THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

  In the Book of Job today we read, "the godless are full of resentment".  It's a vicious cycle isn't it. The more we disobey God and do things our own way, the worse things get for us and the more bitter and resentful we get against God and the further we stray from Him. While the opposite is true for the sincere Christian. Those that obey spend the rest of their years in prosperity and their years in contentment; thence, drawing them closer to God.   We go on to read "For the godless are full of resentment. Even when God punishes them, they refuse to cry out to him for help".  In the book "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis, a fictional account of life for the soul in the netherworld, C.S. Lewis illustrates the truth of this scripture. Lewis shows that in the afterlife, people/souls will only become more resolute in their convictions. The lost person who dies in their sin, full of rebellion and pride against God will only become more resolute; as t...

   ALL men should be both comforted and challenged by Job's statement, in today's reading, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman."  Why did he make such a covenant with his eyes? For the obvious reason that this is what he was doing or being tempted to do. We should be glad that he did not just write, "my eyes look lustfully at young women".   If he had, we would all feel justified in unbridled lust. You think of King David, a man after God's own heart, according to scripture, he had hundreds of women that he had sex with, many wives and concubines.  He found a way to feed his lust for young women by trying to legitimize it by making them wives and concubines.  Many Preachers have joked about this, "it's hard enough to be married to one woman, who would want more than one?" If only that were the case. David was married to these women simply on paper, so to speak. He did not deal with them in the normal sense...

 I work with an elderly lady and when I walk by, I hold my breath, not because she stinks, but the perfume she wears, stinks. She does not take the time and pay the cost, to put that perfume on, so that others can say, "she stinks, but regardless, that is the end result. I'm sure there are others that will tell her that the perfume she is wearing smells very nice. Paul describes our life as a sweet smelling perfume. However Paul makes an interesting observation here, he writes that not all think our perfume is so sweet. Paul writes that to those who are being saved we are a life giving perfume, but to those who are perishing we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. At work, at school and family events, to some, as they see you walking over, they say to each other before you get there, "block your nose, he comes so and so and she/her stinks of death and doom". And they hold their breath the whole time you are there. The Word of God has a scripture that gives us insi...

Job is wanting a "one on one meeting" with God, to present his case before God. "Even till this day, my complaint is bitter". Job goes on to say. "Oh that I knew where I might find him". Job is clear here, in this text, that if he could find God, he would go to Him and plead his case, and his complaint, before Him. Recently, I did such a thing, not with God of course, but with a utility company that I have a complaint with and wanting to state my case before them. I went in, quite irate and perturbed, to say the least. They did not make any promises to change and/or reverse any charges, but would consider. The difference between the utility company and God though, is I was able to bring information to them, that they were not privy of, so that may change their recourse. However, with God, what information are we going to bring to Him that He does not already have knowledge of? Many of us, I'm sure, have at one time or another, wished if we could just h...

   One thing that is very interesting about reading through the One Year Bible is coming across days like today. Who could plan this out? Yesterday, in the Old Testament we are reading about "Lousy Comforters" and today in the New Testament we are reading about "Good Comforters". Paul writes that God comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort others in their troubles. The first problem then of a lousy comforter would be that he or she, is one that has not been comforted by God; therefore he cannot comfort others. The question to ask of course would be, "why hasn't he been comforted by God?". The answer is complex, but a simple answer for sake of time and space, would be that he/she is not able to be comforted by God because they are to distant from God and secondly, because they have structured their life in such a way that often there is not much trouble to be comforted in. Paul writes, "that as you share in our sufferings, you will also ...

   Job responds to his friends, "I have heard many things like this before; you are lousy comforters, all of you. Job is not trying to be mean and guess what?! Neither are his friends! They are simply, "lousy comforters". These are believers, they are well versed believers. Much of what they are saying is true. Their theology is correct, but their application is horrible.  A Christian employee was asked by the secretary why bad things happen to kids; another religious man in the company interrupted with his own answer, "everything comes down to sowing and reaping" and he began to quote scripture. In this Christian's world, everything is black and white. Just like Job's friends; and what a lousy comforter he would be. What would he say to comfort the woman who has a miscarriage? He would no doubt tell her she was reaping some kind of sin. Even Jesus' disciples were caught up in this tract, they asked Jesus, "who sinned, this man or his parents, ...

