How do you see Genesis?


The first book of Moses. The beginning of the Bible. The beginning of everything. All of these are true! Historically and physically and as the very beginning of Creation, that is how I view the book of Genesis. There is no discontinuity or falsehood in His Word, from the beginning to the end. Because if any part of it is false then that makes all of it false.

Genesis is the beginning and the story which was written was given to Moses during those forty days which he spent on the mountain with God. How do I know this? Because that is the only way that he could’ve been told of all the things which happened prior to his birth. The Creation story, the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, the Flood and Noah, the Tower of Babel, the call of Abram and then the miraculous birth of Isaac to a man and a woman far beyond the age of childbearing.

The Bible is the history of the world and of the Jewish people but it is also the story of God’s love for mankind and the lengths that He would go to in order to bring salvation to mankind too. His patience and mercy toward us are so great and powerful until we cannot understand His reasons nor His love for us. The rest of the Bible shows us that He is patient and loving toward us in ways which we cannot understand or even fathom with our limited minds compared to His!

We are His creation, made in His Image and given a special place in this universe which nobody else can claim. God loves each of us and He gives us a chance to live our lives for Him because His Son gave His life in order to bring us salvation. What we do with our lives after we accept Him as our Savior and believe in Him for our salvation is largely up to us. God shows us the path to salvation through His Son, it is our choice to follow that path every day and show that path to others so that they can find it too.

That is our job, our purpose on this Earth. Not living to make as much money as we can or to have as much stuff as we can get, but to be as useful to God while we are still here! That is our true calling and purpose as Christians and followers of Jesus.

dare-to-be-a-disciple_t

Is He your Savior?


Our Savior, Jesus, the Son of God is the Him of which I speak. He shed His divinity to come to Earth, be born of a woman, live the life of a man of Jewish descent, perfectly fulfilling the Law (which no normal human could do), teach a group of disciples so that they could carry His teachings to all parts of the world, died on a cross on the day of Passover and then rose again on the third day!

john_3_16_17_scripture_memory_card-raf7013e639264b87b918bea9971565b3_vgbaq_8byvr_540Yes, a long sentence to tell of the life of Jesus the Christ. A short version of His life, death and resurrection, but a story which has significance for so many around the world! Some of whom believe that He is our Savior and Lord, some  do not believe He was anything other than a prophet.

Do you know Him? You can get to know Him if you will believe in Him and follow Him. Learn about Him through reading of the New Testament and do the things which His disciples did…tell others what He has done for you! Why? Because they need Him too.

 

Games


ArcadegavesIf you know a teenager or have one still hanging out at home, then you know about their fascination with games. Mostly electronic games like the ones played on portable devices, cell phones, game consoles, etc. If you can get one to try a game of Magic the Gathering cards and sit down and play it, then good for you as long as they have their own money to put into this.

I played video games back in the days of arcades, early ’80’s and late ’70’s. Yes, I am old. The thing is, I liked playing those old arcade games because they were challenging even then. You were trying to get as many points as possible in the time allotted for your quarter. Some of us were pretty good, some of us just lost money depending on when game we were playing. Some of the games I played at an arcade in the Metro-Center, I didn’t care how much money I played out…it was FUN!

Why bring up games on a site which normally has posts about Jesus and His love for us? Because, it doesn’t matter if you play games in the real world or if you are playing in a virtual world, He still loves you and He wants you to know about it. Games, for the most part, are not going to point you in the direction of Jesus or the Bible. They show you how to use fictional weapons in fantastic battles or something like that. But…consider the battles that are mentioned in the Bible.

Samson killed a lion with his bare hands and carried of the doors of a walled city on his shoulders. He even killed one thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass! Then there is David when he went to fight Goliath and he did it with five smooth stones from the river. He only needed one to kill Goliath, so I guess the other four would have been for his brothers. So, what is my point in bringing games into a Bible study website? My point is this: if you have to use a game to get someone interested in the Word of God, then do it!

God does have a sense of humor after all. Consider the look on the Philistine’s faces when Goliath fell and that Hebrew boy took his sword and removed his head from his body! Some preachers have said that the other four stones that David was carrying were for Goliath’s brothers…maybe but then again maybe not.

There are too many people in our country and our nation, not just in Mississippi, who don’t know Jesus. This is unacceptable! Why? Because it has been almost two thousand years since Jesus gave the order to go and tell all of creation about the gospel. What happened? It shouldn’t take two thousand years to tell the whole world about the Love of God and salvation through Jesus!!

