John at 2 months old

Welcome John Dalton

The photos from the past 2 months are finally uploaded! check them out by clicking on the link directly above to take you to our web album.

Welcome John Dalton Bishop

 

Our sweet son, John Dalton Bishop was born today (Wed., July 15th) at 4:46 pm. He weighed 9 lbs. 1 oz. and was 18.5 inches long. God is so good to bless us with our 3rd child!

Pictures from first half of 2009 & Life Update

OK, so seminary was really busy there toward the end, and now I'm in the ninth month of pregnancy, so I'm not going to feel too bad about not posting in so long. But since a picture is a worth a thousand words, here are the photos that tell the story, roughly, of our life for the past 6 months. Enjoy!

Jan to May 2009

BTW, our baby boy is due July 13th. Still deciding on a name. We are currently living in Fort Worth, but will move to Gatesville to be closer to the church that Barry pastors shortly after the baby is born. Barry just signed a contract today with Gatesville High School and will be their new Spanish teacher for the fall (as his second job -- he's a bivocational pastor). I'm proud of Barry and so thankful to God for providing for us in this way and answering our prayers. God is good!

Zacchaeus

Barry Bishop

Truths as Found in the Story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-8

The account of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-8 is a beloved and well-known story. Some are familiar with it because of the children’s song “Zacchaeus was a wee little man.” There are many colorful details in the story, unfortunately this has caused some to miss the main points of the account, namely, that Jesus came to seek and save the lost and also the repentant response of Zacchaeus to Jesus. A short examination of this passage will show that its truths have significant application for Christians today. First, some minor details will be discussed, followed by the main themes and application.

The setting of the story is this: Jesus is resolutely traveling to Jerusalem and to his passion on the cross. On the way he enters Jericho and crowds flock to him. Zacchaeus, a short, rich, chief tax collector (ἀρχιτελώνης, only used once here), comes to see him. He climbs in a tree to see Jesus, which would have looked awkward for a man of wealth. These details make it easy to focus on Zacchaeus. However, Jesus is the one who looks to Zacchaeus and calls him by name (perhaps knowing his name supernaturally.) In other words, Jesus is the one seeking, for He tells Zacchaeus that He “must” go to his house. As typical of Jesus’ ministry, there are opponents who grumble when they hear that Jesus would eat with a notorious sinner like Zacchaeus. The response of Zacchaeus however, is the correct one. He receives Jesus “joyfully” (a theme in Luke), admits he has cheated others, and vows to give half of his possessions to the poor and four times to those he cheated. [1] This is repentance before the Lord that is evidence of faith. Jesus then declares Zacchaeus to be a son of Abraham. This is of course means a true, spiritual son by faith since Zacchaeus was already a Jew. Jesus then declares his mission, “to seek and save the lost” and shows that salvation is found in only Himself.

Unfortunately, one technical issue has to be discussed. Some like Evans believe that Zacchaeus was already a righteous man. This ignores the grumblings of the crowd. Based on the present tense of the Greek verbs used in v. 8, Evans believes that Zacchaeus was simply declaring what he already customarily did, that is, was giving half his goods to the poor, was paying back four times anything he (accidentally) took from others.[2] This is simply wrong for it ignores the context. Jesus said today salvation had come, not previously. Further, the Greek allows for Zacchaeus to have a change of heart which leads to a (near future) change of action.[3] Jesus also states that Zacchaeus was lost.

Two main themes from this passage are significant for Christians today. First, Jesus is the one who came to seek and to save the lost. If there is hope for a notorious sinner like Zacchaeus there is hope for others like him. Christians should realize that Jesus is able to save even the worst of sinners and that many times he seeks out such notable ones (like Paul). The application is that Christians should not write off a person simply because they have a messy, sinful life. Jesus is powerful to save them and change their lives just as He is able to save the moralistic sinner as well. Christians need to share the good news of Jesus Christ with all people, regardless of their backgrounds knowing that God is powerful to save (cf. Rom. 1:16).

Second, true repentance is necessary for true faith. This biblical understanding of repentance is necessary for Christians. Zacchaeus was a rich man who was about to become poor. He would give away half (!) his possessions and four times back to those he cheated which was probably many since he was rich. Unlike the rich ruler of Luke 18:18f, Zacchaeus was willing to leave money behind to follow Jesus. A biblical understanding of repentance is necessary or else cheap grace, Lordless “salvation”, and false conversions will be perpetuated in America. The Lordship of Jesus starts for a Christian at conversion and continues to death. Wherever Jesus leads, whatever He commands, the Christian must do. There has to be a true change of heart, like Zacchaeus.

