Week 25
The Lords Day, Week 25!
Thoughts on Ephesians 4-6:
· Ephesians 4 - I have been coming back to this chapter over the last few months because it has ministered to me in so many ways, and for so much of what we have been going through. First, there's the Oneness of the body that is emphasized in the beginning of the chapter. One of my greatest struggles in my walk is maintaining a proper balance of gentleness. But here it is, pointed to as one way in which we are to bear with one another in love. I have some very rough edges that the Lord is continuing to shave off and often that process is painful, but look at the purpose of it, "to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" over the last few months with first Covid, and now social justice, this bond has largely been absent in the church. We have lost sight of the fact that we are supposed to be "one body, one hope, on Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God..." ONE! We have instead become bodies unto ourselves with our hopes in government, theories, race, social justice, or any number of things that are not of God. This has resulted in such a large divide that many are more interested in how well we line up when it comes to these other issues rather than recognize where our true unity lies. This entire way of being is absent of Gods grace, and it has brought us to a place where many feel more aligned with political parties even if most of those individuals don't believe in the same God we do, then we do with those we sit in the pews with. So what's the answer? BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. that's the answer... We can have these other debates, they are actually good for the body, but when the standard for fellowship becomes anything but Jesus, we have deviated from the true gospel, we have ceased being the church. I have been blessed over the weeks with some who disagree with me on issues, but have been willing to talk, to even fight with me out of love for me and for Jesus, while never ceasing to deal with me as a brother. There are many on all sides of these debates that have not lost sight of the central message of the Gospel, please make sure that wherever you are, that you don't lose sight of this. That we are One body, and sometimes the left and right hand don't agree, but they are still one body and need each other.
· Verses 11-16 - He gave the apostles, the prophets... I know that there's an entire theology that promotes this as the 5 fold ministry, and some people look at this passage as the model for the church today, that we need all of these offices to continue today. However; if you just let Paul speak in Ephesians I think it's pretty obvious that this was not his intention. Let's look back to chapter 2 starting in verse 19, where the context is again the church, speaking of both Jew and Gentile now having access to the Father through One Spirit, there's the oneness again. But then in verse 20 he says, "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone..." Here's the question, when do you lay a foundation? Isn't that done first? Do you begin putting bricks on an incomplete foundation? No, at least I hope you don't... lol The apostles and prophets served a very specific function, they were the ones through whom we received special revelation which has been combined in our Old and New testaments which both testify about Jesus, who holds them together just like a Cornerstone. These offices have been closed since the death of the Apostle John, we no longer have apostles and prophets, but we do have the foundation they have laid for us in the scriptures and we build on that, we are shaped by it and held together by it. Today we have evangelists, shepherds and teachers who continue to point us to the Apostles and Prophets, in scripture, for the purpose of equipping the saints for the work of ministry and building up the body of Christ. Which goes to the last part of this section, the body joined together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly... We have not been working properly for going on 3 months now, maybe longer. Without fellowship, we are a dismembered corpse. Blood may preserve a severed finger for but so long, until it eventually dies. We need to be reconnected, we need to begin to function the way we were intended to function again, before the damage becomes permanent, so once again, find a church, go and be with the saints, even if it is uncomfortable for now, even if you need to wear a mask. If you are sick or elderly and feel you are to high risk, get a pastor to come to your house, to minister to you personally, to share the word with you and encourage you, make sure you have saints praying for you, because we all need to be connected to each other. The body dies otherwise...
