New Bible Reading Plan for New Year

Having done the 3-chapters-per-day-and-5-on-Sunday plan for reading through the Bible in a year several times already, I decided to try something new this year to enrich my daily Bible reading. This time through, I am only reading one chapter per day....and immediately following it up by reading a commentary on the same chapter. Blue Letter Bible, which you see over under my blogroll, has several text, audio and video commentaries available for each and every passage of Scripture (ah, the joys of living in the 21st century!).

While there are many fine commentators, I find myself going back to Matthew Henry time and again. He is thorough, precise, distinguishes between doctrine and speculation, and has meticulously exegeted every chapter and book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. You could certainly do a lot worse in your personal study than Matthew Henry, so I am sticking with his commentary for now.

It's a bit tougher than it sounds. The commentary, with all it's cross-references, takes longer to get through and digest than the chapter of Scripture itself. By my estimate, it will take me 3 1/2 - 4 years to get through the entire Bible this way, although I started nearly two weeks ago. Still, I figure it will be worth it - seems I'll glean a lot more from the text's meaning this way than by another simple straight read-through. I will share interesting insights as God reveals them to me through my study.

I will be 43 by the time I get to Revelation. My daughter will be a junior in high school, looking at colleges.

That seems like a loooong way off. Sheesh!

David Powlinson on "Life Beyond Your Parents' Mistakes"

David Powlinson is a well-known CCEF counselor, writer and speaker at biblical counseling conferences. Also a member of the Board of NANC, he has produced many books, presentations and mini-books on a variety of practical topics. Along with Ed Welch's writing, I find Powlinson's material to be extremely helpful...not just as a biblical counselor in training, but for my own personal edification.

This week, CCEF's publishing arm, New Growth Press, made a free download available of Powlinson's "Life Beyond Your Parents' Mistakes: The Transforming Power of God's Love". In the 32-page booklet, Powlinson deconstructs the Freudian myth that human beings cannot experience God as Father without having had a loving, nurturing father figure. It is just such reasoning that has led to unhealthy dependency on the counselor, which often accompanies psychology-based therapy. This view also promotes the myth that "re-parenting or corrective emotional experience" is needed in order to know God as He is. It also begs the questions Powlinson raises:

"Are there any people with bad parents who have a great relationship with God? Are there any people with good parents who have a rotten view of God?"

Powlinson uses Scripture to counter this man-centric reasoning, which distorts the nature of the human heart and the reasons why people believe lies about God. Seeing God through the lens of an abusive, remote, or disinterested parent denies the power and truth of how God actually works through His Word and Spirit. Axiomatically, insisting that one must first experience a corrective human relationship to believe the reality of God's fatherly love is essentially to turn Almighty God into an almighty psychotherapist.

It is a sad fact that those of us who had abusive parents (especially of the "religious" variety) often project those images onto the true God. There is a hurt and a betrayal that doesn't just go away the moment we became Christians, and Powlinson acknowledges this. However, having sinful (or even evil) parents, of course, does not mean God is that way, so why do we often twist our view of God? Powlinson doesn't let us off so easily - and his clear, compassionate but uncompromisingly biblical angle makes us sit up and listen.

Other titles by which God identifies Himself include King, Shepherd, Master, and Savior. If human equivalents of these descriptions are corrupt, does that influence the way we see God? Not usually. Powlinson writes:

"Clearly, our fallen experience need not control us. Yet for many, the truth that "God is Father" seems to be the exception. They do feel that their knowledge of God the Father is controlled by the earthly parallel. So we turn to the second question: Must your own father dictate the meaning of that phrase until a substitute human father puts a new spin on it?"

This backwards, create-your-own-god philosophy comes from Freud and Erikson, not the Bible, and caters to our sinful tendency to find excuses and reasons for unbelief. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are prone to look for excuses and blame outside ourselves for our false beliefs and sinful behavior. (Case in point: try convincing a bulimic, even a Christian one, that bulimia is not a 'genetic disease'. Now insert a mental image of me tearing my very long hair out. Okay, illustrative rant over -- back to correcting our view of God.) 

As with any false belief or assumption, this view of God as remote, severe or capricious must be countered with Scripture itself - the living and active Sword of the Spirit, and the only way God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. Powlinson points out that we change when we see what God tells us about Himself, as portrayed in Isaiah 49:13-16 (a nurturing Comforter); Psalm 103:10-13 (compassionate Father); and 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 (gentle, encouraging and comforting Father). Ultimately, the sacrificial love of Christ in coming to die for rebellious children displays the pinnacle of what God's fatherly love is - an historical fact from which counselees often feel disconnected.