       JUST because someone is down does not necessarily mean that they are spiritually inferior to you.  There's some great insight into human nature in the Book of Job.  Verse 5, "Men at ease have contempt for misfortune".  There is a weird, sinister characteristic in humans that has a contempt for misfortune and people in misfortune. People need compassion and empathy when misfortune strikes, but often what they get from us is contempt and a cold shoulder. Why is that?  Why is our response, "here, here's $50.00 now get it together, I got it together, what is so difficult?"  I believe one of the reasons for this attitude and response towards struggling people is that we have seen many people in misfortune because of their own decisions as we watched them through their lives away and we begin to take on this mindset that all who are suffering, are suffering due to their own fault.  We assume they have ...

   Well, so much for the argument that I've heard Christians tell Atheists, "well, even if there is no God, and we are not resurrected, we have lived a better life". Paul doesn't seem to agree, Paul writes, if there's no resurrection then let's enjoy the sinful pleasures of this life" (paraphrased by me of course). Paul writes "there are many things that I am free to do, that I do not because they are not constructive to my walk with God or may be a stumbling block to others (paraphrased by me). In short Paul is saying that the Christian life is a life of much self restraint, that there are even things "which are permissible" that Paul doesn't do, for the sake of others. And I can relate to that, can you? If there's no judgement, no resurrection then Paul says, "let's loosen up a little, boys!" Never mind this mantra, "well, we have lived a better life"  Paul says, "no way, no resurrection, let's par...

        THE worse people to try to comfort are those that have spent their lives encouraging others, ironically enough (or not so ironic) is that they that have spent their lives encouraging others and expected those that they ministered to to receive their benevolence; now that they are recipients of such Grace and benevolence, they are not such good takers. Verse 3 in Job, "Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hand. Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees"  We don't have to guess at what Job's life has been, we are told here, he has spent his life instructing, strengthening and supporting others but now that he is down and out, he is not so good at letting others encourage him.  Ever met people like that?  They are great at helping others, they are great at encouraging others but when they need help, when they need encour...

    Okay, maybe my pessimism or cynical nature is going to come out here (I apologize in advance) but WHO in the world is contending for "Spiritual Gifts" in your church? You talk about an outdated scripture. We are the generation of the Mega and Entertainment Church, pop-psychology, feel good sermons and where does me seeking gifts, so that the church be edified, fit into that? I am here for me, I come to church so I can be lifted up, so I can be encouraged, so I can benefit, and it better be good too!  This whole foregone idea of desiring "Gifts" was back in the day when people wanted to help and be a blessing to their church. Can you imagine someone desiring The Gift of Tongues of Prophesy, risking, looking like a fool, for what? So the church can be edified, never mind that! I have been saved for over 23 years and have never, heard, in any conversation, someone say, "you know, I"m seeking spiritual gifts so the church may  be edified".  I know, I ...

     THIS is not the answer to prayer that Esther is looking for, ie: Fight.   She is going to The King (A God type figure in this story) and as we all know, The King (Jesus Christ) can do anything, right?   The King can put a stop to this! However, to Esther's surprise the King says, "I cannot!"  Whoever heard of such words coming out of the mouth of a King! How many times have we asked our King, and quoting with assurance "you can do anything" and God comes back to us and says, "this I cannot do, but if you will do thus and so then...."   The King says he cannot stop it but what he can do is make it so that they can fight and defend themselves.  Not quite the answer Esther was looking for and often not the answer we are looking for either, if we will be quit honest.      The King has limited his own self by this law that causes him not to be able to reverse what he has signed off w...

   How can we both be right? Easy, happens all the time. Where do you stand in this story? If you're a man then you probably will take sides with the man, "can't have a woman dissing her husband in front of all those people, especially a man of that authority, what kind of precedent would that make? Hmmm, true.      If you're a woman then you will probably take sides with the woman, "you have to stand up for yourself, if you don't respect yourself, then who will. He thinks he's going to get all drunk with his friends and then call me over in front of his drunk friends and parade me in front of them....I don't think so!" Hmmm, true.      He should not be getting drunk with his friends and then for entertainment be thinking of having his wife come parade in front of them so they can all gawk and grope at her, c'mon....she should not be disrespecting her husband in front of all his friends and setting a bad example for other woman to follow...

