Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Age not a Disease

  It happens to all of us. We all age. In fact, everyday we get up we are a day older. And there is nothing we can do about it. Nor is it anything to be ashamed of. It just happens.
  Yet we need not fear it. God has set it up that way. We are not meant to be on earth forever. God created us eternal creatures. We have a birth. And we will live forever. I discussed in an earlier  posting the subject and I am sure you can go back to the index or whatever and look at that.
   What brougt this subject up is I am reading a book by Billy Graham, his latest, Nearing Home. I will be reviewing it in my other blog as soon as I finish it. Just wanted to share with you the idea that making it to old age is good. If we are one of the few who make it we should be active in giving back and helping others. "Plan for the golden years. You may get to experience them" was said by good old unknown. He also said "Don't resent growing old. many are denied the privilege."
    When we get up in years we are not able to do everything as fast as we have done it in the earlier years. But we can share our wisdom and pray. Prayer is very important. And we don't need any equipment.
     So have a good day and keep looking up.
     Comment on how you think I am doing. Let me know your story.
       
   

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Family

  Yesterday in my blog I started on marriage as a doctrine. Now I want to talk about families. They are very important to a persons physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. To those of us that God has blessed with children (There are some that God has not allowed to produce children. And they also are blessed. A family, in my definition, is basicly a husband and wife., If kids are part of the package deal, so much the better) this is good.
    I posted yesterday that God hates divorce. The reason is very simple. Divorce hurts the image of God. Ands it hurts children. Not only yours alone. Children are observing the adults around them., If they look around and see broken relationships they tend to conclude that this is normal. It is not. One woman and one man. That is normal. And not one woman and another woman. Nor one man and another man.
    In the beginning God made them one woman and one man and brought them together. Not two men and not two women. Marriage was sacred.
    Here in the State of California, USA, there is a movement to have homosexual marriages acknowledged as legal and viewed  in the same way as marriage between a male and a female. They wish to have rights. They seem to be pushing it as a rights issue on the same level as civil rights
     It is not. It is a choice they have made and is not a rights issue.
     But I am getting off the issue.
      Families. The key to having a healthy family is to have Christ at the center. Relationships in life go better, I feel, is you have a sticking point; a standard. He should be rhe center of everything that goes on. Now to get back to marriage. That is the foundation or central point of all families.I feel  God wants to protrect, and expand thre family unit.
      I will close this posting with something many historians acknowledge: "The family is the building block of society; as the family goes, so goes society."
    Please let me know how I am doing. Leave a comment. 

Friday, November 25, 2011

Marriage

     In the beginning God created marriage betwen one man and one woman.
     In the second chapter of Genesis God saw that Adam was alone and needed a help meet. So he took a rib from Adam's side and made Eve. Therefore this says that the male and female are the complete likeness of what God intended.
     The first marriage was performed by God. It was good. It was perfect. But then sin entered the picture.
      Man started to think himself as superior to his wife. Commuication broke down. Divorce was allowed, but we must understand, God hates divorce. It was not an option that God put on the table.
      When sin and self reign supreme, marriages are heading for failure. If so we need to confess to God (1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins...) and to our mate.
      Planning, practice and prayer are needed., At the altar we said something like "Till death do us part."
      Step back and communicate. Learn the love language of the other. Discover the temperament and interests of your mate. You are not the mind reader nor is she. Don't look for solutions outside the marriage. Get into the scriptures. Pray. Build hedges of protection around the marriage and your house. Don't let the world mold you. Be molded by God and the Bible.
       It is work, yes, but enjoyable when the two of you are heading in the same direction.
      More is to come. Doctrine covers a vast field. This is one of the practical aspects of the field. Feel free to comment and use my knowledge. I want to help you. 

Thankfulness

   Today in the United States it is a Friday, 25 Nov 2011.  Yesterday we had our Thanksgiving day. It is a day set aside to thank God for our blessings.
   There is a lot to be thankful for. Even in other countries. God got us up this morning. He gave us air to breathe. If you are reading this you are breathing, so be thankful. He gave you a place to live. He gave you a mind to think with. If you are married he gave you a wife or husband depending on your sex. He has provided a way to have a relationship with Him.
     Yesterday God blessed us by allowing my wife and I to have two friends over for the Thanksgiving meal of Turkey. We started the meal by reading portions of the Psalms. Each member had a portion to read. And then I lead in prayer. I was blessed in having the group pray in the round. Blessed because that was unplanned. We always pray before our meals That part was planned. The action of praying in the round gives me hope that I am reaching these friends on the spiritual level and they might be willing to listen to our story.
       I am thankful also that this blog is being read by people all over the globe and someday I know they will comment and start a dialogue
       What are you thankful for?  Let me know.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

