November, 2020 - The Religious Instructor

Choices in Life…

November 15, 2020October 6, 2021 mark

Image of Scales with Questions marks over both sides to indicate choices or decisions

By Mark J Ward

This lesson is based upon an article written several years ago, “Peanut Butter Religion”. There is a copy of it elsewhere at this site for your consideration.

We have so many choices, of great importance and consequence in our lives! How do we approach such life-impacting decisions? One easy solution (well, not so easy, but easy to recommend) is that we simply ask, “What would please God concerning this question/issue/choice?”

Please listen to the audio of the lesson preached in Jesup, GA on Sunday, November 15, 2020 (along with reviewing the outline/handout). If you have comments or questions, please send them in by using the questions area on this site…

[CORRECTIONS to the audio file: In reviewing the lesson, I realized that I needed to correct the following: (1) at ~10:15 into the lesson, I should have clearly distinguished between the ‘error of the fathers‘ of the folks that Joshua was talking to and then the ‘errors of those present’ when in Joshua 24:15 he instructed, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”, (2) around ~11:08 in the lesson, I attributed previous studies about Elijah and the contest on Mt. Carmel that was covered fairly recently in our Wednesday night study as being in the NT rather than in the OT, and (3) later in the lesson, ~24:15, I referenced the “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” passage as Ephesians 6 when I should have said Ephesians 4. If you see others, please let me know. Thanks!]

May we always put “Pleasing God” as our first and foremost thought in every choice that we are about to make. It CAN make a huge difference with regard to our eternal destiny!

As always, THANKS so much for reading and listening!

Peanut Butter Religion/Choices We Make – Jesup, GA – 11/15/2020

CLICK HERE for the outline/handout of the lesson.

Reading the New Testament

November 7, 2020October 6, 2021 mark

Picture of Tablet, phone and hardcopy of Bible opened to New Testament title page

By Mark J Ward

In our series on Spiritual Exercise, we are looking at things we can do that will be of spiritual benefit for our souls. We are just starting, so please check back for more “workout routines” for our consideration!

In this post, we will be adding some assistance to the Read the New Testament in a Month exercise routine. The challenge is to try to read through the New Testament each month, as part of a good workout routine (for those who can and will).

I recommend reading a different translation each month, always recognizing that when we depart from “word-for-word” translations, we are getting a somewhat “diluted, or not as accurate a translation”. For example, The New Living Translation is an admitted “paraphrase” by the translation committee and publishers of that version of the Bible.

KING JAMES VERSION New Testament Audio
(public domain)

Since the King James Version is in the public domain (no copyright permissions need to be granted by the copyright holders) we will start with it this month (Nov 2020). You will find links below to audio files (read rather quickly with a few hiccups along the way). It is recommended that you follow along with a KJV (via a smart device or hardcopy Bible).

A monthly schedule is given at this link (CLICK HERE) and the audio files roughly mimic some of that schedule. I hope to get an RSS feed (if beneficial) for series files such as this for this site.

I welcome your thoughts, comments and prayers for this effort.

Thanks so much for reading/listening!!! – mjw

AUDIO FILES – KJV New Testament

Spiritual Exercise…(2)

November 2, 2020October 6, 2021 mark

by Mark J Ward

“for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.’ (1 Timothy 4:8 NASB)

DAILY BIBLE READINGS

In Matthew 4, speaking of Jesus, “2And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ”(Matthew 4:2-4 NASB)

A daily reading Bible program schedule is a great form of spiritual exercise!

Here are just a few of the benefits we could realize from such an effort:

– reading what God wants us to know, including words by which we can be saved (Genesis 1; Jude 3; Mark 16:15,16; John 6:68; Acts 11:14; I Cor. 15:2),

– we can become closer to God if we read carefully, discern properly, and then choose to live our lives as God has revealed teaches.

– we will be putting good things into our minds in this daily activity that is beneficial and pleasing to God (as opposed to the things the devil wants us to think about throughout the day) and

– we can become stronger spiritually, as “good spiritual exercise with good spiritual food” is part of living the life God says makes us strong in Him!

(The following is an adapted “Read Through the New Testament in a Month Plan” which I found and adjusted a little bit for your consideration. Please note that this is a 30-day reading schedule, so in the month of February, you will need to read a little more than the schedule calls for in order to finish “on time” if you like.)

A BIBLE READING PLAN ‘THROUGH THE NEW TESTAMENT IN 30 DAYS‘

1. Matthew 1-9
2. Matthew 10-15
3. Matthew 16-22
4. Matthew 23-28
5. Mark 1-9
6. Mark 10-16
7. Luke 1-7
8. Luke 8-11
9. Luke 12-18
10. Luke 19-24
11. John 1-7
12. John 8-13
13. John 14-22
14. Acts 1-7
15. Acts 8-14
16. Acts 15-21
17. Acts 22-28
18. Romans 1-8
19. Romans 9-16
20. 1 Corinthians 1-10
21. 1 Corinthians 11-16
22. 2 Corinthians 1-13
23. Galatians – Ephesians
24. Philippians – 2 Thessalonians
25. 1 Timothy – Philemon
26. Hebrews
27. James – 2 Peter
28. 1 John – 3 John
29. Revelation 1-12
30. Revelation 13-22

While some who have never done this before might be thinking, “I can’t do that! That’s too much!”

I gently, lovingly reply, ” “Can’t never could do anything!’ Why not try and see just how little time this takes away from other disposable time we have (myself included, in some cases) such as: daily television time, daily surfing the net for news and leisure reading time, daily video game time, daily non-religious book reading time, daily texting time, daily internet non-religious chat room time, daily sports and/or beauty magazine reading time, etc., etc.?”

We never know until we give it a try. And, whether we ever engage in a Read through the New Testament in a month in our lifetime, we still are under obligation before God to grow spiritually and be good stewards of our time always… (See 2 Peter 3:18; I Peter 4:1-11; Ephesians 5:1-17).

“Stay Well, Stay Strong in the Lord, and In the Power of His Might!” (Ephesians 6).

And, thanks for reading!

P.S. And…not to neglect spiritual instruction about physical exercise in our lives, there will be posts in the future, Lord willing, on the requirement from God for us to take care of our physical bodies (yes, even to include some physical exercise).

Spiritual Exercise…(1)

November 1, 2020October 6, 2021 mark

by Mark J Ward

We are only 2 months, Lord willing, away from “New Year’s resolutions”! How many of us have made many in the past? How many have lasted more than the 21 days some experts say is necessary to form a “habit” (i.e. practice, routine, repeatable action)? WHY do we even wait until January 1 to make resolutions that are good for us???

“for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.’ (1 Timothy 4:8 NASB)

As we know, we all need exercise: physically, yes, but spiritually, YES!!!

With this short “introduction”, we will begin a series about things we can do that are beneficial spiritual exercises for our soul! Look for future posts in this series.

“Stay Well, Stay Strong in the Lord, and In the Power of His Might!” (Ephesians 6).

And, thanks for reading!!!

The Religious Instructor

Month: November 2020

Choices in Life…

Reading the New Testament

Spiritual Exercise…(2)

Spiritual Exercise…(1)

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