Back to current Daily Help
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Sunday, June 30, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Acts 10 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: 1 Kings 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Zephaniah 2:3 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: Since it was by absence of faith that humanity fell from grace (i.e. Adam and Eve did not trust God’s warning about the tree), it is by the presence of faith that we rise back to grace. That faith must be present every day if we are to live in grace every day. We read the Bible daily to refresh our faith because faith comes from hearing the word of God – specifically, the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). When faith in the word abounds, grace abounds. Otherwise, we sink back into a graceless state.
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Saturday, June 29, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Acts 9 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: 1 Kings 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Jeremiah” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Couple of Extra Minutes: Yesterday we completed the reading (or re-reading) of The Duty of Man at the rate of a chapter day as a 2024 Father’s Day gift to the Lord. Before moving on from that exercise, please take a look at the Appendix, which you’ll find as the last link listed in the Table of Contents. All I’m asking you to do today is peruse that one page which outlines all that is in the Appendix. You’ll see (or be reminded) that it’s a library of all the resources on this website. Understanding how those resources are organized will help you know where to look for what you need when you need it. To help give you time to do this today, I’m going to delay the return of the videos one more week.
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Friday, June 28, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: Matthew 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Acts 8 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: 1 Kings 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.) Special note: We’re skipping the remaining chapters of 2 Samuel (2 Sam 21-24) to keep to a streamlined Old Testament history that can be completed at the rate of a chapter a day for a year. A more detailed reason is given in the note between 2 Sam 20 and 2 Sam 21 in the BSN for 2 Samuel.
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Nahum 1:6-7 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Twelve: Equipped for Duty. You can get to it through the Table of Contents. This is the last chapter. I’ll have one more thing to say about the book tomorrow.
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Thursday, June 27, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: John 21 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Acts 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: 2 Samuel 20 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Work of God – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Eleven: A Man’s Duty. You can get to it through the Table of Contents. We’re almost done! We are in the third and last part of the book: “Our Future: Eternity Is Staring Us in the Face.”
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Wednesday, June 26, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: John 20 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Acts 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: 2 Samuel 19 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Obadiah 1:15 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Ten: Righteousness Is a Faith That Loves. You can get to it through the Table of Contents. We are in the third and last part of the book: “Our Future: Eternity Is Staring Us in the Face.”
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Tuesday, June 25, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: John 19 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Acts 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: 2 Samuel 18 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Truth – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Nine: Repentance Is from Sin to Righteousness. You can get to it through the Table of Contents. This moves us into Part Three – the last of the three parts to the book.
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Monday, June 24, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: John 18 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Acts 4 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: 2 Samuel 17 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Joel 2:32 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Eight: In Jesus Christ the Bible Came Together. You can get to it through the Table of Contents. This is the last chapter in Part Two of the book, which I’ve been telling you conveys the only apologetic method for faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible that you’ll ever need. Try to remember that Part Two is the core of the book and that you can go back to it alone to strengthen your faith if you ever find it weakening.
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Sunday, June 23, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- 1st Reading: John 17 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- 2nd Reading: Acts 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament – The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles – twice a year.)
- 3rd Reading: 2 Samuel 16 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Jacob” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Seven: The Man. You can find it in context in the Table of Contents. We are currently in Part Two of the book, which could stand alone as the only apologetic method for faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible that you’ll ever need. It’s the one I rely on above all others. This approach is rooted in history – the most unchangeable thing known to man – which makes this the simplest and sturdiest of all apologetic methods known to man.
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Saturday, June 22, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Gospel of John 16 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- The Acts of the Apostles 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 15 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Hosea 1:10-11 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Weekly Help: This week, I’m not publishing an episode of The Duty of a Man Companion Video Podcast because of the special 13-day project we have going in the next bullet.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Six: The Primary Historical Sources. You can find it in context in the Table of Contents. We are currently in Part Two of the book, which could stand alone as the only apologetic method for faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible that you’ll ever need. It’s the one I rely on above all others. It is rooted in history – the most unchangeable thing known to man – which makes this the simplest and sturdiest of all apologetic methods known to man.
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Friday, June 21, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- The Gospel of John 15 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- The Acts of the Apostles 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 14 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Standard – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Five: Preserving History. I’m sending you there by way of the book’s Table of Contents so that you’ll have context for what you’re reading. Note that today we enter into Part Two of the book, where the focus moves from the present back to the ancient times recorded in the Bible, especially the New Testament.
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Thursday, June 20, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 14 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 22 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 13 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Ecclesiastes 9:13-17 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Four: The Rest of the Story. I’m sending you there by way of the book’s Table of Contents so that you’ll have context for what you’re reading. Note that Part One of this book is describing where we are as a society and individuals with respect to God…and how we got to this point.
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Wednesday, June 19, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 13 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 21 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 12 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Sower – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Three: The Forgotten Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m going to send you there by way of the Table of Contents so that you’ll have context for what you’re reading. Note that Part One of this book is describing where we are as a society and individuals with respect to God…and how we got here.
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Tuesday, June 18, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 12 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 20 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 11 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Job 8:7 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Today is for Chapter Two: Whatever Became of Jesus Christ? I’m going to send you there by way of the Table of Contents so that you’ll have context for what you’re reading.
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Monday, June 17, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 11 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 19 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 10 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Isaiah” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Extra 5 Minutes: As a Father’s Day gift to the Lord, we’re reading (or re-reading, as the case may be) The Duty of a Man. We’re breaking it down to a chapter a day for two weeks, each chapter taking about five minutes for an average adult reader. Yesterday was the Preface; today is Chapter One.
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Sunday, June 16, 2024
Father’s Day
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 10 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 18 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 9 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 2 Samuel 7:12-14 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Father’s Day Gift: Have you gotten a gift to give your heavenly Father? Give me an extra five minutes every day for the next 13 days and you’ll have read or re-read The Duty of a Man. (After all, the duty of a man is the duty of a son of God.) Today, all you have to read (or re-read) is the Preface, and it’s even shorter than a chapter. Bonus benefit of this two-week commitment: At the core of this little book is the strongest and yet most time-efficient rationale for faith in Jesus Christ that I have ever heard. You’ll have more peace if you’re faith is strengthened. Know for sure why, what, and whom you believe! (Although I completed the book last year, I’ve been refining it for the last six months and it’s a much better book now.)
