Northside Blog

Redemption (Psalms 24-26)

2010-03-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

I love reading the Psalms in this format because once a week I get to peek what's on David's Heart. Today in two of the Psalms we read how David wants redemption for his nation and for himself.

My favorite stories are redemption stories. I fear that we want nice and easy stories without a lot of confusion. One's with definite heroes and definite villians with as little sex, cussing, and violence as possible. And while I think we can write scripts that are devoid of bad elements (or at least present them in a way that doesn't make a child loose his/her innocence), we miss plot lines because we refuse to describe our heroes as faulty.

I love movies like "Catch Me if You Can" because someone finds a hero in a villian's life. It is a real tale of redemption, and gives the hope that someone can turn their life around. Which we all can in Christ, that's why He died for us.

Since my last post...

2010-03-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, you may have noticed some things in the Bible. Abraham lied again, Isaac married Rebekah, Jacob stole a blessing and wrestled with an angel, 7 cycles of Judges passed, friends accused Job of sin, Job defended himself, Israel is getting destroyed, Israel will be restored, Jesus preached and taught valuable lessons, and we are done with the book of Romans. A lot has happened since I last posted. And I apologize. I need to be more disciplined with this blogging.

In today's reading, I found something profound. The last verse of what we read in Judges says, "In those days, there was no king. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." And if you read today's reading, you'd know there was some messed up stuff going on. A woman makes an idol to God. A man hires a Levite, who then gets persuaded to leave by the tribe of Dan. Another levite gets his concubine raped, and starts a civil war after chopping her up and sending her to the 12 tribes of Israel. To end the civil war, a village gets massacred so the tribe of Benjamin can have wives. Quite messed up stuff.

2 things to glean: First, if we are never wrong, we may not be following God. These people did messed up things because they did what was right in their own sight. Any one of us can mess up, especially if we are always right.

Second, God still loves us. We don't hear about impending doom here like we do in the prophets. God was patient with Israel, and He'll be patient with us, also.

I need an intercessor (Job 9 & 10)

2010-02-04T06:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long delay in blogging. I hope you've been reading.

We'll skip the commentaries, I missed. It'd be worthless to try to put them in right now. But this one is fresh from today's reading.

Today, Job is once again pleading his case to his friends. And he says something interesting at the end on chapter 9. "God and I are not equals...I wish I had an intercessor."

Sometimes we take for granted that we can present anything to God because of what Jesus did for us. Some of us don't understand the Blood of Jesus and won't present anything to God out of fear. But we have one advantage that Job didn't: an intercessor. Because of what Jesus did, don't have to worry about how "clean" we are, Jesus has taken care of the sin department. We can present our case to God without worry.

God is Here (Psalm 9-11)

2010-01-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

God's presence in our lives should be of comfort. To David, God was a great comfort. Psalms 9 & 11 celebrate that fact. But then we get to Psalm 10, and apparently there were those who lost faith in God. David encourages God to "get moving" (The Message).

The most talked about subject by some is "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" Now, we can deflect that question by saying that there is no one good (Romans 3). But that fails to show God's care. God does know and care, and may want to use us as instruments to bring a person close to God. Or he/she may need to be broken of something.

Much of the pain we suffer we won't be able to resolve on this side of eternity. The one thing we can do is invoke God's presence in our lives. Then Psalm 10 turns into Psalm 9 or 11 for some.

The posts I've missed

2010-01-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry that I never got to this like I should have daily. Some things came up that needed to be attended to. I should have blocked my time out better.

Friday the 22nd (Isaiah 12-17)
     It seems that Israel is favored. Everyone else is going to be destroyed, including Assyria who was labeled God's instrument of judgment. But Israel gets promises of restoration. It goes to show God's faithfulness.

Saturday the 23rd (Matthew 5-7)
    The sermon on the mount is one of the most read, beloved, and talked about passages in the Bible. We see how hard it is to do what God really wants for us. We see the attitudes we need to take. We're warned not to take the words Jesus spoke lightly.
     Sadly, it's also one of the least applied passages in the Bible.

