God is calling us

As I have been reading over my passage for this coming week, I have been praying and reading a lot about God calling His children to certain actions and lifestyle. I find 7 different callings or summons by God from the New Testament that He is desiring people, and more importantly His children, to hear and live by. Here is the list of the 7 callings that God is giving each of us. Read over the list, than read through the passages of the Bible that states the calling of God. The first 2 callings from God I have no problems with and are a great comfort and support to me but it is the last 5 that give me headaches and really challenge me to live a different lifestyle for God. I pray as you read over this list that God will challenge you like He has challenged me just discovering this list.

•     the call to salvation ( Rom. 8:30)

•     the call to sonship ( 1 John 3:1)

•     the call to sanctification ( 1 Thess. 5:23–24)

•     the call to service ( Mark 10:43–44)

•     the call to separation ( 2 Cor. 6:17–18)

•     the call to subjection:

—     children to parents ( Eph. 6:1)

—     wives to husbands ( Eph. 5:22)

—     employees to employers (1 Peter 2:18)

—     citizens to government (1 Peter 2:13–14)

—     all believers to God ( Rom. 12:1–2)

•     the call to suffering (1 Peter 2:21; see Phil. 1:29)

Is Homosexuality a different issue?

With everything going on this week with World Vision and their policy change first about hiring those in a homosexual lifestyle and than later in the week reversal of the policy issue, it has brought up many questions about the issue. The best article I read this week was a discussion about the fact the issue of homosexuality in the church is a different animal to wrestle with than most other issues. First, I believe that homosexuality is a sin, a wrong and horrible lifestyle, and an abomination to God. But I also believe that people can have temptation and tendency and not give into the temptation just like any other sin in a persons' life. But I also believe as the article linked below states, homosexuality is a very different problem and controversy in the church and it must be dealt with differently, carefully, and prayerfully than most other issues. I pray as you read the article you will look at this issue with a different view point and when you have questions, go back to the entire Bible and read what God says.

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/03/27/why-is-this-issue-different/

Trust in one another

I had someone give me a great analogy recently and I wanted to share it with all.

Trust is like a savings account. In order to receive trust from others we must slowly and continually make a deposit in the trust account. After making many deposits the trust level that others have in us will build up. But it will only take one action we do and others will lose all that trust we had build up. 1 mistake or action in destroying the trust others have in us will take away years of many small deposits we put in the account.

Remembering this today made me stop and think about how many times I have done things that have depleted my trust account and how I should be continually making deposits in others lives because I am not perfect and will make that mistake again and deplete my account.

Quotable Friday

Tonight I wanted to share one of my favorite quotes from a Puritan Pastor. I think this quote is still relevant and very important for today and the culture we live in.

That which is most pleasant is not always useful and necessary~John Flavel

Thursday uplift

In the middle of a buys week, it is good to remember this important truth.

How do you pray???

I would like to start a weekly post on the topic of prayer. Over the next few months, every Wednesday I would like to take a look at what the Bible and Jesus have to teach us about prayer and show us as examples of good God honoring prayer. Remember that prayer is simply a conversation between you and God, simply put you are talking to God and then listening to Him talk back. Jesus in His life gives us the greatest and wisest examples and teaching about prayer. Here is a list of the many things that Jesus shows us about prayer by His example.

He prayed early in the morning.
He prayed in a quiet solitary place away from any distractions.
He prayed all night long, like 12 hours of solid prayer.
He prayed before any major decisions that He had to make, like choosing the 12 disciples.
He prayed about His needs.
He prayed about His wants and desires.
He prayed for God's will to be done.
He prayed to His daddy.
He prayed while weeping.
He prayed while filled with joy and excitement.
He prayed while in anguish of the future.
He prayed for others.
He prayed humbly yet confidently.
He prayed and fasted.
He prayed and listened to His Fathers voice.
He prayed continually.

How many of these examples of Jesus prayer life do we practice in ours? It is a great place to start when we think about prayer and having a conversation with God our Father.

Need a Holy Laugh?

I needed a good laugh in the middle of a crazy busy week. So do you.