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Saturday, June 15, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 9 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 17 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 8 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Sign – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Weekly Help: Latest episode in The Duty of a Man Companion Video Podcast, titled “Patriarchy.”
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Friday, June 14, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 8 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 16 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Jude 1:3-4 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: Jesus of Nazareth was the greatest man who ever lived. Sure, He is God, too. But that doesn’t change the fact that he was the greatest man who ever lived. What other human life even comes close?
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Thursday, June 13, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 15 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Savior – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- For the Next Generation: The human race is a relay race. The current generation receives a baton from the previous generation, which it subsequently hands off to the next generation. For this reason, we’re not only judged by the running we do, but also by the way we receive the baton and the way we hand it off.
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Wednesday, June 12, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 14 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Acts 3:26 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- For the Next Generation: As salmon swim upstream to lay their eggs, so godly parents swim against cultural currents for the sake of their children.
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Tuesday, June 11, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 13 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 4 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Isaac” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Further to Yesterday’s Point: In the survey results below, forget the candidates. Just notice that less than half – 39% to be precise – of all registered voters in America are willing to say “society is better off if people make marriage and having children a priority.” Not only does America no longer have a moral majority, it no longer has a sane majority. Know what your children’s friends believe.
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Monday, June 10, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 4 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 12 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:24-26 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Heartbreaking Irony: The overturning of Roe v Wade has actually increased the popularity of abortion in America. The stats below show that a politician who trails his opponent on every other issue can remain competitive simply by emphasizing his support of child sacrifice. This is not your father’s America, and it’s certainly not Washington’s or Lincoln’s America.
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Sunday, June 9, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 11 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Ruler – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Concluding Thoughts on the “Before and After” Pictures (shown below) and Yesterday’s Video (linked below): The progression from a Protestant Christian America to a godless one has been achieved in less than a century. In 1950, rainbow colors would have reminded Americans of Noah; today they remind us of the valorization of sexual perversion. We have witnessed the steep downward progression of Romans 1 with our own eyes. My generation was bequeathed the greatest nation on earth, and we’ve squandered it in pursuit of earthly pleasures. Nations do not survive such an embrace of decadence. America’s fall will be as stunning as was its rise. How will the godly survive such a fall? By the man doing his duty to God, which is to shepherd his family – spiritually and physically. I have no prophecies of political outcomes; what I am telling you applies to any and all political scenarios. We are entering a new patriarchal age. Men will be as Noah. The ark of their salvation will be the structure of nuclear family. The family that loves God and each other will survive the flood of evil coming on the land. Men will be as Abraham, walking by faith in God without need for synagogue or church to live by that faith. Noah and Abraham had promises from God but men today have a greater quantity and quality of promises than those two patriarchs had – plus today’s patriarchs have all those promises in writing, bound in the Bible. Be brave, men. The Lord is with you. Teach your children about Jesus Christ. Teach them so that they may teach theirs, and so on. The greatest lesson humanity should learn from what we’re going to have to go through is that had one generation been teaching Christ to the next, the great fall of America could have been held off indefinitely. Alas, we can only reap what we have sown. May 21st-century patriarchs sow better seed.
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Saturday, June 8, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 10 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 2 Samuel 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Habakkuk 2:4 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Weekly Help: Latest episode in The Duty of a Man Companion Video Podcast, titled “The Man Is Key to the Family” (This video also has bearing on the “Before-and-After” pictures below in this space and speaks to the good news I promised yesterday. I’ll be more explicit about that tomorrow in this space.)
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Friday, June 7, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- John 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 9 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 31 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Man – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- The Two New York Skyscrapers I Showed You Yesterday (see below): The top picture was taken in 1952; the bottom one in 2014. Consider them “Before and After” pictures. Before and after what, you ask? Full secularization of America. Coming out of World War II, America was still considered a Protestant Christian nation but seeds of an expanding secularism had been sown in its midst. By the mid-2010’s, the secularization of public life, including all major public institutions was, for the most part, complete. The vestiges of Christianity – the Bible, prayer, and such – and indeed practically all forms of public religious expression had been censored and banned, leaving only secular ideologies to permeate public discourse and therefore the public mind. Sexual Revolution orthodoxies – LGBTQ+ being the most prominent brand – rose to the top of the secular political heap. John Lennon’s “Imagine” now more accurately expresses America’s public conscience than do Jesus Christ and the Bible. We’re not going to get anywhere by denying reality. America is under more tyranny now than than it was under George III. How many Americans still love Jesus and heed the Bible, it’s hard to say. But it’s pretty clear such Americans, whatever their number, don’t control any of its major institutions: government, education, news, entertainment, and so on. I’ll have some good news on this subject tomorrow, but for today, let’s admit that the before-and-after pictures below tell a story that reflects reality. We have to practice Humility Month with that awareness.
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Thursday, June 6, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Luke 24 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 8 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 30 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 2 Chronicles 16:9 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words”: This change to the iconic New York skyline has happened in my lifetime. Such symbols are not meaningless; they communicate a great deal – like the Dome of the Rock sitting atop Israel’s Temple ruins. (Related article from the Los Angeles Times based on 1985 and 2024 surveys: “The results document a huge shift in American opinion over a nearly 40-year period.”)
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Wednesday, June 5, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Luke 23 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 7 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 29 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Hezekiah” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Lighting a Candle in the Darkness: Let us proclaim June as “Humility Month.” Humility Month, to be celebrated annually from June 1–30, will honor Jesus Christ and the impact His humility has had on human history, culture, and morals. By humbling Himself to suffer an ignominious death on a cross, He saved us from the ultimate consequences of our sins and re-routed death so that it leads above to heaven instead of below to Sheol (Hades). Let this month also commemorate the humility of the apostles and all those who have throughout the ages risked life, limb, and all they owned in order to pass on to us the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. By honoring Jesus and all those who have followed in His steps, let our minds become more fully-sensitized to all the good that humility does in the earth, and, conversely, all the evil that comes through pride.