One last thought is that Jesus is the hero of the Zacchaeus story. Anyone who would focus on Zacchaeus misses the point of the passage. Zacchaeus was the sinner, Jesus was the seeker. How beautiful of a picture it is that Jesus called him by name and declared him a son of Abraham. This too is the greatest joy of any Christian, to be known by Jesus and to be in the family of God.

---

[1]Robertson says the condition in the Greek assumes Zacchaeus has cheated others. A.T Robertson, Word Pictures in the NT (Nashville, TN: B & H, 2000), 167.

[2]Craig Evans, Luke: NIBC (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1990), 280.

[3]Bock allows for “present future” use of the verbs. Darrell L. Bock, Luke: IVPNTC (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1994), 307.

Devotional

Those who visit this blog know that I have a bad habit of letting months pass by (more like seasons) between blog posts. In an effort to change my ways, I am re-posting here some of the things I send out to the members of our church. I hope this short devotional and other material will be helpful to you. I do plan to post more personal stuff when I get time. -Barry

DEVOTIONAL
Luke 21:1-4 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Jesus reminds us repeatedly in the Gospels that those who are most important in God’s eyes and God’s kingdom are not always those who are in prominent positions. God sees the heart of each one of us. The spotlight is often on those who speak in front of the church or lead in some way but that does not mean that those who don’t are of less value than them. In fact, they may be more valuable to God. Trust the Lord with all your heart, live for Him, He is the one who sees your hidden deeds. He is the one who loves His faithful servants.

EVEN SHORTER DEVOTIONAL
Jonah 2:9b “...Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

The Bible is clear that there is nothing we can do to be saved. We can not work our way to heaven with good deeds. We can not earn God’s favor because we have broken God's laws and rebelled against Him. Instead look to the Lord for salvation. Look to the Savior, Jesus Christ! Put your trust alone in Jesus and have your sins washed away by the bloody work of Jesus on the cross. If you do not turn to Him in this life, you will sink down, like Jonah, but to something worse than a watery grave. However, Jonah was given a second chance at life. There is no second chance after this life.

Good Friday

[This is a copy of an email I sent out today to the church where I serve. I thought I would post it here as well for others. -Barry]

Today is Good Friday, a day on which Christians remember the tragic yet wonderful event of Jesus dying on the cross.

These days we often wear crosses as jewelry or as logos on clothing. But let us not forget that a very real, heavy piece of wood was laid upon the bloody shoulders of Jesus as he was marched to his death on a hill. He was nailed to that wood and hung up to die an agonizing death. Why? He was receiving the punishment that we as sinners deserve before a holy God. He was the perfect lamb, to be sacrificed in our place. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, love, and obedience to the Father, we can now be forgiven and right with God. Just like Isaac was spared from death when God provided the ram in the bush (Gen. 22), so we can escape death by faith in the Lamb of God who was sacrificed, Jesus Christ. This type of faith demands that you put your trust, your entire life in the hands of Jesus the King. We know that He is the King because he was raised from the dead Easter morning, and ascended to heaven forty days later to be at God's right hand. The Bible says that Jesus the King will come again to take his followers home to heaven (John 14) and to judge the wicked (Rev. 20:11).

Please, take a moment today to read the verses below and say a pray of thanks to Jesus for His love for you.

a sinner saved by God's grace,
Pastor Barry

Isaiah 53:4-12 (ESV)
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The Bishop’s Christmas Letter

Here is a copy of our Christmas letter, enjoy!

December 15, 2008

Merry Christmas! Since this has been such an amazing year for our family, we decided to write about it in our first Christmas letter. God has gotten us through the difficulties and given us multiple blessings.

Barry – God answered our prayers in a big way this year, as Barry has seen his dream of pastoring and preaching become a reality. The year started out with a mission trip to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. Barry loved sharing the Gospel there so much that now he is helping his professor lead the 2009 trip. Over spring break, Barry had the opportunity to preach a revival near Spokane, Washington. He preached another revival in May when God sent us to Wamsutter, Wyoming. Shortly after returning from the trip, Barry was called to pastor at Hay Valley Baptist Church in his hometown of Gatesville, Texas. (We still live close to the seminary in Fort Worth and drive to his mom’s house on the weekends.) What a blessing the church has been to us! We have felt their love and have enjoyed being a part of the family. Barry had a lot on his plate this Fall: pastoring, assisting Dr. Carrigan, being ordained, and taking 16 hours of classes! But God has been gracious and good. Barry will likely graduate with his Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in May.

Karen – The highlight of Karen’s year was vacationing in Estes Park, Colorado. On the way to Wyoming for Barry’s revival, our family spent a few days enjoying the awesome beauty of God’s creation at the Rocky Mountain National Park. Karen had fun this summer getting to know people from church and participating in Vacation Bible School. The Fall was very busy for Karen, too. As the Vice President of Metochai, the Seminary wives’ organization, she lined up the speakers for the year. As Publicity Chair for MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), she put together the monthly newsletter. She also took a night class designed for seminary wives. But mostly, Karen spends her time taking care of her husband, children, and home.

