Tag: Bible

2010 Links, Favorites

Below you will find internet links.  I have gathered these up, finding them useful, entertaining and a blessing.  Some of these are mental illness links, others quote links.  Some are quite general, and others much more specific.  There are also a few Bible study aids, and these are quite valuable as ‘good ones’ are hard to find.

I am sorry that they are just laid out like this, but to categorize them would be difficult.  My apologies.  I realize that this pretty raw, but I hope you’ll be able to ‘mine’ something out of them.  I skimmed through and left a comment on some the url’s.  Handling some of these may require some patience.

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http://www.biblegateway.com/, perhaps the best Bible/versions

http://www.thegracetabernacle.org/quotes/gracequotes.html

http://bipolar.alltop.com/

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_publications

http://newstracts.org/christiansites.html, great collection

http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/imonk-101-when-i-am-weak-why-we-must-embrace-our-brokenness-and-never-be-good-christians, the Monk is always good, this is one of my personal favs

http://www.gotquestions.org/, hundreds of questions, good site

http://www.moodyradio.org/brd_AudioMin.aspx?id=13144, interesting, and Moody as a rule is solid

http://www.preceptaustin.org/, good site, but take your time with it.

http://net.bible.org/home.php

http://www.roundtripmissions.com/, planning STM trip?

http://www.soulshepherding.org/, very good with strong discipleship msg.

http://christian-quotes.ochristian.com/

http://hub.webring.org/hub/quotations

http://www.pietyhilldesign.com/gcq/index.html, quotes

http://coolquotescollection.com/

http://www.blogigo.com/discernment/Discipleship-quotes/32/

http://www.goodquotes.com/

http://wholelifeliving.ning.com/, seems good, haven’t spent time with it

http://crossquotes.org/, my own quote site, small but intense

http://www.tentmaker.org/Quotes/quotesindex.htm

http://www.thetravelingteam.org/node/196

http://www.christianquotes.org/

http://mentalhealthministries.net/links_resources/other_resources.html

http://www.canadianchristianity.com/christianliving/070809ill.html, great site

http://www.aesham.com/murphy.html, whatever, Murphy’s Laws rehashed

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/6ezJa9/www.energyfiend.com/death-by-caffeine/, funny

http://aceonlineschools.com/25-awesome-virtual-learning-experiences-online/, this is very interesting

http://popurls.com/, new edition everyday, smart

http://www.biblesearchengine.com/, looks really useful

http://www.fracturedsaints.com/, blog similar to BB, but different

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/9LspdV/www.rense.com/general72/size.htm, sort stumbleupon out and you won’t regret it.

http://www.ukapologetics.net/08/BCL.htm, pretty solid

http://walk-this-way.com/

http://www.christianstories.com/categories/funnychristian.html, funny

http://www.godtube.com/, Christian youtube

http://lifestream.org/blog/

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2006/02/Whats-A-Red-Letter-Christian.aspx, one of my favs

http://alaskabible.org/, My Bible school, a great place to learn

http://www.biologos.org/, science and faith dialogue, stretching

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/, online Christian magazine, cutting edge articles

Contending for Our Faith

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our(F) common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you(G) to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude 1:3, ESV

 

The Book of Jude is jammed with warnings and words of direction.  As we read though it, we are directed to understand that people who live sinfully are in mortal danger.  We check ourselves, and monitor our hearts to discern them.  Jude seems to reflect to us that the darkness out there is pervasive and a mite dangerous.

As we read this book, we should be lifted up in our confidence and boldness. We should find ourselves in a reasonable assurance.  However, Jude speaks out about a flood of darkness that is rolling right up to the very foundations of the Church.  Much of this small letter seems pessimistic.  But Jude in certain spots definitely gives us hope and encouragement.

There is a lot of personal reasons that I like this book .  Jude is one of the few books we can read in one sitting.  It also contains verses that are incredibly edifying.  We reach out for these promises and we find a good, strong rope to help us advance.

Jude tells his readers to be aware, and also to contend.  He really doesn’t want us to be argumentative.  But he does want us to ‘lock down’ and hold our positions.  Our faith has been handled and held by the generations before us.  Grandmas, and Aunties, and their parents, and parents of parents.  They all held our faith and stood boldly for the faith in Christ. 

It is now in our feeble hands, and its our turn.  We are called to ‘contend’ for our faith.  We stand in one spot against the darkness,  and we establish ourselves and refuse to compromise.  We stand against so much evil, but our faith should not erode.

