THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

  IT is amazing to me as we come to the close of the year readings, in our One Year Bible that often you can't tell if you're reading in the Old Testament or New Testament portion. Today, I have to admit, I might have been drifting a little while reading (long night), but when I reigned myself back in and got re-focused I assumed I was reading the New Testament portion (yes I spaced out).  "Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.” While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. 5 And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will be its glory within." If that doesn't read like Revelations than I don't know...

   What armies are we talking about here?  When I think of Heaven, I don’t think of armies. I think of ‘Ol Saint Francis sitting on a cloud, playing a Harp.  In Zechariah Jesus keeps being referred to as “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies”. Armies in Heaven, really? Armies for what? Aren’t armies for war?  What wars? Celestial Wars? Two of the highest box office hits were “ Lord of the Rings ” and “ Harry Potter ”. Why are we so fascinated with the epic movies about wars between evil and good? Is our fascination with fiction, perhaps not really a fascination with fiction, but rather a fascination with what we innately know to be  non-fiction . Christian movies don’t tend to do well at the Box Office, but one movie that did particularly do well was “ The Chronicles of Narnia ”. Again, a movie about evil being at war with good, talking animals, heavenly beings and demonic beasts. As we near the end of the year, it’s amazing how the Old Testament begins to mirr...

   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?...

    THE problem with the story of Jonah is it causes many lazy Christians to form a wrong Theology. And that theology is, that God will bring to fruition his purposes for me, irregardless of moi. Irregardless of my stubbornness, irregardless of my rebelliousness, irregardless of my uncleanness, irregardless of my undisciplined spiritual life, in essence, irregardless of me. "Look at Jonah, he didn't want to do God's will, he was heading in a completely different direction and in the end, God got him to do what He wanted". And what do we say to that? We cannot deny it is true, we just read it! We cannot deny that God is Sovereign and that his will will always prevail, otherwise He cannot be Sovereign. We cannot deny that God, in being sovereign, reserves the right to "override" our free will when necessary; otherwise he cannot be sovereign. My son, no doubt has a free will and he functions day to day exercising his free will, but I, as his Father, reserve the...

   It is strange reading about Esau, at the end of the Year, at the end of the Bible. But God saw fit to bring up him name, one last time. Esau is the sad story, that never gets better. Wouldn't make for a nice movie where everyone likes a happy ending. I think the problem with watching movies and always having a happy ending is we begin to identify life like that. It will work out, it will end well, it's all good. Well, that may be Hollywood, and that may make a much better movie, but in real life, some stories, some lives are tragic saga's and sad endings. Isaac has two boys, Esau and Jacob. Esau comes from a good family, Esau has great opportunity, but something is in Esau, that is not right and he does not seem to do right, or chose right. He is like Cain whom God confronts and tells him, "if you will do right will you not be accepted as well?" Sometimes we make decisions that are going to set us in a certain direction and put us on a course we may not want to...

         WHY is everything about being Victorious, about overcoming? 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne." Is there not a place anywhere for the fainthearted, is there not a place anywhere for the man who wants to quit, for the man who is going to lose? Apparently, not even Heaven, of all places has a place for the loser or the quitter. Why does Jesus have to remind us that it will not be those that simply said a prayer one day, long time ago, that will inherit the Kingdom of God, but only those that overcome and are victorious?      When my son was in middle-school, I was coaching his football team and my son was the quarterback. The only teams that moved on for the prize were the teams that were victorious. Why couldn't those that lost move on? We, my team, were not victorious. I stood on the field and watched before my own eyes, my...

    Kudos to the Church in Thyatira. If I was the Pastor of that church I would frame these words from Jesus and hang them in the Church foyer for everyone, especially visitors to read, “I have seen your love, your faith, you service and patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things”. Of course I would leave out the next part, “ But I have this one complaint against you, you are permitting that woman Jezebel….to teach them to commit sexual sin”. We know that “Love” is the primary objective, the primary goal of a church. The church in Thyatira seems to have reached this high and lofty goal. I think we can agree, there’s a few churches today that are seriously lacking in love. It’s unfortunate that the very objective that the Thyatira church has strived to be, now brings with it a serious fault. They have tried so hard to be “the love church” that in doing so they have completely avoided any kind of behavior that might be taken as “unlo...