· Last thing, and I'm just staying in chapter 4, feel free to share your thoughts on the other two chapters, but this is turning into a book already. lol Verse 25, having put away falsehood, speak the truth with his neighbor... Brothers and sisters, put away falsehood. I've posted so much on our need to not be led by emotion and experience, and on how vital it is that we focus on Truth because Truth belongs to God, our emotions and experiences are corrupted by sin. I know that the world doesn't want to hear the truth right now, because many are caught up feeling good because they are doing something about something that doesn't really exist... They are living in a lie, and the church itself has in good part endorsed the lie and gone along with it. All cops are not evil, America is no longer systemically racist, white people are made in the image of God and are of equal worth and value as are people of color, white privilege is a myth and it needs to die, are there privileges yes, but your responsibility isn't to renounce them, but rather to live up to them for the good of your neighbor and love of God and none of them have to do with race. The poorest counties in the United States are predominantly white, look up the statistics, they are easy to find, but we don't hear that do we. On and on the lies go that continue to be perpetuated in the name of justice, but brothers and sisters, God will hold us accountable for every idle word, for every lie we have allowed to go unchallenged, in the age of technology you have the responsibility to take every thought captive and research it for yourself. Always speak the truth with your neighbor, don't allow yourself to be sucked in by emotional arguments... I've experienced racism, in fact I experienced it again the other day, on FB! It's an evil thing... But I also know I have had many more experiences with people of all colors that were edifying, loving and encouraging than I have that weren't. Stop promoting lies, if you are, seek to only seek truth, and speak truth, because until we see the world as it actually is, we are going to remain impotent in applying the true cure... The Gospel.
Again, today is going to be my last post on this platform for quite some time. I will continue to blog and post on my website. I am creating a Bible in a Year tab to post daily on, and hopefully I will be able to do a comments section as well! Reach out if you need anything, love you all, and please go be with the Lords people today!
Monday, week 25!
Thoughts on Leviticus 4-6:
(k, so this should be the last one... lol I am trying to have my website tailored a bit to add a bible in a year tab, but I'd like to also have a comments section so it's taking a bit longer than I thought.)
· Summary - These chapters mostly focus on the sin offering, "if anyone sins..." it gives instructions for the leaders, priests and laity on how to present their offering for atonement. First thing I want to point out, this all has to do with purification, God is holy and perfect and He will not be in the presence of sin. These offerings were meant to purify those who entered the temple that the presence of the Lord would remain and not depart. Consider that without the spilling of blood, no one can have access to God. Thus the wages of sin is death, you and I, on our own would be forced to continue making sacrifices to approach God for anything, a life must be given, blood must be spilled, but an animal life only makes temporary atonement. So, one could make atonement this week, then come back the following week having sinned and in order to enter the temple, they need to make atonement again. However; even with this, God is merciful in that He gives specific instructions that you are only responsible in this case to make atonement for that sin which you are aware of. So, when its made known to you, then you make it right by bringing a sacrifice. The second thing you should notice is that everyone has to provide a sin offering, from those who were leaders, to the most poor, to those who couldn't afford even an animal to sacrifice, even they would still be required to bring a grain offering to atone. I point this out because today many have come to believe that the oppressed or the needy are a special class, almost as if they aren't capable of sin. This is false, we are to serve those who are most in need, and help provide for them and to do all we can to help their circumstances, but they are responsible for their sin, and if we aren't telling them to repent and trust in Jesus, then we are only making it more comfortable for them to go to hell when we offer material help. The last thing I want to do is to point to Gods form of justice within this section. Notice that if someone steals, or oppresses another person, that after atonement has been made, the only other thing that is required of them is restitution plus a fifth. Once this was done, it was considered settled before God, and the two were to live in peace. This is where our justice system is perverted and in desperate need of reform. If you steal something from someone, or oppress a person by let's say conning them from their savings and then get caught, if the money is recovered it's confiscated by the government in some cases the party might receive it back, if they can prove it is in fact their money, but then the guilty part goes to jail never being afforded the opportunity to actually make restitution. In effect, the one who was sinned against is punished further by having to then pay taxes that go towards imprisoning the person that stole from them. This is unjust and helps no one except the state. Gods justice looks to make peace between people, by providing a sin offering that atones for the sin of the one who stole bringing peace with God, and then bringing peace between them and the one they took from that both would be able to go on to contribute to the community feeling justice has been satisfied. Today we don't have to go around sacrificing animals for peace with God, Jesus was the final sacrifice, but we do need to confess our sins to Him daily that we would be cleaned. As life goes on, the Holy Spirit reveals more and more of our own uncleanness to bring before Him. But we have been completely clean by Christs blood, and that we have peace with God we can move forward towards peace with man starting within the house of God recognizing that peace with the rest of the world won't come until they to have peace with God.