The saints  from generations past had a have an aggressive brand of faith.  And the life we have experienced so far has been the life they also lived.  Day by day, their lives opened up for them, and they decided to live for God.  But their days could be very tedious, and they knew of them just as we know.  Believe it or not, tedium can be a difficult mindset to live in.

It is vitally important that we become ‘contenders’ of our faith.  That we stand in place while the flood water surge around us.  When the flood slams against us, will we stand at that moment?  Will we stay in our spot, when things get crazy and unrecognizable?  I have experienced first-hand a real flood,  and it comes with a powerful force, knocking down trees and buildings with no effort at all.

The Believer of today, has a tremendous amount of thinking to do.  Will we go against evil and ‘contend’ that our faith is real and that it is significant?  Will we stay rooted in the flood, and lift up the torch of faith?  He stands to see what you will do.  He despatches power and grace for our comfort and strength.

How You Make it Work

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves

Philippians 2:1-3

 

Being connected to Jesus sets us up for a way so much more then we thought.  Encouragement comes from being comforted.  It makes us stand back in amazement.  We are brought to this wonderful place, and personal growth begins to show exceptional results. 

There are a lot of ‘anys’ that are imbedded in these verses.  They take us to a point of extracting something of eternal value and worth, and then seeing it translated into our lives.  I certainly couldn’t come up with this on my own.

We grab this basic fact, we are just devoid of anything of real value.  We simply do not have the roots that will sink down into these wonderful things.  Our connection into Him however, puts us into a completely different place.  We discover we have this incredible ability from drawing out life into our beings.  He sets us up so we extract ‘life’ from our silly, feeble efforts.

We draw so much from the presence of Jesus.  When it’s hooked in, our ‘abundance meter’ kicks us up several notches.  Paul is asking us to draw out significant things from our contact with these things of wonder.  Verse 2 develops for us a sense of unity with our brothers and sisters.  Truth had better deal with us in this way. 

My newfound faith means I must connect with others in a new and a powerfully exceptional basis.  The Gospel had better effect me in this capacity, because, whether we know it or not, faith just doesn’t connect me with God– it connects me to His people.

‘One love, and one spirit and one mind’.  The unity that is to be developed springs from a knowledge of who we really are spiritually.  There is an idea of ‘commonness’, that suggests that we all have a direct unity with each other.  We all are drawing from the same source.  Just the very idea of this should, and could break down barriers and walls that exist.  It seems to be a new awareness of having all our extension cords using all the same electricity.  There is never any shortage, but we do need to consent to being hooked up to the same root.

This realization of the dramatic unity of Christ’s work should bring us to a deepness of the Spirit that has eluded us for generations.  Quite simply, He is the well spring that we all draw from.  Deep down, He is who we connect to, our roots extend to Him.  Baptist, Assembly of God, Anglican, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and Roman Catholic and more.  The big bunch of us have plunged our roots into Jesus.  We all draw from Him, and He imparts to us life that lasts forever.

Humility has become the virtual currency of the Kingdom.  We are issued as much as we need.  But we must act with what we take.  Our brokenness over our self (and our arrogance) must drive us to a gentleness with each other.  We simply don’t have the resources and the intellect to make the decisions that we have been making.  Humility is the wonderful key that will open the doors to the King’s castle.  If you have it, you get in.  But without it, you will go nowhere.

We Have No Control

Lord, I know that a man doesn’t control his own life.
      He doesn’t direct his own steps.

Jeremiah 10:23

 

As we step into what matters, we find this simple verse.  Simply put, we have no idea about control.  We step out in ignorance, we don’t understand this concept of turning one’s life over to someone else.  This grates against everything we profess to understand.

There is no control.  He declares Himself to be completely and utterly in charge.  At this point, we must back-off and just assume that He is in charge. There has been a determination at the highest of points.  We always are available to connect with Him at these levels.  We simply come and ask for all mercy that has been stated.

I don’t turn anything off.  I most certainly open my heart to all that is available and retrievable.  I can’t dwell on anything above and beyond this.  When He comes, He generates a dynamic that works its way into our hearts.

The simple fact is that we have been brought to a definite assurance of a divine life.  It is freely given.  We do nothing to deserve it.  We advance with this concept and idea cemented into our hearts.  Nothing can be offered, it has already been done so.  All we can do is to absorb the kindness that has been offered and then step tentatively forward.

My trust is in His character.   He comes to me and it makes perfect sense.  I start connecting the dots. And it makes me understand His goodness.  His love has been extended to me, and all I can do is turn to Him, and let Him in.  There is nothing but His love for me that can affect me in this way.