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Tuesday, June 4, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Luke 22 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 6 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 28 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Deuteronomy 4:7-10 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- The Enemies of Christ Hold Incoherent Positions: The malignant secularism that pervades 21st-century American culture extinguishes any and all mention of Jesus and the Bible but fully allows such inanities such as “Love is love” and “A family is a family is a family.” That people utter such phrases as if they actually communicated anything other than code for the promotion of moral decadence is a sign of society’s deep mental disorder. Speaking nonsense as if it’s common sense is a sure sign we’re falling apart. Only in Christ is there coherence. “In Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).
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Monday, June 3, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Luke 21 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 5 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 27 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Heir – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- The Enemies of Christ Hold Incoherent Positions: Yesterday, I pointed out (in the essay “The Most Potent Lie of the Last 75 Years“) the incoherence of people who claim Jesus can’t be known through history. Today, I give you the incoherence of people who claim sexual deviation from biblical standards is legitimate. When LGB invited T to join the coalition (that is, to make the threesome a foursome), the latter’s justification for legitimacy (“right to choose”) pulled the rug out from under the former’s justification for legitimacy (“born this way”). Further to the point, T’s means of existence is the bane of LGB’s existence: that is, “conversion therapy.” Therefore, even from a secular point of view, it’s not only empirical studies that undermine LGBTQ+ ideologies, it’s logic itself. God’s word is consistent with both reality and logic. The only thing that has ever united the alphabet mafia has been opposition to, as the Declaration of Independence puts it, “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” In other words, you can’t understand the sexual revolution without understanding the God of the Bible, just as you can’t understand the word antichrist without understanding Christ. Our Lord is just that important. We are either loyal to Him or we oppose Him. But even when we oppose Him, it is He who defines the moment and the issue. Opposing positions are always incoherent.
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Sunday, June 2, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Luke 20 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 4 – written / audio The first three chapters of this book are relatively easy to read compared to the chapters that follow. Until we get to the last chapter, it will be much like reading the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament – not easy. Don’t worry if you don’t feel like you’re understanding much. Be like a child and notice the (word) pictures. In due time, some of those pictures will make sense to you and have application in your life. (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 26 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Deuteronomy 3:27-28 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- New Essay: “The Most Potent Lie of the Last 75 Years” (5 min)
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Saturday, June 1, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Luke 19 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 3 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 25 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ is the Forerunner – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Weekly Help: Latest episode in The Duty of a Man Companion Video Podcast, titled “What’s So Special about a Man? (Part 2 of 2)”
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Friday, May 31, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Luke 18 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 2 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 24 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Numbers 27:15-19 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Further to Yesterday’s Point: One of the main reasons megachurches exist is because their scale enables them to produce children and youth programs that outdraw any and all programs that smaller churches can produce. But this doesn’t mean that young people are truly learning about the Lord and His word. On the contrary, the children’s attention is being held temporarily through entertainment until they’re old enough to stop going to church with their parents. Similarly, parents make the mistake of depending on Christian schools for the “Christianizing” of their children. This strategy is failing dramatically these days, as this comment from a parent indicates.
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Thursday, May 30, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Luke 17 – written / audio (We’re reading through all four Gospels four times a year.)
- Revelation 1 – written / audio (We’re reading through the rest of the New Testament twice a year.)
- 1 Samuel 23 – written / audio (We’re reading through a condensed Old Testament, focused on its history, once a year.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Ezra” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Couple of Questions to Answer: Is there anyone more appropriate to teach children about Jesus Christ and the Bible than their father and mother? Why then are parents outsourcing this all-important job to others? Let children learn the most important subject in life from the two people they most love and trust – not strangers. (John 10:5; 2 Timothy 3:14)
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Wednesday, May 29, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Numbers 24:17-19 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something Worth Reminding Ourselves: In the course of my lifetime, America has exchanged the glory of Jesus Christ for the shame of corruption and perversion. It’s been like watching Romans 1:18-32 acted out before our eyes. Yet Jesus is a refuge for those who turn to Him instead of away from Him (Isaiah 45:22). So don’t faint, men! The Lord is with those who are with Him (2 Chronicles 15:1-2)…even as the surrounding world keeps degenerating further and further into insanity. Judgments are surely coming. Cling to Jesus Christ and the Bible and you will come through travails like Noah led his family through the flood. And when the flood is past, don’t get drunk! (Gen 9)
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Tuesday, May 28, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Author – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something Worth Understanding: Calling yourself a Christian does little to nothing for your spiritual well-being, but becoming a student of Jesus Christ will do you worlds of good!
***
Monday, May 27, 2024
Memorial Day
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 3:13-16 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Two Verses to Consider Together: In Old Testament times, God only had one nation. Since New Testament times, it is the privilege – and responsibility – of all nations to be His. Those that heed this responsibility will be blessed, while those that reject it will be cursed. If you understand this, it will explain a lot.
- Ps 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. - Ps 117:1 Praise the LORD, all nations;
Laud Him, all peoples!
- Ps 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
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Sunday, May 26, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ is the Angel – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Question to Answer: How can we say that we as a nation have not forsaken the God on whom our very Declaration of Independence calls (“appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions” in the light of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”) when our current government says things like this?
- Jeremiah 2:11 “Has a nation changed gods
When they were not gods?
But My people have changed their glory
For that which does not profit.
***
Saturday, May 25, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Romans 11:22 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Weekly Help: Latest episode in The Duty of a Man Companion Video Podcast, titled “What’s So Special about a Man? (Part 1)”
***
Friday, May 24, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Enoch” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Verse to Live By: The only alternative to Philippians 1:21 is “For to me, to live is me and to die is loss.” So which way will we live today: according to Philippians 1:6…or according to its alternative?
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Thursday, May 23, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Romans 10:17 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Another Sign of the Times: Only a fraction of the American population these days is talking about God in a reverent way. Not a good sign. Even worse, only a fraction of that fraction is talking about Jesus Christ in a reverent way. If you’re determined to make and keep your house a place where Jesus’ name is spoken reverently, frequently, and lovingly, then heaven will not be able to keep from noticing. And your seed will have a measure of protection from things against which most people will find themselves defenseless. Some of you have already begun to notice that. Be of good cheer: God is with those who are with Him (2 Chronicles 15:1-2).
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Wednesday, May 22, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Word of God – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Remember: He who reads the Bible for himself partakes of unleavened bread and the body of our Lord – both broken for us. Jewish Passovers and Christian communions were only shadows of the reality that would come. Walk in the light of the reality – not in the darkness of the shadows.
