THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

   Hezekiah and his people are faced with an onslaught of verbal and mental assaults. What Hezekiah faces and what we must face, almost on a daily basis, is a constant barrage of assaults in our minds, that target our God and our faith in him to take care of us.  The problem is, that the enemy does not present STUPID arguments. The enemy provides arguments that are both very reasonable and very persuasive.  As we have heard before, the best lies are those that are mixed with truth.  Rat poison is 99% actual rat food. This is what makes it so irresistible for the rats to consume. We see also in our text that our enemy speaks our language, he knows our culture and how best to affect us.  Verse 18 "Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were  on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid".  It's all about fear and intimidation. Every terrorist, worth his salt and weight, emb...

The story in our bible today is so old it's hard to even imagine, over 2,500 years ago, at least. There were no secular, arrogant Americans at the time, only Israelites and the pagan nationalities that surrounded them. It was a time with no T.V.'s, no Hollywood and of course everyone wanted to serve The Lord, or maybe not! We think that man has degraded, we talk about the secularization of America and the rest of the World; and there is truth to that, but we can push it to far and make it sound like there was a time when every human being just wanted to surrender their selfish, rebellious will to God. Well, if that time didn't exist even 2,500 years ago, then when did it exist and why pretend like it ever did exist? In our text Hezekiah, a good King, is trying to stir religious revival. He sends out his runners, to declare "we are going to have a great celebration!". The people ask, "oh yeah, what kind of great celebration?" The answer they get, "we...

  The Church is a very interesting institution or organism, if I can use that term. Especially if you are part of an Evangelical Church that reaches out into the community to win and bring in the lost. All the effort that goes in to outreaching, all the money, time & resources, to win the lost and bring them in to the Church. A lot of planning and strategy goes in to evangelism, but do we ever think, "what will we do with them once they are in the church, will we be able to keep them?" We have a plan to "reach out" but do we have a plan to "reach in".  Paul in our text is admonishing us to "accept those who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them...".  I know people who are weak in faith bother you, I know people who seem to struggle allot bother you, I know.....people in general, that are in the church bother you.  I know this person bothers this person, and that person bothers that person. Paul is writing to the Romans to instruct ...

     You ever notice how some people have so much DRAMA in their life?! Do you feel bad for them? Do you feel like maybe there's something you could do? Do you ever wonder where God is in the midst of their drama? I do...or I have until today.  In our O.T. reading today we see such a dramatic change in atmosphere once Jehoiada dies.  Our reading goes from peaceful, happy times to more of a reading that's more like a Godfather Saga. There is murder, treason, chaos and revenge; this stuff makes the mob seem like kids play.  We see our story turn from peace to chaos, from no drama to nothing but Drama.  And the one difference is....Jehoiada has died.      You will find that where there is plenty of drama, there is often an absence of God.  We can easily be sucked in to people's drama and begin to have sympathy for them and perhaps get an attitude with God, but often, the attraction of drama in on...

 The lesson we can all learn here, especially someone filling in as the newly appointed leader; is that we shouldn't be too quick to judge. Just because everyone doesn't jump right on your idea(s), doesn't mean they are rebels and evil people with no heart for God. Joash decides it's time to fix up and restore the temple.  "Go to all the towns of Judah and collect the required annual offerings, so that we can repair the Temple of your God. Do not delay!".   Joash wants this done and he wants it done quick!. As we read in the story, the people do not respond quick at all, as a matter of a fact, the do not respond at all. Joash is not pleased with this lack of response and now he starts getting on Jehoiada's case. "Why hasn't this been done, what's going on, haven't you demanded that the Levites go out and collect the Temple taxes? Don't you know Moses instituted this tax for the maintenance of the Temple!".  Joash just starts going...

 "If the natural branches were not spared, but broken off because of unbelief, you have been grafted in by Faith" (paraphrased). You may or may not know, the natural branches Paul is referring to, is the Jews. The unnatural branches are the Gentiles, you and I (unless of course you are Jewish). God still have a special promise for the Jews, but for you and I, Faith is critical. Paul writes that they (the Jews) have been rejected because of their unbelief. I believe this is more proof that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews (there is debate over who wrote Hebrews) because the author of Hebrews also mentions that the great sin of the Israelites was their Unbelief and the reason they did not enter the Promised land was because of their Unbelief. The Israelites mirror the American Church of today, we are devoutly religious, but we are full of unbelief. Paul also writes, "in the last days, men will acknowledge God, but render him powerless". Which is partly because of unbeli...

      I was looking over my blog stats and to my surprise one of the most read blogs is titled  "My Christian Life is Private".   And I know, or have experienced over time, that often, the title of the blog is what draws people to read. And I am alarmed that the title "My Christian Life is Private" drew so many readers.  Is this the crowd that I am catering too, I wonder? That TITLE "caught" your eye, didn't it. Unfortunately, as you read the blog it probably ended up being the complete opposite of what you thought. Readers probably thought it would confirm their delusion that their Christian Life was "private".  Instead, the blog was meant to blow that theory apart. I wonder if this title "My Christian Life is Private II" will draw another slew of readers. It discourages me that there are so many Christians out there that are off track, looking to confirm and console themselves in their decision to withdraw and become spiritual rec...