Yesterday I attended a worship service at The Haven, OPC currently meeting in Bohemia. It was such a blessing to worship again with the Saints. I will probably be attending there for the immediate future until we figure out a few other things as far as ministry opportunities. They are a bit more traditional but an extremely loving congregation and my friend/mentor Pastor
is the Pastor there and he is a wonderful pastor. If you live on the South Shore and are looking for a place to worship, I recommend you join us. If you live on the North Shore and are looking for a place to worship, I would like to recommend to you, Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Medford. Another good friend,
is an Elder there and I know you will be blessed worshipping with the Saints there, if I was closer, I would be there. So, no excuses, this weekend be in the presence of the Body of Christ, worshiping our Lord and Savior. God bless!!!!
Tuesday, week 25!
Thoughts on 1 Kings 14-16:
(I have the page up on the website, but now I need to upload 25 weeks worth of posts, and I am trying to keep them in order. It'll be done this week, and then I'll post the link here a few days, then finally, log off FB.)
· Israel and Judah, we see going in two different directions. Israel has one evil king after another, each one seeming to almost outdo the one before him. Notice that the sins of the kings brings guilt to the whole land. God is going to judge Israel, not just the Kings of Israel. But Israel themselves are complicit, they do not rebuke the king, or cry out to God, but rather have followed after these other gods. As we have read in the prophets, the people themselves worship other gods and abandon the One true God. Here's something we need to notice with these kings, that even as they do evil, in some ways Israel is allowed to prosper. Wars were fought and won, cities were built, in the cases of Jeroboam and Baasha, they reigned in total over 40 years, but their sons each only reigned 2 years. In each of these cases, God allowed these men to die natural causes, but the effects of their sin was felt throughout their family after they passed as God destroyed them all. We can't read into this and think, they were innocent? No, they were complicit, in fact the cases of Nadab and Elah, we are told specifically that they to did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. If any of the kings had repented, they would have prevented the destruction of their families but they chose to continue in wickedness. As parents, we leave a legacy for our children to follow. Perhaps you inherited a legacy filled with sin, no one before you knew the Lord. All before you did that witch was evil in the sight of the Lord. You get to be the one to put a stop to that. You get to be the one to start a new legacy for your family, for your grandchildren, and their grandchildren, but you have to start. No one gets the excuse, but you don't know what I grew up with! Maybe you had it extremely hard, maybe everyone in your family were drunks, drug users, abusers, and maybe even worse. I mourn with you, I am sorry for your experiences, now repent of your sin and trust in Jesus and start a new legacy for those who come after you. Rejoice that God gave you a new heart, and allowed you to be an Asa, instead of a Nadab. Stop living in your past because if you continue to allow yourself to do so, you are only going to be making it harder for those who come after you. I love how the New Testament speaks of our "New life" that we are "New Creation" in Christ. "NEW" remember that, the old has passed away, believe that, live that, and be the start of that new legacy of faithful believers. Rejoicing in all that God has done and continues to do. Trusting in Him for your salvation, sanctification and glorification... That one day you'll be with Him and all the saints that have come from your family line, perhaps only starting with you, or perhaps there were those who started generations before you and you are reaping the benefits of their work, but either way, you'll all be together praising the one who gave it all!
We will be having bible study tonight for those who are available. I'll send out the link this evening, as we are going to be looking at "Bible contradictions and Manuscript evidence for the NT" God bless you all and I hope you have a wonderful day.
Wednesday, Week 25!
