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Showing posts from October, 2012

Was it random chance or God's sovereignty?

Read  2 Chronicles 18 Two kings go together to war.  A man of God is requested to discern God's will.  One king, Jehoshaphat, desires that advice and counsel while the other, Ahab, doesn't.  Lying prophets come to tell Ahab, the king of Israel, what he wants to hear.  At Jehoshaphat's request another prophet, this one who serves the Lord, is brought; a prophet who forecasts the king of Israel's demise.  Ahab disguises himself while Jehoshaphat goes in royal attire.  Jehoshaphat is spared while Ahab is struck by a "random" bowshot (33).  Before they left for the battle, the prophet had said to King Ahab, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Mark my words, all you people!”  And on that day of conflict, indeed, Ahab had died.  So, what of our lives?  Do things happen by random chance or is it God's sovereignty?  Is what occurs seemingly random but in reality it is God who is directing, allowing, and prov

Art of Neighboring - Free on Kindle Today

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The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0073UN9CQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0073UN9CQ&linkCode=as2&tag=dietofbookwor-20

Free Shipping From Christianbook.com Until 10/29/2012

Free Standard Shipping until October 29th at Christianbook.com! Just place an order of $35 or more before 11:59 PM ET on Monday October 29, 2012, enter promotion code  388709 , and choose standard shipping. Plus, save up to 97%! Shop our Bounty of Savings through October 29th > Sincerely, Your friends at  Christianbook.com Terms and conditions:  Cannot be combined with any other offers. Applies to U.S. delivery addresses only. Applies to standard shipping only. Cannot be used on orders already placed, or on backorders. Order must total at least $35.00, excluding shipping fees or taxes, in order to qualify for this offer. Offer expires at 11:59 PM ET on 10/29/12.

Free Evaluation Tool on Whether You Are in a Destructive Relationship and a Free E-book from Jerry Bridges

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Thanks to Focus on the Family , I came upon the following that may be a help to you in your relationships.  Each one of us deals with difficult people, some more so than others.  Hopefully, as we interact with others, we are not that difficult person.  One way to find out if you are in what Leslie Vernick calls an emotionally destructive relationship is by means of this test or evaluation tool.  Are you in an emotionally destructive relationship – test/evaluation tool A program from Focus on the Family with Leslie Vernick is available here:  Finding Freedom from Destructive Relationships, (Pt. 1 of 2) Finding Freedom from Destructive Relationships, (Pt. 2 of 2) Please note that efforts to get to the Focus programs above resulted in errors both internally and from this link.  If you have a problem, please come back and try again.   You might ask, why should I care what Leslie Vernick has to say on this? Who in the world is Leslie Vernick? As posted on Amazon,

A Seismic Shift in the Right Direction?

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Vote Biblical Values on Nov. 6 reads the main page of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association mobile site.    A banner on the BGEA website leads the person to this page:  http://www.billygraham.org/vote-biblical-values/index.asp  where the individual or church can choose bulletin inserts or posters with this message or display it via Facebook or Twitter.  The first story of note on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association page is "Billy Graham Welcomes Mitt Romney."  I did a search entitled "Obama" and found a meeting with Billy Graham in April 2010 that was requested by the president. In fact, Billy Graham has met with every post-World War II president right up to the present occupant.  The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association can trace its roots to 1950.  Its ministry is mostly concerned with spreading the Gospel.  Controversy surrounding Billy Graham has always centered around his broad appeal due to methodology rather than based on politics, denom

