I have shared with many people over the years that I began reading the entire Bible in a year eleven years ago. It has been a wonderful journey that I encourage others to participate in as well. The key is to find a version of the Bible and a guide to help pace you through the year. This year I am reading again the English Standard Version (ESV) and using a guide that allows me to read the Bible chronologically. Here is a website that offers one such guide.
Bible in One Year - Chronological Guide
Join me in this adventure. I guarantee it will change your life.
God's blessings to you as you begin a new year in Him.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Our God is Mighty to Save
I shared this message in chapel today...
The Birth of Jesus from Matthew 1:18-25 (The Message)
“The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.
While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:
Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").
Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.”
Let’s Pray…
Lord God, Heavenly Father
We gather around Your Word today remembering why you were born: to save Your people from their sins.
We celebrate the fact You loved us so much to send Jesus
Thank you for Your presence –
May the words of David praise you –
Let the words of my mouth ad the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable to You O Lord my Strength and my Redeemer. Amen
Good Morning
You guys look great today!
I love the Christmas season.
Every year I always find something new in it to celebrate, reflect on, thank God for.
As I think about a week from today, I am drawn to the question, “Why Christmas?”
When we are little, we think about what we get on Christmas
When we get older, we think about what we get on Christmas
When we really get older, we think about what we get on Christmas
Now don’t get me wrong
There are many who think about what they can give at Christmas, at least for a little bit
There are some who don’t even think about Christmas, beyond the hassles it brings in their life, or the bad memories it conjures up.
For many people, this whole season isn’t a season of joy
It is a season of sorrow and pain
Of sadness and being alone
For them, Christmas isn’t a season of power, but a time a time of stress.
And that’s too bad – but not a stretch.
Think about it.
What hell must have been like when Christ was sent to earth, Satan wanted nothing more than to derail God’s plan of salvation. It must have been an all out attack, and yet God would not be denied.
He wouldn’t be denied because He had had the prophets tell of His birth for thousands of years.
The prophet Isaiah, moved by the Spirit of God, foretells the birth of a child: (Isaiah 9:6)
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
Secondly, the Christ has to be born in Bethlehem. In the prophecies of Micah we find the following words: (Micah 5:2)
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."
And finally we will turn to one more prophecy - the prophecy of Isaiah (7:14):
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."
These are just a few of the 31 prophesies that identify Jesus as the Savior of the World.
At the time Jesus lived estimates indicate there were approximately 250 million people on earth
The probability of all of this happening to one single male, is
1 out of 2.54 x 10 to the 28th power
To illustrate, lets start with an American coin, a dime, which is approximately, 3/4 inch in diameter and 1/16 inches high.
Now imagine that someone takes the earth and hollows it out and starts filling it with dimes. He/she would need to fill 10 earths full of dimes to represent all of the chances associated with these prophecies. Next let us paint one of the dimes red. Now, the probability that one person fulfilled all of these prophecies by chance would be the same as one blindfolded person picking that one red dime the first time.
Yet, history and the Bible show us that these things are all true of Jesus. The prophecies tell us that Jesus is the Messiah - He is God.
That really is the bottom line of the Christmas season.
The story is true. Jesus was born. He did become a man. He did die, and He did rise on the third day. He did all of this to save us from our sins. He had to die so you and I won’t have to. We will all live forever somewhere – either with God or away from Him. I want all of you to be with Jesus one day in heaven. That is what He wants too, but He’ll never force that on you. It is your choice to reject his gift or not.
We are going to have tough days in our life – no doubt.
John 16:33 states the words from Jesus Himself, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
That is a message of hope that we all need to be reminded of. It is a message of hope that those who are losing hope in these economic times need to hear. Jesus is bigger than anything we face! He is our hope!
The song I asked the band to play for us next is not a song you’ll find on a Christmas album but I think it is the perfect Christmas song.
Jesus came to save us from our sins. He came to give us hope!
He is a God who is Mighty to Save!
Reflect on the words as you sing them today
Our God is Mighty to Save!
Thank you for listening.
Merry Christmas!
The Birth of Jesus from Matthew 1:18-25 (The Message)
“The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.
While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins." This would bring the prophet's embryonic sermon to full term:
Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for "God is with us").
Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.”
Let’s Pray…
Lord God, Heavenly Father
We gather around Your Word today remembering why you were born: to save Your people from their sins.
We celebrate the fact You loved us so much to send Jesus
Thank you for Your presence –
May the words of David praise you –
Let the words of my mouth ad the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable to You O Lord my Strength and my Redeemer. Amen
Good Morning
You guys look great today!
I love the Christmas season.
Every year I always find something new in it to celebrate, reflect on, thank God for.
As I think about a week from today, I am drawn to the question, “Why Christmas?”
When we are little, we think about what we get on Christmas
When we get older, we think about what we get on Christmas
When we really get older, we think about what we get on Christmas
Now don’t get me wrong
There are many who think about what they can give at Christmas, at least for a little bit
There are some who don’t even think about Christmas, beyond the hassles it brings in their life, or the bad memories it conjures up.
For many people, this whole season isn’t a season of joy
It is a season of sorrow and pain
Of sadness and being alone
For them, Christmas isn’t a season of power, but a time a time of stress.
