Category: Know the Bible

When King Saul and Jonathan, his son, were killed in a battle with the Philistines, David sang a sad song.  In 1 Samuel 1:19, he said:“how the mighty have fallen.”  King Saul, who was one time so powerful and was the king of God’s  people, lay dead on the battlefield.

David had many reasons to be sad about Saul’s death.  When God told Samuel to make Saul king, Saul was very humble.  He obeyed God and it seemed he would be a good king.  However, when God told Saul to attack and kill all of the Amelekites, a wicked nation that did not obey God and were mean to God’s people, Saul did not keep the commands completely.  He did most of what God said to do, but he did not do everything.  So Samuel told Saul that God was going to make someone else king.

When King Saul realized that David would be king, he became jealous.  The king tried to kill David several times so David had to run away from his home and his friends.  King Saul also quit serving God.  Even though he did this, David was sad when Saul died because he was the king of Israel and at one time obeyed God.

Sometimes Christians that we admire quit serving God or don’t serve Him the way that they should.  It may be a parent, a preacher, your Bible class teacher, or someone else you admire.  It is sad when they quit serving God but we must continue to be faithful to God even when they quit.

We need to encourage that person to do what is right and pray for them to change.  David tried to teach King Saul but Saul would not listen.  However, some people will listen and will return to the Lord.  Even if they don’t change, you keep serving God.  Don’t give up!

Here is a great chart for tracking a 5-day Bible Reading Plan (allows you two days to make up for missed days. It’s never too late to start. Don’t feel bad if you fall behind…just keep reading and checking off days and eventually you may catch up. If not, you’ll still learn a lot!

http://bibleclassmaterial.com/Catalog/Mark%20Roberts/BibleReadingSchedule.htm

Most of us cannot afford the money or time to travel to places mentioned in the Bible. However, Ferrell Jenkins has visited these places and weaves interesting history and personal observations together with beautiful photographs to give us the next best thing. Visit his blog at http://ferrelljenkins.wordpress.com/feed/ and begin your journey and education.

I believe it is a good practice to consider improvements to how you think and act when starting a new year. No matter how good we are doing, there is always room for improvement. Why not check out the articles in the “Starting Today I Will…” section of the web site. You can find it here: https://godlyyouth.com/articles/starting-today-i-will/

I hope you all have a safe and encouraging new year.

In the last few weeks I have been using the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible by Crossway Publishers and I am VERY impressed with its readability and accuracy. It is written on an 8th grade level and is supposed to be textually accurate. It claims to be in the same tradition as the King James Bible (but much more readable!). An online version is at www.esv.org if you want to evaluate particular verses.

I know there are some “King James Only” advocates but it has been my experience that kids have great difficulty reading many passages in the KJV. I know some claim that the KJV is easy to read but they are usually adults and people who have been reading that version all of their lives. However, the archaic language is very difficult for kids to understand as they read which discourages them from reading and makes some conclude that the Bible is too tough to read. It is interesting that the “KJV Only” advocates don’t insist on going back to THE KJV: the 1611 version (see picture at http://www.kjv-only.com/oldscans/kjvgen1.jpg). Parents, make sure your children have a Bible that faithfully renders the original texts and is readable. The ESV certainly fits that requirement.