Everyone should know about Him, but many don’t want to hear the story with their spiritual ears and take Him into their hearts. The Truth of God’s love is offensive to some people and its Truth is too because they can’t refute it and they can’t really ignore it. It is the offense which pushes some people away from the church.

Sometimes, it is because of our hypocrisy as sinners, even though we are forgiven by the blood of Jesus, that many will refuse to even come to church. Being judged by those outside the church is a very hard thing. Just as someone deciding that a game is “bad” or “good” is a judgement of one kind or another, we shouldn’t hold a grudge or some other judgement against a church because of one or two people in a church, but many do this at times.

God holds us as Christians responsible for the knowledge and the Light that we have been given by our study in His Word and in learning about Him. The more we have, the more we are responsible for. Knowing about Jesus and living your life the way He taught us to is how we are to live. If you are doing anything other than this after professing that you know Jesus and you have Him in your heart, then you may want to look in the Bible for proof that you are a Christian.

I pray that I am not standing near the throne of Grace one day and one of my friends or one of those that I preached to is standing there and Jesus says “Depart from Me, I never knew you!”.

Make a difference…


I watiamnotashamedched the movie “I am not ashamed” yesterday and it made me think of our impact on the world and the people around us. Rachel Joy Scott struggled with her new faith in Jesus in high school before the shooting that took her life. Most of us can relate, if we were a Christian in school, which I wasn’t. I knew about Jesus and the Bible because I had been on the drug plan for learning it. I was drug to church every time my Mom went, so I had heard all of the preaching and stuff. But, hearing and knowing about Jesus is not the same as having faith in Him, real honest faith.

I provided the link above just in case anyone wanted to know about the movie, I get nothing from your following or purchasing it. The point of this post is this: will you make a difference?

Her story and the fact that she didn’t back down in the face of losing her life, as many Christians over the centuries have done, has made a real impact on many people. At the end of the movie there was some statistics which said that her life had impacted over 20 million people since April 20, 1999. One life, just one-act of selfless faith and forgiveness can make a difference. It doesn’t take a Master’s degree or a PhD to tell people about Him and to show your faith by your life and your deeds to those around you.

God loves us even when we aren’t sure how we feel about Him. He loved each of us whether we even knew Him and before we were all born and He did so in a way that we can’t understand or comprehend! God is and should be your strength and your source of living water which never dries up and never gives up on you and your purpose in Him!

During high school, I was a very angry boy. I kept it bottled up most of the time, but I allowed it to hurt me by smoking and drinking to the point of being so drunk I barely remember the drive home, if I made it at all. At least one time, I had a wreck on the way home, although the only one that really sticks in my memory is the one where I totaled my mother’s car. I was angry at God and at my parents for getting divorced and I really didn’t care much about what happened to me. I could identify with Rachel in being a child of a broken home.

My point, as I said earlier, is that we can all make a difference in the world. Even if it is only in our immediate area. Heaven rejoices when one sinner comes to Jesus and if you or I have any part to play in that, then be grateful and willing to be useful in His Kingdom for that one person. Make sure that your life means something because we are not guaranteed tomorrow, so make today a day that God uses in your life and your witness  for His Glory!

Confusion in Christianity


So much is happening in the world today and some of it is due to confusion about Christianity, what is contained in the Bible and how to live as one. Do I mean that Christians are confused? Some of them are, but mostly it is the world that is confused about what Christianity is. Why is that? What is there to be confused about?

Jesus is our Savior and Creator, He was born as a man but with the nature and Spirit of God present in Him. He died because of His humanity and the body that He lived here with, and He also allowed Himself to die in order to pay for the sins of mankind. Could He have refused this cup, yes He could but He didn’t want to defeat God’s purpose.

Many films and books today question Who He is and the authenticity of the Bible as well as whether it is the Word of God or not. People seem to get all worked up about Christianity’s claim that it is and Who it is about, even if they don’t believe it themselves. If you don’t believe it, then let all of us “Christian nutcases” believe what we believe. Very few of us seem to be trying to convert anyone or bring anyone to any knowledge of Jesus, so why does it bother so many people?

I think it bothers them because they doubt their own beliefs or rather non-belief. What if the Bible is true? What if the sermons which have been preached and the truths in them are true? What if hell really does exist? What if…Christianity is right? If you wait until you die to find out, it will be too late to change your mind then.

God loves each of us, regardless of our love for Him. Please, tell others about Jesus if you know Him. The workers are few in the world and we can’t reach everyone, but people are wanting to know Jesus. I do try with this site, but I can’t get to every person because the Internet doesn’t reach everywhere. I will be praying for you all. Thank you.