Joyfully Overhelmed

We serve and love an amazing God. I have been on this amazing journey of faith and trust for the last couple of years. God has beautifully and graciously been putting all the pieces together and been preparing me for His mighty work. I feel totally overwhelmed at what He is doing and I know that I must trust in Him because He is the only provider for what I need. God has started to finally give me a clearer picture at what He is doing and it excites me. I know that it is an overwhelming job to serve God and His church but when He calls He will provide for all the needs that I might have or even not consider. God is amazing and serving Him and His church is an amazing ministry and service. I am humbled by the fact God would call and now I must trust and have faith in Him to sustain. Praise the Lord we serve and love a loving Father who designs for us a life that is to His glory and showcases His power. Amen

Redeemed

The world is crying out for redemption. I was watching "Frozen" the other night with the girls and it was my first time seeing the movie. I was not sure why the movie was so big for Disney until the ending when redemption was right in front as the story unfolded. Then today I was watch college basketball and in 2 different games the reporters told stories of players in that game having stories of redemption from this season. The world in it's core is crying out for redemption.

Why is redemption something that the world is crying out for and every time it sees or hears of it, it makes it know? Because the world and the people living in it know that this world is broken, fallen, run down, and at the core something is wrong and missing. The world knows that every time humans seem to make a positive advancement or go in a positive step forward, something bad happens. Or the fact that every new drug seems to have 6 new side effects. The world knows that something is broken and realizes that it cannot fix itself. That is why redemption is given such publicity and redemption is a story that can be told over and over again and desired to be heard again.

But what the world does not know or is not willing to accept is the fact that The Redemption has already happened. Jesus Christ bought us with His blood when we could not pay for it ourselves. That is the story of the redemption and it has happened and is a free gift that only must be grabbed. The world rejects that because they want to try to fix it themselves but true redemption only comes from someone outside of the situation, who is innocent, paying the price to fix and buy the situation right. That is why Jesus and the Cross are so amazing and powerful. The Cross is the true and only perfect act of redemption and Jesus paid for our sin in the wrath of a Holy God with His blood. That is the story of redemption that the whole world needs to hear and realize is there for them.

So next time you hear someone talking about a redemptive situation or is giving an act of redemption praise, tell them about Jesus and The True Redemption!!!!

But guess what, true redemption on the Cross did not stop there, it came with the power of the resurrection and that is what Easter Sunday is about and what gives full power to the redemption of the cross.

Quotable Friday- Tender Warrior

This is a quote for all the men. This quote is from the book "Tender Warrior" by Stu Weber. It is a book I would recommend to any man to read who wants to know how to be a true man, especially a man who honors God, loves his wife, raises his kids, and is a true friend.

"We want Tender Warriors not soft Males".

In Love with Jesus

This is a man who is in love with Jesus. If we call our selves Christian and desire to be holy like God this is what we should be saying out loud to the world.

Holiness by Separation?

"Be Holy because I am Holy" is a command from God in 1 Peter, which Peter is quoting from Leviticus. One of the ways that God is Holy is the fact He is separated from us and this world. This means that God is separated from sin, and the fallen brokenness of us and the culture of this world. A few lines later Peter calls us strangers or aliens in this world. And I think he is trying to make a point that we need to be aware of. Let me try and explain a little.

We are to be holy like God, so we too as the children of God are to be separated from this world, aka non-conformist. When I say separation from the world, I do not mean like the Amish or those who go and live in a cave and have no contact with anyone else. As Christians we are to live in this world and be a part of this world so we can tell others about our amazing Savior Jesus. But we are not to look, talk, or act like the world. That is what I mean by separation. In my next few statements, I might offend some people but it is what I believe is the truth. So we are supposed to not look like the world, be non-conformist, or separate ourselves from the world by looking different. So do we drink, talk, work, drive, watch, and live like the world? By getting drunk, swearing and talking dirty, being lazy or not showing up, speeding and being aggressive, watching dirty shows and movies, and just down right living the same as those who do not love Jesus; we are living in the middle and being a conformist to the world.

