December 11

The only hope for our country

This might seem like a stretch, but I firmly believe the hope for the USA does not lie in the President, the Congress, the Courts, on Wall Street but in the Church. When you break it down even further, the reality is, the only hope for our country lies in you!! If every Christ follower would become radically committed to reading and obeying the truth of God’s Word, our nation would change. You need to lead the way by asking people to join with you in the journey in 2010.

The prophet Amos said in chapter 8, "The days are coming," declares the Sovereign Lord,
"when I will send a famine through the land-- not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.”

We are living during this famine. All around us we see the lives of people crashing and burning. We have become a nation of people walking in darkness. Ironically, the Bible will still be the best selling book this year. The problem is people aren’t reading the Bible. They read emails, blogs, devotionals and newspapers but very few are reading the Word.
Here is my case for a famine of God’s Word in our land: * Less than 15 percent of Americans participate in Bible studies. * Less than 50 percent of Americans can name the first book of the Bible (Genesis). * Only 1/3 of Americans know who delivered the Sermon on the Mount (more people identified Billy Graham rather than Jesus). * Twenty-five percent of Americans don't know what is celebrated on Easter (the Resurrection of Christ, the foundational event of Christianity). * Twelve percent of Christians think that Noah's wife is Joan of Arc. * Eighty percent of born-again Christians think the Bible says, "God helps them that help themselves." (Actually it was said by Benjamin Franklin.)
Very few people are reading the Bible these days. Only about 2% of people have read through the entire Bible. Think about it, we have the oracles of God, and we haven’t made it a priority to read them. No wonder we are crashing!!!
This is where you come in as the hero of the story. Ask God to use your relationships to challenge people to get into the Word. It is your personal invitation that will make the difference. It is through accountability that people will complete the journey. It is possible that you have not completed the journey this year. What a great opportunity to ask someone to be your accountability partner and do it together for 2010.

The goal of this group is not to grow big, we want to grow small. Let me explain, it is through personal relationships that we grow, not crowds. So, form your own Bible reading team. Every blog from 2009 has been saved and these are available for you. You can take them and put your own personal message on them for your group.

You can do this.... you must do this if we are going to reverse the downward, death spiral we are in.

We are using “The Daily Bible” In Chronological Order 365 Readings. New International Version. Harvest House. ... Soft cover is about 15 dollars ... Hard cover is about 20 dollars....
You can order them from CBD Christian Book Discount or Amazon.

Today is accountability day. Let me know where you are in the journey.

In our reading from Acts today I saw three life impacting truths:
1. You can be a cultural Jew and still believe. You do not need to leave your traditions of a Jew to worship Jesus as the Messiah. I wonder if we should do some of the cultural Jewish practices here at Grace.
2. Sometimes we must go the second mile to avoid offending others, especially when doing so would
hinder God’s work. It is not a double standard to protect your weaker brother; it is a sign of maturity.
3. The riot started because of prejudice. When Paul said he was being sent by God to reach the Gentiles, the crowd went berserk. It is amazing what prejudice does to people.