THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

   I am so glad I serve the God of the New Testament. I think somewhere between Malachi and the Gospel of Matthew, the God of the Old Testament was converted. The God of the Old Testament seems like He's always judging people for their sins and angry and Jesus of course, is more like Grandpa, He's just so nice, accepting, tolerant and forgiving; almost a "pushover", but hey, that's fine with me, I'd much rather that than this angry God in the Old Testament. How could God be so different in the Old Testament as opposed  to the New Testament? It almost seems like two separate Gods; unless I begin to look closer. The first place I need to go in my research of these seemingly two separate Gods, is Golgotha. When I get up to Golgotha, I see Jesus, hanging on that cross, with a crown of thorns forced into his skull, nails driven into his hands, feet; and a side pierced with a sword and a back that has it's flesh so beaten, the flesh is just hanging and then when...

PSALM 106:2 & 106:7     The Psalmist writes, "who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord!" NLTI dare say, there are some reading this blog that might challenge that!" They would say, "list them, I'm hard pressed to think of one!      Miracles go hand in hand with opportunity. We have our lives so structured and we don't venture out in faith, we PLAY it safe. Well then don't complain you have no miracles. Peter had to step out of the boat to experience a miracle, but don't forget there was a handful of other disciples that stayed in the boat, safe and experienced no miracle! You can’t have it both ways. Christians who venture out in faith are the ones that have the "lists of miracles" to write about.   "Does God still do miracles? In your intellect you say, "yes of course", but in your heart what do you say? God does miracle, yes! Does He do miracles for you? Do you encourage others to believe in miracles and now you n...

        THE most disobeyed thought that comes to our minds, more often than we would care to admit is, "Don't do it!" How many times have you and I heard that voice and ignored it. When I am angry....I'm not listening to that voice. When I am filled with lust...I am not listening to that voice. When I am filled with "my way"....I am not listening to that voice. When "I'm tired" I'm not listening to that voice. Isn't that dangerous?! In the times when I need to listen to that voice the most, my feelings override every other faculty of the mind. Don't do it! This thought, may even be screaming to some that are reading this blog today. Everything I feel, everything I sense, everything within me (except for that thought) is urging and pressing me to doing this. I'm tired, I'm fed up. I'm tired of being broke, I’m tired of no intimacy with my spouse, I'm tired of not having enough, I'm tired....I'm tired, I'm ...

  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...

Hebrews 6:1-20     I go to church, I pray from time to time and on the occasion, pick up my bible. I'm not perfect, but I do abstain from most obvious and premeditated sins. I wonder, is my love for God shown by being faithful in ministry, is it shown by my generous giving, maybe....I can guess and assume on these previous virtues, but here is one that I don't have to guess about, it's plain as can be, "For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers".  There it is, in writing, "you have shown your love FOR GOD, by caring for other believers.  We lose that vital link with God when we lose our heart for other believers in the church. Every relationship hinges on common bond in that relationship. Two people connect when they have a common idea, sport, hobby or passion that they share and connect on. Many couples divorce when the children have grown and m...

  Are you enjoying your Sabbath? We work to rest. If we dismiss the Sabbath as 21st Century Christians, we show our ignorance of the Sabbath. For man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man, Jesus proclaims. The author in Hebrews is alluding to the fact or point, that Heaven is our Sabbath as Christians. Retirement is very much ingrained in the culture of North American Society, it is the ultimate, earthly Sabbath. That God made the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day has been reduced to no more than a Children’s Church story. However it’s meaning and implications, ironically, is meant for Adults, not in anyway was it meant for Children. However it is good to teach our children, that there is a day of Sabbath, a day of rest, even if at times, that means boredom to the child. The Sabbath is meant for us in the same way it was meant for the land. In the 7th year the Israelites were told to give the land rest, to allow it a year of rest to replenish ...