A spirit doesn't have flesh and blood, but without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins and no redemption for us. God (The Invisible, Immortal Spirit) was manifested in the flesh (The Mortal, Visible, Flesh, Son) to die for our sins... In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:14-17)

Most of us know that the Holy Bible is not just a single book. It's a collection of 66 books divided unevenly into 2 parts; The Old Testament and the New Testament. This post is just a simple bird's eye view of the scriptures to us who live on this side of the wonderful resurrection of Christ.

Leading into this overview, let's make sure we're on the same page about a very important factor: Though God used multiple writers to get his Word to us, he retains authorship. The Bible is God's word to man, not man's word to man. It is without error or flaw.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:21)

Let us not fall into the trap of thinking that the Bible is the product of a bunch of old religious men from long ago. Instead it is the powerful Word of God that is sharper than any two-edged sword and still a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path!

                                                             Basic Overview of the New Testament

The Gospels.
The first 4 books are referred to the “The Gospels”. Each book is entitled The Gospel According to Matthew or Mark or Luke or John. Here we get overlapping accounts of the life, ministry, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These are not comprehensive accounts. Even in the Gospel of John we read, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:30-31)

Though these 4 books are considered the beginning of the New Testament, the actual New Testament doesn't start until after the death of Jesus Christ, or the end of these books. Testaments or Wills are not in effect until after the death of the testator. Nearly all of Jesus' teachings, miracles, and ministry are under the Old Testament.

Acts of the Apostles.
The most pivotal book of the New Testament in my opinion is the Book of Acts. Here's where we read about how the apostles carried out the commands of Christ. Want to know exactly how the gospel of Christ was preached to the world? Read the book of Acts! What I find interesting, and a stark contrast from today is that the same gospel message was preached everywhere it was preached in Acts.

Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom to Peter who preached the first New Testament gospel in Acts 2. Philip preached the same gospel at Samaria in Acts 8. Paul preached the same message many years later at Ephesus in Acts chapter 19 and beyond. And those who received the word responded in the same way. The book of Acts gives us the blueprint for what to preach since it would be through the apostles' word we would believe on Jesus - and they did it without PA systems, HD monitors, fundraisers or even pocket New Testaments!

The Epistles – Letters of Encouragement and Instruction.
22 books of the New Testament are devoted to teaching, admonishment, correction and encouragement to whole churches or individual believers. Paul the apostle was inspired to write most of them, but the Lord used other writers including Luke, Peter, James and John as well.

Keep in mind that these letters are not written to the general public. This is private mail to fellow believers who have already obeyed the gospel that was preached in the book of Acts. Within these letters we read about how to treat one another in the Kingdom of God, how to be a light to the world around us, severe warnings against departing from the faith, and how to always be ready for the soon coming of Christ.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

May our knowledge go far beyond a basic overview of the New Testament. May we search the scriptures daily for treasure the way miners diligently seek for gold!

Have you seen the Free Downloadable Bible Studies ready for immediate use?

Are you the type of Christian who loves God but doesn't regularly pray and/or read the Bible on your own? It's something you do along with others at church, but it's not part of your daily life? If so, take heart! This isn't a guilt trip blog post, but a reality check with a few helpful tips. 

I've been there and have to admit sometimes I still let my everyday priorities get out of whack!

I don't think we need to be sold on the benefits of a daily devotion to prayer and Bible reading. What we need is a way to make them part of our daily life. A way that works for each of us personally. Allow me to offer a few ideas that have helped me to be more consistently in the word and prayer.

Perspective. Way too often I think of prayer as some service I do for God like a favor. The opposite is much more true. Prayer is deliberate communication with the Lord. It's how we acknowledge him in all our ways so he can direct our paths. If we don't remain connected to him through prayer and interaction with his word, we will not have his mind. We'll have our carnal, fleshy, wicked mind...

