Be a man Biblically - Wake up call for all of us

Men, are you the leader of your family? Not a leader in the “Do as I say, or you’re going to get it!” leader, but as in a father leading his family to be Godly, loving people kind of way. Do you respect and honor your wife as your co-heir?

Music: “Dance in the Desert” by the Ken Ferguson Band. Check them out at KingdomTunes.com! Contact me at : biblestudypodacstsJohn@gmail.com

The world did not know HIM...so it will not know us.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. -1 John 3:1

The more news I read, the more nonsense I see in our schools(US), TV, movies and hear in music, the more my heart hurts for this world. It is depraved...it hates God. People are happily marching toward a cliff unwilling to hear that they are going to fall.

The last thing non believers need to worry about is so called "judgment" or "intolerance" from Christians; for we happily admit WE are not the judge. I place this question to you Non Believers; believing what we Christians do about salvation and Heaven, how much would Christians have to hate you to say nothing about your impending fall? How much would we have to hate someone to not help them get to Jesus and salvation?

One difference between a Christian and Non believer is Christians want to stop you from falling off that cliff(that you choose to say is not there); your belief system would let everyone walk off the cliff just to not sound judgmental or intolerant. Christians are about love, yes we are all sinners and we are all broken. You must remember that people can call themselves anything they want; you WILL know a Christian by their fruit. Don't let the hateful people put a wedge between you and God.

Thanks for checking in. God Bless>>John

Question: Are you of the world or just in it? How we fall short.

Be in the world not of it. This is a hard one for us Christians. We are told to “Be Holy, because I am Holy” by God in 1 Peter 1:16. We are to separate ourselves from the “Worldly” things and through our sanctification process we are to be more like Christ and not enjoy the things we know are morally bankrupt, like most things coming out of Hollywood and the secular music industry.

I think most Christians fall in the middle on this topic; not too much bad…but there is some in there. Some of us may be somewhat more discerning on what we consume on TV, Movies and Music. Some of you may not think about what you watch or listen to at all; well, unless you have kids and sometimes you will filter their entertainment (hopefully).

Now I would hope anyone with children would be monitoring what they watch, listen to and what they go see at the movie theater. It does take more time to block channels, check on the music they listen to, install a filter for the internet and read about the movie they are going to see with friends. These are the basic things you should do to protect your kids, because society does not care. If you don’t believe me, just watch a PG-13 movie and see the nonsense they put in for “entertainment” value and if you need me to tell you what is on the internet, then you should not have kids.

I have gone the long way round to get to this point, if those of us who do all this filtering for our kids find it important, why is our filter for ourselves not better? If we truly believe that the content is not good, why is it okay for us? Why are we still watching shows that are inappropriate? There are some shows that are perfectly fine, but there are movies, TV shows and music that just plain glorify sin and sinful lifestyles. Now, a show having sin in it, is much different than a show which says, “its okay, here it is in your face nonstop”.

I hear about it all the time; Christians who see no problem with consuming these things which go completely against Christian beliefs. They justify it and make excuses for it all because they find joy in it and it might be too much work to find something else. Now if you go through all that trouble for your kids, what do you think they learn by seeing you finding joy in those things? You are saying, “You’re not old enough to enjoy this sinful, bad stuff yet…but someday you can have all you want like us!”.

John 17:15-16 says, "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

“Christ does not pray that they might be rich and great in the world, but that they might be kept from sin, strengthened for their duty, and brought safe to heaven. The prosperity of the soul is the best prosperity. He pleaded with his Holy Father, that he would keep them by his power and for his glory, that they might be united in affection and labours, even according to the union of the Father and the Son. He did not pray that his disciples should be removed out of the world, that they might escape the rage of men, for they had a great work to do for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. But he prayed that the Father would keep them from the evil, from being corrupted by the world, the remains of sin in their hearts, and from the power and craft of Satan. So that they might pass through the world as through an enemy's country, as he had done. They are not left here to pursue the same objects as the men around them, but to glorify God, and to serve their generation. The Spirit of God in true Christians is opposed to the spirit of the world. (Jn 17:17-19)” - Matthew Henry

Thanks for checking in and God Bless >>John

Live, enjoy life, love the Lord, your family and your neighbor.