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Tuesday, May 21, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 5:39-40 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Another Sign of the Times: Not only has Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker been widely condemned by secular news outlets for giving “The Most Controversial Commencement Speech of 2024,” a petition for his ouster has been signed by over 100,000 people. Moreover, the mayor of Kansas City has apologized for him and the NFL has distanced itself from him. (The irony of excluding Butker from polite society in the name of inclusion seems lost on all these people.) But the opposition to Butker’s values is much stronger than that because now the nuns associated with the Catholic College where he delivered the remarks have denounced him as well. In fact, “63% of Catholics support legal abortion,” and “57% also favor same-sex marriage,” according to recent surveys. Yes, I know that Butker’s jersey sales are up, but the people buying those jerseys aren’t in control of America’s institutions. And it’s those institutions – religious as well as secular – that control so much of American life. They have become deeply corrupted, and are continually attacking the biblical values you are trying to instill in your children. With the Lord on your side, you can succeed with your children…but only if you recognize what you’re up against. Your children will have to trust you more than they trust practically all the institutions with which they have contact. Be worthy of their trust.
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Monday, May 20, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Promised Son of David – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: Some people long for God to appear to them as He did to men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Old Testament times. Yet these men would have traded places with us in an instant if it meant that they could have a complete Bible – Old and New Testament – as accessible to them as it is to us. This is because having documentation of an encounter with God is even better than the encounter itself. The encounter is fleeting but the memory of it – which is guaranteed by the documentation – is forever. This is why God has rooted our salvation and our knowledge of Him in history. History cannot be changed; it can only be remembered or forgotten. That makes documentation of history priceless. Therefore, don’t wish to trade places with the prophets and the apostles – just know that they would have all desired to trade places with you…simply because of the Bibles you have in your house and on your phone.
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Sunday, May 19, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Luke 24:44-48 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: Righteousness is doing the right thing for the right reason in the right way at the right time. The Bible makes clear in a variety of ways that all four of those things have to line up. Otherwise, a word or deed can’t be fully righteous. Everything Jesus said and did was the right thing for the right reason in the right way at the right time. We can call this the four corners of righteousness.
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Saturday, May 18, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Elisha” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Weekly Help: Beginning today, I plan to have a 15-minute video every Saturday morning for you. Just another way of helping you keep yourself and your family in Christ. Here’s the first episode: DM001 – Introduction to “The Duty of a Man” Video Podcast. I picked Saturday morning figuring that the weekend might give you more opportunity to find another 15 minutes to learn about Jesus.
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Friday, May 17, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Luke 24:25-27 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Further and Finally to the Question of the Last Two Days: Thirdly, trusting and obeying God is necessary if we are to avoid the fires of hell…which are on this earth in this life. Hell is a result of sin and God’s judgments on it. Thus, when the sins of mankind increase, suffering in the world increases. Therefore, we should at all times seek to do right so that our behavior brings blessings instead of curses both to ourselves and to others. To sum up, even though everyone is going to heaven, we should still trust and obey God because 1) showing gratitude is the right thing to do, 2) we’ll want as good a placement in heaven as we can get, and 3) we’ll only make our time on earth harder for ourselves and others if we continue to sin.
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Thursday, May 16, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Servant – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Further to Yesterday’s Question: Secondly, just because you know that everyone is going to heaven doesn’t mean that you know where in heaven everyone goes. It’s a really big place! Given the quantity and variety of locations we find on earth, the quantity and variety of locations in heaven must be far, far greater. God has promised that we will be rewarded in heaven based on how well, or how poorly, we performed on earth; if there are places on earth you’d rather be, how much more there’ll be places in heaven we’d rather be. Further to this point, we often see the judgments of God – for good or evil – executed on earth, but just as often we are confused and troubled when it seems that injustice prevails. The justice we experience on earth is limited, but heaven is God’s opportunity to right all wrongs and render each and every person the granular justice deserved. That we get to heaven at all is undeserved, but exactly where we land in heaven will be exactly the place we deserve.
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Wednesday, May 15, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Judges 21:25 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- If Everyone Is Going to Heaven, Why Should I Obey God?: First of all, what kind of ingrate are you? If someone gave you a billion dollars, would you not even say “thank you” to your benefactor? A billion dollars is less than a pittance compared to eternal life! Trust and obedience are the most appropriate ways to thank God for His gift of never-ending existence. Since life on earth will therefore be – at most – an ever-decreasing fraction of our total existence, wouldn’t it be entirely appropriate for us to spend the remainder of it serving the One who suffered on a cross so that it could become that ever-decreasing fraction of life instead of the totality of it?
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Tuesday, May 14, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ is the Messenger – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Another Sign of the Times: Last week, the Boy Scouts of America announced that they are changing their name to “Scouting America.” This name change is consistent with the organization’s decision of five years ago to drop their focus on boys and instead invite “every youth and family in America” to be a scout. Apparently, not just girls and boys, but also family members of all ages can now participate in scouting. But why should membership be restricted to only those who are interested in scouting? Just because some people don’t care about learning how to start a fire without matches doesn’t mean they should be shunned! That sure doesn’t sound inclusive. And what’s with this myopic focus on America? Just because each country might have its own separate scouting organization doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to join the American one, too. Until every non-boy, non-scout, and non-American is welcome, this organization must be held to account!
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Monday, May 13, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Joshua 24:14-15 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Oh, and One More Thing: Further to the point of the last few days in this space, consider how opponents of Christ use the elasticity of words like secularism and pluralism to pull a “bait and switch” on us (nowadays called by some in a case like this a “motte and bailey fallacy”). That is, our opponents argue for their position by describing secularism as “separation of church and state” – a definition with which no reasonable person can disagree. But then in practice they impose on us a secularism that amounts to a separation of God and state – something vastly different from separation of church and state. That is, they bait us with the word secularism as it was originally defined but then use that same word according to their definition. If secularism and pluralism have to be made safe for agnostics and atheists, then all religious people – including Protestants – are ipso facto reduced to a second-class status. The only intent of the secularism that prevailed at America’s founding was that there would not be a “Church of America” as there was a “Church of England.” Let us recognize when the meaning of words is being stretched so far as to negate their original meaning. That is excessively elastic!