New Toy

   I finally have enough money to venture out and get an Ipad.
   I am not a fan of Apple and I don't think this will change  my mind. But it is a tool that a good amount of people in my church fellowship possess. So I decided whern ever the time came when I had enough money to buy one of those tools I would.
    I discovered that it has a section or app known as ITunes and within ITunes there is an link to a whole lot of video and audio files. One file grouping is concerning universitys and colleges. WIthin that grouping is my university, Biola University. And also files on classes taught at Dallas Seminary.
    I thus will be able to get classes that I have not been able to take when they were for credit. This time I can sit back and enjoy great teaching.
    And this also will enhance my input in this blog.
    Stay tuned. More is to come. Become a member of this blog and follow along.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Little Things

   There are some little things needed to aid in growth in your Christian walk. There is the worship aspect. As we become like that which we worship we should make sure of our object of worship "Do not forsake the assembly of yourselves together..."
    A Christian should be worshipping God. God is the creator of heaven and earth and the creator of animals and fish and beasts. And of us.
   There is a negative side to worship. It is when we do our worship of things not God, (And unless you think I am saying God is things. He is not. God is wholly other and not the creation) we become like that which we worship.
    For example: Sex is one idol. We worship sex and we become sex obsessed and act out  And we become devastated and not very good for anything. We become changed into the image we carry around. It gets in our thoughts and actions.
    On the other hand, when we worship the true God we start to act like Him. We become patient, kind, see people as important. We want them to know the God we know. We share  love, kindness,we are more truthful with each other. We spend more time with Him in study of the scriptures He left. We pray more, since this is the talking aspect we do with God. And He hears and answers.
    To become like him according to His image we need time spent with him. Maybe five or ten minutes reading the scriptures. Praying back what we find. Thanking Him for what we see there. Thanking Him for getting us up and letting us take a breath and see another day. Let it become a regular part of your life
    The Life of a Christian is both easy and hard. Easy because you have God Himself living within you. Hard  because growth is dependent on us, not God. In God you are already complete. In everyday life you still need discipline.\
    Communicate with me through the comment feature.

It Is In The Blood

  Today is Nov 22, 2011. I went to the UCLA blood and platlet center today to give blood. That was whole blood. I do that on a regular basis to add my blood to the blood supply for those who need blood for operations. I am blesed in that my blood also is CMV Negative. That means it can be used for premees, babies who are freshly born.
    My blood pressue is 110/80. My pulse is 70. Not I am boasting. Just stating facts.
    The Bible makes a statement that blood is important. The Israelites were not to eat anything with the blood still in it. Life is in the blood.
       Also without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin. You knew that I was going to get into that somehow. It had to be the blood of an innocent animal. Whenever the Jew would sin he was required to bring a sacrifice to the high priest who would offer it on the altar to pay for the penalty for sin. Sin required a sacrifice. But it had to be done on a regular basis since sin was an ever present foe of man's relationship with a holy God.
        Today we have a high priest named Jesus who offered Himself as that sacrifice and did away with the requirements of the yearly and daily sacrifice for sin.
      How my giving blood today hyperlinked with this subject I don't quite know. I just know I had to post this.
    Stay with me in this doctrine series. And if possible, comment back. Ask questions. Help me clarify for you what you need to know.

Friday, November 18, 2011

First step

    A question has been sent to me through the comment feature.
   " I am new at this," the comment went, "and would like to do a Bible study. Which one is the one I should beginning with? You presented so many."
     That is a very good question.
      Of all that I have presented I would use a devotional study method.  The ultimate target of all Bible Study is to get to application for ones' life. For this  one you decide to take a passage of the Bible long or short. Preferably a paragraph.
      Before all Bible Study methods you pray to God for insight. "Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things" Ask for insight on how to apply the passage to your life. Ask what does this passage tell me about God? What does it tell me about myself?
     Then you meditate on the verses you have chosen to study. Refer back to my posting on meditation. Not at all the Eastern way but God's way.
      Now you are ready to write down the application as it applies to you. This is why I say you need a pad and a pencil or pen when you do Bible Study.
   Finally you memorize a key verse from your study. How to memorize was also covered in an earler posting.
    Please. Keep those comments coming. I want to clarify and help.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Christian Meditation

