THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

   I DON'T know to many people that would be so bold as to tell God, to "just hold on a minute" and then to keep Him waiting for days, weeks, months and some even years. We are much more diplomatic about it, we simply say to ourselves, "now is not the time". In Haggai we read about God's people doing exactly so. They do not say that they don't want to or don't have interest in building another temple, they simply justify that "it's not the right time". It's not that I don't want to go overseas, but "it's not the time". It's not that I don't want to get involved, it's just that "it's not the time". It's not that I don't want to forsake all and follow you, "it's just not the time". When the kids are older, when my finances are better, when my marriage is better, when I pay off some debt, when I get my act together, but yet we manage to have time for our purposes, but no...

   DON'T eat before coming over, please! Have you ever invited someone over for dinner and somehow there was a mis-communication and they thought it was just for coffee? "Please eat, it really is good, it's one of my best dishes", I've begged. The reply has always been, "I'm sure it is good, I am simply stuffed and I just don't have room for anything else right now, give me some time". I have been on the receiving end of that situation and I have also been the guilty party.  I know that no matter what they served that night, no matter how good it was, I would have no appetite for it.  When we are full, not hungry, nothing in the world, at that moment is appealing. "Don't talk to me about food right now", is often the reply we get when we are forcing someone to eat that is full.  Ever heard someone say that you were trying to stuff "the bread of life" down their throat say, "don't talk to me about Christ right now,...

    "Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept…..we put away our harps." No problem right, they’re down in the dumps, it’s just not “good times” right now. However the most unlikely (or maybe not so unlikely) event occurs, the ungodly Babylonians want them to sing a song for them. One of the great songs about their God, that they are renowned for singing all over the existing world; at that time. Unfortunately, to the surprise of the Babylonians and maybe even to their own surprise, they reply “we have no song to sing”. In the most unlikely situations and times, when we least expect it, will we be asked, by those that we have been trying to reach, those that have been persecuting us, those that have rejected us in the past, now, in our worse moment, at a time when we are down, do they come to us and say, “sing us a song” and what do we say, “ get a way from me right now, I just want to be left alone; going through a rough time, I've hung my harp and I have nothin...

    “Bottled up prayers” that’s a pretty cool idea and concept. People have been almost miraculously rescued by putting a message in a bottle, tossing it out into the sea and hoping, praying it floats safe and sound into the hands of a would be rescuer. A preserved cry for help is what a message in a bottle is. Is a vocal prayer also “a preserved cry for help?” The message in the bottle is a desperate hope that the cry for help will get into the right hands and often a prayer is also a desperate hope that their cry will somehow travel billions of light years through space and time and get into the hands of this incredible deity, we call God. The question is, are our prayers making it through billions of light years and galaxies to God? According to our text today, they are!!! They are the message in the bottle. “  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of al...

   “ But you, O Bethlehem are only a small village among all the people of Judah, Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past”. This of course is the scripture that the Pharisees used to reject Jesus as the Messiah. As far as they knew, what they had been told, Jesus was from Nazareth; therefore He could not be the Messiah as prophesied about in Micah. Had the Pharisees done their research they would have found out Jesus was not from Nazareth, his parents had only moved there later on, but that Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem. Ignorance is not always bliss! The Pharisees and many others will perish because of their ignorance. How many people today will argue about religion, salvation and eternity who are completely ignorant and don’t know the facts. The Pharisees would ultimately perish based on what they had heard. How many times when Jesus was speaking to them did He not say, “have you not read?!” I once was perishing, I lived a horrible, sinful li...

   If a liar and deceiver comes and says, "I will prophecy for you plenty of wine and beer, that would be just the prophet for this people "Isn't that the scripture every person should know and memorize. It's hard to believe this was written over 2000 years ago and not just last week. It goes to show that God has a sense of humor and sarcasm working in Him and it proves He knows what most of us really want. This Holiday season is all about wine & beer. God is 100% accurate in his assessment. The prophet that would tells us "have all the wine and beer you want" is the prophet we want and he is the prophet that we have today. It's not just the sinners boozing it up this time of year, it's the sipping saints too! It's the festive time of year! It's festive because we are filled with wine and beer. I may have my mind on plenty of other things when I get to Heaven, but right now, today, my question to Jesus would be, "why did you do it?...