    This is our hope, when there is no hope. That God is a "Master Orchestrator", orchestrating events on our behalf, in our favor. Though God is not "specifically" mentioned throughout the Book of Esther, He is interwoven throughout the whole book. God is not speaking directly to Esther or Mordecai. God is not even sending Angels to speak to his people; as in other stories. The story of Esther is  a story that the 21st Century Christian should be able to relate to, more than any other story in the bible.  In our day and age, we are not seeing appearances of God nor speaking with Angels. We pray and we believe God; once we've prayed and sought his help to guide by divine guidance and to orchestrate, we, the 21st Century Christian, rely heavily on Providence! Often we quote Mordecai as saying to Esther "for such a time as this you have come to be Queen", but the actual quote is "who knows if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this"...

     I think, God gave man an ego and I believe God gave man an ego so he could use them as leaders of his people, specifically, Shepherding his people. As you have heard before, Pastor's have ego's and God capitalizes on that to draw them into the call. Why else, would any man ever want to Pastor? I know, I know...it's rewarding, it's service to The Lord, it's "a calling" and it is "all that" BUT at the end it will also drive you crazy and cause you to "lose it" over and over.  I know you are more spiritual than Moses, but Moses would agree with me and so would Nehemiah, our subject at hand. Many young men have the glare in their eyes of one day being called "Pastor" and God will use that as bait. No doubt, God will also make sure there is a shepherd's heart and character in that man, but ego will play a big part. This statement is offensive to both receiving ends isn't it.  The people are insulted to be told they can...

    If you don't have time to read Paul's discourse on Christian benevolence, let me sum it up for you today! Stop being dogmatic with each other; especially young Christians, if you want to be fruitful and see people saved. This is all nit picking and petty stuff, the kind of stuff that repels people, not draws them in. Paul writes that his end focus in everything, is to see people saved.  It's not about you, it's about them.  But I wonder if his words are falling on deaf ears, I wonder if our words today, are falling on deaf ears.  It would be like gathering a group of men together in a room and delivering your dissertation on bargain shopping and how to find the best sales at Macy's and the best yard sales to find great deals. You may have all the wisdom and expertise in the world on the subject matter, but you just don't have the right crowd to share that with. "Well, the church is definitely the right crowd to share this with!"  Is it?  I won...

     WAS the Apostle Paul a Calvinist?  While we can debate all day long; as to whether Paul was a Calvinist in theory, more importantly is how he lived. And when we look at how he lived it appears more than anything, that he believed in Arminianism. Jacobus Arminius was a Dutch Pastor and Theologian who rejected his teacher's theology (John Calvin) that it is God who unconditionally elects some for salvation. Instead Arminius proposed that the election of God was of believers, thereby making it  conditional on faith . The scriptures that John Calvin used to prove his theory of "predestination" mostly, if not all, came from the Apostle Paul's writings.  No doubt many of Paul's writings do refer to the "elect in Christ" and those "whom God predestined and chose", but yet while Paul might have seemed Calvinist in theory, look at how he lived his life! For a guy who taught allot about "the elect" & predestined" he lived h...

   Paul, in his writing to the Corinthians opens up about this stigma, that he has had to live with. As hard as he has worked and as faithful as he has been, Paul is still not considered an "Apostle" within many circles. He is not regarded as being in the same class and group as Peter, James & John. They are the "Apostles".  Paul is like the black sheep of the Apostles, at best. Paul writes himself, "even if I am not considered an Apostle to others, I am to you!". In other words, "don't you start treating me like that too, enough is enough!". We think that to be able to flourish in our Church, to be able to flourish in the Kingdom of God, we have to be that Christian that everybody loves, everybody accepts and everybody thinks the best of. "It's easy for them, everybody thinks they're so great, let them try living with the stigma that I have to live under". Paul teaches us that we can flourish as a Christian, despite wha...