And that’s too bad – but not a stretch.
Think about it.
What hell must have been like when Christ was sent to earth, Satan wanted nothing more than to derail God’s plan of salvation. It must have been an all out attack, and yet God would not be denied.
He wouldn’t be denied because He had had the prophets tell of His birth for thousands of years.
The prophet Isaiah, moved by the Spirit of God, foretells the birth of a child: (Isaiah 9:6)
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
Secondly, the Christ has to be born in Bethlehem. In the prophecies of Micah we find the following words: (Micah 5:2)
"But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."
And finally we will turn to one more prophecy - the prophecy of Isaiah (7:14):
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel."
These are just a few of the 31 prophesies that identify Jesus as the Savior of the World.
At the time Jesus lived estimates indicate there were approximately 250 million people on earth
The probability of all of this happening to one single male, is
1 out of 2.54 x 10 to the 28th power
To illustrate, lets start with an American coin, a dime, which is approximately, 3/4 inch in diameter and 1/16 inches high.
Now imagine that someone takes the earth and hollows it out and starts filling it with dimes. He/she would need to fill 10 earths full of dimes to represent all of the chances associated with these prophecies. Next let us paint one of the dimes red. Now, the probability that one person fulfilled all of these prophecies by chance would be the same as one blindfolded person picking that one red dime the first time.
Yet, history and the Bible show us that these things are all true of Jesus. The prophecies tell us that Jesus is the Messiah - He is God.
That really is the bottom line of the Christmas season.
The story is true. Jesus was born. He did become a man. He did die, and He did rise on the third day. He did all of this to save us from our sins. He had to die so you and I won’t have to. We will all live forever somewhere – either with God or away from Him. I want all of you to be with Jesus one day in heaven. That is what He wants too, but He’ll never force that on you. It is your choice to reject his gift or not.
We are going to have tough days in our life – no doubt.
John 16:33 states the words from Jesus Himself, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
That is a message of hope that we all need to be reminded of. It is a message of hope that those who are losing hope in these economic times need to hear. Jesus is bigger than anything we face! He is our hope!
The song I asked the band to play for us next is not a song you’ll find on a Christmas album but I think it is the perfect Christmas song.
Jesus came to save us from our sins. He came to give us hope!
He is a God who is Mighty to Save!
Reflect on the words as you sing them today
Our God is Mighty to Save!
Thank you for listening.
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Why We Emphasize Christian Character Development
A disturbing study released this past week highlighted the need for helping high school students work through what is right and wrong.
The Ethics of American Youth - 2008 Summary
Here are some highlights...
STEALING. In bad news for business, more than one in three boys (35 percent) and one-fourth of the girls (26 percent) — a total of 30 percent overall — admitted stealing from a store within the past year. It s somewhat less in religious schools.
LYING. More than two of five (42 percent) said that they sometimes lie to save money. Again, the male-female difference was significant: 49 percent of the males, 36 percent of the females. In 2006, 39 percent said they lied to save money (47 percent males, 31 percent females).
39% in religious schools – 83% lied to parents (on a significant item)
CHEATING. Cheating in school continues to be rampant and it’s getting worse. A substantial majority (64 percent) cheated on a test during the past year (38 percent did so two or more times), up from 60 percent and 35 percent, respectively, in 2006. There were no gender differences on the issue of cheating on exams. 63% from students in religious schools
Is it worse than it appears?
As bad as these numbers are, it appears they understate the level of dishonesty exhibited by America’s youth. More than one in four (26 percent) confessed they lied on at least one or two questions on the survey. Experts agree that dishonesty on surveys usually is an attempt to conceal misconduct.
Despite these high levels of dishonesty, the respondents have a high self-image when it comes to ethics. A whopping 93 percent said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character and 77 percent said that when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.
Lots of work to do in helping our kids…
Thank you for your partnership!
The Ethics of American Youth - 2008 Summary
Here are some highlights...
STEALING. In bad news for business, more than one in three boys (35 percent) and one-fourth of the girls (26 percent) — a total of 30 percent overall — admitted stealing from a store within the past year. It s somewhat less in religious schools.
LYING. More than two of five (42 percent) said that they sometimes lie to save money. Again, the male-female difference was significant: 49 percent of the males, 36 percent of the females. In 2006, 39 percent said they lied to save money (47 percent males, 31 percent females).
39% in religious schools – 83% lied to parents (on a significant item)
CHEATING. Cheating in school continues to be rampant and it’s getting worse. A substantial majority (64 percent) cheated on a test during the past year (38 percent did so two or more times), up from 60 percent and 35 percent, respectively, in 2006. There were no gender differences on the issue of cheating on exams. 63% from students in religious schools
Is it worse than it appears?
As bad as these numbers are, it appears they understate the level of dishonesty exhibited by America’s youth. More than one in four (26 percent) confessed they lied on at least one or two questions on the survey. Experts agree that dishonesty on surveys usually is an attempt to conceal misconduct.
Despite these high levels of dishonesty, the respondents have a high self-image when it comes to ethics. A whopping 93 percent said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character and 77 percent said that when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.
Lots of work to do in helping our kids…
Thank you for your partnership!