Bible Study

   Let us get back to basics. I have told you time and again that the source of truth and trustworthiness is the Bible.

   Since that is so we need to study it more. I admit I approach the Bible with a big bias. God has spoken and He has caused what He has spoken to be written down. All accounts of historical places, names, and events are assumed to be accurate and true.

    So when we hear it being preached from the pulpit we are hearing God's word being spoken. True, it is being heard by us in the voice of a man but the words he is reading are God's word.

    It is then our job to read it for ourselves and not just by ourselves. We need small groups. We need to discuss what God has said. We must realize that  the words are as important as the thoughts. We can have confidence in its message.

   I do not recommend a paraphrase.  A paraphrase acts as a commentary not a direct word. I recommend the New American Standard or the New King James. Be careful using the New International version. It is good, but in places it leans toward nonliteral in word choice. I will discuss translations later so I will not, in this posting, venture there.

   What translation do you use? Maybe that is soemthing I can post about if there is interest.

  

A Father is a Champ

     Today is Father's day. Happy Father's day to all the dads and dads to be. You are heroes. We all salute you. You don't have an easy job. Your children look up to you to see just what a man is like. Your sons say that is what I want to be when I grow up. Better yet, that is who I want to be when I grow up. Your daughters look at you and say, that is the type of man I want to marry. Your wives look at you and say, that is the man I married and God blessed me with the perfect man, suited for me.
     And when you are not as perfect as you want to be or think you should be, that is when you should be transparent enough to say that you are not perfect but that is okay. God is not done working on me.

     And father, don't forget your source when it comes down to it. You are only as good as the source of your authority.

Money and Time

God's House

       Today being Sunday I was in service. All Christian's should be in a Bible believing,Bible teaching fellowship on Sunday or whenever during the week the service is. ACTS meets on a Sunday. Victory Christian Fellowship meets on a Saturday.The day isn't important. The attendence is.
        Pastor Joe was finishing up his series on money today. He said we should think of our finances not only as the money we have in our pockets but also the witnessing we do and the service using our spiritual gifts
        To help us in our understanding of money and its use, ACTS is hosting a series on Tuesday nights taught using DVDs and study groups; using the Dave Ramsey series on money. I highly recommend Dave Ramsey. Learn not only to give but how to save. The series will show you how to handle your money and how to budget.

Telling

           The whole of our life should be service. Even our work. Some of us are put in places of employment that are easier than others. I work at a grocery store in the deli department. It is not somewhere where I am able to use my intelligence. I feel like my brain shuts down. I basicly wash the dishes and tie up chickens for the roasting. I have trouble at certain times feeling this is what God in His sovereignty wants me to do. But that is the mind set I must take.  He has me there for a purpsoe.
      Please comment about your work situation. How do you manage it?
      Also follow me .

Be Content

  This morning Pastor Joe of ACTS church gave us a sermon on money and how the receiving of wealth is okay if we keep the right attitude about it. Money is not evil. It is the love of money that is evil. When money dominates your life or the lack of it dominates your life so much that all you can think about is possession, so much that it shuts down your concern for God, that is evil. But to have money,to be wealthy, there is nothing wrong in that.

     In fact, I see money as a means to help others. The kingdom effort on this earth needs money to go ahead. It costs to do God's work. God gives man the ability to make money. He can also take it away. He can blow on it and it is gone. Money is only a form of exchange.
     Here in America we work and we get paid. We give a form of service and we get paid. We take the money and we exchange it for a good or service. That is what I mean by a form of exchange.
    But we also need to save some and invest some. The period of time we have to make money is limited. We need to work while we are able to.
    Consider the ant..It works while it can and eats the fruit of its labor. The Bible states if a person will not work, don't feed him. He has not earned his right to eat. Tell him to go out and consider the ant. The ant labors. the ant is not seen to feed ants who are not laboring.

      Yes, we need to invest. We need somethning to live on when we can no longer work. That honors God. That is the purpose of the Christian.--to honor God. So let's honor God with our money

Scripture Reading

      

     It is very important that daily---and I do mean daily-- you read God's Word, the Bible.
      God has spoken. He no longer spends His time speaking in visions and dreams and signs and wonders.   
      Oh, He could choose to do that, but why would He?. He doesn't repeat Himself. He has already appeared once for all in these last days. Hebrews tells us so.
    And God is not a man that He should lie.
    Nor does he speak to special people today. Beware of the preacher who says he has a special revelation from God.
     Ask him where in the Bible that is found or where does it say that.
     God has spoken and caused  it to be recorded all He wants us to know.
      It is found in the Bible. God's communication. The answer to your question is there. Oh, you will have to dig. truth is like gold. You must mine it. But if you pray before opening the book and you ask God to show you something from the book He wants you to know today, He will it.
       May God bless you as you read His word daily.

Hidden Assets

  I was sitting in church today looking out at the congregation. I am the chat room man on the media team. As such I sit in the back of the room next to the IT man and the video man. I glanced out on all these heads in front of me. Now since I was in the back I could view the whole room.. I noticed that they were mostly female heads. There were some male heads out there, but mostly female.