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Sunday, May 12, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Elijah” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living. (Elijah was also a type of John the Baptist [Matt 11:14; 17:10-13], but this does not preclude him from being a type of Christ as well. That is, some aspects of Elijah’s life and ministry followed contours indicative of Messiah’s forerunner, and other aspects were indicative of Messiah Himself.)
- Yet Something Else to Notice: What I described yesterday is how pluralism broke down and secularism turned toxic in America. It’s how “freedom of religion” came to mean “freedom from religion.” It happened slowly at first…and then all at once. The first phase (Protestant secularism) lasted about 175 years; all the remaining phases have occurred in the last 75 years. Let’s review the progression: The pluralism and secularism that was designed for Protestantism was expanded to be Christian (that is, incorporating Catholics and Orthodox), then Judeo-Christian (incorporating Jews), then monotheistic (incorporating Muslims), then what could be called theistic or religious (that is, incorporating any religion), and finally incorporating agnostics and atheists (who, by definition, are non-religious). That last step was, of course, irrational. I say that because a society cannot simultaneously agree to be religious and irreligious at the same time. It can only be one or the other. Since no one can serve two masters, we were forced to tilt one direction or the other. We just kept going in the same direction we had been going. That is to say, to incorporate the last group to be brought in, following the lowest common denominator process, Americans essentially agreed to live their public lives as atheists do. If you have trouble digesting this reality, just ask yourself, “What is the only group of people I have named above who do not have to curb their speech in order to comply with modern America’s view of secularism?” And this is how secularism, a concept that was originally designed and employed to help Bible-believers collectively form and successfully operate a national government, has been stretched over the last 75 years to the point that it now serves the purposes of people who oppose Bible-believers! No word’s meaning can be considered more elastic than one that comes to mean its opposite.
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Saturday, May 11, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:8-10 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something Else to Notice: For most of its history, America remained what it had been in its beginning: a Protestant Christian nation. Being more specific, that period was from 1776 to about 1950. One way to verify that it lasted this long is to scan the speeches and press releases of Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, whose combined terms in office cover two decades (1933-1952). Those records are sprinkled throughout with positive references to Jesus Christ and the Bible. With Eisenhower in the 1950’s, however, you can see signs that Protestant pluralism had given way to Christian, Judeo-Christian, and even monotheistic pluralism. Such signs include adding “under God ” to the Pledge of Allegiance and adding “In God We Trust” to our currency. Christ was being dropped from public pronouncements and, by the end of that decade, prayer and the Bible would be removed from public schools. By 2006, then-Senator Barack Obama could say without fear of damaging his chances of being elected president, “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.” This expansion of pluralism meant that the lowest common denominator of America’s secularism had become the fellow who didn’t want to hear about God at all. To include him in the pluralism meant public discourse had to be godless – that is, without God’s name being brought to bear. Thus the transition of America from Protestant secularism to godless secularism only took about 55 years. Only half a century was required to so alter the definition of secularism that its effect became to squelch godliness rather than promote it. The wheels have been falling off our institutions ever since – and at an increasing rate. Nowadays our form of secularism allows drag queens to tell their stories in public libraries and schools while we’re told it’s “a blessing of liberty.” Meanwhile, religious people – and especially preachers of the gospel – have to keep their mouths shut in public places. Anyone who asks for America to return to its Protestant Christian orientation, last visible in World War II, is shouted down as a lover of “theocracy,” because practically the entire population these days was born after 1950 and can’t be bothered by history.
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Friday, May 10, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Prince – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Notice: Secularism works by means of pluralism. That is, secularism’s promise has always been to foster peace by getting people to treat their religious differences as personal and private, only discussing in public those religious issues upon which they agree. In this way, multiple parties can work as one. This worked well at America’s founding and for as long as Americans were predominately Protestant. For example, Presbyterians kept baptizing infants and Baptists kept waiting until children were older, but all this took place in their respective churches. In political discussions, however, the two groups spoke of their common faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible and how the nation’s laws should be based on the ethics found in them. That’s how the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights got written (God in America’s Founding Documents). Thus pluralism looks for the common denominator. For this reason, secularism worked less well when Catholics are added to the Protestants because the supremacy of the Bible as the word of God was removed from the common view. Then when the country began to describe itself as Judeo-Christian, even more was lost because Jesus Christ had to be removed from the equation. That leaves you with just the Old Testament to agree on. Yet another step is taken into confusion when monotheism is viewed as the uniting factor because that incorporates Muslims whose ideas can run very counter to both testaments of the Bible and therefore leaves less common ground in worldview for citizens to find. The last step into chaos was taken when agnostics and atheists had to be included in the pluralism. With their addition to the pluralistic mix, the lowest common denominator became human rights because if you keep including God’s rights the agnostics and atheists will complain that they’re being excluded. At this stage of things, secularism means simply “leaving God out of it.” This is therefore godless secularism, and it’s what we have now in America. And we are looking aghast at the fruit it is producing. But when you ask people to consider the decadence and depravity invited by godless secularism, all they can think of as an alternative is theocracy – such as portrayed in The Handmaid’s Tale and other dystopian novels. It’s as if they’ve completely forgotten American history.
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Thursday, May 9, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Luke 18:9-14 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Another Sign of the Times: Emmanuel Todd is the new Alexis de Tocqueville. By that, I mean that both are Frenchmen who wrote books for the world describing America’s life-giving force as Protestantism. Alexis de Tocqueville published his two-volume Democracy in America in 1835 and 1840. In that book, he described how vibrant Christian religion was animating all of American life – including its political life. Specifically, that form of Christianity was pluralistic Protestantism. The other French observer, Emmanuel Todd, published The Defeat of the West in January of this year. In it, he describes how the abandonment of Protestantism has left America utterly decadent – with nothing else to animate it. That is, as Tocqueville explained the rise of America, so Todd is now explaining its fall – and the determining factor in the difference was and is the importance – or lack thereof – that Americans attach to the God of the Bible. You can’t launch a nation based on, as the Declaration of Independence puts it, “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” and subsequently defy both…and still expect things to end well. (For those who have sufficient time and want more detail on the two men and their books, here are Bill Federer’s comments on Alexis de Tocqueville, and Aaron Renn’s comments on Emmanuel Todd.)
