This (rather lengthy) series grew out of the previous study on the Shemitah and Blood Moon Tetrad. During one of our discussion times in class, one of the members asked, “If this stuff is possibly true, what should we do about it? How should we prepare?” And that question of how we could be ready for the possible return of Christ drove us to the Scripture to answer that question. There are five overarching questions that came out of trying to discover how to be ready.
What are the signs of the end?
How to be ready?
What do you do when told to deny Christ?
Should we be preppers?
What should we do if our government tells us we can’t obey God?
Here are the (again, rather lengthy – 25 pages!) notes from the study, but be warned that even as lengthy as they are, there are many important things that do not come out clearly in the notes, but are clear in the audio recordings. So, please listen to them if you can. Especially if you’re trying to deal seriously with any of these very timely questions.
Also, as quickly becomes clear in the audio recordings, you will understand many of the references much better if you join us and read the book, Killing Christians, by Tom Doyle. This lesson series is in no way a book study, but that book certainly illuminates many of the topics we discuss and provides relevant background examples, and is otherwise a fantastic book every Christ-follower should read.
Further, the book, Do Love, by Andrew Rankin provides great background for the practical application of how we should be living in the light of the Scriptures we study here.
It was appropriate on Easter to step aside for one Sunday from our Be Ready series to revisit the core issue of Jesus’ resurrection. It is, in fact, fundamental to the premise that we should be living as we wait for His return.
This lesson is from 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul makes a pretty bold, but true statement about where we’d be if Jesus hadn’t really been raised from the dead.
These notes and recordings are a series of studies presented by my wife, Trenna Bingham, in response to questions from class members about how we should view the popular books and articles related to the Shemitah and Blood Moon tetrad they are hearing about today. Like the previous series on the Jewish Feasts, the most important takeaway is to BE READY!!! I’ve included both her Keynote slide deck and a PDF of it for those who don’t have a Mac. 😉
(8/14/15) Here is a new resource I created in preparation for teaching this content again in another setting. It is a timeline of the last eight seven year Shemitah cycles, along with the blood moons, jubilee years, and major economic and Israel-related events.
In addition, here are the audio podcasts of Trenna presenting the content to our Bible Study class. AAC format playable in most browsers, iTunes, and iDevices.
After listening to these again as I prepared them to post, I can only ask again that you listen.
As I typically do at the beginning of each new year, this lesson is a special challenge for the year for my group. It is a call to commit to daily Bible reading. First, we recognize why we so often need to make New Year’s resolutions: a lack of self-discipline. Next we come to understand how a lack of self-discipline is rooted in our unwillingness to control our minds. Then we learn how daily Bible reading will positively affect our lives by bringing our thoughts in line with God’s and help us make better choices.
You’ll notice that some of the presentation notes are blank. That’s because I have taught that content before and didn’t have time to type in the explanations. And because I knew I would be adding the audio to the post that would fill in the blanks, as well. AAC format usable in iTunes and with iPods. 59 min., 29MB
This significant study has taken much more research than most, and I believe the results were worth it. In this study, we look at the seven religious feasts that God instructed the Jews to celebrate each year. A very very important feature of this study focuses on the Messiah’s past and future fulfillment of each feast exactly at the right time and precisely in the proper way. I spent a great deal of time reconciling the general feast calendar with the scriptural statements about Jesus’ last week before His death in order to establish a detailed most likely calendar of that particular week in history.
There are three takeaways from this study:
Nearly all of the writers of the NT had lived these annual rituals since they had been born. Knowing the background and meaning of the feasts will dramatically expand our understanding of what they wrote.
Seeing God’s careful precision with which He designed and fulfilled the feasts over thousands of years should encourage us to know He can and will be with us at ever point of need in our lives, as well.
Knowing more about the Jewish religion can better equip us to tell our Jewish friends about their Messiah.
There are three written resources: the usual teaching outline (but much more detailed than usual): The Jewish Feasts, a table with the annual feast calendar along with meanings and a surprise addition on the right side: Feasts Calendar, and my proposed calendar of Jesus’ last week of earthly ministry: Passover calendar.
In addition, here are the audio podcasts of my presentation of the second and fourth lesson to my Bible Study class. AAC format usable in iTunes and with iPods. (Blame my audio engineer for the absence of the other two. BTW, I’m my audio engineer.)
This multi-week study is a presentation of the research done for the book The Good News About Marriage by Shaunti Feldhahn. In the study, we debunk nearly universally held, often quoted statistics about marriage, remarriage, and divorce. Specifically:
The divorce rate in the US is about 50%.
Most marriages are not happy.
The divorce rate in the church is the same as outside the church.
Subsequent marriages have even less hope.
None of those “facts” are even close to true! This study should be an encouragement to anyone, married or not, that there is great hope for a happy, life-long marriage.
Here are the relevant links to the book on the iBook Store and Amazon.
This lesson is just a brief and pointed look at the story of the rich man in Luke 12. What was the real issue with him, and how might that apply to us today?
For most children, their father will be one of the two greatest influences in their entire lives. Whether that influence is positive or maximized depends upon choices the father makes.
This lesson looks at the impact a father can have on his children by having a great lifelong influence.
(Yes, the lesson had at least two more sections I was planning to add, but decided to go to another topic before finishing it.)
On Mother’s Day our men had a very informal discussion about finances and giving. During that conversation we agreed that it would be very helpful to have some studies to refresh our awareness of God’s ways in the area of money. This is the first of that series, and we focus on the central passage in the Bible that presents the principle of the tithe and the blessings associated with obedience.
This lesson is the final one for 2013, and one that I would normally teach on the first Sunday of a new year, but had to do early because of our church-wide study starting in January. It is my consistent encouragement at the beginning of a new year to do something. Leadership. Faith. Action. It builds on the lessons at the beginning of the year, and uses William Carey’s famous sermon as the background theme. At the end of the lesson I highlight three individuals who took action and are making a major difference in the lives of millions of people.
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