THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

    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 You talk about an outdated scripture.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...