For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    An honest answer is a better indication of care and respect than a kiss.

    The psalmist reminds us of the importance of teaching the stories of our past to each new generation. When I was growing up, my family, and many others in my church, had a book called “The Martyr’s Mirror”. This book was an account of Christian martyrdom from the first century through the 17th century. By reading this book I learned the price that many have paid for following Christ. Furthermore, I learned that they paid that price joyously.

    When we came to Christ we were figuratively circumcised in that our spiritual nature was cut away from us. In that sense we died with Christ when we were baptized and were resurrected with Him. Our sins, and our sinful nature, were nailed to the cross with Christ. Now, God has raised us spiritually with Christ to a new life. We should not allow people to convince us that we need to follow certain dietary rules, or observe particular rituals, or hold celebrations on specific days in order to be saved. The Gospel message is not one of “do not do this and do not do that.” The Gospel is not a set of rules which govern our behavior. Instead our behavior is guided by our love of God and of others.

    God has offered people guidance. He has told us to follow the old way, the good way, but people have responded, “No, we want a different way. We don’t want to follow the path followed by the godly men and women of the past. They were fuddy-duddies. We want to follow the new, cool path. We need to be culturally relevant.” God has sent us watchmen who tell us to respond to the sound of the trumpet, but people have declared, “We have more important things to do. We will not listen for the sound of the trumpet, let alone respond to its call.”
    God warns us that He is raising up an army in a far away land. That army will be a destroying army and it will march upon us. There is no force that will stand in their way. Yet, even now, there is still time to turn from our sins. There are those who look at what is happening and are saying, “That cannot happen here.” Do not be fooled. It most certainly can happen here. It will happen here if we, as a people, do not start treating each other with justice. God is calling us to stop exploiting foreigners (think about why the Chamber of Commerce does not want immigration laws enforced), widows, and orphans.
    Do you really think that you can cheat and lie, steal and murder, commit adultery and other sexual immorality and never suffer any consequences? All of those actions have consequences and if we do not turn from them and start doing good, we will experience those consequences. Let us look at what has happened to other nations which were once mighty. The consequences of their evil came upon them and they were destroyed. I will pray for the people of my nation that they may turn to God.