athletic trainer for Alabama who has been there since Nick Saban took over in 2007, about Coach Saban. How many times do we ignore the little decisions in life? Little decisions often snowball into big changes, so keep in mind that nothing is insignificant in your life. 1 Verse“I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.” - Psalm 3:4 Psalm 3 was written while David's kingdom was under rebellion from his son Absalom. David had done some bad things leading up to this moment that snowballed into the rebellion. In this verse, David is praying to God for repentance and guidance, and God responded. He will do the same for you, too! 1 QuestionWhat are some small changes you can make now to prepare for the big changes you want to make in your life? Think back to a life-altering event and the period leading up to it. Can you identify small things you did that brought on that moment? Now take that idea and apply it to your present to build a positive future! Thank you so much for following along with me on this journey! If you're in Lebanon, TN this Saturday, come see me at Pop's Coffee Shop from 6-9 pm. I'll see you next week! -LT 
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 Welcome to the weekly Wednesday Wisdom email, and Happy New Year! Every week, I'll send you one thought, one Bible verse, and one question to think on as you hit the middle of the week. If you're interested in where I'm preaching or where I'm playing music at next, you can click here to view my upcoming events. If you haven't downloaded the Life Audit Assessment, you can do that by clicking here. It's a great way to assess where your life currently is so you can start taking the steps to get the life you want to have! Let’s get going! 1 ThoughtIt’s the beginning of the year, so resolutions are on everyone’s mind. New year, new me, and all that. Did you know that only 9% of people felt successful about keeping their resolutions at the end of the year in 2016? Instead of just making resolutions, take the time to figure out the steps in order to achieve the goals that are in those resolutions. Break it down as detailed as you can so that you’ll be able to see the journey (and also the progress) and you get closer to following through with your resolutions! 1 Verse“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.” - Isaiah 43:18 In this portion of scripture, the Lord is telling Israel through the prophet Isaiah (but it can be applied to us) that we don’t need to worry about the past. He has brought us through hardship before, and it’s important to have faith that he will continue to do that for us. 1 QuestionWhat is one goal you want to achieve this year? Think about this for a while, and once you have your answer, write. it. down. Don't just keep it in your head. Put it somewhere you can see it every day to remind you to take the steps to achieve that goal! Thank you so much for signing up, and I'm looking forward to achieving goals with you as we journey through 2022 together! -LT  "Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." II Timothy 2:14-16  The epistles and books that make up the Bible we use today can be confusing sometimes, especially when there are traditions that originated centuries after it was written that don't seem to line up. For example, a question I received when preparing for this blog went something like this: "If the Bible is against alcohol, why are there verses about drinking and being merry?" (Don't worry, we're going to cover that topic later.) Questions like these are only compounded by seeming contradictions between different authors. So how do we accurately interpret the Word of God? The stance I learned in a New Testament class, and one that I still use today, is that of historical perspective. I resist the urge to try to interpret scripture in a present-day sense and instead study the passage based on the audience back then and the period when it was written. Then I see how the lessons taught to that audience can be applied to us in today's time. Doing this takes a little more work because you have to look at and verify historical content as well, but in my experience, approaching studying this way brings out the Spirit of the Word in its clearest sense.
One of my favorite examples to explain this method of studying is from the first letter to the Corinthians. In I Corinthians 9, Paul uses the imagery of a race to get his point across. If we just look at this at face value, we do get a good lesson: run the race and you can win the incorruptible crown. When you look at the history around this analogy, there is so much more that can be learned. Corinth was a bustling port city at the time this epistle was written. The church in Corinth was not a rural church like so many I have preached at but a church in the middle of a large urban population that was full of temples to pagan gods and carnal things. It was also the location for a series of competitions comparable to our modern-day Olympics. When Paul used this analogy to teach a lesson, he was taking something that the population at that time knew a lot about and used it to help them understand the truth about Christianity and how to obtain eternal life. Isn't it much more satisfying knowing the background around the verses? I feel like there is so much more substance for those trying to understand the scripture, not to mention those who are looking for examples on how to witness or preach to others. Of course, the most important thing to do when studying scripture is to pray for clarity and understanding. As we move into next week's topic -- music in church -- pray for clarity for all of us going on this journey together. See you next week! |
AuthorLain Tomlinson is a preacher, musician, and former university instructor out of Lebanon, Tennessee. He grew up in the Missionary Baptist denomination and now preaches throughout middle Tennessee. ArchivesCategories
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