    "Return to your first love" it's the sermon older Christians hate to hear. It's like men listening to a sermon on lust "oh here we go again", they think to themselves. Lust is the Achilles heel of every man (though hopefully triumphant) and "go back to your first love" is the sermon that can be preached any Sunday, and most older converts will be convicted! Because we do stray in our relationships, the fire does dwindle in our relationships and whether we want to hear it or not it is true and needs to be said. We do need to return to our first love, it's not a cliché, but true! We are no longer the "down and out" person we were when we first came to Christ. We are now married, have kids, have sports on week-ends, have good jobs and life is good, for the most part and oh yeah...and did I mention, Jesus!  Jesus.... sure, he's good, church is alright, however I don't think I'm gonna make it this Sunday my son has a soccer...

   I know that the Christian Life is not the perfect life. That if I expect my life to be ever so bliss because I’m a Christian is wrong. However, I still cannot get away from the scripture that continuously tells me, “my life should be blessed because I fear the Lord and obey him. So while I should make room in my theology or life, for hard times, I must also understand that it isn’t my lot in life to be miserable and beaten down. In both Psalms and Proverbs today we are told that “ how joyful are those who fear the Lord, how joyful and prosperous they will be, may you live to enjoy your grandchildren” then in Proverbs we read, “whoever obeys the law is joyful” it is almost a duplicate of what we read in Psalm 128. And so I get it, I get it, my life isn’t going to be perfect, I know, I’ve been told enough times, through radio talk shows to sermons, books and from friends. I got that part, it’s been made loud and clear. It’s almost the strategy they use in “sales”. Set ex...

         I SIMPLY don't understand Eternal Security and I understand it even less after reading today's passage in Jude. The author provides a clear cut case against eternal security. He writes, "let me remind you". I think part of the problem is we forget and probably worse, most Christians just don't read The Bible, seems like an oxymoron if I've ever heard one, but it's true. If you were to try to have a debate over this subject and say, "well you know what it says in the book of Jude (as I have many times) about this" many "self-professed" Christians/back-slidden Baptists, would give you that stare...."hmmm, Jude, I think I've heard of that book, I'm not quite sure where it is...is that old testament?" And for those that have read the book of Jude and read the arguments of the author they would simply say, "well, that's because they were never really saved". However the author deals with that in Jude....

    The reason we have conflict in the church is because some people are just jerks. Surely it has nothing to do with us! It's always the other person that has the issues, it's always the other person who is causing the conflict. It's always the other persons conceit and arrogance that has caused us not to like him. He's this and she's that and if they weren't like that we wouldn't have such problems. If the Pastor wasn't so .........than I could submit to him, I would even like him. If my ministry leader wasn't so headstrong, then I could get along with him/her. But c'mon, how can you have a problem with the Apostle of Love? If there's anybody in the church you could expect not to have any relationship problems with, it would be the Apostle John, (known as the disciple of Love) the disciple whom Jesus loved the most. However that's not the case is it?! Somebody in the church had major issues with John. " I wrote to the church, but D...

    It's horrible to read about the moral decline of Israel. Was Israel really this bad? As we read about the moral decline of Israel, it's hard not to think about the moral decline of America. We see that the name and title the Priests wear, has no bearing on their behavior. They are just as lewd and immoral as the rest of the people, if not worse. What happens when we lose are relationship with God and just become religious, is exactly this. No longer does the name we bear, have any effect on how we live or conduct ourselves. For the most part, Americans have lost their relationship with God, but are still a religious people. And so we have a Nation of self-professing religious people, whose conduct is rated R. America is still pretty religious, some States are more religious than others, ie: Texas, Alabama and the whole midwest, but you will not find moral conduct that is being curved or tamed by people in these States as opposed to other States. All you will find...