Below is a small excerpt from Episode 8 of the Study of 1 Peter; Listen here:

The reason for conducting ourselves in fear is, the One we call Heavenly Father judges everybody by the same measure. We all know what our deeds say about our hearts right? We have all probably heard the sayings “actions speak loader than words”, “People will know us by our fruits” right?

Jesus used the same word for fear when He said, Luke 12:4-5 “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!" I don’t know about you, but this cause a little fear in me.

I am sure we can all agree that our deeds say a lot about our heart; even if you are not a Christian you probably think this. We don’t know a lot of really good people that just do bad things, nor do we know a lot of bad people that do really good things. Just to be clear here, I am not saying our works or deeds save us. There is only one thing that the Bible tells us will save us and that is Faith in Jesus Christ, but there is also one standard of judgment, our deeds.

If you think about it and realize that we going to be judged according to our work, then you are going to watch what we do. We should be afraid to do evil. We should be afraid not to do good on earth. Someday, we are all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account for what we have done.

My friends, this “Hide and seek” of sin is not a game we can win with God. He sees all, he knows all, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the maker of Heaven and Earth and everything in it. You cannot hide from Him and He knows every hair on your head and every thought in it. This is why you need to fear God. This is not Santa Clause we are dealing with, though we may think of Him that way sometimes.

God does love you, but we should not live as if the blood of Christ sacrificed for us was not something of infinite value. Live, enjoy life, love the Lord, your family and your neighbor. Put others before ourselves and we will be good.

I’ll leave you with two verses to read:

Deuteronomy - 10:12-13 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

Psalms 86:11- Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

Be a man, Biblically

Men, are you the leader of your family? Not a leader in the “Do as I say, or you’re going to get it!” leader, but as in a father leading his family to be Godly people way. Do you respect and honor your wife as your co-heir? Does SHE feel that she is respected, satisfied and happy? Does SHE feel you are a good leader, provider and spiritual shepherd for your family? Do your children see you as a role model of how a Christian, moral, honest, family loving man should act?

In relation to God, do you need to be drug to church? Does your wife have to leave you and take your kids to go to Church? What do you think this teaches your children? These are all question we as men need to ask ourselves and our families to get answers to. We as men cannot be truly Christian husbands and fathers unless we spiritually lead our families. If you don’t lead them society will, and we see what that leads to.

Men, ask yourself, “How do I change?”, “How do I become a man of God?”, “How do I become a better husband, better father and better man?” Men, these questions should always be on your mind. This change is done in the form of striving to change from a Godless, worldly (as in secular or of “this” world) man to a man of God. We are told to conform to the image of God in Romans 8:29,  “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” -  Ephesians 5:25

Below is a list I could not improve on from a sermon, “Marriage and Men”, by Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hills Church:

“Ephesians 5:25 calls men to love their wives as Christ loves the Church. Men are not ready to be good husbands until they are a part of the Church and understand how Christ loves the Church by taking responsibility for her and sacrificing himself for her.

Men you need to understand that a wife’s fears (1 Pet. 3:6) are legitimate; men dominate the lives of women and children, for good or for evil. Honor your wife:

Honor your wife in marriage. Take a wife honorably. Establish right priorities, and be a one woman man—absolutely faithful to your wife.
Honor your wife physically. Be strong for your wife, not against her. Be protective of her and present with her.
Honor your wife emotionally. Be emotionally present and intimate. Take her on dates.
Honor your wife verbally. Speak honorably to her. Speak honorably of her, when she is present and absent.
Honor your wife financially. Provide for the financial needs of your family, organize your budget, and be generous towards your wife.
Honor your wife practically. Consider her needs and how you can serve her.
Honor your wife parentally.  Be “Pastor Dad” by shepherding your children (praying with them, teaching them about Jesus, reading the Bible with them, etc.).
Honor your wife spiritually. You initiate and lead prayer, Bible, chats, church attendance, etc. Take responsibility for your church.”

 “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.” -  (1 Pet. 3:7). Repent.

