Christian Questions Bible Podcast

'Tis the season to be jolly! Christmas happened just a few days ago so we ask the question, what really happened? Did we have lots to eat – see lots of family and friends – give and receive lots of gifts? Did we smile and laugh and decorate? Did we watch Christmas specials and listen to all kinds of holiday music? I hope we did! I hope we took the time to reconnect with a spirit of love, life and giving. I hope we entered into the happiness that this season brings! Now the big question – how did we recognize the true reason for the season – how did we honor the life to change all lives? Well, if you are looking for more of that part of things, stick around – we have a story to tell!!!

For many religions, prayer is a mainstay and a staple of ritual and lifestyle. Whatever the religion, prayer is a lifeline to a higher power, a calming factor in individual experiences and a connector to others who share the same faith. Prayer can and should permeate the life of a Christian. So, if this is the case, then the question is, do we know how we should be praying, why we should be praying and for what we should be praying? Stay with us as we explore some of the many teachings on prayer from Jesus!

A few weeks ago we began a discussion on the keys to understanding the Bible as the word of God and therefore to being able to understand the mind of God. Is it really possible to know what God is thinking and what He is planning for the entire race of mankind? Well, we believe it is not only possible but attainable as well! Come on! Let’s continue the discovery process of Bible study…

Several weeks ago we looked into the life and times of Noah, the righteous man of God who built the Ark upon dry ground in obedience to the will and direction of God. The flood came and destroyed a world that had not only become a society without God, it had become a society that destroyed God. Spirit and human being alike took the goodness of God’s creation, mixed it into a forbidden hybrid formula of intelligence and form that may have resembled God’s intentions on the outside, but on the inside was a force that rebelled against all that God stood for. The Bible tells us that the resulting destruction was a preview of future destruction to come…has the full length feature of that preview arrived?

Thanksgiving has come and gone. All that remains are leftovers from a great meal, the memories of family and friends, excitement or disappointment at the result of a football game or two and the results of Black Friday shopping… Was it fun? Yes! Was it worthwhile? Of course! Did our holiday really focus on the true intention of “Thanksgiving?” Hmmm… Thanksgiving is one thing – “Thanks-Living” – well, that is an entirely different story!

Our world is in great need of many things. We need to learn to listen to those with whom we disagree, we need to be merciful and understanding, yet we also need to be firm and just. We also need to find light. Not just any light, we need to find the purest life-giving and revealing light of truth that is available… As Christians we know that the light of the world is Jesus, but what we need to learn is how to use that light, how to be clear reflections of that light and how to be worthy vessels of that light.

The Ebola virus. War between the Palestinians and Israel. Iraq being plundered by ISIS. Christians in the middle east being persecuted and killed. Worldwide anti-Semitism on the rise. The tenuous problems with Russia and Ukraine. In our country – lawlessness on the southern border, Government scandals over the IRS, the Health Care system and Benghazi, a skyrocketing National Debt… Shall I go on? It certainly seems that chaos and unrest are spreading faster than ever before. What should we be doing? Should we be afraid?

God is Almighty. He is all knowing and all seeing. We believe He is the very embodiment of wisdom, justice, love and power. As our Creator, we believe He has a plan - a detailed plan - that He will see accomplished for the good of all mankind. How do we think we know these things? The Bible. We believe that His Plan and its details are revealed in the Bible. Now, depending upon our brand of Christianity, we will come up with several contradictory interpretations of that plan unless we are willing to subject our understanding to a rigorous series of tests that will point us to Truth and not tradition. There are five rigorous tests, five ways of finding the mind of God in Scripture! Are you ready?