Sunday the 24th (Romans 5 & 6)
    Paul begins to talk more about grace, and how a life of grace means death to sin. When we are baptized, we died to sin.

Monday the 25th (Genesis 12-15)
    God calls Abram and Abram obeys. What's interesting about this is that God calls Abram to a "strange land". So many of us are called by God, but we're only willing to do it if we completely understand it first. I know with myself, I've had a hard time when I didn't understand where God was taking me. I was always thankful later, but hindsight is always 20/20. The important thing is to follow God, and not just when we agree with it.

Tuesday the 26th (Joshua 16-20)
    Today's reading starts with Israel still dividing the land. But the interesting part about this is that even though Israel did get the land, they never were able to drive everyone out. Judges 1 has an explanation for this, but I'm going to save that for when we get there. The only thing I will say is this is the start of trouble for Israel.
   The Israelites start coming up with Assylum Cities, the cities people can go to so they won't be killed in case of accidental death. It's interesting the God has always come up with help for problems. He truly is wise.

I know these are snippets and I would have probably written more if I would have taken the time. I apologize for this. But I want to still encourage you to keep reading. Don't stop.

Sounds like a minister I know (Job 5-6)

2010-01-21T06:59:00.000-08:00

I sometimes think that my brother's grief counseling class that he took while studying to be a mortician was more for my benefit. While taking that class, my brother challenged me. Apparently, most people do not turn to ministers and doctors in time of grief because they come off as cold and calculated. So Matt's challenge was, "Don't be like those people."

In Job's grief, his friend Eliphaz finishes his sermon by telling Job that if he were really just, God would protect him. The flaw in Eliphaz's is thinking that everyone on the path of following God experiences blessings while those who do evil experience curses. In a perfect world that would be true. However, our world is far from perfect.

Bernie Madoff experienced plenty of wealth and comfort while doing evil things. And while he got caught, there are probably a few more like him that won't. On the other hand, Christians are the victims of bad things all the time. It may be something as small as gossip (Job 5:21) or as large as dying for your faith.

Once again, we see these ideals sink in our world. The only thing to cling to is God.

Yours, Mine, and His is something else (Psalm 6-8)

2010-01-20T06:42:00.000-08:00

Each of us have to deal with the sins that come in our lives. No one is exempt. I think CS Lewis's idea of the closer we get to God the more we understand our sinfulness really applies to Psalm 6. David starts out, "God, please, no more trips to the woodshed." (The Message) When we sin, or when God wants to shape us into better people, God instills discipline in our lives. And it's never fun, but it's because God loves us (Hebrews 12). Still, God is big enough to hear our cries when we don't understand the discipline we go through.

Others are going to do us wrong. When that happens, the temptation is to do wrong to others. What should happen is that we should pray. It's what David did (Psalm 7), and it made a big difference.

God, on the other hand, doesn't sin. He is holy, majestic, and for whatever reason He loves us. Psalm 8 is one of the best Psalms to know for this reason. It keeps the wonder of and for God in our hearts.

As long as God is with me (Joshua 11-15)

2010-01-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

We start today's reading with Joshua having to face battle with 5 kings. One nation against 5 seems harsh, but God told Joshua to not fear, he'll defeat the kings and hamstring their horses. And once again, God came through.

We then go through a few hard chapters to navigate. They're hard because we don't really carry to all the places in Israel. Few of us have been there, and most of the time we can't get a mental map going. So at the end of this blog, I'm providing a map to give us references.

One story that gets lost in these chapters is Caleb's story. Here's this 80 year old man who went through the exodus, he and Joshua were the lone survivors, and he's ready for his land. I love his attidue, "As long as the Lord is with me, I'll take the land." And so at 80, Caleb took over a piece of Judah.

Sometimes as Christians we fall into the trap of feeling like because we're in the minority, we must be right. Many times, I have seen the twisted thinking of, "Well, no one else agrees with me in ___________________ (church, town, school, etc.), so I must be doing the right thing." That's not right. A minority with God is powerful, but a minority without God is a minority. Minority or majority does not matter, what does matter is God's presence.