So men, humble yourselves, speak to your wives, speak to your children, man up and lead your family for good, not evil. You need to step up and not be little boys; do the job that was given to you by God and rise up and lead your Christian family. If you are not doing the job, repent; commit yourself to being a man and a family leader in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Top 5 reasons Christians don’t defend Christianity: by John Christian Doe

5. They believe everything is okay. That society should dictate morality, what the masses believe is true and that is the way it should be.  Besides, what secular society likes is more fun, even though most of it goes against the Word of God right?

4. They don’t want to look un-cool. Christians are portrayed as buffoons and thoughtless followers on TV and movies. So they don’t want to look like what they see on TV. So at Church they are super Christian and in the world they are trying their hardest to blend with the non believers.

3. They believe they are saved because they said a prayer one time, so it’s not their fight. They believe that because they said this prayer and “got saved” they are good to go and there is no need to stand up and fight. Everyone else is on their own; they don’t want to get that involved. They believe that the gate is narrow, but WOW this path getting there is wide!

2. They really don’t believe this “God stuff” that much, but they hope some of it is true because that would be awesome. These guys are trying to cover all their bases. They want to be of the world, but if that God stuff is true, they hope that prayer they said was enough to get them on the “good” list.

1. They don’t know enough about their faith to defend it to anyone. Their biblical knowledge can be thoroughly questioned and shaken by a 5 year old. The extent of their Bible reading is on Bumper stickers, T-Shirts, Facebook statuses and what their Pastor has said in funny feel good stories on Sundays. They don’t know why there is only one way to God or why the Bible is the inherent word of God.  So when questioned by a non believer who pulled some verse out of context to refute Christianity, they say “I have faith its true” or even worse “I don’t know”.

Thanks for checking in and Let’s all keep growing in our faith!!

When did Christians stop carrying a Bible to Church?

I have noticed ever since I started attending my Church about 4 years ago, no one really brought their Bibles with them to service. I found this strange, as I always did. Not that what I do is the litmus test for normal, well in my mind it is, but to most people maybe not so much and don’t even ask my wife…ha! I find it strange because the source of our knowledge about our faith lies within the pages of that book. We are to base our lives on the teachings from those pages  we hear about while in service on Sundays….yet most leave it at home as if they are going to see a movie and don’t want to crowd their seat up with “stuff”. 

Now do I think it is a sin or something to make a big deal out of? Well my short answer is no. Do I think not bringing your Bible to Church is a good thing? No I do not. Do I think it is indicative of the overall Bible ignorance that plagues this generation? A very confident Yes! If the only time you get your dose of Bible truth for the week is the hour on Sunday, you are missing the point of being a Christian. My Pastor has asked everyone to bring their Bibles every Sunday while we go through the entire Bible this year. He heard the pages turning after asking us to turn to a verse and said something like, “that’s a beautiful sound, the sound of Bible pages turning”. You know what? It was beautiful.

Why should we read the Bible and read it often? Because the Bible is literally "God-breathed", 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” In other words, it is God's very words to us. As Christians, I would want to know why you would not want to keep your Bible on you, if not everyday at least Sundays at service!

Early in my faith I found it hard to read the Bible consistently, but being the OCD freak I am, I took my Bible with me to work and I have done it for many years now, not only is it convenient,  but it gives you opportunities to witness, Amen!! Having my Bible on me more often, I believe, is one on several factors keeping me in God’s word. The largest factor is, I genuinely wish to know all I can about the contents of its pages, but honestly, sometimes I read it, well, because it is there. 

The Bible is so important that Jesus said of it, "Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" - Matthew 4:4. If we want to live life to the fullest, live the life of a Christian, as God intended us to, we must immerse, read and heed God's written Word.

Thanks for Checking in, God Bless >>John

Please leave comments if you have them, good or bad!!

What I have learned from listeners...

What I have learned from some of my listeners of my Podcast who write in with questions is that they do believe in God, they believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior but when it comes to believing completely in the Bible, it then gets blurry. The secular movement to discredit the Bible as some old book with some good ideas but mostly outdated archaic gibberish has taken a foothold in many Christians.

Hollywood and the secular movement have really taken an aggressive stance and have attacked the intellect of the Christian. The Atheistic views of people like Bill Maher, Penn Jillette and others have a very large stage and they like to paint Christians as much less intelligent for believing what we do. They chose parts of the Bible and attempt to ridicule them out of context to make Christians look foolish or hateful. To the unknowing or immature Christian this can be devastating to their faith.