When we are called to a holy life we are called to a life that is morally different and pure compared to those who do not love Jesus. When we love Jesus we are to live like we love Jesus and show to others that Jesus has changed our lives. We are to be a humble and broken people that is pure in spirit and pure in mind and pure in mouth. When we live lives that are holy to God we are separated from the ethical standard of the world and are living to the moral standards of God, those He has set down in His word. When we are living holy lives we are non-conformists to the world but daily conforming more and more into our Savior. A life that is a sweet and pleasing aroma to God.

Holiness with one another

In preparation for my sermon this week I have been going over the one another list from the New Testament. An aspect of a holy life is a love for one another in our faith family. The list of the one another's shows us how to truly and deeply love one another and through loving each other we are living an aspect of a holy life, a pleasing sweet aroma to God. Here is the list that I have come up of the one another's.

care for one another- 1 Cor. 10:16
love one another- John 13:34-35
host one another-1 Peter 4:9
receive one another- Romans 15:7
honor one another-Romans 12:10
serve one another-Gal. 5:13
instruct one another- Romans 15:14
forgive one another-Col. 3:13
motivate one another- Hebrews 10:24
build up one another- 1 Thes. 5:13
encourage one another- 1 Thes. 5:11
comfort one another- 2 Cor. 1:3-7
pray for one another- James 5:16
confess sin to one another- James 5:16
esteem one another- Philippians 2:3
edify one another- Romans 14:19
teach one another- Col. 3:16
show kindness to one another- Eph. 4:32
give to one another- Acts 2:45
rejoice with one another- 1 Cor. 12:27
weep with one another- Romans 12:15
hurt with one another- Romans 12:15
restore one another- Galatians 6:1-5

Holiness #3

When we think of Holiness we need to think of purity. God is holy, which means He is pure and without any blemish or sin. To live a life that is holy and to have a life that is in pursuit of God's holiness in our life, is a life that is chasing purity. Simply put a life that is holy is a life that is beating temptation more times than not.

Now a pure life in this world will still sin. We are human, imperfect, still live in this flesh that has passions and a bent towards sin. But when we are born again and called to a life of holiness, we are called to resist sin and flee temptation. When I mean flee temptation, think of Joseph fleeing Potipher's wife. The temptation to sin is still there and living in this world we will still have tons of things that want and call us to sin and not live a life that is holy and pleasing to God. But a life that is chasing holiness, is a life that resist the temptation and flees from the sin before it is committed.

A holy life is a life of purity and when an impurity effects it because of sin, because we will still sin, we must run back to God broken and ask for repentance and go back to a pure life until the next time we sin and need repentance with God again. This is the struggle and yet joy of a holy life. Staying pure and when the purity is broken getting repentance to return to a pure holy life loving Jesus and loving the world that needs to know of Him and His holiness.

Holiness #2

As I have been thinking about holiness in the life of a lover of Jesus, I was reminded of a song that would express a lot of what needs to be said. Last night we looked at some of the ways God is holy and what that means for Him. We are command in Scripture to also be holy and chase after it. Then while thinking about this song we sang it today in church. Our God is amazing how He keeps reminding of important truths through many different medians. So here are the lyrics for the song. I pray the words encourage and challenge you like they have for me.

"Take my Life"- Holiness

Holiness,Holiness
Is what I long for
Holiness
Is what I need
Holiness, Holiness
Is what you want
For me

Righteousness,Righteousness
Is what I long for
Righteousness
Is what I need
Righteousness
That's what you want
For me

Brokenness, Brokenness
Is what I long for
Brokenness
Is what I need
Brokenness, Brokenness
That's what you want
For me

Take my heart
And mold it
Take my mind
Transform it 
Take my will
Conform it 
To yours, To yours
Oh, Lord

Holiness

This week I want to take a few posts and look briefly at the topic of Holiness. People have written entire books on the topic of Holiness. One of the best books written on the topic is, "The Pursuit of Holiness" by Jerry Bridges. So I know that my post will not be exhaustive but I think it is good for those who claim to love Jesus that we are called to live lives of Holiness, so a little pep talk is needed once in awhile.