How do we know if God's presence is with us? If those around us can see the fruit of the Spirit in us, then we can be sure. If we are persuasive in spite of how we explain things, then we can be sure. If God is moving with us in ways we can't explain, then we can be sure.

As promised, the map:

Promises (Genesis 8-11)

2010-01-19T06:21:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we forget that God remembers us and remembers His promises to us. I wonder if Noah felt forgotten on the ark. 40 days is a long time for something to happen, and after 40 days of rain you had to think that Noah was a longing for dry land.

Genesis 8 starts out with, "And the Lord remembered Noah..." The waters began to recede and that land began to dry. After a few months, Noah and his family were able to get out of the ark with all the animals. Then God made a promise to never flood the earth again.

He also made other promises, like letting us eat animals, but also gave us commands, like fill the earth with people. Unfortunately, people are always rebelling against God's commands, so in Genesis 11 we see them still, as one, trying to build a tower to heaven. God knew how foolish this was, so He confused our languages.

It's what happens when we forget God's commands and promises.

Focus (Romans 3-4)

2010-01-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

In our two chapters today, the underlying theme I kept seeing was focus. Paul started off by discussing "Jewish insider claims" (the Message), and how the kept the law for so many years. But in keeping the law, they showed it couldn't be perfectly kept, therefore all have sinned. And all of us are guilty of sin, not one of us has been able to keep the law perfectly. Woe to us!

But God, being the God who puts everything right, also wanted to put us right. Therefore He sent His son Jesus to die for us. Not because any of us were deserving, or followed the law more closely, but because He is a generous God.

We continue on by reading how God made Abraham a somebody. Abraham hadn't done anything special except to go when God called him to go. It was that sort of reliance of God that made God promise all sorts of things to Abraham. And Abraham took it in faith, with several false starts.

God promised Abraham many children. He had a false start with Hagar because Sarah wasn't willing to think that God was still going to use her. That turned out to be a mistake that pains us still today. But at the right time, to show that nobody but God was doing this, God gave Abraham a son when old Abe was 100 years old. As it says in Romans, Abraham wasn't thinking that he was too old, he looked to God to fulfill the promise.

We should show faith and cling to God to fulfill His promises to us.

Testing...1, 2, 3 (Matthew 3&4)

2010-01-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

We open up today's reading with John the Baptist scolding the Pharasees who were wanting to be baptized. It was the newest fad, the great sensation that was sweeping the nation...and that's not just a cliche in this case.

The fad got so big, even Jesus wanted in on it. This leaves John stunned. But Jesus wasn't into fads, He was into following His Father. Of all the people that didn't need to be baptized, Jesus still came and put Himself under the covenant making of baptism. It makes one wonder if this isn't a test for us as well.

Now we get into a different test for Jesus. The Holy Spirit brings Jesus into the desert for a 40 day fast. By then I'd imagine his human nerves had to be on edge. Most of us can't go 4 hours without a meal and be happy, maybe after 40 days Jesus was ready to be exposed.

I'm sure that's what Satan was thinking, also. "Maybe now I can make the Son of God fall, he hasn't eaten in 40 days." Or maybe Mark Buchanan has it right. Maybe Jesus went through the 40 day fast to give himself stregnth for these matters? I'm not sure, this is one of those Chicken or Egg questions. All I know is that in Jesus' human weakness, a lot of spiritual strength came through, and that's a lesson for us today. In II Corinthians 12 Paul tells us that when he is weak, God is strong. We need to remember that.

Behold, a child is born...and a challenge is made (Isaiah 7-11)

2010-01-15T07:28:00.000-08:00

Isaiah is sometimes called the 5th gospel because of the predictive prophecies about Jesus that are made. And you'll find that in Isaiah 7 and 9. Two of the most famous prophecies are found there. But it's the first prophecy I want to focus on.

