THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

JOB is apparently one of the 1st books written from the Bible. It's really a fascinating book into God's thoughts. "Were you there when I command those proud waves, here you will stop and go no further".  So much in life we take for granted and don't consider, that's now how it always was, until God "made it to be". The storage of rain in clouds, the insight into the mindset of even "a horse". We take it for granted that a horse is so strong, we take it for granted that this animal just races in battle with no fear of the sword. Try getting another animal to do that, but we take if for granted. God says, "I made the horse like that".  We get insight even in to the Ostrich, "not the wisest of animals, doesn't have much sense" but when it runs, it leaves the horse and rider behind. There's no way this insight is coming from Moses or any other man, especially way back then, what did Moses do, line up the horse and O...

 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 th...

   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 ...