     DON'T be so free to exercise your freedoms lest you cause others to stumble, Paul warns us, what a lost concept this is. Actually it's not just a concept, it's a command. Paul goes on to write, "when you sin against your brothers by doing this and wounded their weak conscience, you sin against Christ."  It's almost as if God makes sure it is phrased like this, "you sin against Christ" because otherwise we would not change our behavior. If all the scripture said is that we sin against our brother, most would say, "oh well, to bad, he/she just needs to suck it up, grow up and mature. I believe God really knows human nature very well, doesn't he!       I have been a Christian for 20 years and have yet to meet a Christian that practices this.  Have you?  I have met the opposite. Christians who refuse to stop drinking, because it is their right to drink and nowhere in the bible does ...

     This is now the 2nd to 3rd time the Jews face opposition in the rebuilding project. Now it's coming through different individuals, this time it's the SanBallat & Tobiah team. It comes through mocking, gesturing and intimidation. Opposition is a formidable enemy. In the middle of all this opposition the people come to Nehemiah and say, "we can't do this". You'll notice they come to Nehemiah right after they agree to pray together and believe God. How many times have I prayed with people and agreed with them to believe God and then, the next week, "Pastor we/I can't do this". You'll notice when they come to Nehemiah and say "we can't do this" they mention nothing about the opposition, they mention nothing about Sanballat or the intimidation. They come up with another reason, "the people are tired and there is just too much rubble".  In other words, "this is too big a mess".  But it was always too big a...

   THE four steps and in this order always seem to be: 1. Prayer and Fast  2. Then Opportunity - Doors open  3. Opposition arrives on the scene.  4. To quit It takes enough energy to fast and pray, then we must conjure up more energy to press through with the opportunity, but at least we are where we wanted to be. It has taken a lot of mental, physical and emotional energy and steadfastness, but we are there, or so we think! NOW  the least expected (although I don't know why) hits us, OPPOSITION and that is more than most can handle. After all I've been through to get here, now there are people (we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and wicked spirits in high places...) here that want to oppose me, why? "I'm tired of this, this is to difficult".  This third step is the nail in the coffin (so to speak). It is more than most can bare, but it is reality. You can count on it!  Always remember the sequence of...

    "..for this matter cannot be settled in a day, for we have sinned greatly".  I read that and thought, "aint that the truth". And the other revelation we can learn from these men is that the longer you persist in your disobedience and rebellion, the deeper the hole you dig and the longer it takes to dig your way out. This story is a tragic mess with no happy ending. There is going to be crying and broken hearts. These men are going to be sending away their pagan wives along with their children. I will give them credit though, often, Christians want to say "I'm sorry" but they don't want to make any changes or undue anything they've done, they just want to exercise that greasy Grace, not change a thing, take that wonderful forgiveness and move on. However these men, realize it's one thing to ask forgiveness, but if we don't act or do anything, is it really genuine? When folks were coming to John the Baptist for forgiveness, John actua...

    Ezra is on his face, weeping and the people join him. Weeping is good....I guess, as long as once you get up, wipe your face and do something about it. The problem with tears is, they dry up and we go on with our lives with absolutely nothing changed. The revelation that we learn from this story today is that "radical disobedience requires radical obedience", to get back on track.  I am nauseous just reading about the decision these men make to divorce their pagan wives and send them away "with their children". Make no mistake, this was not an easy decision for these men to make. I don't know too many parents that don't love their children, this hurt and it hurt bad, at least for most of these men. This is amazing to see. Have you ever seen such a radical departure from disobedience?  Have you ever seen such a radical repentance? Have you ever seen such radical follow through, after the tears?  I have not! I see tears, I hear people sobbing in front of ...