In this first prophecy, Isaiah must encourage the king of Israel, who was at war. Yet God tells Isaiah to not be afraid. What comes next is that Isaiah asks Ahaz, "Ask God for a sign."

And Ahaz's response is interesting, "I won't ask the Lord, I won't put Him to the test."

It seems like Ahaz trusts that God is "out there", but doesn't want to trust Him with the things that just might fail. It sounds like the majority of us.

Some peole say that 80% of churches in the US would stay about the same if the Holy Spirit were to leave. I think it's a legitimate point. We're good at getting together, maybe doing a service project, having our services and playing the same songs...you know, our churches have a routine that must never be broken. We preach from our flesh. We ask to sing only those songs we know. We bristle at any challenge given to us. In short, we do things our way because we think God wants us to do safe things.

Here's a question for you that hit me today. What are you doing that is so big that if God took away His presence it would fail? If I were to answer that question honestly, I feel like two services would have failed had the Lord not been there for us. I'd also say care and share. But I cannot be satisfied that these things been working so far and let myself get comfortable with what we have now. I need to ask for more, or we will fail.

Done a little late (Job 3&4)

2010-01-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

So, we continue the story of Job. Usually, we talk about Job 1&2, and the end when God restored Job. We think of Job's 3 friends as evil, but we never understand why.

So in Job 3, Job is asking for a break. Nothing is working for him, and wondering when it's going to finally go his way. Then in Job 4, Eliphaz starts talking about how maybe, just maybe Job sinned.

I'm not saying there aren't consequences for our actions. There may be. I'm saying it doesn't always make sense on this side of heaven.

Some try to explain it away by talking about a past life, and if junk continues to happen in our lives it's because we sinned too much in a past life.

Others just try to say that there is no God, because if that happened it would make more sense to us.

We don't know why. Sometimes the junk works out for our good, and sometimes were left suffering. I think I'll try to save comments for later. Mostly because I can't explain it right now. Might be done a little later.

Who do I turn to? (Psalm (3-5)

2010-01-13T06:41:00.000-08:00

Sometimes there is the temptation to want everyone to like us. I know this is an area where I struggle. Yet enemies are going to be common anywhere we go. People will misunderstand us, impugn our motives, or just flat out disagree with us.

In these Psalms, David never asks God to make his enemies like him. Nor to stop the attacks from the enemies. He asks rather to have God be his shelter, his defender, and the one who puts his life together. We'd be wise to ask for the same.

Promises (Joshua 6-10)

2010-01-12T07:29:00.000-08:00

One thing I've noticed in today's reading has been how God is faithful in His promises, for both good and bad. Almost every chapter God was working in promises made and broken.

We start out with God promising Joshua that Jericho would be overtaken, just walk around the city 7 days straight. Some people have tried to explain how sound waves would destroy the walls with the loud shout, but I don't think anyone was measuring distances or pitch to get the sound exactly right. It was God working the whole time.

But, God made the Israelites promise that they won't take anything. Yet one of the Israelites (Achan) messes up, and it costs them. Compared to Jericho, the Israelites should have creamed Ai, yet they get routed. It reminds me of how Husker nation felt after getting beat by Iowa State. Everyone's head is down, wondering how their mighty team could loose to someone so lowly.

It's interesting that Joshua invokes God's promise in prayer, asking God why this happened. God tells Joshua that Achan took some stuff, Joshua makes it right. Then they rout Ai.

Some Gibeonites hear of what is happening and are scared. They put on a rouse so that they won't be destroyed, figuring that it is better to be servants than dead. So they act like faraway travellers, and Joshua makes a covenant with them without consulting God first. This makes the Israelites angry, but there is an important lesson to be gained from this.

In chapter 10 when the Gibeonites are in trouble, the Israelites come to the rescue. A true legalist would have figured that God would punish the Israelites for foolishly making a covenant with people they were to destroy. I say this because a legalist figures God will destroy when He's not obeyed. God, however, knows that promises are very important, and honors the promise despite how it was made. Israel routes the kings that go after Gibeon.