"since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'." 1 Peter 1:16

So for starters we need to realize that when we are called to holiness it is because our Savior and God is Holy. But what does that mean?

Well God is holy means first that he is perfectly pure and without sin or blemish. God is perfect in all that He does and in no way could God ever sin in any of His actions, deeds, or thoughts. If God were to sin, He would cease to be God anymore and all hope is lost and we are done and should just die now.  God as holy means that he is pure in all that He does and thinks. God in His holiness, as the Apostle Peter has reminded us, is something that we need to strive for but something that on this earth we will never obtain. God in His holiness is something that we grow in the likeness of as we are more sanctified and is a call to be more like Him.

God as holy also means that he is separated from the human race and this world. God's holiness makes Him above, removed, and far superior to us humans, as His creation. God knows all, sees all, and understands all. God knows what will happen next and has a divine plan for every moment in time. God in His holiness is above time and space, which makes Him the perfect being to trust in. God's holiness makes Him God and it also makes Jesus the only being who could take our place on the cross and die the sinless life in place of the sinful people. 

God's holiness though is 100% of Him just like His love, grace, mercy, compassion, justice, wrath, and gentleness. So yes God's holiness is important to remember but it is all of God just like every other attribute and character of God. But striving to be holy like God is becoming more and more like our Savior which is a command in the Bible. God's holiness is a call to be holy and shine that holiness into a dark world that needs to know Jesus, the holy Savior. 

Quotable Friday- Are you satisfied?

Tonight I wanted to share my favorite John Piper quote.

"Belief is not merely an agreement with facts in the head, it is also an appetite for God in the heart, which fastens onto Jesus for satisfaction".

Is God satisfying you? if not you should check your appetite.

How to witness to Mormon's

St. Patrick's Trinity Humor

This post is in honor of St. Patrick's day and in honor of my new friend and brother in Christ, "J" who loves theology like I do and is Irish!



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The Gospel

For my Christian Education class this past week I had a small project to do. For the first teaching time we were discussing the reasons behind the "why" of Christian education in the church and all the misconceptions around it. Going into teaching number 2, which is a discussion of the "what" question of Christian education, I had to find the gospel from multiple passages of Scripture. The "what" question is what is the content that we should be teaching in the church. The simple answer is the Gospel and then the gospel in action. When I mean the Gospel in action I mean what does the Gospel in our lives motivate us to do. While doing this small project I found the Gospel listed all over the Bible in places from Genesis and Exodus to Malachi to Revelation. But tonight I wanted to share some of my favorite passage in the Bible that showcase the Gospel right in front for us to plainly see.

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Hebrews 9:28

So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second

time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life

So what do these verses motivate us to do???

The Essentials Part Deux

The post from this past Sunday, I listed what the essential doctrines of the Christian faith are and tried to explain why the essential doctrines exist. In case you missed it, the essential doctrines are the truths of the faith that are so important and the foundation of the gospel that to disagree on them, the persons should and could not call themselves a Christian or a friend of Jesus.

What I want to do tonight is revisit the list of essential truths and explain in a sentence or two why that truth is foundational and of utmost importance to Christianity. Again I am trying to explain the importance of it to show that when I disagree with that person on that doctrine, I can love them, but I must love them like someone of the world and not a brother in Christ. These truths are that important and essential to my faith and to the faith of anyone who claims they love Jesus.

Here is the list again with my explanations following the truth.

Who God is- I f we disagree on who God is then all is lost. God is the creator, holder, and sovereign Lord of all life and it is only through His plan and great design that anything else exist, including the Gospel

He has spoken (Bible)- God speaks to us the most, the clearest, and with the most love through His written word, so to disagree on the Bible and the fact God speaks to us through that would be a BIG problem.

The Fall/Original Sin- We need God and Jesus because of our state of sin and spiritual death. If we did not or do not sin then we never needed God and the rest of the gospel is lost.

The incarnation/His birth- If Jesus was not fully God AND fully man, He could never die and take my place and most importantly pay my price for my redemption. He had to live a full life from birth until death as a perfect person and then be the perfect Substitute.