Of course, these are only a very small sample of all the Scriptures revealing God as the perfect Father; one of the specific steps Powlinson recommends the reader take is to go through the Bible, finding specific truths that contend with the lies and cravings he identifies in his thinking about God. "There ought to be a battle going on within you daily as God's light and love battle your darkness," he advises.

This booklet is extremely helpful not only in defining the problem, but also in countering it on biblical terms and pointing the reader back towards the only source of truth and help - the Word of God - for the solution. Additionally, in true biblical counselor form, Powlinson leaves the reader with nine well-thought-out, probing questions to work through in order to identify and change warped thinking about God, due to parental abuse or poor relationship. I plan to tackle them myself, and expect it will take me at least three months to fully explore and resolve them. God desires His children to know Him as He is, not to view Him through the warped lens of fallen humanity! This little book is a helpful, convicting resource to help Christians struggling with a "dysfunctional" past not to use that as an excuse to keep God at arm's length. I highly recommend it for counselors and counselees alike.

(To download the free book, go to New Growth Press's Facebook fan page.)

American Roots, Slavic Zeal, Divine Will

The book that I spent over a year editing, translating and formatting for my former Bulgarian pastor, Rev. Hristo Kulichev, has been reviewed by William Fillebrown in "The Congregationalist Magazine".  The original review is viewable on page 21. A mutual friend of mine and Pastor Hristo, Anne, tipped me off that it had been reviewed - she was disappointed that my name was not mentioned, as the book would not be available in English had I not volunteered my time to edit and produce it. Still, I personally am very glad that Rev. Fillebrown has given it such a glowing endorsement, as it will greatly stirr interest among American Congregationalists with an interest in Church history! May God get all the glory.

Review of Heralds of the Truth:

The History of the Evangelical Church in Bulgaria
by Hristo Kulichev
Lulu.com, 184 pages, $12.00

Our friend Hristo relates the birth and grown of his nation’s evangelical church



by William Fillebrown

Pastor Hristo and Tsvete Kulichev are dear to our hearts. They have visited our churches and stayed in our homes. We have heard their passion and their pain as they have told their stories time and time again. We have marveled at their resiliency and commitment to the gospel.


In 2006, I was part of a group that visited Bulgaria. While in Plovdiv, we visited the church planted by the Rev. William and Susan Meriam, missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, who died tragically in 1862. Their story of sacrifice made the experience of leading devotions from the pulpit of their church profoundly moving for me. Multiply this experience exponentially and you will have a sense of the significance and value of Hristo’s second book, Heralds of the Truth: The History of the Evangelical Church in Bulgaria.

The fact that the book exists is a miracle in itself. The earlier portions were duplicated on a mimeograph machine many years ago. Over time, all but one copy was lost. Providentially, Hristo and his brother Dimitar came into possession of that one copy. To this, Hristo has added material that brings the history up to date.

My overwhelming impression on reading this book was of hearing the voices of a great cloud of witnesses. Names, dates, and events are listed; but behind them all is a zeal for the gospel born of a deep love of God and a compelling passion to proclaim Christ to the unreached and to live out a genuine faith that affects and impacts every facet of life. The movement of the gospel in Bulgaria began with American Congregationalist missionaries, but it was taken up and fueled by the Bulgarian people themselves. In some regions, Bulgarians advanced the gospel without the aid of missionaries. The common approach was simple: Booksellers went from town to town, selling books and preaching. They planted house churches, many of which grew into larger congregations and erected houses of worship.

We can only imagine the stories beneath the words that describe so plainly the efforts to reach the people of Bulgaria. Those who advanced the Gospel were driven by a desire to reach all kinds of people, regardless of who they were—Turks (oppressors), Gypsies (social outcasts), or even Communists enemies of the gospel).

There is evidence of many failures, and doors were slammed shut. But there is greater evidence of the supernatural work of God in opening doors and changing hearts even in the most desperate and seemingly impossible situations and circumstances. One line in the book is written in all capital letters. It summarizes the message of the book and epitomizes the history of the Evangelical Church in Bulgaria:

YET THE PRESENCE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD IS NOT DUE TO THE WORLD'S BENEVOLENCE, BUT RATHER TO THE WILL OF THE LORD.