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  (Romans 8:5-8)

Position. The Bible doesn't make any one position (kneeling, bowing, etc., ) a requirement. I remember in a prayer meeting years ago, a fellow minister regularly walked around the room and prayed. That was new to me, but soon I was doing it. I found it particularly helpful during early morning prayer! Don't be bound by the idea that one physical position is more “holy” than others. God is more interested in the position of our heart then the position of our bodies.

There are times when kneeling is absolutely the right way to approach our God. Sometimes we need to humble ourselves and honor him as The Almighty God who has no equal. There is none beside him; No one above him. He is our friend, but he is also our King.

Time of Day. Starting the day with prayer is always a good thing, but what if you're not a morning person? Since the Bible doesn't stipulate any one time of day over another for prayer, we shouldn't either. Some of us are sharp in the morning, while others are night owls. You might be at your best during a midday work break. No matter the time of day, be realistic with who you are and make an appointment with the Lord when you're most fresh.

Prayer Length. Here's a question for you: Who is going to be more physically fit: the person who works out ten minutes a day everyday, or the person who exercises for an hour once a week?

The Bible doesn't command us to pray for a certain amount of time, but our love for God should motivate us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). If you're like me, you've set some unrealistic prayer goals for yourself only to fall short and feel guilty. How about we do something very different. Let's lay a foundation of some ultra-realistic goals that are simple to reach and build from there. Consider this: The person who prays 10 minutes a day for 7 days will have prayed longer than the person who prays for an hour once a week. The same goes for Bible reading. I agree that it's the quality and not the quantity of time that's important, but most of us have neither. Look at this as a place to start.

Using an ultra-realistic strategy, I suggest setting a timer for 10 minutes, then turning our attention to heaven. If regular prayer is completely new, then set it for 5 minutes for a whole week, then bump it up to 10 minutes.

Try this:  Start by praying the scriptures. Open your KJV Bible to Psalm 103 and read out loud of the praises to God and the promises from God. Then confess any sins, seek forgiveness, make your requests known, praise the Lord for his goodness, then be still and listen. Prayer is 2-way communication. Give him time to speak. You will be amazed just how fast 5 or 10 minutes passes. You'll soon find that the timer will go off, but you won't be done. 10 minutes will become an effortless 15 minutes or more a day and your relationship with Christ will deepen dramatically. In his presence, you'll discover greater peace in your life while hearing his voice more frequently throughout the day.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalms 16:11)

Have ideas for daily devotion, prayer and Bible reading? Share them in the comments below!

I'm not going to dwell on the obvious:  pornography is sin and should be avoided the same way Superman avoids Kryptonite. But avoiding it is nearly impossible since we're surrounded by 50 shades of porn on a daily basis. Sex sells. Always has and always will, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Woe is the man who has a little extra time and a high-speed internet connection – believer or unbeliever – for he may soon himself where he ought not be. It takes a real determination to remain pure and unspotted from the world especially while surfing on the internet.

But aside from the sinfulness, there are some sobering, even disturbing negative side effects of porn that many of us have never thought about. Dots in our lives we wouldn't think were connected. And this isn't just a noteworthy problem for young males. Men of all ages and even women are subject to eyes that wander.

I read a news article recently that had a link to a video about the harmful effects of pornography. The entertaining speaker presented some truly cautionary information, not from a spiritual perspective, but from a neurological one. The impact of pornography and associated activities are remarkable. Most people caught up in porn already know it's wrong spiritually. They may even be aware of its damaging effects on relationships. But they may have never considered how personally harmful it is physically, mentally and emotionally. The short video below is well worth your time.

If you've found this eye-opening or helpful, pass it along. Pornography is by far the most searched for item on the web and if this information is accurate, it's slowly killing us. From the scriptures we already know that pornography is sin and the wages of sin is death. Now there appears to be more evidence that this is a scientific fact as well. Perhaps this kind of logical information will help a person to be more like a real Superman - godly, productive, and a light to those around him. 