   And I got to wondering why weren't there more men out there? Why weren't men coming to church? Is there some reason that I was not aware of?
    Just having finished a book called "Why Men Hate Going to Church" I have an idea. Most of the service is geared to feminine psyches. Not too much masculine involvement. Illustrations from the pastor that are geared to the lamb rather than the lion aspect of God.
    Please give me some feedback on this. Let's start a discussion.
    Follow me. Become a member. And comment. I want to hear from you out there.

Change in Thought

    Western thought began in the Greek culture many many years ago. A long time ago. It can be traced back to Socates, Plato, Aristole. They saw the universe as having a purpose and a plan for being.
   Judaism and Christianity added to thier belief system the teaching of the Bible. There was an energetic and rational  God behind it. A God who created the universe. There was a law giver. This was a basis for science because there were laws in nature. Man believed in the God of the Bible.
   That was the Western view. Over in the East the view was different. Their view tended to be that all things that exist in the universe, including man, are of no importance and therefore are temporary.Only the realm that was outside the world exists. They saw that the only way to reach it is to deny the world around them.
      Japan  and China have made some scentific progress since they have adopted some Western thought
    . But I am not looking at science here. In this blog and in this posting I wish to lok at Hinduism. It had its beginning in the Indus valley. The teachings can be found in their sacred writing, the Vedas They see these as "Revealed Wisdom".
    . For them they can go back to  about 2000 B.C. They have many gods who can cause death and disaster. In their sytem they have Brahmans or priests. They have become a high social class.
   They see the  Vedas as teaching that four classes of people came from the head, the arms, the thighs, and the feet of the creator god, Brama. The four classes then became the Brahman or priest, the Kshastriya or warrior and nobleman, and the  Vaishya which is the peasant, and lastly the Shudra or slave.
     There are four stages and four goals to be attained. But not for the girls. They are considered worthless.
     The stages are initiation, and after initiation he is considered "Twice-Born"  Now he has to go through four stages.

• Student
• Head of a house with wife and children
• A meditating hermit seeking enlightenment
• A homeless wanderer

    From here he is given four goals.

1. To become righteous and virtuous
2. To have material goods
3. To enjoy life through love, pleasure, and appreciation of beauty
4. To have spiritual victory over life

   And we must not forget reincarnation. You get another chance to get it right.
   
    This makes man himself god.

    The Bible that the Christian has says there is no second chance. "It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgement." No reincarnation.

   Stay with me. We are getting there. How are you? Any comments or questions? 
   Actually Hinduism is a philkosophy not a theology.

Watch the Words

In our Bible study we should be very careful to understand what we are reading. By this I mean, what we study is made up of words.
Duh!
 Okay, maybe I should explain. Words are like our vehicles. They carry thoughts, emotions and feelings from the author to you. I looked it up and there are about 8,674 different Hebrew Words in the Old Testament. When we look at the Greek we have a total of about 5,624 different Greek Words. And when we translate that into English we end up with only 6,000 words.
  For you math majors out there that is quite a reduction from the original to English we have today.
  And all words were necesssary. God used different people to convey the message He wished to convey. Peter wrote like a fisherman. David wrote in his style. Paul wrote from the prospect of an highly educated person. The prophets in the Old Testament wrote in their own style.
  Therefore we must observe some rules or principles. As far as possible we should take words in their usual sense. When  the Bible talks about Israel it is not talking about the church nor the gentiles. The principle to follow is that if the literal sense makes snese, don't look for any other meaning.
   Also we should look at the whole passage. This is known as context
  Thridly, the Bible is its own best Interpreter. See the Bible as a whole. The more you study the richer your understanding. As you read you will find the Bible will explain itself more throughly than any other book does. Often in the very same passage.
  Often you will find that when comparing spititual with spiritual you will see parallell passages. I discover three kinds of parallels. 1) parallels of Words 2) Parallels of ideas or incidents 3) parallels of general teaching.
  Consider the general meaning of the passages. Sometimes the same words are not used when the same idea is involved. Sometimes you may find the passage is obscure, debateable, or uses figurative language. In this case you should look at a parallel in the same book or in the writings of the same autor. You should also look at the period of history the passage is written.
  There are tools out there to help you in your study. There is the concordance. For KJV there are Strongs, Youngs, and Crudens. You use these to find out the word used in the origianl language. Thgere are also concordances in the New American Standard version, The New International Version, and I am sure the English Bible version. You don't need to be limited only to the King James.
   You can use a reference Bible. Also a Bible Dictioanry is helpful as it summerizes each book of teh Bible. It aslo defines terms and customs.
  Please comment and tell me how I am doing. Tell me what questions you have. Is there an area I should comment on?  Feel free to be as honest as you wish. I can take it. I will answer all messsages.

Things to Pray For

Was reading through my Bible the other day and especially in the Epistle to the Philiipians. Happened to notice some things to pray for for people. Thought you may be interested

1. That a persons love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment
2. To be more blameless and sincere until the day of Christ
3. That they progress in the Faith
4. That they conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel
5. That they stand firm in one Spirit
6. That they not be alarmed by thier opponents
7. That they prove to be blameless and innocent.
8. That they be above reproach in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation
9. That they press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God
10. That they stand firm in the Lord

    I think that is a good place to start in our prayers.
    Talk to you next  time.