Savor The Word

Nick Minerva • Nov 05, 2020

Have you ever opened the Bible, read it, and walked away feeling like nothing happened? You read it but you didn’t feel any different. Maybe you related more to this guy from Pirates of the Caribbean than a disciple of Jesus. 

Perhaps you’ve had the thought, there has to be more to reading the Bible than this. The Bible is a window through which we see the glory of Jesus, but if you were to be honest, you would say “ that wasn’t my experience this morning .” Maybe you think that it would be awesome if Jesus just showed up and talked to you instead. Then your morning time with the Word would be awesome. Then it would be worship. Then the glory of God would be real to me.

 

But what I want to propose to you is spending time in the Bible will do the same for your heart, your soul, for your spiritual life as sitting at the feet of the resurrected Jesus. How does this happen? The apostle John said that the Holy Spirit would come and enable him and the other eye-witnesses to put what they saw into words (John 14:26, 16:13) so that people could see the glory of Christ by reading and so believe and have eternal life. We can see and be changed by the glory of Christ without seeing His body. 


John 20:29-31  

Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.  But these are written so that you may believe  that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

The work of the Holy Spirit in the writings of the New Testament is to reveal the glory of Christ. The Word of God is to tool the Holy Spirit uses. The glory of Christ is seen by spending time in the Word of God. So the Apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us that the act of engaging the Scriptures can be just as powerful, just as life-changing, as literally listening to the physically resurrected Jesus. 


1 John 1:1-4  

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us — what we have seen and heard  we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us;  and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.


John intends that the faith and life he received by seeing the glory of Christ, his readers would also be able to receive by reading what he saw-the glory of Christ shining through inspired writing. This is a foundational truth that we need to believe when we open up our Bibles and it should blow our minds. The same life-changing power that people encountered when they met Jesus is sitting in our laps. But the reason we don’t experience that is that we don’t approach our Bibles that way. We also discount the ordinary means of reading. God intends for us to experience the glory of Christ by reading the Word of God. Through the most ordinary activity, we can experience the most wonderful reality. Writer David Mathis said,  “One of the biggest scams Satan has running is the lie that reading the Bible is a chore.”  


A few years ago, my wife and I got gift cards to two very nice steakhouses. It made for a few great back-to-back dates. And oh man, were those steaks amazing! Soaked in butter, medium rare, presented on a sizzling plate to keep your meat warm. Do you know what we didn’t do? Scarf that meat down. No, we enjoyed it. We savored it. We took our time enjoying every juicy, tender bite, of that perfectly cooked meat. Do you know what food I do scarf down? A McDouble from McDonald’s. The faster you can eat it, the better. Don’t think about, don’t savor it, just eat quickly. If you can avoiding chewing, so the “burger” doesn’t hit your taste buds, that’s ideal. 


Do you know what the sad thing is? We often treat the Word of God more like a McDouble than a fine steak. When it comes to your Bible reading slow down, enjoy the process, and SAVOR the glory of Christ. So that what you read can affect your heart. Feed your mind on the Word of God and slowly digest it, savoring the texture, and cherishing the flavor. That doesn’t happen when we rush through it and forget about it. John Owen said,  “The design of the whole Scripture, and all the parts of it, hath an impress on it of divine wisdom and authority: and hereof there are two parts: first, To reveal God unto men; and secondly, To direct men to come unto the enjoyment of God.”  God wants us to enjoy being in a relationship with Him so He gave His Word. 