   This subject I may have talked about in an earlier post. If so, I will do so again. It is the subject of meditation on God's word.
   When I post about meditation I am not talking about the Eastern form of meditation. You are not making your mind blank.
    Two quotes about the subject. One is from J.I. Packer "Meditation is an lost art today, and  Christian people suffer grievously from their ignorace.of the practice."
    The other is from Doug McIntosh. "Meditation constitutes the single most important activity that any Chistian can engage in. Simply put, it works."
     In short, it is meditation on God thnrough His Word. It can transform you. It will transform you. It is drawing near to God through reading, studying and  thinking on his Word. Thinking. Not letting your mind go blank. This will allow the Holy Spirit to have  somthing to work with.
    It seems to bring pleasure to God when we do this. It also provides stability to the Christian who does this. It gives a peace that passes all understanding. A calmness to the mind.
    The meditation I am talking about is filling your mind with God's Holy Scripture. Find a portion you sense you need. Learn it word for word. Take your time. Repeat it until you can say it without having to look at the passsage. Of course, you will when memorizing the scripture check back to make sure you have it word for word correct. but ultimatly you will be able to quote it back to yourself without the Bible open before you.
    

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Eternity, Our Future

     I may  have said this before. We are eternal crearures. This is one of our likeness to God features. We were created that way.As eternal creatures we are going to live forever.
    The question is where?
     Erwin Lutzer, Moody Church, Chicago, expressed it this way: "One minute after you slip behind the parted curtain, you will either be enjoying a personal welcome from Christ, or catching your first glimse of gloom as you have never known it. Either way, your future will be irrevocably fixed and eternally unchangeable."
     Each one of us in immortal. All belief systems address this in one sense or another. Only Christianity tells you the truth. Or I should rather say,m the scriptures. This is where we should search for the answers. The scriptures. Not in drugs. Not in experiences. Not in sex.
    The answer is this. For those who have accepted God's way to heaven there will be a welcome from Christ. To all others there will be  gloom forever. An eternity away from the presence of God and no second chance.
     Let me repeat: No second chance to choose.
     God's way is the redemption offered at the cross.
     And what  do we get if we accept God's plan? The Holy Spirit living within us as our guide and teacher., And in the future when we pass trough that curtain, eternal peace with God in the presence of God.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Bible Reading--Four

  It is very important to get the scripture inside of you. I myself try to have a daily devotions time. I use at the present the method of reading through the Bible in a year. I have done it twice this year. It is interesting to me to see that with each reading some new aspect or a phrase  seems to pop out. Oh, it was there the first time I read, but the second time it seemed to shine out with a light.
   I always read asking, what does it say here? What does it mean? To them who read it for the first time?  For me who is reading it today? How does it impact me today? This is where I jot down the obsevation in that notebook or note pad I carry with me. It is the gem I have dug out of the book. The Bible contains lots of gems, not all of them are on the surface, most have to be dug for, thought through, noted.
   Earlier in this blog postings I have done a series on Bible Study methods. It would be nice if you were to refer back to them. This will take some hunting on your behalf but it will be worth it.
   You won't need a specialized education. Any person can read the Bible and get soemthing from it. Also to supplement your personal Bible Study you should go to a Bible Believing, Bible teaching church. But that is another subject that will be handled much later in these posts. I would suggest you follow me and become a member of this blog.  And continue to have that nice day.
   

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Bible Reading-Three

  Of course for us who have a relationship with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ, it is important we know who it is we are thankful to.
   The Bible contains four snapshots of Jesus.
   Each snapshot is there for a different emphasis. Matthew is writen to the Jews to show that  this Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messainic promises. Mark shows Jesus as active, a busy person. Luke is more detailed and pictures Jesus as the perfect man. John takes a different route and shows Jesus is the eternal God in flesh.
    They are not meant to be exhaustive.
     Paul writes: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ,for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." That is Romans 1:16 and is useful to memorize.
    Mark tellls us that Jesus gave us a task.That is to preach the gospel to all creatures. Now, gospel means good news. In this case it is central to God's plan. The gospel is that through the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God can now redeem people. He no longer has to deal with mankind in wrath.
It was this that the trinity was agreeing to way back in eternity past, way before Genesis 1:1.
    It is this we must agree to. God has provided no other way.
    And He comunicated and set it all down in the scriptures. The least we can do is read it.
    More is comiong. Stay with me. Become a member of this group