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Wednesday, May 8, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is Israel’s Messiah – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Remember: I hear a number of people lately saying, “The Jews killed Jesus,” as if Jews did it by themselves. Pontius Pilate was not a Jew; he was an official of the Roman Empire. Therefore, the crucifixion of Jesus was a collaborative effort by Jews and Gentiles. We should also remember that while Jews were complicit in the execution of Jesus, it also true that there were Jews who believed in Jesus. In fact, if there hadn’t been a sufficient number of Jews who believed in Jesus, Gentiles would never have gotten the message. The first 5-10 years of Christianity was nothing but Jews preaching to Jews. But all this is ancient history. We live in the kingdom of God where Jewish-Gentile distinctions mean no more than racial distinctions. We are all sinners…and we are all going to heaven…by Jesus Christ. Let’s live for Him so that we avoid as much of hell as possible while we’re still on earth.
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Tuesday, May 7, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Luke 5:30-32 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Verse to Consider: Matthew 23:8 “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. – This is why I push you to read the Bible for yourself.
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Monday, May 6, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Daniel” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Faith is Fragrant; Unbelief is Foul: Before I read the Bible as an adult and surrendered to the truth about Jesus that I found there, I was a know-it-all agnostic. Yes, “know-it-all agnostic” is a contradiction in terms; it’s what is called an oxymoron. I was therefore a kind of moron. Secularism produces such spiritual morons by the millions…and I was just one of them. “If we can’t be sure, no one can be sure!” Arrogance combined with ignorance is a double whammy. It’s worse than lipstick on a pig – it’s perfume on a pig. Lipstick is useless but at least it doesn’t make the stink stranger and stronger.
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Sunday, May 5, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Ezekiel 34:23-24 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- An Encouraging Sign: Celebrity conversions are always dicey, mainly because when a man seeks to become a disciple of Jesus, he needs privacy. The limelight works against him because he’s constantly and powerfully tempted to perform for the human audience instead of the divine one (Matthew 6:1). It’s always better to secure some success as a secret disciple of Jesus before becoming a public one. Neither baptism nor tarot cards – two emblems of Russell Brand’s recently-announced conversion – will be of much help to him in his walk with the Lord, but that book he’s holding in his hands below can help him a great deal. It’s the very book that provoked me to begin reading the Bible as an adult. I’ll never stop being grateful for it…and for the man who risked my ire by loaning it to me when I was a staunch agnostic.
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Saturday, May 4, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Mark 7 – written / audio
- Hebrews 9 – written / audio
- Ruth 1 – written / audio (Because the one-year condensed OT BRP we are following focuses on history and there’s a lot of it to fit in, we’re skipping the remainder of Judges which catalogs some of the Israelites more gruesome depredations. The last verse of the book summarizes the state of affairs in the promised land: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Sounds like 2024.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Life – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Fact of Life: Recent surveys demonstrate what we already knew: that large numbers of churchgoers do not believe what their churches teach. The most obvious example of this is politicians who are Catholic yet support abortion, but all denominations have this sort discrepancy between pulpit and pew. What then is the point of going to church? This is not a rhetorical question. The answer is to keep the church going. Modern churches seek not to serve but to be served. This is the exact opposite of the New Testament church – “men of whom the world was not worthy” (Heb 11:38) and who “did not love their life even when faced with death” (Rev 12:11). Let us imitate the New Testament church in the spirit, not in the flesh.
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Friday, May 3, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Numbers 6:24-26 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Verse to Understand: Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. – For better or worse, the behavior of any generation, generally speaking, reflects the training given them by the previous generation. Therefore, if you and I want the next generation to perform better than we have performed, we must give them better training than we received. (By the way, who was responsible for the training of the Millennials? Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers.)
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Thursday, May 2, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Expected One – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Verse That’s Being Worked in Reverse: Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
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Wednesday, May 1, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Isaiah 60:1-3 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- “A Verse to Remember”: Matthew 19:30 “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.” – One of the many things that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus teaches us is that our ultimate field position on earth doesn’t really matter; what matters is the heavenly field position our performance on earth will gain us. Jesus ended His earthly life at the bottom…but it secured Him a position at the top for eternity. As He played for long-term field position, so also should we.
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Tuesday, April 30, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “David” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- “There is nothing new under the sun”: We live in an age of liars and lying. Isaiah also lived in such an age, for he wrote “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (Is 6:5). Let us therefore be all the more zealous for truth…as Isaiah was. We can’t stop others from lying, but we can 1) stop lying ourselves, 2) stop believing the lies of others, and 3) stop listening to proven liars.
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Monday, April 29, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Micah 7:7-9 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Bemoan: God commanded us to “Be fruitful and multiply” – yet US fertility rate dropped to lowest in a century as births dipped in 2023. Is there ANY commandment of God that we as a society are currently obeying?
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Sunday, April 28, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ: the Coming One – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: Jesus has the worldwide exclusive franchise on God. The Bible has the worldwide exclusive franchise on Jesus.
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Saturday, April 27, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Malachi 4:2 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Verse to Consider: Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” – The Bible is a feast of righteousness…but who these days has an appetite for that sort of thing? (Don’t be like the world. Stay hungry!)
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Friday, April 26, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Chosen One – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- A Verse to Consider: Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. – This is the only reasonable response to Everyone Is Going to Heaven; anything less would be ungrateful, disrespectful, and despicable. Notice also that it requires 24/7 worship – not once a week for an hour or two.
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Thursday, April 25, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Psalm 27:1-6 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Remember: Never confuse the treasure map with the treasure. The treasure map is the Bible; the treasure is Jesus Christ. People who read the Bible but who aren’t majoring on trusting and obeying Jesus Christ aren’t reading it right – and that applies to both testaments! Don’t major on minors.
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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Boaz” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Verse to Consider: Psalm 41:9 Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me. – David was betrayed by one of his most trusted counselors (Ahithophel) and even by his own son (Absalom), thus foreshadowing Jesus’ betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Therefore, we should not be shocked if in following in Jesus’ steps we experience betrayals of trust in this life. When they happen, stand firm in Christ and He will sustain you.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Deuteronomy 18:15-22 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Verse of the Day: Romans 11:32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. – Does this sound like only some are going to heaven? Everyone Is Going to Heaven is not my idea – it’s God’s and it’s in the Bible!
