Author page: Steven Renner

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Prophecy’s Purpose

Posted on Jun 24, 2020 by Steven Renner in Prophecy, Wednesday Night Bible Study |

Following His crucifixion, the resurrected Jesus described that purpose like this while talking with a couple of believers on the road to Emmaus: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself,” Luke 24:27.

Near the end of John’s visions on Patmos, the overwhelmed apostle fell at the feet of an angel in worship. That when this happened, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” Revelation 19:10.

Daniel 7

In our study of Daniel we have arrived at chapter seven. Beginning this evening the prophetic aspect of this book takes flight. Daniel’s first six chapters are the historical mixed together with a little of the prophetical. That is reversed in the final six chapters with prophetic visions seasoned with a bit of history. Chapter seven is a panoramic view of God’s redemptive purpose and plan. We will be taken all the way from Daniel’s day to the return of Christ.

You are invited and encouraged to join us at 7pm for our prayer time and this Bible study. Our teens will also be meeting in the Family Life Center. This is their first time back together since the COVID-19 restrictions began. Come be with us. You may also follow along online.

Life is God’s Gift

Posted on Jun 23, 2020 by Steven Renner in Devotions, Glorifying God, Happiness |

Ecclesiastes 5:18-19, “Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.”

Life is a gift from God. Your life is to be enjoyed not merely endured. Embrace your life, the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and abilities, the highs and the lows that God has given to you. Trust God with all of it. The purpose for which man was created is to glorify God. God is most glorified by you when you are most satisfied in Him. Trusting in and living for Christ is always serious business, but it must not always be somber. In fact, the lives of those who trust God should be joyfully lived. Life is a gift from God. Appreciate and enjoy it.

Spread It Out

Posted on Jun 22, 2020 by Steven Renner in Devotions, Prayers |

2 Kings 18:30, “Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

Not only does the fool say in his heart there is no God (Psalm 14:1), but he seeks to ruin the trust that others have in the Lord. The only thing more foolish is to be persuaded by such nonsense. When confronted with the blasphemous boasts and threats of the Assyrian Rabshakeh, Hezekiah went to the Temple and literally “spread it before the Lord” (2 Kings 19:14). It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man, even one with a massive army and thousands of chariots. Hezekiah and his people trusted Jehovah. Their enemies were defeated. They were saved. God was glorified. Trust Him today!

Devoted Fathers

Posted on Jun 21, 2020 by Steven Renner in Family in the Bible, Father's Day, God's Glory |

My hero didn’t lead legions of men into combat. He didn’t play organized sports, let alone in the professional ranks, and he certainly never wore tights and a cape. (If he ever did, I don’t want to hear about it.) Every weekday my hero wore a light blue shirt with dark blue pants and steel-toe boots. In one hand was lunch box, a took box in the other. In my hero’s future there will not be a hall of fame induction ceremony or a statue erected in his honor. But there is no man more deserving of the label hero than my hero, my dad.

While he didn’t win medals for heroics in combat or awards for athletic exploits, dad did go to work every day. He came home to his family every night. Put food on our table, clothes on our backs, and a shelter over our heads. He was there. Always. Dad demonstrated faithfulness to Christ, to mom, and to church. No man has worked harder and laughed louder than my hero. I love hearing dad laugh. Working with him wasn’t always pleasant, because that meant I had to work hard, too. Dad didn’t suffer laziness. But as I grew into manhood that lesson was one I appreciated more and more.

I was born privileged. Not because I was born white, American, or healthy. My native privilege was being born to a mother and father who loved each other and me, and who in time came to love Christ and His church. They still do.

Devoted Dads

Today is Father’s Day, and in our service this morning we will walk through a familiar text (Ephesians 6:4), especially for this day. Until then, consider that text’s parallel passage. Colossians 3:21, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” God’s Word calls dad to not exasperate their children. Here are eight exasperaters I heard Alistair Begg share once. I’ll share them with you. We must avoid.

Failing to allow them to be children
Treating them with harshness and cruelty
Ridiculing them in front of others
Displaying favoritism/making comparisons
Failing to express approval
Being arbitrary in discipline/lacking consistency
Neglecting them/making them feel like intruders
Seeking to achieve our goals through their lives

That’s what not to do. Here is what we should do.

Cherish them fondly.
Rear them tenderly.
Sustain them spiritually.
Deal with them individually.

Only One Perfect Dad

There is only One perfect Dad. God the Father is the ultimate pattern to follow, but none of us will follow Him exactly. The goal isn’t to be perfect. My hero isn’t. The goal is to be devoted. My hero is. I can be. So may you. But only as we “above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:14-17

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

Saturday with Spurgeon

Posted on Jun 20, 2020 by Steven Renner in C.H. Spurgeon, Devotions, Happiness, Holiness |

Happy and Holy

“Remove far from me vanity and lies.” – Proverbs 30:8

“O my God, be not far from me.” Psalm 38:21

Here we have two great lessons—what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. As there is the most heat nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes are fixed on vanity—he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to their pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That is all they have to enjoy. A converted wife who despaired of her husband was always very kind to him, for she said, “I fear that this is the only world in which he will be happy, and therefore I have made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it.” Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls. We have heard of a philosopher who, while he looked up to the stars, fell into a pit; but how deeply do they fall who look down. Their fall is fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his God is far from him. Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as regards his experience in holiness, and communion with Jesus in this life. Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living near to God. It is when the Christian departs from his God, becomes spiritually starved, and endeavours to feed on vanities, that the devil discovers his vantage hour. He may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his Master’s service, but the battle is generally short: he who slips as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time he takes a false step invites Apollyon to assail him. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!

Daily Decisions Rather Than One-Time Experiences

Posted on Jun 19, 2020 by Steven Renner in Devotions, Trust |

2 Kings 18:24, “How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?”

How we have walked does not determine how we will walk. Past victories do not guarantee future wins. King Hezekiah had led Judah in a great reformation. Idols ground to dust. Pagan places of worship destroyed. Temple worship of the One True God restored. Then Assyria besieged Jerusalem, and battle rather than blessing was on the horizon. Nevertheless, God calls His people to daily walk by faith not by sight. The purpose of battles in God’s economy is to build character in the lives of His people. Trust Christ ALONE for victory. Any other source is just a broken reed, unable to hold your weight. Trust Christ alone ALL THE TIME. This is a daily decision, not a one-time experience. This is always the right decision, even when the blessing doesn’t seem to come. Trust Him. Every day.

In Whom or In What Do You Trust?

Posted on Jun 18, 2020 by Steven Renner in Trust |

2 Kings 18:5, “He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.”

False hope never delivers in the end. Hezekiah’s father had trusted in idols and other nations, rather than the one true God and His Word. That did not end well for Ahaz. Unlike his father, Hezekiah’s exclusive hope in every situation was the Lord, and he was obedient to God’s Word, even when it came to national relics of historical importance, like the bronze snake on a pole which had been made by Moses. The people wrongly began to worship that image, but Hezekiah’s trust in God and His Word led him to destroy the icon. He did not want the people worshiping a dead, useless image. True hope resides only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust Him.

Thrown to the Lions

Posted on Jun 17, 2020 by Steven Renner in Daniel, Wednesday Night Bible Study |

Micah 6:8 says, “O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

Daniel certainly epitomized this passage. There is a great need in this world for justice, mercy, and humility before God and for His purposes. Seems that is always the case. Those characteristics marked Daniel. Not due to an innate superiority uniquely his. Daniel had “an excellent spirit in him” as Daniel 6:3 says because Daniel was committed to trusting the Word of God and following the God of the Word with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. He had made that commitment when he was a young man, and now as he was nearing the end of his race he still ran hard. Daniel determined to finish as well as he started.

Age is No Protection

There is never a time when it is easy to do the right thing. Peer pressure is not restricted to young people. Hard decisions must be made regardless of age. Daniel was in his eighties when this cockamamie conspiracy was hatched. He refused to rest on his laurels. As he had done before he would do now. He would obey the Lord and trust Him with the consequences.

This means that Daniel had a target on his back. Nothing new there. In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Expect the attack. Some will be obvious. Others covert. No need to counter-scheme. Keep calm and carry-on with confidence in the Truth. Sounds like a broken record, but it’s true all the same.

Pride ALWAYS Costs

Many times the charge must be paid by those near the prideful, not just the proud. Darius was caught up in the plot because it played on his pride. “Make a firm decree that no one may pray to anyone but you for thirty days. All of your top men think this will unify the land and honor you, O King. Live forever!”

Had he not allowed his head to swell to a gargantuan size, he may have noticed that Daniel wasn’t in the room or part of this delegation. Since Daniel was the top man of the top men, this should have signaled a problem. Darius didn’t notice because all he could see was himself.

Reminds me of the story I’ve heard about Sir. Robert Watson-Watt. The man who invented radar. Late in life, while driving in Canada, Watson-Watt was reportedly snagged for speeding in a radar trap. He would write an ironic poem about the incident:

Rough Justice

Pity Sir Robert Watson-Watt, strange target of this radar plot,
And thus, with others I can mention, the victim of his own invention.

His magical all-seeing eye enabled cloud-bound planes to fly,

but now by some ironic twist, it spots the speeding motorist and bites,

no doubt with legal wit, the hand that once created it!

Darius was a victim of his own invention. His pride cost him, and caused Daniel to be thrown to the lions. Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story.

Tonight at 7pm we will be in Daniel 6. Join us as we study the scriptures and spend time, like Daniel, in prayer for our land and the cause of our Lord.

Walking Where We’re Looking

Posted on Jun 16, 2020 by Steven Renner in General |

Proverbs 4:25, “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.”

Our feet follow our eyes. Our eyes are fixed on what we desire. Everyone sets their eyes on something or someone, and the vision before them determines their values, actions, and plans. Abraham walked by faith, and looked for the city whose designer and builder is God. Lot walked by sight and straight into wicked Sodom. Do not follow your heart. Follow Jesus. Turn your eyes upon the author and finisher of your faith, and your feet will follow in His steps, by His power, for your good and His glory.

An Eternal Values Perspective

Posted on Jun 15, 2020 by Steven Renner in Devotions, Eternity |

2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”

This chapter is chock full of a perspective that trusts God regardless of the consequences. That includes a proper perspective on suffering. Paul had a redeemed point of view. Therefore, the suffering he experienced for the gospel’s sake was considered a temporal, light affliction. But that’s true only in comparison with the eternal weight of glory that exists for those who trust God. This perspective has eternal values in view. Trust God. Properly weigh present trials against future glory, and I reckon our present sufferings won’t be worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).