THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

 It has been said, "Constructions workers build houses, families build homes". Paul may not have had a family, but he has definitely tapped into "the mind of Christ" for the family, here in his epistle to the Colossians. It just goes to show, that God can give us wisdom and insight we need to navigate through life properly and we do not always need experience to have wisdom & insight. Paul gives us great wisdom and insight into the 4 dynamics of a successful family. Not in any order of priority, but he starts with wives being submitted to their husbands, husbands not to be harsh with their wives, children to be obedient to their parents and parents not exasperating their children unto anger (as we often do). Turmoil in a home is when one or worse, all of these elements are out of place. How often parents are fighting and frustrated because the kids are misbehaving. How often the children listen to the mom and dad go out at it because the wife is bent on leading ...

"IN spite of all this they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe." As we have learned (I hope) with our children, spoiling them and showering them with gifts does not lead them to love, respect and obey us. God himself has seen that giving people what they want and working miracles in their midst has not converted their hearts, one iota! Question to ask then is this, "if God spoiling and doing miracles doesn't change a sinner's heart, what does? Isn't that what we pray for, for God to do a miracle in a family member, whether it be a financial miracle or a miracle healing of a fatal disease. Then we and the family member, that we were praying for, witness for ourselves this prayer answered, the miracle happens, they are healed or receive a miraculous blessing and we think now they will "get saved" and serve God, but yet to our amazement, they do not! What are you praying for, concerning your family, co-workers and friends? Ar...

The Church's mantra is always, "Everyone Welcome!", but do we really mean that? Is everyone really welcome? One preacher coined the term "religious devils", are religious devils really welcome into your church? Are people who sow and spread false teachings and doctrines in your church..., really welcome? Are those that cause divisions and strife really welcome in your church? Is the couple that caused a rebellion and church split, in their last church, really welcome? Is everyone really welcome? And I think, if we would be honest, the answer would be "no", not everyone is welcome, after all. Paul is writing the this letter to the house Church at Colosse. The house church that is meeting there of course has "everyone welcome" on their door and on their flyers. And guess what, everyone is walking in and causing major confusion and discord. People promoting the worship of Angels, pious self-denials (sounds like Lent for the Catholics). Trying to...

  The Psalmist is reminiscing of the "good 'ol days of old". Nostalgia..."a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact, to a former time in one's life". Beware of nostalgia, it sometimes brings to us good memories of the past but it can also create of false impression of the past and create in our minds and feelings, what never was! Nostalgia also has the ability to create a discontentment for the present, while longing for the past. A song, a smell, certain seasons & smells or deja-vu's can immediately create a sense of nostalgia. If we can appreciate them and move on, that's fine, but if it creates a longing for the past, that's not fine. Beware of nostalgia, it's a slippery slope. It can create utopia's out of what was really a nightmare chapter of our lives. When we were in that chapter of our lives, we couldn't wait to get out, now, we are reminiscing...thinking, "those were the good 'ol days..." were they r...

 Ever hear that argument from atheists, "I believe human beings are really creative and invented God to help them through tough times and un-explainable events". Well, if human beings created God to help them, why does history show that human beings want nothing to do with who they (according to atheists..) created? The atheist says "we created God for us, to help us believe, but history has shown that humans want nothing to do with God? So which is it? In our text today in Jeremiah we read, "why do my people say, at least we are free from God, we don't need him anymore". Atheists embrace many fallacies and one of them is that they are living in a Christian World and they are the rugged few that reject God , so they come up with ridiculous theories that "we" created this notion of God because that's what we wanted. If that's the case, then when Pontius Pilate offered humans and option to release Barabbas, the loathe some murderer, or Jesus...

Many Christians are "fruitless or spiritually childless". They've never lead anyone to Christ, normally don't engage in that arena of evangelism, they just come to Church on Sundays and lead a decent, Christian, moral life. They have never really dealt with the heartache of investing in someone that turns on you or walks away, back into their life of sin and destruction, but neither do they know the "joy" of fruit, the joy of being used by God to see another life transformed, right before your eyes; and make Heaven their home. Paul writes, "friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work".  If you have ever labored in this area you will find how true this statement is. As much as I've been hurt, I must also say, that many, many good relationships, that became a great blessing to me, were from fruit that I labored for. My joy, when nothing else is going right, is in them and they are the crown for all my work too!  How about you?...