Abigail – Our little princess turned 3 this year, and what better way to celebrate than having a princess party! She came as Cinderella, one of her favorite characters. Her biggest hobby right now is building really elaborate towers with wooden blocks. She goes to a two-hour a week preschool at the Fort Worth Museum in which she learns about a different animal or nature topic every week. She is starting to learn how to sound out simple words. Here favorite things include Dora, Curious George, BOZ, Little People, and Veggie Tales. Funny quote: Pointing at a stained glass window in the middle of the children’s sermon at Hay Valley, she shouted, “Look Daddy, there’s a shepherd! It’s Jesus!”

Reuben – Mr. Reu celebrated his 1st birthday this year with a BOZ, the big green bear, cake. He’s a very active little boy now. His favorite activities include climbing, turning knobs, pushing buttons, shutting doors, eating and playing peek-a-boo. He’s very smiley and cuddly. He’s just now starting to say more words, like “row row row” and “poo poo.”

New Baby – That’s right! We’re expecting another one in July. We’re excited and thankful to God for this huge blessing!

May you have a wonderful Christmas as you remember the miracle of the Savior’s birth. "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). –Matthew 1:23

Love,
The Bishops

7th Heaven

Here's us on our wedding day 7 years ago:

So happy and in love back then, and even more so now! We celebrated our 7th Anniversary last Monday, August 11th. Bet you didn't know that the 7th anniversary is the "Copper Anniversary." We stayed one night at the historic Inn at Salado. We'd never stayed at a bed and breakfast before -- very romantic! We also dined at the Stagecoach Inn and went to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D. Talk about an awesome date! (Big points for Barry!)

That was the longest time I'd ever been away from Reuben, and I missed him, but he did fine with Granny. He still nurses 2-3 times a day and he walks a little bit. I can't turn my back away from him for even a minute these days without him climbing up on the table or playing with the lamp or electrical cords. The two kids are making it quite impossible to keep a clean house, but I like that they are interacting more, even if it does cause some spats over toys. Abigail's imagination has really grown and it's fun to see her pretend to be a cat or an angel. Everybody always comments on how long her hair is now. My friend pointed out that we may have to cut it soon so that it doesn't get into the potty!

We're still enjoying getting to know everyone at Hay Valley Baptist Church. Barry is doing a great job preaching on Sundays. We had over 50 kids at the Vacation Bible School last month. It was a really fun and special time for our church. Barry had to kiss a pig at the end of it because the boys lost the fundraising war against the girls. We raised over $500 to give to the Texas Baptist Children's Home for school supplies.

Barry will start the Fall semester on Thursday. I'm sure it'll prove to be difficult since he's taking 16 hours, is still grading for an Evangelism professor, and is a part-time pastor. But, we feel like we're almost in the home stretch since graduation will hopefully be in May.

I'm going to be pretty busy myself this semester. Since Reuben's officially a toddler now, I volunteered to be an officer with Metochai (seminary wives organization) and MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). I may have bit off more than I can chew, though. I'm just praying that God will help me be faithful and efficient, and that the women in these organizations will feel encouraged and loved.

We plan to come into Austin on August 24th at 3 pm for the service at Liveoak Bible Church. We hope to see many of you old friends there! Also, Barry will be ordained soon and we'd love it if you would come to that service. It will be in Gatesville at our church on a Sunday afternoon -- possibly September 28th.

Barry Bishop, Pastor?

Barry just began his first pastorate! Hay Valley Baptist Church near Gatesville, TX voted on June 1st. It's a small country church. Everyone has welcomed us with open arms and has been so sweet to us. Please pray that God will use us to love and minister to all the people there. Please also pray for safe travel there and back on the weekends, as we will continue to live in Fort Worth until Barry receives his degree in May, God willing. We wanted to share some pictures with you.

A Wowie BOZowee 1st Birthday!

Reuben's 1st birthday was Friday, May 30th. We had a BOZ theme, complete with a birthday cake made by me and decorated by my good friend Christina. It turned out great! BOZ is a big green bear who is like a Christian version of Barney. We have all the DVDs and highly recommend them for preschoolers. Please don't be offended if you didn't get an invitation to his party -- we didn't have much time to send them out because of our vacation, so we just did a small get-together with our neighbors.

To update you on Reuben, he can crawl on his and hands and knees, walk behind a push toy and along furniture, and climb stairs. He weights 18 lbs. 11 oz. and has no teeth. He just started saying "da-da." Everybody always comments on how happy and good-natured he is. We just love him and his big sis to pieces!