   There's always the exception to the rule, but I believe most of us struggle with wanting to be the respected and dignified Christian, as opposed to what Paul describes as "spectacle to the entire world-to people and angels alike. Our dedication makes us look like fools, but you are so wise (and well respected)".  I think Paul breaks it down "our dedication" makes us look like fools. When we are dedicated, sold out for Christ, we will look like fools. Street preaching is not dignified, passing out tracts and flyers at Walmart does not boost your social status, preaching at a public event doesn't make the Community you live in respect you. "Our dedication makes us fools....BUT, you are wise!" I wonder how many Christians reading this have never Street Preached, passed out flyers and evangelized in an open square? Just the thought of it makes them nausea and raises the hairs on the back of their necks.  Have you become the wise and respectable Chri...

     Many Churches in America have given up "reaching the lost". Their Church has just become one exclusive club, "not taking any new members". I always love calling a Doctor's office when I'm sick and being told, "I'm sorry, Dr. Smith is not taking any new patients at this time".  Okay, I'm sorry too, I guess I'll just roll over and die. We may not have a high pitched, squeaky secretary telling people "we are not accepting new patients/sinners" but we can still have the same mindset and posture. Paul, in our text reminds us, indirectly, of our purpose and function in this Christian life. We are involved in a project, it's called "Advancing the Kingdom of God Upon the Earth", it involves work, sowing seed, watering seed (follow up) and causing it (The Kingdom of God/The Church) to grow. "Not taking patients anymore" is an unacceptable answer! "They are unreachable" is an excuse, if not short o...

   Why do people oppose good? All the Israelites want to do is rebuild the Temple. This rebuilding of the Temple seems to irritate some, to the point where they make it their mission, to bring it to a halt. God's people figure they'll just ignore them, they're no threat, they'll go away. Well.....read the rest of the story....they don't go away, they writes letters to the king, fabricate lies, slander them.....and of course this won't work against God's people...WAIT IT DOES WORK, and the King writes back and issues orders to have the work immediately stopped. If you're just going to a religious church, playing religious games you will never have to face demonic opposition, you don't' have to worry about this blog today. However, if you are part of a Church that is pressing in against the Kingdom of Darkness, to advance The Kingdom of God, you'd better believe the enemy is not going to sit idly by and allow you to build anything without a fig...

NOTHING worse than waiting on somebody else.  Especially when you know (or at least think you know) where you are going. I'd rather take a side route, that my wife will be faithful to tell me, "took me longer" than sit in traffic and WAIT.  I'd rather give up something than have to WAIT.  Keep me waiting to long in a store to purchase my goods and you will lose that sale.  What is this wait thing anyway?  I will never forget my months of training in the Marine Corps.  It was madness. They would rush us to the point of an anxiety attack and then when we arrived at the place they were rushing us off to with such urgency, then we sat and at times, waited for an hour before the event began.  Why am I waiting in line for so long when there are other cash registers sitting empty?  Why am I waiting for service at Walmart when I have gone there out of my time, I have gone there to spend my money on their goods, but yet I have been kept waiting in aisles f...

   I am reading about this religious revival, a religious "awakening" something ....apparently every church yearns for, or so we say.  But you know what I noticed as I'm reading through Chronicles, especially today, I'm noticing it's allot of work and it's costly. And there are few that want to work and there are fewer that want to give. For all the people celebrating and having a great time in this "religious revival" there is also a group of people that are very tired, over worked and quite frankly, not really enjoying themselves or this wonderful idea of Josiah's.. It's allot of work, in verse 14 we read, "the priests had been busy from morning till night offering the burnt offerings..."  Now I have been in the Church and in Ministry long enough to know, that the priests were not rejoicing over this. If they are human like the people in our churches they were venting, saying things like, "next time Pastor, I mean...Josiah ge...

         Josiah was king for 8 years before he decided to seek God.  Did you catch that!  What in the world was Josiah doing for 8 years??? The answer: same thing you've been doing for the past few years...and that is....COASTING.  Coasting on our own abilities, making do with what comes naturally to us and probably finding the path of least resistance. Taking what life simply throws at you and never contending for anything more from God.  The delusion for coasters is that "I am doing alright".  You are deluded and God forbid you should die in that state if you would even make Heaven your home and if you did make Heaven your home (as Paul describes as "one barely escaping through the fires") then you would probably find out all that you did not accomplish, that you could have, had you sought God and not coasted. It is safe to say, isn't it, that Josiah accomplished much more for God once he began to see...