THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB

     How many times does the Psalmist tell us, "I cried out...." and he goes on to write, "your word unfolded to me". This is what our generation would call " ol' school Christianity". Today's Christian tries to get by by joining themselves to some fancy mega Church, with a dynamic motivational speaker and a dynamic, moving worship concert. They leave that place, Sunday morning, somewhat moved, somewhat enlightened as one who has just attended some kind of seminar, but as the week presses on and they tune in to their favorite T.V. programs, movies, work & other activities, they find themselves in that same place, mentally, emotionally and for sure, spiritually and the cycle goes on. In between is...divorces, child custody battles, drama, alcoholism, abusive relationships, verbal and some times physical....and this becomes what we know to be "the church" today. The reality is, there is only one kind of Christianity. and it'...

HEARD someone recently say, "you mean a Christian that actually has money and is not poor and broke like the rest of us!". Many Christians, if we would be honest (as this particular person was) would utter that same phrase. Why are so many of God's people poor and broke? Did you read today's reading? Are there not some guidelines here? Verse 15:3 "However, there need be no poor people among you... 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God" So we can only conclude by this that we as Christians must not be obeying God. "Obey Him in what?", you ask. "Tithes"....NO! God getting most Christians to Tithe is like trying to squeeze juice out of a grape, no it's above and beyond the Tithe that Jehovah is speaking about. Verse 7 7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them...

 WHEN we think of unbelievable stories of the bible, we think of Jonah in the belly of a whale for 3 days, we think of Joshua praying that the sun would stand in place or Elijah praying that it would not rain for 3 years, but I think this story is equally unbelievable and stands just as strong (in the category of "unbelievable") as the previous stories mentioned. It is hard to believe how cold and indifferent the heart of a human being can be towards another human being. It is hard to believe how mankind would be more concerned about his livelihood than the welfare of another human being, but regardless of whether it is hard to believe, it is TRUE. The unfortunate incident here is that these men lost their herd of swine (what were Jews doing with a herd of swine anyway?), but yet a life has been restored, a man that was bound by demons has been set free, free to go home and be a son to his father again, free to go home and be a father to his sons, free to go home and live ...

  One of the most common complaints, apparently for Christians, is that God does speak to us audibly, if only He would just speak to us. Having Pastored for 10 years I have learned to bite my tongue, more often than not. If I spoke my mind every time someone slipped a bit from the straight & narrow, well.......and that's me, imagine if God spoke audibly to us, imagine if God didn't bite his tongue (so to speak). In our text we read today God speaks and it's all about "house cleaning". I believe they mindset of the Israelites, whom God did often speak to was the opposite of ours. Their mindset was more, "if God isn't speaking, that's a good thing". We may look different than the Israelites, but as humans we are not much different. We fill our lives with junk, idols, compromises & false gods. We think if God was to speak it would be marvelous and loving; and I'm sure at times it would be, but other times it would be "a shake down...

   "But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget The Lord your God" This is ridiculous! Who would forget someone who has done so much for them? I thought it was the opposite, I thought we had to worry about people in the Church that are not doing well, that are not prospering. Now you're  telling me that we also have to worry about those that God is prospering? I could see how someone could leave the Church who felt like God let them down or wasn't doing enough for them (as spiritually immature as that might be), but I don't think that, as our scripture says, we need "to be careful" that those that are prospering, by the hand of God.....would actually stray from God. And if that be true (which obviously it is if God has said it) then I can't help wonder....Does Christianity contain in itself it's on ingredients for its demise? In other words, if the tendency is for Christians to prosper in their ways, can the v...

  I will rarely be the one to say that, "God made a mistake", but I have to say, God made a mistake here when He instructed them to "wear them on their foreheads".  What was He thinking? Did God not think that one day, as hard as it is to believe that they might actually make boxes and put them on their foreheads? Or maybe God knew how religious they would become some day and He wanted them to look like fools, walking around with a box on their foreheads.  Fact is, all religious people look like fools to those outside the church.  They see us with all our dogmas, all our rules and regulations but then they see us, when push comes to shove, act like heathens, hateful, prejudiced, unforgiving, cheap, mean, bitter, and the list goes on.  God promised the day when His laws and precepts would be written upon our hearts. A few thousand years later, Jesus came, died and rose from the dead, with that promise now available to all (his laws written upon our hearts) b...

   How do you respond to correction.  Is it true that Adults, are just kids in grown up bodies?  Moses says, " But the Lord was very angry with me, because of you. he vowed that I would never cross the Jordan River into the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession". If only the leaders we corrected were still willing to carry out their duties and responsibilities with dignity and honor, as Moses did in our text.  Our reaction to such a stern correction would be, "fine, I've given the past 40 years to getting these people into the Promised Land and now you're telling me I'm not going in because I lost my temper or disobeyed you one time? Well then you lead them, you tell them what they need to do or, better yet, have Joshua do it, since you see perfectly fit to have him go into the Promised Land! After all, where was Joshua when I was confronting Pharaoh, where was Joshua when I was leading these people through the desert, le...