Desiring a "Happily Ever After" by Sheri Rose Shepherd

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The  Tyndale Blog Network  has allowed me to feature a few articles from Sheri Rose Shepherd.  I previewed this and thought that you would like to read from her personal story a message of hope and help for your marriage and family.  Let me know what you think. Disclaimer: though I did a bit of research on Mrs. Shepherd, I leave it up to the blog reader to do his or her own digging on this author and to come to one's own conclusion.  Nothing that I have found has been of any concern.  And this piece is worth the reading, enjoy! Desiring a "Happily Ever After" Fighting the Temptation to Give Up on Love and Marriage  By Sheri Rose Shepherd Bestselling Author and Bible Life Coach  learn more ▶ I don't know where you stand today with the man you love or loved—or if you are single, divorced, separated, or widowed. I can tell you, though, that if you've been hurt, you can be sure Your heavenly Father knows how hard it is to love and for

Free E-books: Two on Suffering and One on Preparing for Marriage

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All of these e-books are courtesy of Desiring God Ministries .  I thank God for this ministry, though I don't agree with everything they teach, they are very sound and very much well worth your time and effort.  I would also like to publicly thank them for providing these for free and allowing the Preparing for Marriage e-book to be reprinted and distributed as long as it is in the complete form without alteration and nothing is charged (with the exception of printing costs to the one doing the printing and distributing).  You can read the details at the beginning of that particular e-book. Preparing for Marriage  by Dr. John Piper You can retrieve this book at the website link above by clicking on the book's title in either pdf (adobe), mobi (Kindle type format) or epub  (Nook, Sony Reader, and Apple devices such as the iPad, iPhone and the iPod). Other e-book releases Suffering and the Sovereignty of God   by Dr. Piper and Justin Taylor  (pdf is free/pu

It Is Only a Dead Me That Can Live Powerfully for Him

John 12:23-27, 42-43 I have no power in and of myself if I continue to live for me.  But if I die to self, I can produce so much more.  In the passage, Jesus compares Himself to a seed.  I can also represent a seed.  Therefore, the production of seeds (plural) means many more of me.  In my life, I am to reproduce and the only way to reproduce is to die to self like the seed dies and thus becomes many seeds. The problem is that often enough I love this life.  By loving it, I'm losing it.  In order to keep it for eternity, I must hate this life. How do I hate this life?  Jesus gives the answer. By serving and following Jesus I am demonstrating distaste for this life as I savor Christ instead.  A reward awaits me if I follow this path and that reward is the Father's honor. Many leaders of Jesus' day believed in Jesus. That is good, right?  Well, maybe.  Fear stopped them from confessing Him openly.  They counted the cost and judged it to be too expensive.  Christ's

BibleGateway -- A Website You May Come to Love as Much as or More Than I Do

BibleGateway is a website that offers all kinds of resources to aid you in Bible study and/or research.  On the website you can look up passages by reference; book, chapter and/or specific verse; by key word or by topic.  A list of available versions can be found here . They include a ton of English translations as well as a great number of versions in a variety of other languages. BibleGateway Newsletters  is a page on the site offering the reader options in Bible study that come in one's email box.  Among it's offerings are as follows:   A Verse of the Day in a choice of seven translations, one being the Spanish NIV The Daily Audio Bible , an email that is sent to your inbox each day. The full text is delivered to you with a link to hear the portion read by pastor and author Brian Hardin Bible Reading Plans for the year are offered in both the KJV and the NIV featuring the complete Old and New Testaments or just the New Testament in NIV. These also are sent v

Free Marriage Book by Dr. John Piper

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This Momentary Marriage Click on the title to find the link to Dr. Piper's book in pdf form.  It is critically important that you click on the pdf link on the page to get it free. The other links are in order to pay for it.  The words on David Mathis' page are as follows: "First of all, we have a free PDF available on our site."  Click on free PDF on David Mathis' blog page. Also, make sure you save the pdf file to your computer.  I don't know how long it will be available for free online.  Once you open the pdf and you see the title page, go to the bottom of the pdf page with your mouse (do not click, just pass it over the bottom of the page) and find the save icon (it is the disk icon all the way to the left).  Click on the disk image with your left mouse button (or simultaneously press the Shift, Control and S keys on your keyboard) and then save it in a folder on your computer.  My recommendation is that you devote a folder to pdf books where you can