This is important for us, because we are not perfect. We will mess up. We will sin. We will be foolish. But God is faithful to us and will still use everything, even our mistakes, for His glory.

And He keeps His promises. Even if they take a long time to fulfill. Back to Joshua 6. Joshua makes a prophecy, cursing anyone who wants to rebuild Jericho. Now read I Kings 16 (the last few verses) and see what happens when someone tries to rebuild it.

A whole lotta lessons (Genesis 4-7)

2010-01-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

What a lot of reading to get through. Not so much for words, but for stories we've learned as children. And for stuff we can glean from these stories.

Chapter 4: Cain and Abel are born. I think we know the story, Cain kills Abel because Cain can't stand that God liked Abel's sacrifice more. But what hit me was Eve's attitude toward having kids. It went from "With God's help I had a son," to "Look at what the Lord has given me." Maybe the change in attitude helped Eve to get Seth to be more Godly?

Chapter 5: Still gets me that Enoch didn't die, but was rather taken up. I sometimes wonder what I could do to get that to happen to me. Then I remember that Jesus loves me and made me whole, and even if I die, I still live (John 11:25, 26).

Chapter 6: The world was so evil that the Lord couldn't stand it anymore. So He brings His judgment. I think we sometimes forget that God knows what's really going on in our hearts. Is this world not up to God's standard? Yeah. But I'm sure it wasn't as bad as it was back then, or I think Jesus would have already come back (II Peter 3:9).

Chapter 7: So Noah builds an ark in front of a bunch of people who had never seen rain (Genesis 2:1-7). The earth was watered by a mist or by underground streams rising up to water the ground. But God told Noah a mind-blowing message, build a boat because water is going to flood the earth. And Noah obeyed. Let me end this entry with a mind-blowing question. What are you doing that is so crazy that if God isn't in it you would fail?

We're not off the hook (Romans 1-2)

2010-01-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

In most studies of Romans, the typical thing to do is to go one chapter at a time. Makes sense, right? Chapters are good starting and stopping spots. But reading both chapters 1 and 2 in Romans tilted things a bit.

A little bit of background. Most of the time we do a study in Romans and we go through chapter 1. And we talk about how rampant the problems are in America between athiests and homosexuals. And we feel good in the church because we're neither.

The next week, we go through chapter 2. And we talk about those who judge, but never ourselves. It's always a person who isn't part of our group. Or it may be a more legalistic denomination. Or if we are that legalistic denomination, there's darn good reason behind it. But whatever it is, we're never wrong.

It then struck me as I was reading these two passages together. It was as if the Holy Spirit was saying, "Yeah, I have a record of atheism and homosexuality being wrong. But that doesn't let you off the hook because you don't practice these things. You still need Jesus just as much for your problems."

I once had an elder scold me for not preaching against homosexuality. My mind was filled with questions like:
     "Do we have people in our church struggling with homosexuality?" (Nope)
     "Would my preaching turn a homosexual from his/her sin?" (Doubt it)
     "Would it lead people to be more graceful or more judging toward people they don't know?" (The latter)

The Bible is meant to lead people into a deeper relationship with Christ, not make us feel more superior to those who have different struggles than us. We would be wise to remember that.

Didn't we just go through this? (Matthew 1-2)

2010-01-09T08:39:00.000-08:00

I know, Christmas was just a little over 2 weeks ago, why do we need to cover it again. Yet, Jesus' birth is important on several levels. I'm just going to pick out one today.

Jesus' birth was important because it shows God's faithfulness. Many of us skim through the first set of verses in Matthew because it's a lot of boring names of people we have no clue about. I think I can assume most of us perk up when we read David's name, we know who he is. If we have good memories, we might perk up at Boaz's name (especially since we're going through Ruth in church). But toward the end, who are these guys? They are the decendents God used to keep his promise to Abraham and David, because it would be through these two people that God promised a great deliverer.