Bible Reading-Two

 When yu are reading the Bible take the time  to slow down and pray over the passsage. There may be something there that God is using to speak to you. So you pray it back and wait. Sometimes the question you have is answered in the following paragraph. Sometimes not. There may be another passge located some place else in the Bible.
    I would recommend a study Bible. Most study Bibles will have some notes to help you. The notes are not the word of God. But if you get a good study Bible the chances are that the person who included the notes can be used as a conduit. Jot down in your notebook your observations.
   A plan you can use is to read through the Bible in a years time. There are many good programs out there. Your study Bible should have one to offer. Or follow your church's Bible Reading plan.
   Get into the word and get the word into you. You do this by memorizing passages as you read. Say you find a verse thsat you like. Memorize slowly and word for word. This is the process called hiding the word in your heart.
    "Your word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against God."-Psalm 119:11
    "Study to show yourself approved unto God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed"
     Stay with me. More is to come. Become a member and get all the postings. You may need to refer back to them someday. 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Bible reading-Installment one

   I want to start posting about an important subject. It is important for the growth of a person who has a saving relationship with God.
   It is important that an instruction book be left for those who procure an item. When we are passed from death to life.. an important concept-- we need instructions. It doesn't come natural, this new life we have now. We need to know just what it is we have and how to get the best out of it.
    As I have stated in an earlier post God is not silent and He has communicated. He wants us to know something about Himself. This pertains to those who have a relationship with Him as well as those who are not at the moment assured of His presense.
   The Bible, which you can see in the picture , is God's communication to mankind. Yes, He used human writers. Yes, it took over fourteen centuries to get to where it is today. Sure , ir has many literary forms contained between its covers. But no one can say God has not communicated. He is not silent.
    On that premise I would like to say that God created all things. And by right of ownership of what He created He has the right to say how it, the creation, should act.
    What we have today is not what He first created. One day He will come back and recreate. The one thing that made it not perfect is man's wilful disobedience to a direct command. "You shall not eat of..."
     You say you think that was unfair, to place all men under condemnation for one person's act. But you also have to acknowledge that because of one man's act, dying on the cross for the sins of the world,- that is all mankind,- God can restore what He had created back to where it once was.
    First He is restoring man to a relationship He had with Adam and Eve in the garden. Some day in the future, spoken of in the book of the Revelation, He is going to give us a new heaven and a new earth.
    He has presently left us His communication-the Bible. We are to study it to show ourselves approved to God as a workman. To study, it would mean we. need methods. In earlier posts I have laid out some methods that can be useful.
    But first, sit down and open the Bible. Have a notebook handy to jot down what is there.. Which would mean you also have a pencil or pen. Read and ask questions as you go along. What does this passsage mean? How does the writer develop the point. What did it mean to those of that day who read it or heard it for the first time? What does it have to say to me today?
   Keep reading the posts to come. I have just begun.
   Follow me and you will get the development of the series. Become a member today.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Thoughts About Heaven

    "It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgement."
     Yes, I hold that there is life after death. Not the life that the world is trying to push on us. Not the Muslim life with the virgins. Nor the Mormon life with the procreation of kids. But a life after death. A life we choose now while we are alive. We either choose eternal life with God, our creator, or eternal separation. But we do live forever either way.
    The last book in the Bible tells us what heaven will look like. Floors of clear glass. Stones making up the gates. It is day all the time. We will be worshipping God, our creator. We will be serving and adoring the One who saved us.
   Just some of the ideas.
   I don't at this moment have an open Bible before me so I am just giving my impressions of what I have hidden in my memory. But it will be a wonderful place. No more sickness. No more pain. No more aging. No more youngsters not doing what you tell them to do. No more bad literature..
    No, we will not be on clouds and playing harps. We will be too busy serving God and praising God to have time to compose music.
   Our days of struggling will be over. No more overdue rent and the landlord knocking on your door. No more road rage. No more drive by shooting. No more watching a loved one die. Or watching a pet die. Or suffering yourself.
    We will never get sleepy or need rest. We will have different bodies. We won't marry. There will be no need.
    In short, I am sure, it will be more than we can think about. What God wants us to know about it is all found in the Bible.
    Become a member of this blog. Become a follower. Enjoy the postings. Leave comments and we can even have a discussion.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

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.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Invisible Agents