I am deeply grateful that this book has been written, so that the names of these servant saints will be recorded and remembered, and that Hristo’s story within the larger story of Bulgaria will be known. My prayer is that they will stand as a testimony to the faithfulness of God and will inspire us to greater efforts for the gospel and God’s Kingdom.

Since 2000, the Rev. Dr. William P. Fillebrown has served as pastor of Chiltonville Congregational Church, Plymouth, Mass. He and his wife, Deborah, have served Congregational churches since 1976. His 2007 doctoral degree in Ministry to Postmodern Generations has ignited his passion to convey the gospel generationally and internationally.

Radio Interview on My Book, Bulimia & Biblical Counseling

I just did a radio interview on my upcoming book, "Redeemed From the Pit: Biblical Repentance and Restoration from the Bondage of Eating Disorders". You can listen to the podcast here: Sisterhood of Beautiful Warriors: Marie Notcheva on Freedom from Bulemia

The host, Lucy Ann Moll, is a biblical counselor herself. She was interested in hearing about how one overcomes bulimia in the strength of Christ; what repentance looks like; and how one goes about renewing her mind with the Word of God.

If you listen to the podcast, please leave me a comment as to what you thought. Any feedback is welcome, so I can improve my presentation and better glorify God in the future!

Thanks. :)

A Sidebar Note on the Incarnation

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:8-12)

This is not a "Christmas Season" post. I haven't even bought a Thanksgiving turkey yet, and in my estimation it's still too early to think about what we traditionally associate with Christmas. I would, however, like to comment on a certain aspect of the humility of Christ's coming to earth that is easy to miss...

Even while there is no one more powerful and mighty than the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no one more humble. Philippians 2:6 makes this point well, reminding us that Jesus, although God Incarnate, did not consider His deity a "thing to be grasped", but rather condescended to come to earth as a human...and to serve His own creatures. The gentle humblesness exhibited by our own Lord and Savior is an attribute we acknowledge and strive to emulate, but often take for granted. It can fail to "wow" us. But when you really think on some details of Christ's incarnation and earthly ministry, sometimes the lengths He went to in His humiliation are just stunning. No; I'm not talking about the fact He washed Judas' feet before dying a horrible death on the Cross, although those moments are the pinacle of God's redeeming love and should not be minimized by any means. The circumstances of Jesus' birth, beyond the fact that His earthly parents were working-class folks and He was born in a stable, also reveal God's heart for the lowly and despised things of this world.

Luke's Gospel tells us of the shepherds out tending their flocks in the fields near Bethlehem, and the angels' apparition to them heralding the Messiah's birth. What would a Nativity scene be without these wavy-haired, blue-eyed, Anglo-Saxon shepherds, genuflecting at the manger? We have greatly romanticized the role of the shepherds. Their part in the Christmas story, as relayers of the angels' Gospel message, was integral. Their role in society, however, was despised. In first-century Israel, shepherd were pretty far down on the highly-stratified class ranking. Ironically enough, the Temple's economy was highly dependant upon shepherds, although they probably wouldn't have been allowed as far as the Outer Courts. Every Passover, with up to a quarter of a million Jews streaming into the city, between 30,000 and 40,000 lambs were needed for the sacrifices. Someone had to raise those lambs. (The whole scenario reminds me of the illegal immigrant outcry of a few years ago - a local hotel manager was quoted anonymously as admitting, "Without illegals, we'd be using paper plates and plastic forks...the whole hospitality industry is dependant upon them.")

During the post-exilic stage of Israel's history, which gave rise to Rabbinical Judaism, Jewish society had become very class-conscious. At the top of the heap were the Sadducees, the wealthy, theologically-liberal controllers of the temple (and by extension, the economic center of Jewish life). As you all probably know, the high priesthood was a dynastic office within this class. Right under the Sadducees were the uber-conservative Pharisees, the guardians of the Torah and the academic, learned talmide hakhamim ('students of the wise'). Intermarriage with commoners was so discouraged that marrying the daughter of a Pharisee was an exclusive status symbol.



I guarantee you this kid does not go to Harvard.















