Thursday, November 08, 2007

Biblical Bunkum

We live in an age of biblical bunkum, where many people make up their own ideas about what Jesus said, and then claim that their own opinions supersede His. They don’t want to hear about judgment or sin, they just want to justify themselves and seek their own course through life. They ignore hell entirely and expect heaven completely. They live their lives accountable to no one, and expect God to turn a blind eye. Rather than having their names written in the Book of Life, they want to make their mark in the world, expecting to be rewarded for their renown. In other words, it’s not what Jesus has said that is important, it’s what they believe that He has said is important.

When I first started writing these devotions more than three years ago, I set out to help our church elders and staff find time to read the Bible and reflect upon God’s Word. I realized that we were all busy and under a great deal of pressure in our lives, so setting aside a few moments in the day to be at one with God was a special way of keeping connected to Him and to His people. After three and a half years, more people are using these devotions to share the word of God with their families and friends, their neighbors and co-workers. The Gospel is being preached across the internet and throughout the world in ways that even the apostle Paul could never have dreamed.

It is my fervent hope and prayer that your journey of faith is being enhanced and inspired through these weekday devotions. But I also pray that you share them with your email contacts, so that others around you may one day be greeted by God because they read the Gospel, received a lesson of faith, and applied it to their own lives, just as you do each day.

May God bless you all for being partners in this devotional ministry that stretches all around the world.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank You for the many wonderful ways that You are using the internet to spread Your Word, to touch the hearts and minds of millions of people throughout the world. Bless us as we share this devotional together and help us to use it as a way of outreach to those whom we love, to those whom we care for, and to those whom we worry about. May You bless them and us with the power of Your grace and Gospel. In your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

P.S – could you send a comment to this blog and just write your first name and where you live? I’d love to share that with everyone.

2 comments:

donzacatl said...

My on-line reading partner and I have been reading these devotionals and commenting to each other about them daily for 2+ years now. I have also used them as devotional to open my Stephen Ministry meetings, published them in our church newsletter, and printed them to read to my Stephen Ministry care receiver, who is an elderly shut-in and doesn't even HAVE a computer. Best of all, though, I have used some of their topical content as an opener to conversations with my teen-age nieces, who are only beginning to discover church and faith, in part due to interest generated by our discussing issues that originated here. This devotional blog is indeed a ministry of faith with an ever-widening ripple effect that benefits many and serves the Lord.

donzacatl said...

P.S. I neglected to follow directions on my previous comment: my name is Lucinda, and I live in Richardson TX, a suburb of Dallas.