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Monday, April 22, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Stone of Stumbling – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Passage of the Day: Matthew 18:2-4 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” – “The Warrior Is a Child” (Although this 1984 recording was credited to a female singer, and there’s good reason for that, listening closely will cause you to realize it’s actually a male-female duet, especially when it swells. I congratulate the arranger because I agree that the song is more effective – both musically and theologically – as a duet. Theologically speaking, a husband and wife need to keep reinforcing each other in the Lord in order to win the long war of many battles against evil that is child-rearing.)
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Sunday, April 21, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 2 Timothy 3:14-17 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Verse of the Day: Psalm 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart. – Our hearts aren’t naturally inclined this way. They must be trained. Daily. That’s why you’re reading the Bible daily.
- Something to Consider: We make room for God in our lives by making room for His word. Otherwise, it’s just lip service to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (“…one nation under God…”). How can you be under the authority of someone without knowing what that someone has said?
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Saturday, April 20, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Matthew 21 – written / audio
- 2 Timothy 3 – written / audio
- Judges 3 – written / audio (Because the one-year condensed OT BRP we are following focuses on history and we have a lot of history to fit in to the year, we’re skipping Judges 1-2 because it includes material somewhat redundant to chapters we have read and will be reading.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Star – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: The two greatest lies dominating the world today are secularism and Islam. The first is a lie of omission; the second is a lie of commission. That is, the first lies about Jesus Christ by excluding Him from public conversation; the second lies about Him by claiming there is a prophet greater than Him. One or the other of these two lies is currently suffocating most nations west and east.
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Friday, April 19, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 2 Timothy 2:8-10 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Enjoy: Jesus is the sunlight…and, when we relate to Him righteously, we reflect that sunlight. In other words, He is the source of light. We have no light in ourselves, but we can reflect His. Notice this Him-us relationship in the first two verses below; then notice it also in the second two. The first pair speaks of light; the second pair focuses specifically on sunlight. The first two are from the New Testament; the second two are from the Old Testament. Without Jesus, we’re living life in the nighttime; with Him, we’re living in the daylight. Secularism is nighttime because it eclipses the sunlight. Enjoy your life in the light of Christ!
- John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world…”
- Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world…”
- Malachi 4:2 “…for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise…”
- Judges 5:31 “…let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”
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Thursday, April 18, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Matthew 19 – written / audio
- 2 Timothy 1 – written / audio
- Joshua 23 – written / audio (Because the one-year condensed OT BRP we are following focuses on history, we’re skipping Joshua 12-22 which consist mainly of geographic details about how the land of Canaan was divided between the 12 Israelite tribes.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Abraham” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Further to Yesterday’s Point: Your mind consists of your thoughts. Merely human thoughts can be tyrannical. Use your will to tame your mind, and use God’s will to tame your will. You pray and read the Bible every day to reinforce your perception of God’s will so that you can submit your will to His. With your will submitted to God’s will, you can then wisely decide which thoughts are worth thinking. Just because you have a thought doesn’t mean it’s worth continuing to think it. (I know this may all sound too elementary to be useful, but I am amazed at the number of people who don’t seem to be choosing their own thoughts; as a result, they get tyrannized by their minds – through thoughts of fear, lust, etc.)
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Wednesday, April 17, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Luke 6:46-49 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: If you don’t manage your mind, it will tyrannize you. You manage your mind by getting it in alignment with God’s mind, and you do that by reading the Bible and praying every day.
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Tuesday, April 16, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is Our Shield – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: It shouldn’t be necessary to dishonor men in order to honor women, but that is exactly what feminism has been doing for the last century. By contrast, Christ honors both men and women – most of all by making them, respectively, male and female. If what God has joined together should not be put asunder, how much more should what God has made not be unmade. In fact, it cannot be unmade – it can only be defaced. Let us – whether male or female – be content with the honor God has bestowed upon us. Greediness is unbecoming of creatures…and attempts at autonomy are madness.
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Monday, April 15, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Hebrews 5:7-9 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Remember: This adage is more apt than ever: “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” – George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950). By contrast, Jesus governs in a way that leaves room for generosity.
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Sunday, April 14, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Rock of Offense – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Further to the Point of the Previous Two Days: To sum up: If you want to find God, start with Jesus. Conversely, if you ignore Jesus, you’ll never find God.
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Saturday, April 13, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 4:39-42 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Further to Yesterday’s Point: Don’t even try to prove that God speaks; rather, prove that He speaks through Jesus Christ. For if you successfully prove that God speaks, you still have to prove who is truly speaking for God and who has falsely spoken for Him. That is, you’ll have to choose between Jesus, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard and many others…because many people have claimed to speak for God.
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Friday, April 12, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Abel” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: Don’t try to prove that God exists; prove that He has spoken. It’s a much more efficient use of your time. For if you successfully prove that God exists, you still have to prove that He speaks. But if you successfully prove that He speaks, then His existence doesn’t have to be separately proven because no one can speak without existing.
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Thursday, April 11, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: Secular culture attacks traditional American (that is, biblical) values regarding family, sex, etc…and then accuses anyone who stands up for those values as “engaging in culture wars.” How ingenious! If only the Japanese had been this marketing savvy they could have accused America of being the aggressors for declaring war on them after they bombed Pearl Harbor.
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Wednesday, April 10, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Plumb Line – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Recognize: In the half-century that has elapsed since the US Supreme Court handed down its Roe v Wade decision, there have been over 60 million American abortions. Throughout those 50 years, pro-life activists worked to overturn that verdict…and succeeded in 2022 when the Supreme Court reversed itself and returned the issue to the jurisdiction of the individual states. Ironically, the number of abortions has actually gone up since that reversal (Abortions hit highest level since 2014 despite procedure being outlawed in more than a dozen states – Daily Mail). Moreover, during that same period, pro-abortion political candidates have been trouncing anti-abortion political candidates. As a result, even Republicans admit that abortion is now a winning issue for Democrats. What does this mean? One thing it means is that in 21st-century America there is no moral majority.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Acts 4:11-12 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Compare: This headline – FBI Taught Agents Pro-Lifers Are More Dangerous Than Islamic Terrorists (The Federalist) – sounds like the Pharisees teaching Jews that Jesus healed people by the power of the devil (Matthew 9:34). Alas, “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
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Monday, April 8, 2024
Total Solar Eclipse for America
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ as the Bronze Serpent of Moses – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: A total eclipse of the sun is not actually total. The moon is not large enough or close enough to fully obscure the sun’s light. A corona is still visible…like a halo. Similarly, even total secularism will not be able to fully extinguish the light of the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2). Righteousness is greater than unrighteousness.