These upper class intellectuals looked upon the unlearned, unwashed masses of Judaism with scorn and derision (as even a surface reading of the gospels reveals). They had a particular name for these lower classes of Jews: "am ha-aretz" (עם הארץ ), literally "people of the land". This derisive term, somewhat analagous to our slur "red-neck", was further used for two sub-categories of blue collar folk: the ʿam ha-aretz le-mitzvot, Jews disparaged for not scrupulously observing the commandments, and ʿam ha-aretz la-Torah, those stigmatized as ignoramuses for not having studied the Torah at all. It was into this latter category that shepherds fell...they were the "trailer trash" of Judea at the time of Christ. Jewish texts compared marriage to one of their daughters to "crossbreeding of grapevine with wild wine, which is "unseemly and disagreeable". This is in stark contrast to shepherding during the earlier, Patriarchal period - when it was a somewhat prestigious vocation.

By the time of Christ, Jewish shepherds would have been excluded from "polite society" for their ceremonial uncleanness as much as their unimpressive pedigree. Think about it: Luke mentions that they were living out in the fields, and there were no portable showers in those days. If the Pharisees chided the Apostles for omitting the ceremonial hand-washing, imagine what they would have thought about dudes who bathed perhaps once a month?

How exactly like God to first reveal His Son's birth to such people!  "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God." (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).

So here we have the Creator of the universe, God Incarnate from the foundation of the world, being born to a working-class mom, in a stable. The first people privileged with the "glad tidings" (read: really, really cool news) of the Savior's arrival are some dirty, smelly dudes in a field. The religious establishment won't give the time of day to these folks. They never go to Temple, and probably can't read much Hebrew. Not many prospects in life, and not much chance of moving up in the world.

How exactly like God...to stoop down to the lowest, most disenfranchised and forgotten individuals, and say "I care! I love you! And I've got great news...you, too, can have peace with Me. My Son is 'God with you', and He's here now. Go to Him!"

"Who Is My Friend?"

I was just opening the Missions Committee mail (I'm the admin go-to person), and came across this uplifting poem on the back of a pamphlet sent by a pastor. Please read it, and remember the message the next time you're tempted to think that God doesn't care:

Well, I Wonder...

Are all health-food stores connected to New Age "healing" emporiums? If so, what is the common denominator - aging hippies who decide to go into business?

Just wondering here, as there seems to be a pattern.

Just so you know, I am not one of the organic-soy-locally-grown-gluten-free-pro biotic-free-range fanatics. I have neither the time, budget, nor energy to obsess over these things, but I'm all for common sense when it comes to health, nutrition, and what we feed our kids. Read: fruit good. Twinkies bad. Shop at Market Basket; buy what's on sale; in and out in 45 minutes. However, intrigued by how the other half lives, (that would be the homeschooling, bread-baking mamas from my church), I thought it would be kinda fun to learn how to bake bread. (Besides, high fructose corn syrup is demonic, and they put it in bread. !!!)

My first efforts were pathetic. No one told me that salt kills yeast, nor do I recall that being mentioned in college chemistry. Unperturbed, I persevered and have managed to crank out a few pretty good loaves; although a bit dense. Turns out you have to add vital gluten to whole wheat flour to make it rise, and a dash of lecithin doesn't hurt, either.

Turns out you can only get vital gluten at your local health food store, with names involving the word "earth" in the title.

Works for me; I was, as luck would have it, out of court by 11:00 this morning. So off to the hippie-granola health food store I go, for the first time in my adult life.

They have cool stuff. Lots of gluten-free, wheat-free flour ( a godsend for peeps with allergies); organic veggies; herbal supplements galore. I got the gluten, picked up some raw honey for my husband, and went home to play with my new bread machine. But not without grabbing a few brochures on my way out.

Upstairs from this friendly food store, turns out the same company runs a "holistic" center, offering reiki, Ayurveda massage, clairvoyant readings, crystal energy balancing, Brennan energy healing, and things of that nature. Check out this page from the website on "Readers, Mediums, and Clairvoyants".  What any of this occultic and pseudo-esoteric stuff has to do with organic kale and red quinoa is beyond me, but a quick Internet search indicated this type of connection is pretty common.

Another "holistic" health center in the area with a similar "menu" of Eastern healing also has chiropractic services, a legitimate medical practice. My muse on the way home was this: if a Christian patronizes such an establishment, say for a facial, back adjustment, or box of vital wheat gluten, what is the moral implication? As far as I know, all the fundie mamas buy their funky bread ingredients there. If I noticed the New Age adverts (they didn't exactly try to hide their agenda), I'm sure those sharp homeschoolers do, too.

It's late and this is just an off-the-cuff post. I wonder if any "Christian" health food markets exist, which don't offer to "re-align [my] chakras using many different crystals and stones". I don't quite get the connection between organic veggies and all this weirdness....