Thoughts on Psalms 72-74:
· Psalm 72 is a messianic Psalm, pointing to the only one who fulfills these characteristics, Jesus. His glorious name alone is blessed forever, and His glory alone fills the earth. He is the Royal Son, who brings the justice of God. Justice seems to be a key theme of the psalm as the psalmist looks to the perfect king who will bring perfect justice which includes defending the cause of the poor, delivering the children of the needy, pity on the weak and needy, and so on. Of course, I have to go here given today's cultural conversations and I can hear the questions already, but Ryan, it sure seems like this is speaking about social justice! God is on the side of the oppressed and the needy, right? I think we ask this for two reasons. First it's because we fail to recognize what the greatest need of the poor, oppressed, and needy actually is. Their greatest need is peace with God, it's salvation, not better material circumstances! When we think this way it reveals how little we really understand about our own spiritual condition. About what it means to be dead in our sin and trespasses. If you see your greatest need as God Himself, then you should see that as the greatest need for all humanity. How heartbreaking it is to see those who have no hope in this life, also have no hope for the next! Secondly, I think the confusion comes because we don't really understand what justice is. We use the word a lot, but we don't have a good definition, so we tend to view social justice as lifting up one group and taking down another. The problem is that, this is exactly the opposite of justice! Here is the definition of justice that we see in scripture, justice is simply equality before the law of God. Meaning that all people, rich, poor, kings, slaves, all are viewed exactly the same before the law of God, that there is no partiality whatsoever. If you have a rich person who steals a car, and a person who steals a car, justice is that they are both dealt with on the basis of their actions and not their position or status. This is why we see God is on the side of the needy and the oppressed, because often it is those who are powerless who are dealt with unjustly and receive harsher punishments under laws than do those with power and money. Does injustice take place today? Yes. Where it does we need to fight it. But we cannot fight it by saying let's be partial in the other direction. Exodus 23:1-9 is a great place to go to see the definition of justice. When we attach social to justice we have now created a category of justice that doesn't exist in scripture. Social justice looks to eradicate the categories of oppressed, needy, and poor, which is not something we see anywhere in scripture. Social justice says, the fact that there are poor people, and oppressed people, is in itself an "injustice". But that twists the biblical meaning of justice because it has nothing to do any longer with equal treatment before the law. When the psalmist says, "for He delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence He redeems their life, and precious is their blood in His sight." He is not speaking of making their material life better, but rather that justice, true justice will be dealt out. He will hold those accountable who treat such people unjustly. He hears the cries of those in such a condition, and for those who repent and trust in Him, He redeems, and it is usually those in such a condition that seem to be more sensitive to the gospel itself, and He will save them and redeem them. Justice is an important topic, and we need to seek it in every area of our lives, that all people be treated equally before the law. That we seek to punish all wickedness, regardless of who it is that is carrying out, that we seek to help those who have been wrongly accused and have been dealt with unjustly be the systems in place. This is justice, biblical justice. Then we must also go out and love the least of these, by giving to the poor, providing in whatever ways we can and showing the love of God by sharing the gospel with them, pointing them to Jesus, and being physical expressions of His love in their lives.
· Psalms 73 and 74 remind us that no matter how things look in this world, we know that God is in charge, we know that He is at work and we can trust Him. For us it is good to be near God, the He is our refuge, all of the world belongs to Him, He guides us and is our full portion. The poor and needy can in fact praise His name, even while the foolish scoff. Remember who God is, even in the craziness of the world today, He is over it all and continues to make His enemies a footstool.
Still working very slowly on updating the website. It will be done this week as I have more time opening up to finish it. Please bear with me! lol I hope you all have a wonderful day today, and that you are encouraged to seek more of God. God bless you all!
Thursday, Week 25!
Thoughts on Proverbs 5 & 6:
· Summary - chapter 5 is wisdom about the dangers of adultery, and the need to find satisfaction with one's wife or spouse, though the instructions are being given to a son, we can assume that the principles apply to a daughter or woman as well. The overall point is to be faithful to your spouse. Adultery is full of empty promises, it lures you in but then only pays with destruction. We must do everything that we can to avoid these temptations, to include necessary boundaries. This is very practical advice, but there is a spiritual element that has application. Consider the way Israel is often portrayed as the adulterer, or the whore. Here's just one example from Jeremiah 3:“If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?” says the Lord. Self - control and faithfulness in marriage is meant to point towards our faithfulness to God. Are we satisfied with our spouse? or do we allow ourselves to wonder, and consider others? If we do, it is almost certain we are doing the same when it comes to God. As our minds go astray after other people, so they will go astray after other gods. Be faithful to your spouse, protect your marriage, and also your relationship with God.
· Proverbs 6 has some more practical wisdom, as well as speaking again to adultery. First is a warning against laziness or idleness. We were created for work, to work, but because of the fall, we now have this struggle with work. This means we have to put a lot of effort into not being lazy, it's easy, especially today, to get caught up watching tv, laying on the couch, being on our devices, or whatever, and we can begin to see work as the enemy, work as that which is a necessary evil. But the truth is that work is good, and holy. It was set apart for us by God, and laziness is that which is evil, it's of the devil because it robs us of our purpose. Paul tells us in Thessalonians, that he who does not work, does not eat! There are many today that thing that everyone should eat just be nature of being born, but that is not Gods ways, He made us in such a way that we work for our provision, and there is something innately satisfying about that. In a sinful world we recognize that one of the conditions of the fall is that some people cannot work, and we are told to provide for those who cannot work. But those are exceptions, not the rule, for the far greater majority can in fact work, and the way society is today, even some with severe disabilities find ways to work and earn a living. Why this drive? because God made us this way. So, get off the couch, don't be lazy, and get to work! Lastly, verses 16-19 describe exactly what we see in our society today, and the Lord hates these things, they are an abomination to Him... just consider that.