Secular Humanist or Atheist easily break apart a Christian who believes but has no idea why. They chip away at the Christian who does not know the facts of our faith and the evidence there is supporting what we believe. Many Christians just do not know about the very large amount of data there is supporting the inerrancy of the bible. The sad part is most of the information they get about the Bible (from a Historical standpoint) is from the History channel or from others attacking the Bible.

There is a very large void in Biblical knowledge in America, but even having knowledge of the stories of the Bible and not believing they are real is just not enough and it misses the point. This is where learning about not only the stories and lessons in the Bible but how those stories and lessons came to be. This, I think falls mostly on the Church, but ultimately it is our individual responsibility as Christians to study and seek knowledge of our faith daily.

This is where I truly believe the issue is, not knowing enough to overcome the mental block and ignorance of the Bible. Yes, it is true information and facts can only take us so far in faith, because you ultimately DO have to have faith. I think for some faith is only taking them so far because they are scared to ask the questions they need answered because that might make them a bad Christian. This is where my journey started. Questions…

I have been a Christian as long as I can remember, but I never really grew in my faith until I researched, studied and found the answers to the questions that are the concrete foundation of our Christian faith and the facts to back it up, we need to grow and defend our faith that is under attack right now in America. Let there be no mistake, Christianity and Christian values are very much under attack not only in America, but all around the world. Arm yourself with faith, love, knowledge and most of all Jesus.

Thanks for checking in >>John

Let's not trust in our standards. They’re way too low.

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

As I am dealing with the technical difficulties in fishing my Bible study Podcast on 1 Peter, I wanted to share one of my favorite passages from the Bible. Take some time out today and truly reflect upon what Jesus is saying here.

If we simplify our lives and humble ourselves, we can make meaningful steps forward in our walk with God. Let’s not trust in our own standards, we see how those are working out in this world. Let us trust in Jesus, and let his standards be ours.

God Bless and thanks for checking in. Oh, and I WILL have the 1st Podcast up soon!

Why the Atheist doesn't exist

This is an Excerpt from God Doesn't Believe in Atheists by Ray Comfort

There can be no such things as an atheist. This is why: Let's imagine that you are a professing atheist. Here are two questions for you to answer: First, do you know the combined weight of all the sand on all the beaches of Hawaii? We can safely assume that you don't. This brings us to the second question: Do you know how many hairs are on the back of a fully-grown male Tibetan yak? Probably not. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that there are some things that you don't know. It is important to ask these questions because there are some people who think they know everything.

Let's say that you know an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. To know 100 percent, you would have to know everything. There wouldn't be a rock in the universe that you would not be intimately familiar with, or a grain of sand that you would not be aware of. You would know everything that has happened in history, from that which is common knowledge to the minor details of the secret love life of Napoleon's great-grandmother's black cat's fleas. You would know every hair of every head, and every thought of every heart. All history would be laid out before you, because you would be omniscient (all-knowing).

Bear in mind that one of the greatest scientists who ever lived, Thomas Edison, said, "We do not know a millionth of one percent about anything." Let me repeat: Let's say that you have an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. Would it be possible, in the ninety-nine percent of the knowledge that you haven't yet come across, that there might be ample evidence to prove the existence of God? If you are reasonable, you will be forced to admit that it is possible. Somewhere, in the knowledge you haven't yet discovered, there could be enough evidence to prove that God does exist.

Let's look at the same thought from another angle. If I were to make an absolute statement such as, "There is no gold in China," what is needed for that statement to be proven true? I need absolute or total knowledge. I need to have information that there is no gold in any rock, in any river, in the ground, in any store, in any ring, or in any mouth (gold filling) in China. If there is one speck of gold in China, then my statement is false and I have no basis for it. I need absolute knowledge before I can make an absolute statement of that nature. Conversely, for me to say, "There is gold in China," I don't need to have all knowledge. I just need to have seen a speck of gold in the country, and the statement is then true.