The Cross and the atoning death of Christ- The cross is the crux of the Gospel, without it we have not salvation and and no hope. The cross is the most important act of love ever to exist.

The bodily resurrection- This truth is what gives us hope in life eternal because NOW death has been conquered and I to will be raised one day with Jesus.

The nature of God and His sovereignty- God must be in complete control and have the perfect plan for this world and my life or else Satan could beat Him and then all hope is lost and I have reason to have faith.

The Trinity- The Bible says God is a mystery and this doctrine proves it. But the Bible is clear God is a relational Being. The Bible is also clear in the fact God is a Triune Being and each person serves a part in the Gospel.

Justification by Faith/Our conversion- We better not have to work for our salvation because there is not way in myself I can get to God by my works. Will expand more on this in a little.

Forgiveness/Reconciliation/Repentance- The Christian faith is about being reconciled to God through Jesus and the being reconciled to each other by love for neighbor and a personal brokenness. The Christian life is about daily repentance and admitting we need Jesus everyday as a present salvation.

The Church- Jesus died for His church, God called the church to be his family, and the Holy Spirit leads the church as a faith, encouraging, loving, and missional family designed for discipleship.

Sanctification/Holiness- God calls us to a life of holiness and to grow and mature every day. Yes we sin but after we except Jesus as our Savior, our love for Him better drive us to action and grow in obedience.

Dignity of Human Life- We are created in the image of God and bear His image to the world. We are each uniquely designed by God.

The return of Jesus- Jesus is coming back for His bride, riding on the great white horse. The Bible is clear about this and it gives me a daily hope and anticipation.

So these are the essentials of my faith and these are the hills I will die on and fight for. Jesus is my Lord and these are the truths that flow out of that statement. I pray that you can agree and will be encouraged as you think about these theological truths.

From the God News

Tonight I wanted to share with all of my readers the amazing things that God has been doing in my life. As many of you all know a few years ago God got a hold of my life and deeply challenged my walk with Him and gave me a call to surrender my life to Him. When God talks and calls you to something you better listen because He is the all powerful Creator Person that is in charge. So I listened, restarted my adult life so to speak, and got a Bible degree and started a new journey for Him.

Over the last 18 months or so as I have chased after where He has been leading me I have always wondered how He was going to work all the details out in my life and now in the lives of the 5 most important people to me. The calender year of 2014 has been amazing to see God work and I have discovered that when you wait on the Lord, He does things for you and sets you up for blessings and gifts beyond our wildest dreams. To start the year off God provided me with a church family that was interested in me to fill in for the month of March right after their Pastor was retiring. Then only a few weeks later I got my final grades for my first 2 Master's classes and they both came back as A. Praise the Lord. I should have realized than that God was just getting started.

Well the month of March rolled around and my family and I got started in serving as an interim Pastor at a new faith family and God answered so many prays and gave me so many blessings that I am living a daily God news of the wow. My kids have fit right in with this church and had asked to go back next week after 2 Sundays. My beloved as enjoyed it and from what I have been told today the church really loves her. Praise the Lord. I get to preach God's word. I love doing that even though I get more nervous each time I stand up and that has been a huge blessing in my life. I have met some amazing people, couples, and men for God, as I have served with this church. Today God blessed my family with an amazing meal with an amazing couple that just warmed our hearts and gave us great excitement for what God is doing.

Our relationship with this church is still up in the air and God has not put all the piece out before us yet. God might lead us to stay with the church past March or God might lead us to some where else, only He knows. But serving with those amazing lovers of Jesus has been a huge God send and just the first 3 months of 2014 have seen the God news blow up the chart. I am so excited to see what God might do next. I pray as you look around on your life over the last few months you also can see the blessings that God has given you and the ways He has guided your life. Because When you see and realize that God is working in your life it should fill you with love and joy for Him and an excitement to see what He will do next.