Still updating, I put up another months worth on the website, and hope to get more up later today. I'm preaching next Wednesday at North Shore Baptist Church in Queens, it'll be recorded, but I also plan on doing a live recording this Friday at 8pm at PCI, if you are interested in being present for the recording, so I don't have to preach to an empty room, please message me! God bless and have a wonderful day!
Friday, week 25!
Thoughts on Ezekiel 7-12:
· Why do we have so much in scripture that speaks about judgement? Have you thought about that during this bible plan? It really is such a major theme of scripture, and just this past month we've seen it come up in a few of our readings and if you were to go back to the beginning I think you'd see that judgment has been spoken of the most. So much so that today as I was reading I just kept thinking, Lord please give me something else to talk about, to write about!!! I don't want to be such a downer... lol But it's everywhere, and yet it's not preached nearly as much in churches today, is it? In today's reading, 7-10, half of 11, and all of 12 were all about judgement, and the wickedness of the people of Israel. We see for Ezekiel, it was even to much for him to bear. He cries out for mercy to the Lord, please God not everyone! But the Lord goes over in these chapters how all of it is justified, and how He has restrained Himself, but will no longer do so. Justice is going to be served to the house of Israel, each will get according to their deeds, remember the bibles definition of justice, Equality before the Law of God, well here it comes. In chapter 10 we see that part of this judgment was the glory of God departing the temple, God was no longer going to be physically with His people. This also points us back to the garden, where God was with Adam and Eve and their sin forced their separation, well here again, God was with His people, and their sin again forced a separation. This is what we do. We sin. We bring judgment upon ourselves because we won't submit to God. Why is judgement such a major theme, because it's what we all deserve every single day that we walk on Gods earth. As we read about the Lord calling for the executioners we should shake, recognizing that He has the right to do the same for us, as we read about the Lord knowing the things that come into the minds of the Israelites, we should be struck with fear because He knows the things that come into our minds, as we say the Lord laying the blood of the innocent on the hands of the people, we should be afraid because we all have innocent blood on our hands to. When the Lord says He will act in wrath, and that He will not have pity even though they cry with a loud voice, He will not hear them, we should realize that we deserve exactly the same response... Judgment is there because it happened, and to remind us that God is still the same, and has the right to do it again... It's also there to point us to Christ. Because He took upon Him the judgement we deserved. That because of Him our sin is counted against us anymore, and we have been given a new life free from the power of sin. This doesn't mean that God can't judge the nation we live in, but it does mean that even if He does, you and I remain His children and can never be ripped apart from Him, the glory will never again depart the temple. I do love that in the midst of all the judgment, there is a glimpse of hope in chapter 11. God will not destroy everyone, for He has kept a remnant for Himself, who will return to the land. They will be given one heart and a new Spirit will be put within them, they will have their hearts of stone removed and be given a heart of flesh... that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them! How often is that part of the verse left out. Brothers and sisters, if you belong to God, you have been saved in order that you would obey. Do you now obey? Immediately we start to come up with excuses to such a question... But no one obeys perfectly!!! I know... I didn't ask if you obey perfectly, I only asked if you obey... Obedience is fruit of salvation, it is not the means of it, of course not... we are saved by faith alone. But by faith we also walk in good works, those good works are obedience to Christ. If there's no obedience, how do you know you are His? If there's no obedience how do you know you have a new heart? a new heart responds to God with a desire to do as He says. "But those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God." perpetual disobedience is a sign of unbelief... and a sign that you will be judged. and true justice will be served. Repent, believe the gospel, walk by faith in obedience to your Lord. and you will not fear the coming judgement.