  We are not alone.There is a world that surrounds us that we are not aware of. It is the supernatural realm of Angels. Oh, sure, there are people out there who report to be talking to spirits. And on that subject I will  post as this posting goes on.
   Angels are nothing but God's creation.They don't have bodies. they are spirits. Their purpose is to guard God and to do His bidding.  Goid sends angels, now remember we can't see them, to care for people on this earth. Mostly He sends threm to help His people. I don't find them helping the people who are not His people.
   Complicated. Let me see if I can make it simple.
    In the beginng ,before God even is mentioned in Genesis 1:1, God created Angels. He needed servants to guard His throne and do His bidding. And to care for His creation as overseers.
       They must have had free will of a sort. One named Lucifer, who was one of the guards, decided he was more impotant or something. He wanted to be the supreme person who was worshipped. So he somehow talked a third of the angels into storming against God. for this, he and his angels, whom we now know as demons, were thrown to earth. At that moment, I believe, God  made their decision final. He took away free will and locked in the decision. thsoe who stayed with Him were now always good. Those who went with Lucifer who had a name change to Satan were locked into the fallen state. They lost free will.
        We are not to worship angels. The are merely messengers.
         Those who do and call upon spirits are condemned by God. The spirits they contact are not the good angels  but the evil ones.
         Satan still wants to be worshipped.
          The Lord  your God is One Lord. You shall have no other God before you. Worship belongs to God alone.
        This doctrine is not a major one but I felt it needed to be mentioned.
        Please keep on following me and these postings. Thank you for your reading these postings in the past and here's hoping you will continue to read in to the future.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Grab it Back

  I am still talking about the Church of Jesus Christ.
  Recently I have recieved a book to be reviewed called "Why Men Hate Going To Church by David Murrow. It is not ready to be reviewed and when it is I will be posting it on the other blog I have, http://drsbookplace.blogspot.com/.
   The thesis is that the church has been losing men because it no longer is masculine or speaks to their needs. Women have stepped in and taken over the outreaches of the church and as such have feminized the way it is run. Pastors have had to tailor their preaching to the feminization. They have re-packaged Jesus as the harmless androgynous male. People see pictures that picture Him not as a muscle bound, man figure (He did take up Josephs' trade of carpenter. He was known by His country men as the carpenters' son) The preachers preached too much on the Lamb of God aspect of Jesus and not enough on the Lion Of God aspect seen in the driving of the sellers from the temple, or the one who controlled nature    .
     Men are the Miracle-Gro for a Church. Get them involved  in the church and there is a possibility of growth.
     The church needs some "footholds" and "handholds" for the men.  Men need to know they are valued.
It has to become once again manly for a man to speak about Chistianity without feeling effeminate or henpecked.
      Follow me. Become a member and follow me as I talk about things that you need to be aware of.

Warning-- error can come in

  For those of you who don't read my book blog I mentioned this there and since mentioning it  I have seen more developments. It is a book by a Todd Burpo, a minister of the charasmatic bent. It is called Heaven Is For Real.  It is a story of his sons' out of body experience. It is dangeous. Fiirst of all because this guy is a minister and people tend to believe ministers as always telling the truth. People tend to trust ministers.
     First off, this is an attempt by satan to plant error.  Even though the message the child brings back is that God loves the children , the idea that God is behind the out of the body experiences seen today is not Biblical.
     All that God wants us to know is in the scriptures we have now. Besides, for anyone who reads the gospel accounts already knows God loves the children.
    Secondly, the push now is to pakage with the book a CD and small group curriculum. This is from the pit of hell. We don't need a book to tell us there is an afterlife Let me repeat, God's Word tells us so.
    I don't understand why Thomas Nelson would publish a book of this type.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Education and Skill Training

   I am all for education. Yet with the cost of a higher education  being so high it is best to consider, is that
college degree all that important for you in your future plans for life? I mean, if you wish to be a plumber, do you really need that college degree? You can find a master plumber  to learn under and with sweat equity and close supervision you could get what you need to be a plumber. Just be the best plumber there is.
   I don't think Jesus had a college eduation. He grew up in a carpenter's family. He learned the trade from Joseph. I am sure Joseph and Son was a good compnay. And after the death of Joseph I am sure Jesus Bar Joseph was a good company to get your chairs and tables and other things from.
   He was an easy learner. What we might call a genius today. He picked up what needed to be known. Of course, being 100% God and 100% human helped, but I don't think he shortcercuited the human. He had to learn the same as us. He was tempted in all things, such as we, but without sin.
    And he knew the Jewish Scriptures. In Luke we are told He was left in Jerusalem in his thrirteenth year and stumped the wise men in the temple with what he was saying. But still he went home with Mary and Joseph to continue his child and young adulthood. At about thirty He came out and was baptised by John in the Jordon.