Throughout the rest of Matthew 1-2, we read at least one prophecy of God being fulfilled in every event Matthew records. I think the Spirit inspired it this way so we would keep one thing in mind, that God is faithful. Remember these things when you're going through a rough time, God is still faithful.

So full of ourselves (Isa 1-6)

2010-01-08T07:25:00.000-08:00

Hope you got through your Friday reading. I know that Friday's readings are going to be the longest of the week. But, it's interesting reading, and we can learn a lot from it.

Chapters 2-5 talk about Israel's sins. And there's a long list. But one thing that stuck out at me was how much God got after them for being all about themselves. There was no justice, the women were being unfair to each other, etc. All this seemed to be rooted in the fact that the Israelites were full of themselves. It reminds me of the end of Judges where it says, "In those days there wasn't a king, everyone did what they thought was right in their own eyes."

What strikes me as funny is that now there was a king, and the Israelites were no better. Everyone is still full of themselves, doing what is right in their own eyes. When there isn't leadership, people do what they want. When there is leadership, people rebel and do what they want anyway. What do we do?

The first cue from scripture is to encounter God for ourselves. When Isaiah encountered God, he was changed. He became aware of his sins and was cleansed. Understand this, when Isaiah truly encountered God, he didn't start passing his sins on to others. He didn't try to boast about himself. He was humbled and confessed to God, "Whoa to me...for I have unclean lips".

Isaiah's encounter may seem so far out it is impossible for us to find God. And while we may not see God in His full glory as Isaiah did, we can certainly encounter God for ourselves. Jeremiah 29:13 promises that we will find God if we seek God with all of our heart.

The second cue from scripture is in Isaiah 1. God says, "Come let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow." I John tells us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive. But if we say that if we have no sin, the truth is not in us. Basically, if we are so full of ourselves that we think we're in the right all the time, we may want to reexamine ourselves. Otherwise, we fall into the same trap the Israelites did.

"It's because You protect Him..." (Job 1-2)

2010-01-07T07:25:00.000-08:00

The first of the wisdom books isn't a fable. It's a true story. There was a man named Job who nearly looses everything. He looses all his possessions, his kids, even his health.

How this came about is revealed through divine revelation. Apparently there is a contest between God and Satan to see if Job will curse God. He hasn't...yet (actually, he doesn't during the whole book, but I'd like to take the angle that I don't know how it ends).

What interests me in these chapters is that Satan thinks if God would just take away His blessings, Job would curse God. I suppose there are those of us who love God for what he does. And if God were to ever take away His blessing, we'd be crushed. Maybe I assume that most of us love God because He's God and loved us first.

I believe the only way we know for certain is through trials. I hate them as much as the next guy. I like being comfortable, and having everything go my way. But James calls them a blessing (James 1). He calls them a blessing because they produce perserverance. And while it may be easy to say on this side of Job, but perserverance may be what Job needed at the time.

The Book of Worship (Psalms 1-2)

2010-01-06T06:09:00.000-08:00

Today's reading was a shorter reading, but just as impacting.

Psalm 2 talks about kings and rulers, might and stregnth. But who does David turn to with all the bragging and boasting? God, because He is constant.

And how do we hang out with God? Do we hang out at church all the time? Talk about our theories of God? Nope, it's to meditate on God's word (Psalm 1). I love that word "meditate." I used to think it was to do the Buddhist "Ohmmmmmmmmmmmm" as we sat in silence. What I found out was that in Hebrew, the word meditate was similar to the word describing how a cow chews cud.

A cow chews cud by eating, swallowing, and regurgitating it back to chew and swallow a second time. And then a third. And then a fourth. We can never devour God's word in one sitting. We need to do other things and then come back to it. Then it'll stick.