The Essentials

This week I have been confronted several times by the idea of the essentials of the Christian faith. It was brought up twice in different conversations with my fellow believers at work, they were discussed at my Wednesday night Bible study, and finally as I have started to preach at another church and possibly follow God if He leads and guides me to this exciting ministry opportunity, the thoughts about the essentials verses what can be disagreed upon was running through my mind.

First when I say essentials of my Christian faith I mean things or more importantly truths that are level one or most important truths that cannot be disagreed upon or else we have a problem. When I think of essentials I think of Biblical truths and foundations to my faith that I would not be willing to disagree with you on and still fellowship together. To say it metaphorically, these truths are hills that I would die on in defense of.

So as I have been thinking of the essentials I decided I would come up with a list of the truths or doctrines that I call essentials and then it would show me what I view as non-essentials so that I can understand what I can disagree on and fellowship still with that friend and brother in Jesus. So here is my list of essentials truths that I must defend at all cost.

Who God is
He has spoken (Bible)
The Fall/Original Sin
The incarnation/His birth
The Cross and the atoning death of Christ
The bodily resurrection
The nature of God and His sovereignty
The Trinity
Justification by Faith/Our conversion
Forgiveness/Reconciliation/Repentance
The Church
Sanctification/Holiness
Dignity of Human Life
The return of Jesus

If you would disagree with my list or want to add something let me know because I would love to talk this list over with you. I find all of these truths in the Bible and not to much else more that is clearly defined and can be clearly defended. Everything else not on this list I find to be non-essential, which is topics like election, worship, baptism, and End times stuff. What is your stand on the essentials and what is your position with the truths on my list?

Quotable Friday- Discipleship

Here is a great quote that I found this week while I was reading for school. It is very telling and true about personal discipleship. It is also a good check to see if you are disciplining anyone and if your are doing it Biblical correct.

"We might say that the ministry of discipleship involves meeting people where they are and then helping them go where they must go."- Dr. Gary Parrett

In the Middle of Writing a Sermon

Girls Vs. Boys

Responding to the Gospel

So my readership has dropped drastically over the last few days because as my beloved pointed out, what I was blogging about was not very inspiring, spiritually strong, or even fun to read. So I'm going to shift gears. I wanted to focus tonight on some responses to the Faith that we need to have in our lives if we are truly in love with Jesus.

First, when I say the Faith with the definitive article in front of it I mean the gospel of Jesus. The gospel of Jesus, as I pray you all know, is the good news of Jesus death and resurrection to save and redeem us from our dead sinful state before God. The Faith is the belief in this good news and a new state of being that is faithful to living this good news out for others.

So here is a list of responses that I find in Scripture that we need to have to the faith. I hope to explore some of these over the next weeks and flesh some of the responsive truths out in more detail.

1)The Faith is to be believed and professed- Hebrews 4:14
2)We are to stand firm in, hold firmly to, remain true to, and keep the Faith- 1 Cor. 16:13, 2 Tim. 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9
3)We are to be grounded in and strengthened in the Faith- Col. 2:7
4) We are to be nourished on the words of the Faith- 1 Timothy 4:6
5) We are to become obedient to the Faith- Acts 6:7
6) We are to love others who are in the Faith- Gal.6:10
7) We are to fight the good fight and contend earnestly for the Faith- 1 Tim. 6:12
8) We are to hold to the deep truths of and be sound in the Faith- Titus 1:13
9) We are to preach the Faith- Gal.1:23
10) We are to teach the Faith and it's implications- 1 Tim. 4:6-11
11) We are minister until the whole church reaches unity in the Faith- Eph.4:13
12) Some wander from or are tempted to turn from the Faith- Acts 13:8
13) By their actions, some deny the Faith- 1 Tim. 5:8
14) Some, as far as the Faith goes, are rejected- 2 Tim. 3:8
15) Some turn away from, abandon or fall away from the Faith- Matt. 24:10-11

This list is very convicting on many different levels. When I think about the desire to be a little shepherd under the Big Shepherd in His church I see this list as important. When I think of this list as a father and husband, this list is very challenging. When I think of this list as son or employee, this list gives me the chills. When I think of this list as a member of God's church, I realize I have much work to do and ways to grow and actions to watch. My favorite response is #9. What is your favorite or most convicting? Lord willing, I would like to explore this list in some detail in the days and weeks ahead.

