Tandem Vincitur

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. [Mat 6:31-34 NIV]

Jesus begins the Lord’s Prayer (Mat 6:9-13) with “. . . Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” It is common in our flawed, human existence to be preoccupied with what we can see and touch. Instead of praying for God’s will, we are often praying “my will be done . . .” Like Peter on the water, we lose focus of the One who is in control and our eyes are on the problem.
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Titus chapter one:

The key verse is in the greeting: “. . . the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.” [v1] In other words, sound doctrine leads us to proper obedience. Paul warned later in verse twelve, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” So, it appears Paul’s purpose in writing to Titus was to encourage him to encourage the Christians to be different from the norm, to rise above evil and sloth and to follow Christ.

Sidenote: Some friends are missionaries on the island and they tell me not much has changed. The people still are much the same as Paul described.

v2 - Paul claims that God gave the hope of eternal life even before He created us; “promised before the beginning of time.”
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2Timothy, chapter one:

v3f - Paul remembered to pray constantly for his brother in the faith and he admonished him to “fan into flame” what the Lord had given him. This reminds me of Php 2:12-13: Paul tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in us, causing our will and our actions to accomplish His good purpose. Therefore, knowing that God will accomplish His work in us, “do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord.” Be willing to join with our brothers in suffering for Christ.
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Reprinted from an article by Dean Isaacson 10 Feb 2008.

“So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: “O King Darius, live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered — in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” So King Darius put the decree in writing.

“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” [Dan 6:6-10 NIV]
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At breakfast the other morning, we were talking about the betrayal of Jesus Christ and His presentation before Pontius Pilate. Our study was from Matthew chapter twenty-seven. The church leaders and local politicians of the day, no matter the evidence, chose to ignore the deity of Christ and moved Pilate to execute Him.

It did not dissuade them that His betrayer, Judas, gave them their money back! They hated Christ so much, they even claimed they were willing to bear the curse for slaying innocent blood, and even pass that curse down to their children, when Pilate disclaimed all responsibility for executing an innocent man.

“Envy,” exclaimed Hal. “Nothing but pure envy.” After a brief pause, he continued, “Envy is a great evil and it can lead one to murder. There is no other sin like envy. . . but what is it? What, really, is envy?”
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revised from an article written by Dean Isaacson ©2004

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son , go and work today in the vineyard.’
“‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted?
“‘The first,’ they answered.
“Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.’”  [Mat 21:28-32 NIV]

In 1994, the Republican Revolution turned Washington State politics on its head. They swept the House and increased their seats in the Senate of this formerly Democrat dominated State. However, as the biennium approached its close, it was clear very little of the promised reforms had received ever so much as a committee hearing, and most of the efforts of these newly-powerful Republicans were spent on bad law - even law that was opposed to the laws of the Bible.

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In 1998-1999, I wrote an outline of the book of Isaiah. Later, I condensed the outline to a chapter study. We have posted Isaiah by Chapter. Although the chapter version is lengthy and footnoted, it is not complete. It largely point out things I thought people might miss on a first reading and interesting events and lessons that relate to other portions of Scripture and to our walk. For years, I have thought about expanding the outline into a narrative - but it seemed like an insurmountable job. Then, I ran across a church that is using the outline for their adult Sunday School curriculum - that was amazing to me that God would use me in this way. Now, I have decided to complete the work. You may watch the development of the Isaiah study as it progresses on this website. I hope you find it helpful - most of all, I hope it motivates you to take your walk with Christ very seriously, to understand our purpose is to give glory to Him in everything we do and to excite you into going deeper into your study of the Word of God.

Please feel free to send me any and all feedback as we go. I value your insight and opinion.

Reprinted from Tandem Vincitur, January 1995.

Jesus gave this command in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV); “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

It is easy to remember the promise of the Lord to provide us with rest. We long for it. In fact, we long for every promise that gives us relief from the pressures of life. We tend to forget His admonitions for spiritual discipline. There are three such requirements listed, for us to find this rest: (more…)