A Gary's Perspective

When You Feel Lack

June 25, 2018May 19, 2020Alex Gary

For this post, I want to discuss something that I think we all struggle with in one way or another. There is no hard and fast rule for this to be sure, but if you are reading this I promise what I am about to say can apply to you in one way or another. I can say that because I was going about my daily routine thinking that I didn’t need to hear this. I felt like I had wisdom, but I was wrong. It’s so nice when God shows up with wisdom that actually changes your thinking, your feelings, and your actions. We just have to be humble enough to receive it. (He’ll help us there too!)

In order to put us on the same page I would like to first define economy. For our purposes, economy will mean “all of our resources, including financial, physical, mental, relational, emotional, and spiritual ones, along with how they should be viewed and approached.” The phrase “Economy of Heaven” will then mean “all of our resources along with how they should be viewed and approached from God’s perspective.” My desire is for us to improve how we approach every aspect of our life, not just our finances, by coming from God’s perspective.

A Not-So-Minor Prophet

June 25, 2018May 19, 2020Alex Gary

On our honeymoon Kayla and I were listening to a podcast from Gateway Church in Dallas when the book of Jonah was suddenly referenced. The reason why it came up was only an aside to the rest of the message but the preacher essentially said “The book of Jonah is the one book Jesus used to say that he would die and raise from the grave as a sign to His generation.”

For some reason this short phrase stuck with me for our drive across North Carolina and several days afterwards. Sometimes God uses little curiosities like this one in order to direct me to something exciting. Once I made it back to College Station I devoted a little bit of time to reading and asking God for something new from the book of Jonah.

I have a very strong connection with the book of Jonah. When I was saved my freshman year of college I went to Breakaway regularly and during one Tuesday night a guest speaker shared a brief message from the book of Jonah and a very clear presentation of the gospel that I was able to internalize. I was already saved, but it was at that point that I had a solid understanding that would allow me to communicate it to others. I don’t even remember if it was from Jonah specifically, but for some reason the gospel and the book of Jonah are glued together in my mind. I have studied the book of Jonah a few times but I haven’t been able to see much of a picture of the gospel in it on my own, but I knew it was in there somewhere.

Why the Page Name?

June 5, 2018May 19, 2020Alex Gary

Welcome to my teaching blog! Please take a minute to read the following about why I named this blog page “Something to Chew On.”

If you’ve ever made the attempt to read the Bible in any detail, you may have discovered some themes that are woven throughout the text. While we often think of the verses that stand out to us because of their clarity, depth of truth, and relevance in our lives, I personally am blown away when I catch a hold of a theme that point to more of God’s character than any individual verse.

One of these such themes is seen in a handful of verses in the New Testament. Here are the main ones:

Like newborn infants, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 1 Peter 2:2

I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 1 Corinthians 3:2

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Hebrews 5:12

These verses address believer using a metaphorical concept common to the time of “drinking milk.” We have all had milk at some point. It is necessary for our growth when we are young. When you are older, though, you should have moved on to a more well-rounded diet. Drinking milk all the time would make you miserable and likely stunt your growth.