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Sunday, April 7, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Philippians 2:9-11 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: America is a product of Great Britain. Consequently, for two and a half centuries, we’ve been able to discern our future by paying attention to their present. As of the last 80 years or so, they’re just a few steps ahead of us on the de-Christianization – which is to say, secularization – trend line. One key aspect of this transition is a move away from free speech as a right of the people toward hate speech laws as a tool of authoritarianism. In this light, take note of these headlines: Scotland’s New Hate Crime Law Is No Laughing Matter (Christian Today) and More Than 3,000 Hate Crime Complaints in Response to Scotland’s New Law (BBC). I’m not trying to scare people; just warn them. Jesus shows us how to survive as lambs in the midst of wolves, and that survival starts with being aware of the wolves…and their most recent movements.
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Saturday, April 6, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Matthew 7 – written / audio
- 1 Thessalonians 3 – written / audio
- Deuteronomy 34 – written / audio (Because the one-year condensed OT BRP we are following focuses on history and because there’s a lot of history to cover, we’re skipping all of Deuteronomy except for the last chapter; generally speaking, Deuteronomy recaps the history already recorded in the previous three books.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: A Type of Jesus Christ: “Adam” – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: There’s no such thing as free speech, just as there’s no such thing as a free lunch. If you’re not having to pay for your lunch, it means someone else is paying for it. Similarly, if you’re not having to pay for what you say, it means that someone else is paying for it. It should not surprise anyone that the decline of Christianity in America is being accompanied by a decline in free speech. Christianity can afford to allow free speech because its founder paid such a heavy price for it; conversely, no other religion or ideology can afford to allow free speech and this is why they all seek to stifle it.
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Friday, April 5, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- Matthew 6 – written / audio
- 1 Thessalonians 2 – written / audio
- Numbers 36 – written / audio (Because the one-year condensed OT BRP we are following focuses on history, we’re skipping Num 33-35 which consist of a detailed travelogue of Israel’s wilderness wanderings as well as detailed instructions about how the land of Canaan was to be divided.)
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in John 3:19-21 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Don’t Take Offense at Jesus!: In Matt 11:6 and Luke 7:23, Jesus says, “Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” Many people take offense at Jesus and, as a result, won’t believe in Him. However, it’s not just unbelievers who can make this mistake. Since 1978 when I accepted the Lord, I have – I am ashamed to say – taken offense at Him too many times to count. I didn’t think of it as “taking offense” at the time or else I would have immediately corrected my course. In retrospect, however, I have to admit I was taking offense whenever I disapproved of the way He did things and, as a consequence, didn’t fully collaborate with Him in what He was doing. I foolishly wanted to keep doing things my way and obtain His approval and get my prayers answered nonetheless. What this made me in those situations, of course, was an unbelieving believer – a man with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. Those stretches in my walk with the Lord were bumpy and disorienting. Just because God doesn’t do something the way I would do it doesn’t make Him wrong. (Ha ha!) These days I try to avoid being an offended and pouting child of God.
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Thursday, April 4, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Bears True Witness to God – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- How Does a Christian Nation Become a Secular Nation?: In one of his books, the novelist Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) famously had one of his characters answer the question “How did you go bankrupt?” by saying “Two ways…gradually and then suddenly.” As it is in a bankruptcy of money, so it apparently is in a bankruptcy of righteousness.
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Wednesday, April 3, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 2:21-24 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Questions: Who taught us that males could become females…and vice versa? Where was the school in which we learned it? Where is the textbook that explained when and how American society came to reject all previous human understanding of male and female? What happened to the scientific teaching that male or female can be detected in the chromosomes which are found in the nucleus of a cell – meaning that, if we are male, then every cell of our body is male and the same for females? Since none of us can recall being taught when we were growing up that male and female distinctions cannot be made at birth but can only be made by the individual at the time of his or her choosing, mustn’t it have been taught and accepted during the time we have been adults – why, therefore, can’t we recall that day? Was it a law that was passed, and, if so, when was it passed and what legislative body passed it? Why were we given no say in that decision? Come to think of it, all our experience with insurance companies is that they avoid covering new things not originally contracted – why then would they agree to cover all these drugs and surgeries? Who is paying the additional premiums? And, as long as we’re at it, there used to be such a thing as female impersonators – why do we never hear about such men anymore? Have they all disappeared? What happened to them? Oh, and why do we catch so much grief when we ask these kinds of questions?
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Tuesday, April 2, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ Is the Son of God – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Consider: Jesus came to launch a movement that would follow Him, not leave an institution that would replace Him.
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Monday, April 1, 2024
- Here are today’s Bible chapter readings, with links to the reading companions (the written and audio reading companions are complementary, not identical):
- A Daily Audio Capsule of Christ: Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:10-12 – a 3-5 minute pep pill. It will help you remember to always focus on X as the point of the Bible…and as the purpose of living.
- Something to Recognize: Satan inspired the ideology of feminism in order to bind strong men.
- Mark 3:23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
Mark 3:24 “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
Mark 3:25 “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
Mark 3:26 “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!
Mark 3:27 “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. - And feminists think feminism was their idea!
- Feminists think they’ve made themselves strong but all they’ve really accomplished is to make men weak.
- Satan cannot overcome a strong man and therefore cannot destroy a strong man’s family. What he can do is make men feel ashamed and guilty for being strong, thus inducing them to cower and capitulate. Then he can destroy such men and their families.
- 1 Cor 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
- Mark 3:23 And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
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Previous Editions:
—Daily Help 2024 – Q1
—Daily Help 2023 – Aug 23 through Dec 31
—Author’s Journal 2023 – Jan 1 through Aug 22
—Author’s Journal 2022
—Author’s Journal 2021
The Duty of a Man 