I get emails from all over the world. One question that I see frequently is if I know of a home church in a particular area. Great question, but the short answer is no. I don't have a directory of house churches. And since most churches that meet in houses don't have websites or a listing in the phone book, it might be difficult to track one down. 

This situation along with other promptings in my heart have compelled me to go back into the scriptures about starting churches or even looking for churches. Most of us have been taught to go look for a church if we move to a new area or if we feel to change where we fellowship. If we have a traditional ministry background, we may consider starting a church. But is that what the Bible tells us to do? Did Jesus Christ commission his disciples to go into all the world and start churches?

This home church journey for me has been a bit of a wilderness experience - but a needful one. God has been faithfully showing me some basic truths in dry places. The bummer is that I'm a slow learner. The praise is the lights are finally on and someone is home! I realize it's easy to get the cart before the horse and overlook some important basics. Rather than write all this out, I've created a short audio for you. It's less than 10 minutes long and may be as eye opening to you as it was to me. You might see a whole new answer to the question of looking for a church or starting one...

"...Nevertheless when the
Son of man cometh, shall he find
faith on the earth?"
Luke 18:8

I find Weebly to be intuitive and very simple to use. Simplicity is a big deal to me because I don't have a lot of extra time to invest in learning how to use software. Been there – did that years ago with Adobe Dreamweaver. Some people are into steep learning curves, but if you check my hair color, you'll know that's not me.

Here are just a few examples of business websites I've built using Weebly.

If you're looking for a website design program for your business website, do youself a favor and check out Weebly. I think you'll find it's easy of use, numerous features and affordability to be quite attractive. Feel free to contact me, an actual Weebly website user, if you have any questions and enjoy the short video tutorial to see for yourself how easy Weebly really is...

2. A Variety of Ministry.
Have you ever thought because you're not a good speaker or preacher, that you're not qualified to share anything in the church? Since you can't sing like Sister So Ann So, you shouldn't sing? If so, where did those ideas come from? They didn't come from God! Let us never confuse talent with usefulness; For God is more apt to use a willing vessel than a talented one.

We should respect and make room for each other's gifting. According to the verse above, preaching and singing are only two of the many ways we can bless others. Ever been blessed by a friend's testimony of answered prayer? Have you ever been overwhelmed by a message in tongues and the interpretation that was just for you? God gave many gifts to his church and he desires and expects them to be used for His glory and for our edification. 

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

I'll bet Lance Armstrong would agree that nothing stays hidden. Bill Clinton might nod his head at that too. Cain, Achan, King David, me, all of us, regardless of position, social status, financial reserves, good looks or connections, if we haven't realized it yet, we will eventually; Nothing stays hidden forever. Cover ups today are headlines tomorrow.

For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. (Mark 4:22)

Our God is a righteous God and won't allow wrongdoing to just get sweep under the rug. The rug will never be big enough. The best way to live is to first love God, then to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we do, we won't do anything to hurt our neighbor. However, if we fall short of that, then we need to make things right; first to God, then to any and all wronged parties. That's the right thing to do.

Hidden sin will make its way to the surface of our lives eventually. Sometimes in the weirdest, most unexpected, most uncomfortable, most ill-timed ways imaginable. It's a absolute guarantee...

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.  (Numbers 32:23)

The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. (Job 20:27)

May I make a suggestion? Let's make things right with those we've wronged as quickly as possible. Don't argue, don't scheme, don't put it off. Just do it. In my experience, God offers brief windows of opportunity for us to take advantage of His mercy and find peaceful and often times private resolve. If we humble ourselves and obey, we'll be right with both God and man – to the extent that we can be. If we don't, that window of mercy may close and the exposure later may be far more painful and much more public.

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.  (Proverbs 28:13)

God had big plans for Joseph and could have brought about those plans in a hundred different ways. His brothers didn't have to sell him like a slave of deceive Jacob. The fact that God can bring good out of any situation is a tribute to his greatness – not a justification for sin or a cover up. Remember, nothing stays hidden. Nothing.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.  (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)