Hiatus

We'll have another week long break because the younger members of this blog team will be at camp next week. 

I Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:11

Nine: We should be ready for God to bring His kingdom down to earth. It will come at us like an arrow. We won't know when it is coming. If we take faith and believe in God, we will not be killed by it.

Twelve: We should prepare for Jesus to come back to earth. He will come down very suddenly. We must prepare for it by believing in Him.

Forty-seven: I am a child of light and I need to act like it! Praise God I have been redeemed from the darkness. 

II Timothy 3:10 - 4:8

Nine: We should not wander off into false teaching but stay true to the word.

Twelve: We should stay with Jesus and not wander from the path. We should teach and rebuke when the time is right.

Forty-seven: Beware looking for your own way from those who teach you. Instead find those who will teach the truth no matter how tough that truth is. 

II Timothy 2:1 - 26

Nine: Those who work hard and do their part get the things they earned. We cleanse ourselves of our bad deeds and become a child of Christ.

Twelve: We should focus on being a Christian and not be led astray by worldly things. Listen to other Christians and obey your master. We should work hard being a Christian We should guard and be gentle when correcting people.

Forty-seven: Do I work for God as I do for other goals? Do I struggle with my behavior towards others as an athlete struggles each day to do a little bit more or a little bit better?

I Timothy 6:3 - 21

Nine: We should listen to the words of wisdom from Paul. We should not be choked by the possessions of the world, trying to get more and more stuff but we should be happy with what we have.

Twelve: We should be careful with who we associate with. We should believe the word of God and abstain from all evils.

Forty-seven: It is so easy to caught up not only in acquiring things but then in keeping them up. It is also easy to become oppressed by the never ending nature of that. 

I Timothy 3:1 - 16

Nine: We should listen and expect these things from people in power in the church.

Twelve: We should be careful who we appoint in the church. Even today we should follow these guidelines.

Forty-seven: I find myself astounded by the guidelines. The part about children is especially challenging. 

Colossians 1:1 - 23

Nine: It is nice how Paul is encouraging these guys. These guys should listen and obey Paul.

Twelve: Jesus came and saved us and we should obey his commands. He loves us.

Forty-seven: It's funny I rarely spend a lot of time on the beginnings of the epistles, but my nine year old is absolutely right it is nice that Paul encouraged this church. Something I could definitely work on: encouragement. 

Philippians 4:2 - 9

Nine: We should listen to Paul's words and we should delight in whatever is lovely, whatever is just, and whatever is righteous.

Twelve: We should do good things and we should be with good people. We should try to honor God in all things.

Forty-seven: It's easy to think our world is some how more difficult than when Paul wrote but the truth is it's not. It's the same high bar to find things that are lovely, just and righteous. Above all we should rejoice in a God who is the very pinacle of these things. 

Ephesians 6:10 - 20

Nine: We should put on the armour of God. We should not lie. We should act nicely so others will turn to the Word.

Twelve: We should protect ourselves from Satan's traps by putting on the armour of God.

Forty-seven: Here are some answers to yesterday's questions. Still it is so hard to wear the shoes of peace, the buckler or righteousness, etc. 

Galatans 5: 16 - 6:10

Nine: You shouldn't be a big, fat jerk to your mom, dad, brother or anyone.

Twelve: We should help one another when another Christian sins. We should try to live by the fruit of the spirit. We are still going to sin, but we should put in our best effort. When we sin God will correct us and show us the right way.

Forty-seven: Ever feel like you don't have any good fruits of the spirit? Or that you don't even know how to get to there from where you are? Prayer! 

Romans 8:1 - 39

Nine: It doesn't matter how bad we are, how many things we've done wrong. If we turn to Christ all our sins will be forgiven.

Twelve: We shouldn't be in the flesh: We shouldn't treat the world like it is the boss. It is not; God is; He can control it. He could destroy it, but He doesn't because He wants people to have a choice. 

Forty-seven: I rest in the fact that nothing can separate me from God's love. That in Him, I am more than a conqueror. 

Acts 25:1 - 28:31

Nine: It was amazing that Paul was bitten by the viper and did not die. It shows that Jesus is with us, although I doubt that if a viper bites me I will not die (I think that works only for prophets.) [Note from mom: Caesar read cashier.]

Twelve: Paul wanted to go to Rome even though he didn't have to so he could preach to Caesar. People should listen to Paul.

Forty-seven: Paul's trust and confidence in God is astounding. It is so easy to be weak and faithless in even the mildest of tough times. Paul's confidence is inspiring and a clear sign post to the source of his strength. 

Acts 16:1 - 20:38

Nine: It was really cool that Paul raised that guy from the dead. Paul was right proclaiming about the idols: they were just statues.

Twelve: When somebody tells you something about Christianity, you should check it in the Bible before believing it. Even today there are people who oppose Jesus like the silversmiths in this passage. We can stand up to them.

Forty-seven: Paul singing in prison is an astounding thing to think about. It's dark. He's chained; it's midnight; and he's up singing, praising God. The other prisoners are listening to him. What a witness! The rest of the story is icing on the cake: earthquake, repentance, baptism, release. 

Acts 15:1 - 41

Nine: Paul was right about the circumcision thing. You don't have to be special or perfect to be a Christan. Paul and Barnabas shouldn't have argued, but I think Paul was right.

Twelve: We don't have to obey rituals to be Christian. Jesus came down from heaven to save us. Now we don't have to do any of that because we are saved through Jesus. Even some of the best Christians of all time can fight amongst themselves.

Forty-seven: I can't decide if it is sad to see that Paul and Barnabas fought about Mark or a relief to know that they did. 

Acts 13:1 - 14:28

Nine: It was amazing that Paul was stoned by those people and was able to get up from it. I think Paul may have been dead and God raised him.

Twelve: You can preach to people who are not like you. We should be able to withstand adversity by God's help.

Forty-seven: Today's reading just raises a bunch of questions for me: Why did Paul change his name? What happened with John Mark? How long was the period between the desire to worship Paul and stone him? 

Acts 9:1 - 31

Nine: I thought that it was amazing that the bright light came down from heaven and converted Saul into a Christian. I was surprised that Barnabas trusted him.

Twelve: God can even change the worst people to be great leaders of Christianity like Saul.

Forty-seven: Praise God! All can come to Him through Jesus and He will pursue us.

Seventy-five Posts

We've reached the three quarters mark in our reading plan. I had some bad moments where I didn't post until the week end, but we do the readings each day and I take notes then. It's just the getting it up on the web that sometimes I get delayed on.

Acts 10:1 - 11:18

Nine: It was amazing that blanket descending from heaven. Peter should have killed and eaten as the Lord commanded him. this taught him he should eat with people who weren't circumcised. We should apply this to our lives and eat with people who aren't clean like people who lost their jobs and have to live on the street.

Twelve: We should treat people nicely and tell them about Jesus.

Forty-seven: My kids have the right idea, but I think after we are done with the e100 I might spend some time explaining the difference between ritual and physical uncleanness. 

Acts 8: 26 - 40

Nine: If you tell one person an entire country could believe. That man may have told the queen about Jesus. Then the entire place would believe.

Twelve: If you tell one person about Jesus, a lot of people will know about Him in the end.

Forty-seven: This is a both amazing and mysterious story. I want to know what happen to this man. Guess I'll have to wait.