Bible Character Madness #3

I pray that not only is this fun as we discover and read about Bible characters but it also inspires others to learn more about Bible Characters because they can teach us many great lessons. Tonight we will look again at 6 more Bible figures.

 #1-Jeremiah vs. Samuel
In this battle of Old Testament greats we have a Prophet of God who was preaching in Jerusalem as it was being conquered by Babylon, going against the first prophet of God in the united Kingdom who followed God's leading and anointed both King Saul and King David. Some interesting facts about both characters are, first that history tells us the Jeremiah was killed for being a prophet of God shortly after the fall of Jerusalem, and secondly my son was not named after Samuel from the Bible.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

1 Samuel 3:19

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 

Winner:Samuel 

#2- Esther vs. Aaron
First we have Esther, who was a Hebrew living in the Medo-Persian Empire after most of here people returned back to Israel and rebuilt the temple. She was the Hebrew as Queen who risked her life to save her people from massacre. Aaron is know as the big brother of Moses, who because Moses was shy, did all the talking with Pharaoh. Aaron was also the first Priest after the tabernacle was erected.
Esther 2:15
And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her.
Exodus 4:27
The Lord said to Aaron, "go into the desert to meet Moses". So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
Winner: Esther

#3- Peter vs. Jarius
Here we have the most well know Apostle of Jesus, the rock of the church, and the guy who put his foot in his mouth a lot. Jarius is an interesting character in the Bible. We do not know much about him other than he was a synagogue ruler, who's daughter dies. He goes to Jesus for help and Jesus challenges his belief and faith and then raises the daughter from the dead.
Mark 1:17
"Come follow me" Jesus said, (to Peter) "and I will make you fishers of men".
Luke 8:50
Hearing this, Jesus said to Jarius, "Don't be afraid; just believe and she will be healed".
Winner: Peter

*My son is actually named after my favorite book character*

Bible Character Madness #2

First, Thank you all for your prayers today as my family had the privilege and excitement of meeting a new faith family. It was amazing and we are excited to see what the Lord is going to do in and through us. Please keep us in your prayers as we may have some big decisions to make in the coming weeks. As you all pray, I will keep everyone posted.

Now on to the next set of Bible Character madness match ups. Today will explore 6 more Bible characters and only 3 will move on into the next round.

Match-up #1
Nehemiah vs. Habakkuk
So this is a fun match-up. We have first the man of God who was the cup bearer to King Artaxerxes. God sends him on a mission to lead the effort in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem after the 70 year exile was over. The other guy is a prophet of God who preached to the southern kingdom of Judah in the final years before the exile. He has a book named after him, which was the message that he shared with the people of Judah. His message is a written version of his discussion with God and questions about what God is doing.
Nehemiah 1:11
"O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant (Nehemiah) and to the prayer of this your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man."
Habakkuk 1:1
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Winner: Nehemiah

Match-up #2
James, the Apostle vs. Mary Magdalene
Here we have an apostle of Jesus. One of the 3 closest men on earth to our Savior, who was close to Jesus on many big occasions like the transfiguration and Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Then we have Mary who Jesus cast demons out of and turned her sinful life around into a servant of God who was one of the women to show up at the tomb on Easter morning.
Luke 9:28
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
Luke 8:2
and also some women who had been cured of some evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out.
Winner: James                                                                           

Match-up #3
John Mark vs. Zacchaeus
Finally we have John Mark who was a young man during Jesus ministry and got to see many of the final hours of Jesus first hand in Jerusalem. he is the younger cousin to Barnabas and later joined his cousin on missionary work in Cyprus. he might have spent some of Paul's final days with him in Rome. Zacchaeus was a cheating tax collector who Jesus changed and converted and after meeting Jesus gave half of his money to the poor and paid everyone back four fold that he wronged.
2 Timothy 4:11
Only Luke us with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.
Luke 19:5
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."
Winner: Zacchaeus


*Tonight voting was done by my beautiful bride*