To say categorically, "There is no God," is to make an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. No human being has all knowledge. Therefore, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.
If you insist upon disbelief in God, what you must say is, "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe that there is no God." Owing to a lack of knowledge on your part, you don't know if God exists. So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. The only true qualifier for the title is the One who has absolute knowledge, and why on earth would God want to deny His own existence?

The professing atheist is what is commonly known as an "agnostic" - one who claims he "doesn't know" if God exists. It is interesting to note that the Latin equivalent for the Greek word is "ignoramus." The Bible tells us that this ignorance is "willful" (Psalm 10:4). It's not that a person can't find God, but that he won't. It has been rightly said that the "atheist" can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. He knows that if he admits that there is a God, he is admitting that he is ultimately responsible to Him. This is not a pleasant thought for some.
It is said that Mussolini (the Italian dictator), once stood on a pinnacle and cried, "God, if you are there, strike me dead!" When God didn't immediately bow to his dictates, Mussolini then concluded that there was no God. However, his prayer was answered some time later.

Excerpted from God Doesn't Believe in Atheists by Ray Comfort

Sin? What sin? I don't see any sin!

This topic is directly related to my first two posts. I just finished this article by Jennifer Riley, a Christian Post Reporter called, “Study: Behaviors Americans Consider 'Sinful'”. This study questioned more than 1000 American adults to find out whether they believed 30 different behaviors to be a sin.


The article starts, “Out the list of 30 behaviors, adultery was most often described as a sinful behavior by American respondents (81 percent).

Following adultery was racism (74 percent); using “hard” drugs such as cocaine, heroine, meth, LSD, etc. (65 percent); not saying anything if a cashier gives you too much change (63 percent); abortion (56 percent); and homosexual activity or sex (52 percent) rounded out the top five behaviors most often considered sinful by Americans.”¹

Well, this was not what I expected at all. I figured that most people would still consider certain actions a sin even if they were not active church goers. When I have sinned in my life I never stopped believing in sin, well maybe I tried to justify it. This is just strange, but in relation to my first two blogs (1 & 2) about the secularization of our society and lack of biblical knowledge, it makes perfect sense.


The article goes on to state, “Political conservatives (94 percent) believe there is such a thing as sin. The number remains high among moderates (89 percent) but then drops to 77 percent among political liberals.” ¹. Which seems about right because this article I read about the shrinking Christian right says, “80% of Democrats are church-goers”.²

Okay, so roughly out of the 1000 or more people surveyed, 94 percent of Republicans believe there is such thing as sin and only 77 of the Democrats believe in sin? - No comment.

Moving along to what I find as just plain scary….

“Among Christian traditions, Protestants are more likely than Roman Catholics to include most of the 30 different behaviors as sin. The biggest differences included gambling (50 percent of Protestants compared to 15 percent of Catholics); failing to tithe 10 percent or more of one’s income (32 percent to 9 percent); getting drunk (63 percent to 28 percent); gossip (70 percent to 45 percent); and homosexual activity or sex (72 percent to 42 percent).”¹

Okay, some of the subjects listed above are directly stated in the Bible as wrong and they are not sure it is a sin? What? What Bible are they reading and what church are they attending? I can see secular society not knowing(maybe), but people claiming to be Christians?


This just dumbfounds me. Is it just because they are being asked and they are scared if they admit something is a sin it makes it real? People, People, People….God knows what your sin is…you admitting it does nothing, well maybe it would help you stop doing it or at least be aware of it. That helped me quite a bit. Once I took a good hard look at my actions and myself and was truly honest, I was able to open my heart and receive Gods forgiving Grace. I still struggle, I still have hard times with certain things, we all do. We can't begin to think certain things are not a sin just because we don't want to hurt someones feelings or because its too hard to admit to ourselves that we are doing wrong in Gods eyes.

Thanks for reading and God bless.


1-http://www.theologicalstudies.citymax.com/page/page/1573625.htm

2-http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/suncommentary/la-oew-perlstein11mar11,1,7857771.story

It's 3am, do you know where your Bible is?