A Creed To Remind The Gathered Church Of Its New Life In Christ

By Nick Minerva • 14 Jul, 2023
When I was pastoring I wanted to read a blessing over the church that would remind all of us of our new life in Christ. So I wrote this new life creed and every week I would read it and remind us of what Christ had done for us. We gather together as believers professing our great need We acknowledge that we have fallen short We confess that we are rebels who have gone our own way Apart from Christ, we stand condemned, guilty, and unable to save ourselves But what we are incapable of doing, God did In his infinite love, God made a way of salvation for all who would believe Jesus willingly laid down his life and received the just punishment we deserve So that could walk in new life So yes, we confess our great need We humbly recognize that apart from Christ we are incapable of any good thing But we also proclaim that because of the finished work of the cross we will never be apart from Christ We are forever secure in the love of the Father We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit All because of the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus Christ. We are no longer in bondage to sin We are no longer facing righteous wrath We have been declared holy by our King And nothing on heaven or earth will change that reality This gathering is a testimony to our redeemed state We pursue holy living to be an authentic demonstration of the love we have for Christ We believe that we have been empowered by grace to meet our every need And we gladly anticipate the complete fulfillment of our adaption and the remaking of this world at the coming of our Lord To Christ be glory forever and ever Amen

A Praying Church: A Book Review

By Nick Minerva • 23 May, 2023
Prayer is one of those topics that always seems to convict me. I have never heard a sermon or read a book on prayer and not been challenged. Even as I am writing this review there is a bit of imposter syndrome because I know I should pray more. In A Praying Church , Paul Miller writes about how to become a people of hope in a discouraging world through prayer. And he does so in a way that was very authentic and accessible. While I was consistently challenged, I was also consistently encouraged. Throughout the book, he takes you on his journey of developing a personal prayer life plus countless stories of ministries that developed communal prayer as a vital component of their life together. One thing that struck home with me throughout these stories was the reality that prayer always grows out of desperation for God. There were several things that I found very helpful in this book. One of them was the connection between a life yielded to the Holy Spirit and a vibrant prayer life. The power to do anything of eternal importance comes from the Holy Spirit and the Spirit moves in response to prayer. Paul shows us a biblical pattern we see throughout the New Testament. Prayer-Spirit-Jesus-power. However, this is not a simple formula to get God to do what you want. Another thing I appreciated about this book is Paul tells us time and again that the Spirit often moves in ways we don’t expect and that almost always includes difficulties. The Spirit enables us to look more like Jesus and that means joining him in the fellowship of his suffering. So this is not a “how to turn God into your personal genie” scheme, like many books on prayer. God often answers in ways we don’t expect and in places we don’t anticipate. This book is also full of practical help. I’ve already mentioned the stories he tells, but Paul also offers several helpful charts, strategies, and ideas to help put into place what he writes about (and lives by.) At the end of each chapter, he has a section called “A Word To Pastors” with a few paragraphs of wisdom to help them become a person of prayer and then lead their congregation to become a church of prayer. This book also made me thankful that I am a part of a church that has sought to grow in corporate prayer over the last few years. This would be a great book for any ministry leader who is burdened with the prayer life of his or her church. But it’s also a great read for any believer seeking to develop their own prayer life. Crossway was kind to send me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can get a copy of it at the affiliate link below.

Non-Toxic Masculinity: A Book Review

By Nick Minerva • 28 Apr, 2023
Let me start this review by saying everyone should read this book. If you've grown up in Evangelicalism, you‘ve no doubt heard of purity culture. For the last several years we have seen the harm that has come as a result of this sub-group of Christianity. In Non-Toxic Masculinity, Zachary Wagner does an excellent job unpacking its teaching and the damage that has come as a result. He explains so well the angst I've been feeling with the movement and how often the Church falls short and winds up doing more damage. But unlike many critiques, this one also points a way forward. We know what toxic male sexuality looks like. We see it in the news and unfortunately, in the Church. But what does healthy male sexuality look like? What does it look like for me? What will it look like for my boys? In my heart, I know what I want it to look like, but so often I struggle to find the right words to express it. Non-Toxic Masculinity paints a healthy picture that is (re)humanizing and ultimately looks like Jesus, who, like all of us, had a sexual body. Zach is also very transparent in this book and God used his transparency to encourage, challenge, and convict me. As you read his story you will no doubt find yourself resonating with him on some level. Every man should read this book for themselves first and foremost. But if you have sons, nephews, grandsons, or young boys in your life, reading it is a must. Non-Toxic Masculinity is a breath of fresh air that will prove to be a tremendous resource for generations. Thank you Zach for writing it and sharing your story to serve us.
More Posts
Share by: