Malcolm Cox

Setting Goals

- Focus on process more than achievement

- i.e. daily, weekly actions

- For me: Morning reading over breakfast & on stationary bike

---

For me...

- Weekly WWR broadcasts

- Use Anki more - need to figure out how...

- Be less patient with bad books

---

2021

- Your hopes for reading in 2021?

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://[www.malcolmcox.org](http://www.malcolmcox.org/). 

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. 

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) 

God bless, Malcolm

Introduction

Did he exist?

https://www.douglasjacoby.com/qa-1544-camels-in-the-bible-anachronistic-bible-contradiction/

• Genesis 24:10-11, 31:34-accounts of camels involving Abraham, Rachel. Dated around 2000-1600 B.C.E.

10thC Egyptian record

His time and place

His story as the beginning of hope for humankind

Conclusion

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8 NIV11)Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://[www.malcolmcox.org](http://www.malcolmcox.org/). 

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. 

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) 

God bless, Malcolm

New Testament references: Matt. 1:1–2, 17; 3:9; 8:11; 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 1:55, 73; 3:8, 34; 13:16, 28; 16:22–25, 29–30; 19:9; 20:37; John 8:33, 37, 39–40, 52–53, 56–58; Acts 3:13, 25; 7:2, 5, 8, 16–17, 32; 13:26; Rom. 4:1–3, 9, 12–13, 16, 18; 9:7–8; 11:1; 2 Cor. 11:22; Gal. 3:6–9, 14, 16, 18, 29; 4:22; Heb. 2:16; 6:13, 15; 7:1–2, 4–6, 9–10; 11:8, 17, 19; James 2:21, 23; 1 Pet. 3:6

The previous episode was about how to assess your speaking year. Your speaking effectiveness. This week, just a brief note to ask how it's going? I'm recording this before I received my feedback, so I can't give you a perspective on that. However, I'm looking forward to whatever you and others share with me so that I can become a more effective speaker in 2021.

Here are three things to consider as you ponder the feedback you receive:

And if you're not sure if the feedback is reasonable, accurate or healthy, talk to a trusted friend who can help you to be objective.

Feedback is a humbling yet beautiful thing! I hope, as you hear from your friends, you will hear from God. Remember, we're not trying to please people, but God. However, it is by listening to people that we are able to hear the voice of God.

At the time of recording, I don't have any specific goals for 2021. Much will depend on the feedback I received. However, what I will say is that, if 2020 has taught me anything, it has revealed the importance of being flexible.

Learning how to speak affectively through Zoom and other platforms has been a steep learning curve, but quite an exciting one at the same time. I cannot be certain, but I somewhat suspect that I and all of us will need to learn to be more flexible in the way that we speak as the future unfolds.

Thus, what I am identifying here is not so much a practical, as a spiritual principle. Stay open to the Spirit's guidance about your speaking and be willing to learn whatever is useful for the people to whom we speak..

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

Would you like to learn more about faith? You've come to the right person. No, not me, Abraham. This is a daily devotional podcast supporting a teaching series for the Watford church of Christ and the Thames Valley churches of Christ called "Adventures in faith with Abraham". It is also part of my quiet time coaching series.

What is it about Abraham which is so admirable? Many things. But perhaps above all else his adventurous faith, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8 NIV11)

Join me as we step out on a faith adventure with Abraham.

Episode 2

Most preaching and teaching about Abraham begins in Genesis 12. Understandable, but we are missing something. Abraham first comes on the scene in Genesis chapter 11. Let's take a few minutes today to consider how the story of Abraham is set up.

“Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Sarai was barren; she had no child. Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.” (Genesis 11:26–32 NAS95)The writer of Genesis portrays Abraham as an historical figure. The amount of geographical and genealogical data and level of detail makes most sense that way. Some people doubt the actual existence of Abraham, and point to the lack of archaeological evidence. But then, there is very little archaeological data for any individual figure from 4000 years ago. The absence of evidence is not evidence of the absence of Abraham.

Let's spend a few moments today talking about geography and history.

The ancient city of Ur is equated with today's Tell al-Muqayyar, situated on the Euphrates in southern Mesopotamia. It may have had a population of around 25,000 at the time Abraham lived there. Many buildings, a ziggurat and Royal tombs have been unearthed.

Take a trip to the British Museum, or to its online gallery, and you will find what is called, "The Royal game of Ur". It is not too fanciful to imagine Abraham and his brothers playing this game as they grew up.

The Royal Game of Ur, 2600BC-2400BC Use this image 1460257001 | British Museum

Devotional thought for today

The Bible is not a book of fantasy stories, neither is it a theological treatise. At times it uses poetic (e.g. Psalms) and apocalyptic language (e.g. Ezekiel, Daniel, Revelation), but most of the time it tells us about people to whom we can relate.

Take some time to imagine Abraham playing a board game with his father Terah. Perhaps it was his dad who taught him how to play. Maybe he had a competition with his brothers Nahor and Haran. If they were anything like siblings I know, they will have argued over the game, possibly even fought over it, scattering the pieces and overturning the board.

Picture playing the game with them - picking up a counter and placing it on the board. Of course, for this particular game the instructions have been long lost (!), but our imagination can supply the reality of the scene.

Prayer point for today

Ask God to help you see the humanity in Abraham and his contemporaries. Pray to approach their stories as people like you and I.

If you have any questions or feedback please contact me: [email protected].

The apostle Paul said of Abraham, “He is the father of us all.” (Romans 4:16 NIV11) Let's allow him to be the father of Faith to you and me in January and February 2021.

Many thanks for listening today. See you tomorrow as we continue our adventure of faith with Abraham.

Take care and God bless, Malcolm

Would you like to learn more about faith? You've come to the right person. No, not me, Abraham. I'm Malcolm Cox and this is a daily devotional podcast called "Adventures in faith with Abraham".

"... went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8 NIV11)

Join me as we step out on a faith adventure with Abraham.

Episode 1

How important is Abraham to you? He is mentioned by name 317 times in 286 verses of the Bible. More than most.

On a visit to India I was requested to preach. When I asked what to preach on I was told "Abraham". "No problem", I said, "but why Abraham?" The reply surprised me, "Because many Indian Christians have never heard of him."

On reflection, it made sense. So many come from a Hindu background and have never read the Bible. And of course, as was pointed out to me, we don't have to know about Abraham to become a Christian. I preached on Abraham that visit, and I hope I left a good impression of this amazing man of faith.

Whilst it's not necessary to know about Abraham to become a Christian, I would suggest it is necessary to know about him to fully grow into all that we can become as Christians.

Matthew includes Abraham in his genealogy of Jesus:

“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:” (Matthew 1:1 NIV11)Luke records the prayer-song of Mary:

“He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”” (Luke 1:54–55 NIV11)Mark references Jesus mentioning Abraham in his debates with the Sadducees:

“Have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” (Mark 12:26 NIV11)John captures a significant moment in the ministry of Jesus when he mentions Abraham 10 times in a few verses: John 8:33-58.

If Jesus thought Abraham was important, shouldn't we? And we've not even touched on the preaching in Acts, the epistles of Paul and Peter, the letter to the Hebrews and others. We will get to those in the series.

So, a simple question for today.

That's my commitment to you in this podcast series, and I hope you will join me.

If you have any questions or feedback please contact me: [email protected].

“He is the father of us all.” (Romans 4:16 NIV11) Let's allow him to be the father of Faith to you and me.

Many thanks for listening today. See you tomorrow as we continue our adventure of faith with Abraham.

Take care and God bless, Malcolm

A reading for the communion at today's service for the Watford Church of Christ.

It comes from Max Lucado's book, "God came near". 

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://[www.malcolmcox.org](http://www.malcolmcox.org/). 

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. 

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) 

God bless, Malcolm

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a lovely day yesterday. It was different, that's for sure, but hopefully, whatever your circumstances, since we have the spirit of Christ, I pray you found some refreshment in the day.

Due to the magic of pre-recording, there is plenty on my website, podcast feed, and YouTube channel to enjoy it. The particular focus is reflecting on the year just gone in speaking, reading and doing a spiritual inventory.

I hope you find these resources helpful.

God bless, Malcolm

If you'd like to pray for me I'd be very grateful. Here are some of my plans:

Until the next time, 

God bless, Malcolm

This podcast is going live on Christmas Eve. Truthfully, the principles could be used on any occasion, but there are times to take stock.

The story is told of the teacher passed over for promotion year after year. Finally, she confronted her line manager and asked, "I've been teaching for 25 years and never been promoted. I have two and a half decades of experience. I deserve to be promoted." Her manager replied, "You don't have 25 years of experience. You have one year of experience repeated 25 times." Just because we pray week by week, year by year does not mean we are drawing closer to the heart of our heavenly father. Simply because we read our Bible does not mean we are Becoming more secure in the love of Christ. Just because we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, does not mean that we are more in touch with the presence and power of the Spirit.

My intention with this podcast is not to laden us with guilt or fear. Instead, my hope is that we will find an honest assessment of our devotional life to be a liberating and joyous practice.

Join me today as we consider a healthy way to assess the quality of our devotional life.

We should begin by making sure we understand what we're talking about. By 'devotional life', I'm talking about our focused times of connection with God. What we often call our 'quiet times'. Those moments when we stop to pray, read God's Word or simply rest in silence in his loving presence.

Can we grow in our relationship with God? The apostle Peter seemed to think so:

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18 NIV11)It's hard to imagine that the Apostles didn't get to know Jesus better and better during their three years with him. And even after his departure, it seems they continued to grow. Compare the firebrand apostle John with the one who wrote his epistles tours the end of his life:

“When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”” (Luke 9:54 NIV11)

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7 NIV11)Now let's consider an ancient practice and how it might help us in this instance. I'm talking about the 'Examen'.

The Examen

What is this thing? I am not sure its origins can be fully traced, but it was apparently popularised by Ignatius of Loyola in the 1500s. The concept, briefly, is to take some focussed time to consider what has been going on, what is going on, what God has been doing, and finding refreshment to go forward.

And example which comes to mind is that of Elijah. God gave him the opportunity for an examen whilst he was in that cave in the mountains. See, 1 Kings 19:3-19.

The examen can be used on a daily basis. Here however, we will use it to think about the year in its entirety.

To do this properly, I recommend sending aside at least an hour, preferably more. Find a place where you won't be disturbed. Turn off your phone, get rid of all gadgets which might try to steal your attention and take something with which to write down your thoughts – preferably pen and paper rather than something electronic. Let your friends and family know that you're not to be disturbed. You will probably find it helpful to have your diary to hand to remind you of your year.

Now that you are ready, proceed through this four-step process.

1. Replay

Think through the highs and lows of your devotional life this year. Those times of delightful prayer, and those times of dryness. The moments of lament and laughter.

Ask yourself where God showed up. Where and when was his immanence part of your experience?

In his book on prayer, Pete Greg put it like this, quoting a Jesuit. It's like:

‘rummaging for God. Going through a drawer full of stuff, feeling around, looking for something that you are sure must be there.’ Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 150). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition.What resources made a significant difference to the quality of your times of quiet this year? Was it the Bible you were reading - perhaps a new translation? How about a devotional app, praying with friends or family, listening to a bible podcast, reading books about spiritual disciplines?

Write down everything you can remember which gives you a good picture of the good times with God.

2. Rejoice

Perhaps God surprised you this year.

What there a prayer he answered you weren't expecting? Did you find something working out about which you had your doubts? Did you find the courage to act with faith when you were concerned you might give in to fear?

Tried to remember all the gifts God gave you this year. Make a list of things large and small with which God blessed you in the last 12 months.

Some of those blessings might have come in disguise. Don't forget that God is with us in our fears, sins, doubts and painful experiences. Jonah's prayer in the belly of the fish is one of the most wonderful expressions of rejoicing in one of the worst places imaginable:

“To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, LORD my God, brought my life up from the pit.”...... “But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’ ”” (Jonah 2:6, 9 NIV11)Write down all the reasons to rejoice.

3. Repent

You probably knew we were going to get to the "repent" phase at some point. Before we get into it, are you afraid of it? Does it give you a nervous twitch? It does for me, from time to time. It's partly to do with my upbringing, partly my personality, and partly some experiences in church life. However, I must remember something.

God made me capable of repentance because it was something that would do me good.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.” (Acts 3:19–20 NIV11)God it does not consider repentance negative. It is not the way to endear ourselves to him once again. We do not pay any debts by repenting. Those debts have already been paid by Jesus.

What we do by considering our need to repent, noticing areas for repentance, and taking action on them by the power and strength of the Spirit of Christ in us, is to reconnect with the heart of God.

Take some time to consider your feelings this year. And by failings, I mean not living up to the virtuous Christ-like character of Christ in ways that you had hoped to. Not standards imposed by somebody else, but a lifestyle that, at your best, you wholeheartedly wish to embrace.

Write down anything God reveals to you that you would do well to consider turning away from, as you turn towards him.

4. Reboot

We are in the final phase of the examen. Review the first three phases. What are your main lessons from replaying your devotional year? What is on your 'rejoicing' list? Where is the room for repentance?

Now that you have those things clear, it's time to consider the future. Contemplate the year ahead. What is it you sense God drawing you towards in your relationship with him?

Could it be a renewed commitment to intercession in prayer? Perhaps it is an emphasis on silence and solitude, resting in his presence. How about a focus on the Psalms for your spiritual inspiration? Is the Spirit bringing certain parts of the Bible into prominence? Perhaps he is suggesting you study a particular biblical book.

This list is, of course, potentially endless. Which is why it is so important to set aside enough time to pray and think and talk with our abba, father.

Write down anything which crosses your mind. You can always refine it later.

A final word on this process. There is no 'correct' way to do the examen. Please do not stress yourself if you find it difficult, or even on helpful. It is simply a tool. Adapt it to your own use. Use the principles that mean most to you, and that you find useful.

Our goal here is simply some sober judgement of the last 12 months, inviting God to give us wisdom about our present state, and filling us with faith for the coming year.

If you have an annual devotional practice which helps you, please let me know. If you try this examen, please let me know how it goes – good or bad!

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community.

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [email protected].

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11)

God bless, Malcolm

Note: I modelled the examen technique on Pete Greig's version in his book "How to pray".

I sat down at the piano the other day thinking about Christmas. This is what happened…

Merry Christmas!

Malcolm

List your progress and experiments

What are your reading regrets this year?

What are you reading rejoicings this year?

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). 

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://[www.malcolmcox.org](http://www.malcolmcox.org/). 

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. 

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) 

God bless, Malcolm