"In the Same Way..." (Joshua 1-5)

2010-01-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

Maybe reading Francis Chan's, "Forgotten God" has made me think about God's prescense with us lately, but there was a phrase that stuck out in today's reading. That phrase was "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you." (NIV)

In chapter 3, God puts his money where his mouth is, so to speak. One of Moses's famous miracles is crossing the Red Sea. And while it isn't talked about so much, in Joshua chapter 3 Joshua and the Israelites cross the Jordan. The water stops, and is backed up all the way to Adam (a town in Zarethan). During the time that they cross the river, the Israelites put a memorial of when they walked on dry land. All of it to show that just as God was with Moses, He was also with Joshua.

The book, "Forgotten God", has made me realize that when Jesus promised His Holy Spirity to us, He was promising a powerful God living within each and every one of us. It's not anything new I've learned, but it has made me more aware of God trying to work inside of me. And just as the Spirit was present in the past with the apostles and the early church, He is just as present with us today. I love Hillsong's new song: "The Same Power". Especially the line that says, "The Same Power that conquered the grave lives in me"!

Think about that for a moment. The same power that conquered the grave lives in us. We may think that God is calling us to an impossible task at times, and it would be if we tried to do it all by ourselves. But the same power that conquered the grave lives in us. We may think that it is impossible to overcome a sin, and it is if we try it by our own power. But the same power that conquered the grave lives in us.

And it is His prescence that is in us that makes all the difference in the world.

Nothing from nothing means nothing?

2010-01-04T06:53:00.000-08:00

We started the Bible in a year program today. Congrats on starting with us.

As I went through the Scripture reading for today (Genesis 1-3), I was reminded of so many lessons I could write. I remember a teaching by Tony Evans on Genesis 2 that helped me through my single times. God had paraded so many animals in front of Adam not only to name the animals but to also show Adam that none would make a suitable companion...much like how God uses breakups and rejection to show the same thing today.

I was also reminded of the lessons learned from the fall (Genesis 3). How Satan loves to twist scripture to make us sin. How we add to God's commandments and that isn't the best thing. How we blame others for our mistakes.

But I think what really made me think while reading these three chapters was that God made this universe out of nothing. That leaves me in wonder. We can't create something from nothing, usually we have an idea and then have to gather material to make our idea work. But God did create something out of nothing, and by simply speaking. We should remember that it is by God's Word that this universe was created, and that same Word should change us.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-23T15:42:00.000-08:00

We're having our Christmas Eve service tomorrow night at 5:30 pm. If you're wondering about family plans, well, this will take 1/2 an hour. The youth group project is almost done...their film is in the process of being edited. It should be a good service.

This Sunday, we're passing out the reading plan. I'm excited for our church to go through the Bible in a year.

Why this study might be different

2009-12-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

Going through the Bible seems like a daunting task for two reasons. One, you have a large book to try to read, and that might be hard. But the other reason this is daunting is because we believe these to be words inspired by the Holy Spirit. These are important words, not something we can sleepwalk through.

Through several experiences of trying to read the Bible in a year (others and mine), I find that a similar pattern emerges. Genesis is a breeze, halfway through Exodus makes us feel good, the last half is boring, and then we quit in Leviticus. It's unfortunate that many who try to read the Bible in a year every year know 2 1/2 books of the Bible.

To try to solve this problem, we're going to juggle it a bit. There are seven sections to the Bible, so each day, we're going to read a few chapters from each section. Here's how it will look:

Mondays: Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy)
Tuesdays: History (Joshua-Esther)
Wednesdays: Psalms
Thursdays: Poetry (Job-Song of Solomon)
Fridays: Prophecy (Isaiah-Malachi, Revelation)
Saturdays: Gospels and New Testament History (Matthew-Acts)
Sundays: Epistles (Romans-Jude)

Our hope is that this will make it easier for you to read your Bible in a year.

What this particular blog is...

2009-12-16T13:28:00.000-08:00

This blog space is going to be used for Bible Study. Starting Jan 4th we're going to post things we learned in our Study of the Bible through one year. Hopefully, there will be plenty to share and encourage us as we try this.

If you're interested in joining us, the reading plan can be found on http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/biblereading-1yr.html

If you're looking for the stuff that goes on in Neill's brain, that can be found on http://www.essnyder.blogspot.com/