Should have up to week 15, maybe even further up on the website today! This Sunday I am having service in my yard again, if you are interested please PM me. God bless and have a wonderful day!
Saturday, Week 25!
Thoughts on Luke 13 & 14:
· Unless you repent you will likewise perish... it's that simple, repentance is absolutely necessary. It's not a work, it's actually a gift granted by God, see Acts 11:18 and 2 Timothy 2:25. All who have been saved, will repent, that is turn away from their sin and themselves, and towards God. Repentance is not only about sin, but encompasses a complete turning to God, to seeing the world through His eyes, and no longer trusting in human wisdom or human philosophy to make sense of things. We now take God at His word. This is what also makes repentance a life long process, as there will always be areas of inconsistency in our lives. But the goal is to be conformed by His word as applied by His Spirit. As we are conformed the Spirit opens our eyes to the truth of His word and we walk more in step with God each day. Notice the context of these opening verses of chapter 13, the point that Jesus is making to the Jews is that all need to repent. There's no special category, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish, He says it two times to drive it home, so let it settle. The old saying turn or burn, is a true statement no matter how much our church has grown to detest it.
· Now I want to jump to verses 18-21, these parables are often overlooked, and I think we need to pay some special attention to what are being told. First, remember that Jesus came preaching the Gospel of the kingdom. Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand, so Jesus ministry on earth was the inauguration of the Kingdom of God being reestablished on earth. For centuries the world itself had been separated from its true King, and the enemy had been given certain rights over the creation. Because of Adams sin, all of creation was under its penalty. But Jesus comes pronouncing good news, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now, let's look at these parables, which are making a point about the "Kingdom". Both parables are making the same point, we have something that starts very small, but eventually begins to seep into everything that's the leaven or spreads itself out providing nourishment, cover, protection and even a place of rest for the birds... So, what's the point? The point is simple, this is the Kingdom of God, it starts small, like right there in Jerusalem, this one relatively small city, in one nation called Israel, that is barely a dot on this big ball we call earth... One man, the God-man, proclaiming its inauguration, the Kingdom has arrived, all hail King Jesus, the lamb of God who has come to take away the sin of the world... Then it begins to seep out beyond this small city, through these men called Apostles, of which one is specifically designated to take this same message out into the non-Jewish world that it would continue to spread... From there, fast forward 2000 years, here we are, on the other side of this big ball we call earth, having received the same message, having been transformed by His Spirit, bending our knee and pledging our allegiance to the True King, and now belonging to the Kingdom of God. What do we find when the kingdom of God goes forward? Societies flourish, people are saved from hell, the needy are provided for, the voiceless are given voices, people are treated with dignity and respect as image bearers of God. Has this happened perfectly, NO! But it has been happening slowly, and here's the best news of all... God has not finished yet! That little bit of leaven needed time to settle, the dough needs to be punched, the seed that is now a small tree needs some more water, but the Kingdom of God is going to continue to go forward, and the knowledge of the glory of God will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea... I know that some of you have an eschatology that says, everything is going to get worse, things are going to go crazy, the world is going to hell, and we have our escape pod, Jesus! But I am sorry, that is not what the Bible presents, the Bible presents Jesus as Victor! He wins... all His enemies are being made a footstool and it may very well be another 2000, 4000, or even 10,000 years before we get there, but all the world will kneel before Jesus and every tongue will confess Him as Lord. If you don't agree with my eschatology, you have to at least believe in Jesus parable, and now you have to go out and share the gospel with that knowledge, knowing that the kingdom of God is still spreading, and it will continue, until it is ALL leavened.
· Luke 14... I have a blog coming out on Thursday on this. Be on the look out because it is going to probably receive some heavy pushback. But here is the gist, read from verse 7 through the end as one continuous teaching. Now, His main point, your family doesn't matter, you possessions don't matter, your ethnicity or race don't matter, what you do for a living don't matter, if any of that matters to you, ANY of it, you can't be His disciple. Lose it, hate it, or you will become a slave to it. You choose, Him or the world, there is no other choice.
I made it to week 15, plan on getting to week 20 today and then 25 on Monday! so probably by Tuesday or Wednesday I'll be closing this group... So if you are interested in receiving updates, send me your email, and I'll probably put together a weekly email that I will send out with that weeks readings and thoughts. God bless!