This past Sunday at my Church, Pastor Mark Miller was talking about the current statistics regarding adult’s lack of knowledge of the bible. He stated how the generations of 30 – 50 somethings know less about the bible than at any other time in history. He also mentioned that the children of these people knew even less than their parents. So this prompted me to do a little research myself and I found this article by Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D. This was shocking information and I won't add a bunch of facts from it here, but read it. It simply talks about data from surveys that shows that American main stream is completely ignorant of the Bible. When I relate this with my first posting about the secularization of society it makes total sense.

Now, I can only make sense of this by relating to my own experiences with my faith. Keep in mind that I am NOT an expert in theology, psychology, sociology or really any “-ologys”, wait, is webdevelopmentology a word…? I digress; I have studied most of them in college and do understand some basic truths about people having been a person for some time now. I have not always lived as a Christian, though I always considered myself one. I was raised Catholic (FYI, I am no longer Catholic, I now wave my Protestant flag), was an Alter Boy, I was in youth group, Sunday school and all of that. So I pretty much knew the basics of the Christian faith (or so I thought).

Fast forward to my late teens early twenties. I was in a fraternity in College and was trying my best to be as non productive as I could, and at THAT I was successful. I had a Bible and occasionally read it when I was feeling the need or guilt for redemption, but I tried not to read too much or go to church too often. I mean who wants to have their faults and sin pointed out to them right? It was like I was thinking “God, I know you are there and you are the best and you know I love you but, you know, ummm I’M JUST HAVING TOO MUCH FUN! I’ll act like this for a while, and I’ll get back to you. Come on, you know I’m a good person, right?”

I find it embarrassing and very hard to look back on this period in my life, but you grow in the valleys of life and can’t get up unless you have fallen. Now as a 31(almost 32, shhhh) year old married father of 3, looking back I am just so disappointed in that young man that I was. By the grace of God and a lot of patience from my wife, I have somewhat stayed on course and the Lord steered me through those troubled times. Although I might not be “brand new”, I believe I am at least returnable to the Lord now, Amen?

If it is not obvious, I am not a total bible thumper and I don’t condemn people who don’t go to church. It’s not my job to judge others as I still fall short of the grace and glory of God. Life is hard and I know people get caught up in things, and you do things that are not only unhealthy physically and mentally, but morally also. You then try and convince yourselves nothing is wrong with your actions, saying “It's not that bad”, or “it’s not really hurting anyone”. I have been there brothers and sisters, believe me, it is hurting you and those around you.

Well, enough of my carrying on, I just wanted to share a bit of my story and views as someone who has been broken and found his way back to Jesus and is taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge the Lord has given us in the Bible. I read and study it in some way every day now and it is better than any self help book.

Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace”

I’d like to get some dialog going about why we as a people(All people not just Christians, we are all Gods children) reading and studying the Bible less or not adhering to the basic principles of the bible. Is it because people find it somehow not applicable to today or is it kind of how I was in college, not really wanting to hear the truth because of how it makes you feel? Does anyone have any other ideas?

Quench that thirst America...

I was reading a recent article about the increasing secularization of American society and the falling Protestant majority. I would love to say I am surprised, but I am not. I see secularization of America happening everyday. In every facet of TV, video games, political correctness, down playing of the religious influence of holidays, politics, work places and endless examples showing the degradation of our religious values of our country.


We are falling into this Joel Osteen, Tony Robins self-important, feel good now lives, which I don't have a problem with completely, but we are forgetting the reason we are here on earth. We are not here to please every, need, want, and wish for our lives, but as my Pastor Mark Miller said in a recent blog, we "were bought with a price and do not belong to ourselves." God is able and he will provide what you need, and not always what you want.


Now on TV, Internet, Radio and books we hear of ways to fulfill the void in our lives. Those mediums tell us happiness is just a product, happy thought or purchase away. We have all fallen into these traps, I know for a long time I did. In John 6:35 the bible states:


"Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."

and in Isaiah 56:11


"They are dogs with mighty appetites;they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain."

We as a nation need to realize that the way to our true happiness is not through, product enhanced, self-centered ways that make us feel better temporarily, but through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus suffered and died for our sins and then rose from the dead so that we may have eternal life, so why would we not dedicate our lives to him and turn to him in our time of need?


Remember, the Lord is able and he has declared, "he who believes in me will never be thirsty." I have taken my drink, and I am happy to say, I will never thirst again. Thank you Lord.