Bible=Boring?

Do you or your children think that the bible is boring? A lot of people do. But I think that is because they don't know enough about it. The words boring and Bible don't go together. Our God is mysterious, huge, bigger than life, bigger than anything. No one can fathom his ways. His word is alive with the truth. It is a double edged sword piercing to the division of joints and marrow, soul and spirit. God's word is so powerful that he formed the universe with only a word. He speaks and it is done. So does that sound boring?

The bible is full of stories about passion, lust, murder, intrigue, lies, heros saving the day, wars, apocolypse...you name it. And it isn't even fiction! It is true, every word God speaks. For the little ones (like my boys) you can emphasize the gross out parts of the bible: cutting off a giant's head, being thrown into a furnace or into a den of lions or being eaten by a whale and ending up in its stomach then vomitted out. And what about Jesus? He was pretty controversial. He spit into dirt and put the mud on a blind man's eyes to heal him...ewww. He touched the diseased skin of the leppers. He stuck his spit laden fingers into the ears of a deaf man to heal him. He spit into his hand and touched the mute man's tongue. He sure did like to swap spit a lot!

For the teenagers, you can look back at the controversial behavior of Jesus that enraged the Jews. He ate, hung out and partied with sinners...the worst of the worst low lifes. He worked on the sabbath picking grain to eat, healing people and preaching. He refused to perform miracles in his own home town and refused to argue and fight for his freedom. He went against the popular, powerful people and stuck up for the poor and unlovely.

What about the heroes of the bible...the heroes of the faith? Every one of them showed faith and were used by God, yet the still sinned just as much if not more than the rest of us. They were human like us, yet used greatly.

So is there any way to think of the bible as boring? No, it is an oxymoron. That is why it is still the most popular and most read book in the world. What else would you expect from "GOD'S WORD"?

Little Lamb

Here is one of my favorite poems. It is "Little Lamb Who Made Thee" by William Blake.

Little lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life and bid thee feed.
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight
Softest clothing wooley bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!

Little lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

Little lamb I'll tell thee,
Little lamb I'll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
His is meek and he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child and thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.

Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.


Isn't it wonderful! Do you know who made you? I hope you do. I hope you know the wonderful creator, Father God and his son, our savior Jesus Christ. If you don't know them then you are missing out on life itself. Just ask Him and He will reveal himself to you. He is waiting little lamb. Go spend some time with the shepherd and rest in his care.

Carpe Diem

I have recently been in the habit of telling my son, Max to "Carpe Diem" on the way to school. He is in Kindergarten (almost age 6 as he likes to let everyone know). I know the saying is cliche and corny. I have never liked to use it before, but I do like the message it gives for all of us. I had a talk today about how Max could "seize the day". We talked about the fact that no matter what the day holds, whether it is full of accidents, mistakes or others treating us wrong, no matter how good or bad the day may be, we can still seize it for Christ. We all have a choice to live for our Lord or for ourselves.

I asked Max what he could do if he had a bad day and still wanted to seize it for Christ. He didn't know, so I suggested that he could do something nice for someone. If no one is nice to us and things go wrong, we still have the power to change the day and seize it for Christ. Our actions, with God's power, can have a powerful affect, not just on others, but on ourselves as well. By the way...this makes Satan and his demons scream and run from us. They can't stand it. So if you feel under attack or just in a slump...praise God and seize the day, do a random act of kindness, bless and serve others. This is the key to true joy and success.

This choice to seize the day is part of our free will, the gift of God given to us. We shouldn't ignore it. He paid a high price for it so that we could use it to do His good will on this earth and in heaven. So what do you say? Let's seize the day!

Giving up Chocolate

I recently received this email - if you haven't seen it, I think you'll like it . . .


I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner. I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked, 'If I give you this money, will you buy chocolate with it instead of dinner?' 'No, I had to stop eating chocolate years ago', the homeless woman told me.'Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?' I asked.'No, I don't waste time shopping,' the homeless woman said. 'I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.''Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?' I asked.'Are you NUTS!' replied the homeless woman. I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!''Well, I said, 'I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight.'The homeless Woman was shocked. 'Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.' I said, 'That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and chocolate.' I just know you're laughing!You're gonna send it on - aren't you?

The Bible and Your Birthday

Did you know that the Bible has a special verse for everyone's birthday? Look up your verse now... This site is very neat, and may help you find a meaningful life verse for you or anyone special in your life.

http://www.birthverse.com/mybirthverse.cfm

More on the Blood

I was just thinking the other day about the blood speaking to us and another thought hit me, one most of you have already thought about, but here goes...DNA. Blood does have a way of speaking to us and for us. Even the dead can have thier DNA speak for them if need be (e.g. coroner, police, etc.) So yes, the blood of Christ does speak to us and for us in more ways than one. His blood is recognized as belonging to the Son of God. When Jesus died for us and shed his blood for us, when we accept it to make the payment for our sins it cleanses us, pouring itself over us so that God recognizes us now as new. Our DNA signature is different, it is Christ's. Our sinful, ruined bodies and spirits are no longer tainted, but pure because of Jesus. His blood is seen on us, covering us, replacing ours with his purity, his inheritance, so we can be adopted as belonging to God. No longer are we enemies of God, but adopted sons and daughters. We are now children of God with his blood over us and his spirit in us, making us new. Wow!!! Talk about "Life Giving Blood"!

Only Christ's blood can do this for us. We cannot do it for ourselves. No matter how hard we try, we cannot save ourselves or anyone else for that matter. Only the blood of the sinless can suffice...and that is only found in Jesus. Thank God for his blood. We tend to think of blood as gross and dirty. We don't want to touch it or be contaminated by it. It represents hurt, death, pain. But truly it represents for the largest part-LIFE, healing, rest, refuge, comfort.........all the good God has for us. We need to rethink our opinion of blood. The blood of Christ is Beautiful beyond measure. We need a daily transfusion of it, or even more often, by spending time with him in prayer (adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication) and in his word. But the work of the blood for salvation/saving is already done for us. Once and for all it was shed. We just need to accept it! Hallaluiah! Like I said last week, "By his stripes we are healed," not by our blood shed but his.