       Selling sex for money is as old as the bible itself. I wonder who the first woman was who thought, “I need money, why don’t I sell sex”. As old as this practice is, it’s amazing that we are still not comfortable with the idea. Nobody is proudly and anxiously bringing his prostitute girlfriend home for the Holidays. “Mom, Dad, I want you to meet my new girlfriend, she’s a very successful prostitute in our downtown area and I love her and thought it was time you meet her”, how well would that go off in front of the family at Christmas?       Most women have never technically sold sex for money and most men have never technically paid a prostitute for sex. I have seen talk shows where a woman was presenting herself as a “dignified woman”. She explains about her role in prostitution and how it is a means of paying her way through University, where of course she’s studying to be a Doctor or Lawyer. The talk show’s agenda is to present this woman...

    Whoever Loves is born of God” John writes, he sure did create some conflict when he wrote that. Surely we cannot presume that to mean that whoever loves his wife, his children, his horses, his dog Rover, his family…is born of God? Surely that does not mean that the loving Buddhist and Muslim, are born or God? Surely he’s not implying that the atheist who loves his family is born of God? Surely he does not mean that the man who loves his male lover, is born of God? What is John talking about, “whoever loves is born of God, are you kidding me? We can only understand this to mean that whoever loves  “partakes” in the divine nature of God  because, as John writes, “God is Love”. In other words, when the atheist loves, who claims there is no God, he/she is actually partaking in the nature of the one he says doesn’t exist. Those that hate God, but yet love their families, ironically hate the one who gives them the ability to love and enjoy their families. And of course...

    I’m sure glad John wrote this “the brother of love” and not me, because I would be accused of being the “brother of hate”. John is vehemently attacking “hypocrisy” in his writing. To think…..I thought this was just a problem in the bible belt of America or in the Deep South; people claiming “to know Jesus, Praise Jesus, Hallelujah!!” But yet live like The Devil. We preach “Christianity is a relationship with Jesus, not a religion”, but the problem is as we venture out across America, we find that in many states and cities across America, Christianity is just another religion to most people. Growing up on the east coast, as a Roman Catholic, we were faithful church attendees on Sundays, but lived pretty sinful lives throughout the rest of the week. Everyone in my family was immoral, everyone in my family drank & cussed, but yet on Sundays there we were in church trying to act (at least the adults) as pious as we could. That’s why as a teenager, I left the chur...

 Daniel is one of the greatest prophets for end times that ever lived. Over 2000 years later, we still have no prophet, no man that has ever given us more accurate detail about end times, the coming of Christ and the 7 year tribulation. What gives Daniel even more authority is that Jesus himself, tells us to reference to Daniel’s book for End Times “prophecy”. Daniel’s math and prophecies can seem too complex to even begin to digest, but if we take the time we find out they are amazingly accurate. In a simple, “End Times Prophecy for Dummies” let’s break down his numbers. Daniel references the time period for the completion of Israel ’s judgment for their rebellion as 70 x 7, which equals 490 years. Daniel also goes on to predict another prophecy about the “anointed one” “Christ” to come and then be killed, seemingly accomplishing nothing. The dates Daniel gives for the Anointed One are 7 sets of 7 (7x7) = [ 49 ] + 62 sets of 7 (62 x 7) = [ 434 ] . So 49 + 434 = 483 Years. Accordin...

    Daniel is trafficking in two worlds, as we must. He’s getting all this revelation from God, but yet he must get up and go to work; and to make things worse, serve a heathen king. Daniel is sick in bed, probably mental anguish; eventually he gets up and goes to work. It is hard trafficking in what seems like two worlds, at times. I remember my wife coming into the room one Monday morning as I lay in bed. “You’re not going to work?”, she asked. I said, “no”. “What’s wrong, are you sick?” I said, “yes,....mentally sick!”. There’s nothing wrong or deceitful about taking a sick day over mental sickness. Some how we associate sick days with just the body, but the mind gets sick too! Mental anguish and grief is just as handicapping, if not more, than being a work with a wicked cold. However, like a cold, we must recover and get back on our feet. Daniel is out for a few days, but eventually he gets back to work, but yet the heavy revelation is still pressing upon his min...