Hillbilly Bible

If you appreciate well thought out testimony and well thought out humor, you may want to take a look a this site: The Hillbilly Bible
The author says, "Aint making fun of the Bible; making the Bible fun." Here is a sample:
The Hillbilly Bible is a creative renderin' a the Gospel a John. The original author a this story is God. It come through John and then ole Stevie Rey rendered it into "Hillbilly" speak in the summer a 2007.
"Their religion is a joke, 'cause it ain't nuthin' but a bunch a man-made rules." (Matthew 15:9, The Hillbilly Bible)
"Hey y'all, let me tell ya somethin' wonderful that the good Lord has done whispered in my ear. We ain't all a gonna die, but we's all gonna be changed. It's gonna happen quicker'n you can blink your eye, when they commence to tootin' on that last trumpet." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, The Hillbilly Bible)
"Fer the good Lord commenced to hankerin' after the world something fierce, and up and gave His only boy so's whoever took a notion to believe in 'eem ort not die, but just keep on livin' with 'eem in heaven forever n' ever." (John 3:16, The Hillbilly Bible)

Make sure to check out his blog, that is my favorite part.

If It Was Good Enough For Him....

Matthew 4

1-3 Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread." 4Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth." 5-6For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, "Since you are God's Son, jump." The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: "He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone." 7Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: "Don't you dare test the Lord your God." 8-9For the third test, the Devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth's kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, "They're yours—lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they're yours." 10Jesus' refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness." 11The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus' needs.

I read this passage this morning and came away with an appreciation for a very simple accomplishment that Jesus achieved by taking on flesh. He demonstrated that even He, the Son of God, sought the Holy Spirit's guidance, and He demonstrated the even He was best able to handle temptations thrown at Him by the devil by referring to Scripture instead of trying to handle it all on His own wisdom.

Thanks to Colin for the use of the photo of the wilderness in Israel.

Spoons

This is a story shared with me by a good friend a long time ago......

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like." The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.
The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."
They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The holy man said, "I don't understand."
"It is simple," said the Lord, "It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. While the greedy think only of themselves. A friend is someone who reaches for your hand, and touches your heart."

Spoon photo courtesy of Roger Smith.

What If You Were There

I read an interesting blog post tonight regarding "Are We Any Different Today?" The point of it was exploring the question, "If you had been around during the years of Jesus' ministry on this earth, how would you have responded to Him?" It also explores the concept of whether the church of today possesses parallels with the religious sects of Jesus' time. It is a brutal question to answer.

This post really intrigued me because I have frequently imagined myself living in various biblical eras, and pondered how well would I have behaved in comparison to the characters in the Bible. To be very honest, I am confident that no one would have ever wanted to name one of the books of the Bible using my name.

Prayer to Follow the Road

After leading someone through the Romans' Road, hopefully, you will want to also lead them in prayer. Here is a great example of a prayer for someone who has realized that they are in need of a Savior. This prayer was found in AllAboutGod.com

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

On the very same page are some helpful follow-up statements and questions. Remember Eph 2:8-9 though, and recognize that the following suggestions are ways to help make your Christian walk purposeful, but your salvation is not dependent upon your works; thanks to God's Grace:

• Get baptized as commanded by Christ.
• Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
• Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible.
• Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing friends to answer your questions and support you.
• Find a local church where you can worship God.

Romans' Road

As I've stated not so long ago, the Message of the Gospel is very simple. Back when I was in high school, I learned a simple way to share the scriptural basis of the plan of salvation with someone else. It is called the Romans Road, because it utilizes scriptures in Romans to lay down the steps. I have used this pathway many times over the past 20+ years, and each time I've been grateful that the message is so simple and that the tool is so simple.....because, let's face it, I'm plenty simple, too.

The following is an example of the pathway and was taken from RomansRoad.org

Who is good?
Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous; no, not one.

Who has sinned?
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Where sin came from.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

God's price of sin.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.

Who paid The price?
Romans 5:8 God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The only way out.
Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Take God at his word and claim His promise for your salvation.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

3 Things

I read an article from Pray! earlier regarding 15 Ways to Make Prayer a Natural Part of Your Family's Life. Most of the suggestions seem to be quite useful and practical. I really like #3: "Whenever you see or hear about someone in need, take time to pray about it with your children." I like the idea of praying immediately for things. Often, when someone says, "Please pray for me" or "Please pray for so-and-so", I pray with them right at that moment.
The article spurned me onto a tangent, which I am prone to find. Answer this question for yourself: If you could only teach your kids 3 things, what would those 3 things be?
I have my 3, but they were difficult to come up with. I'd like to know your 3.
My three: 1) The meaning and implications of Christ's life, death and resurrection; 2) How God wants a relationship with everyone through each person's day to day life and through prayer and 3) How to stay away from financial debt.
Coming up with only 3 is very challenging, and chances are, if I answered the question once per month for a year, I'd probably come up with at least one different answer each month.

The Next Level

Coming from the perspective of residing within a church that is not quite ready to accept outmoded praise and worship songs from the 90's because it is a little too wild for their tastes, acceptance of The Next Level Church's methodology is not likely going to occur here within the next century. However, I am very intrigued by their ideas and leadership by committee approach. TNL is located near Denver, CO and was featured in an article in ChristianityToday.
More importantly, the have overcome the problem that so many churches around here have been faced with; most churches today do not have any true community and a majority of its members show up for Sunday morning services only. The solution, oddly enough, sounds much like what our pastor has requested us do. The solution was having small group activities occurring away from the church in homes and public places. I like it.

Strength in Weakness

2 Corinthians 12 (New International Version) 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So many times we humans become focused on our inabilities and on the hardships we are enduring. The bulk of many church's prayer lists/requests are focused on relieving people of their burdens, illnesses and pain. According to Paul, we should take delight in our weakness and hardships. He reasons that Christ is more able to reveal his strength in us at these times. This makes perfect sense if you think that if He revealed His strength in you when you are flying high, then you would most likely credit yourself and not Him.

Once again, live your life with the understanding that this world is not your home and that we are merely being prepared for something far better. If you do, when difficult times arise you will more readily accept them as opportunities to rely more fully upon Christ.